I went to the grocery store today and I just finished unpacking and fixing the things I bought. Whenever I go grocery shopping, I make it a point to buy food in bulk that could last for 2 weeks. I usually schedule my shopping every 2 weeks. How about you guys, how many times do you do your grocery shopping in a month?
Well, I usually buy general groceries in bulk. The kind of stuff that I don't use for one recipe only but rather, things that are used in a lot of stuff. I usually buy those stuff so that they last for 2-3 weeks in advance, while buying specific recipe food items when I actually need them. Things I'll buy in advance are spaghetti, cereals, some canned food items, spices, cheese, and other stuff like that.
I like going to the supermarket at least once a week, so I always have fresh fruits and vegetables and get the stuff that we are truly eating that week. I feel like if I only shop once or twice a month, I end up getting stuff that we don't end up eating, because we didn't know our schedule in advance. Buying once a week is doable for me, because it's OK for me to go once a week in the grocery store, and it's not too much Either.
I usually go once a week and buy everything fresh at that point. Occasionally I'll go more than once if there's a special occasion that week that means I'll need more fresh food than normal. Then I'll also go the day before the special occasion so I can stock up on everything for that separately. That's not too often though. Usually I bulk buy most things like pasta, cans, rice and even pet food, though. It's just the fresh food I need to go more often for.
I go once for large shopping: items like detergent, paper towels major cuts of meat, salad dressing, vitamins, some frozen vegetables, and pet food. These items, i hope, will last for a month. Then i go once a week for items that are used up quickly like eggs, bread, milk, and fresh veggies.
I try to shop every week, but sometimes I stall as long as I can if I am bothered with low energy. It sometimes ends up being every 2 weeks. The reason I like every week is because I can have kind of have a pleasant shopping day, not too busy, not as much to do. Not as much to haul. When I go every 2 weeks it is a pretty hard job.
We tend to do our shopping once a week. However, even though we would buy food to cover a week or a little over a week, there are times when during that time period, we may still need to visit the grocery store for a specific item which we may have overlooked when shopping and had forgotten to buy. Also, there are one or two items which may run out before the week is up so we would then have to visit the grocery store again for just that one or sometimes two items.
Before I decide on how much of an item I am going to purchase at the store, I take advantage of the opportunity to look at this week's and next week's store circular. If I see that a particular item is going to be on sale next week, I buy as little as possible of that item this week and will wait to buy in bulk the following week. There are many websites that look at all the circulars and the available coupons for the week and will give you the optimal price for an item and where to buy that particular item. If a sale is good enough, I would have no problem buying a month's supply or more of a non-perishable item.
That is the way to save money. I tend to look at both circulars and coupons that are offered. I will look at store coupons and also coupons from other sites, to see what can be combined. I went shopping yesterday, but I just was buying a few things, so I got the store specials and that was good enough for me.
Twice or three times a month. It all depends of the total volume of goods I buy every time I go to do some grocery shopping. For perishable food like bread or loquid milk, I buy those very often, everyday most of times. We like to dine sandwich or cereal.
We are a five-people household and therefore I go get groceries at least twice a week. We also use the bonus points cards in order to save some money and that has helped a lot. I wish I could also just go get groceries every 2 weeks but unfortunately we do not have that much money to buy that much at once....plus we do not have a car so our groceries are always from the stores that are close to where we live.
Since I live alone, I only go to the grocery store once every three or four weeks. The first week after a trip, I eat all the perishables like fresh fruits and vegetables. The other weeks, I cook a recipe to put in the freezer or I eat things like cereal and soups until I completely run out. Maybe not the healthiest strategy, but I try to keep my grocery costs below $150 per month.
I usually shop a couple times a week. I love, love, love looking through the sale flyers. Then I'll make up my grocery list and plan my meals based on what's on sale that week. I only wish that the grocery stores I go to would price match so I wouldn't have to go to 2 or 3 different stores. When things are on sale I'll stock up on items like toilet paper, paper towel, canned goods etc. Then each week I buy fruits and vegetables and dairy and bread that I need for the week. I wish I could shop every two weeks but that would require even more planning than I already do.
I tend to go once a week because I get a lot of perishable food like fruit and veg. I get enough to last a whole week, without any of it spoiling and going to waste. Alas, I still manage to end up having to throw some of it away. I couldn't it groceries every fortnight, that's for sure. I don't often have to replenish anything in between, so it must work for us
I don't have enough cash available to go on a big shopping trip. I generally just shop as I have cash available. When I do shop though I usually go the "value store" in the area. The food there tends to be very inexpensive..as long as you know prices. I will get their store specials. The mainstream store that is closer actually have better prices on milk, cat food and things like that.
I ride the bus, so I can carry just a few items when I go shopping so I can get a nice seat or be comfy standing when necessary. I have a trolley dolly that I'm careful with and can carry juices and other heavy items. I go shopping about 3-5 times a week depending on what's on sale. I check the $5 Fridays for Safeway and weekly ads for CVS and Walgreens too for goodies and cleaning things too. Every week our supermarkets has sales too so it's a wonderful sale items I need I'll go get every week. Luckily when things are not on sale I got a Walmart to go to with prices so sweet that I can stand buying them even if I have a tight budget.