So, I am going to ask all the intelligent and frugal person on here about the all important issue of grocery shopping. Do you go armed with a shopping list or without when you go grocery shopping?
I have always been a big advocate of no list from pre planned menus. My reasoning has always been because I only buy items that are on sale or that I have a great coupon for. My decision could also be based on the fact that I buy a great deal of things in volume. If canned vegetables are on sale for 25 cents a can , I will buy 5 cases of corn, green beans, a case of peas. If hamburger meat is on sale for under a dollar a pound I will buy 100 pounds. If I have 10 coupons for laundry soap and it is also on sale, I will buy 10.
I have a large pantry and a large freezer. If it is an item that I know we will use and it is on sale, I buy a great deal of it. Now, please keep in mind that when I say on sale, I mean really on sale with a huge price break. I don't consider it on sale if it is just a few cents off.
I go to the grocery store once a week with my coupons and sales ads, and spend a glorious hour without the kids. We have to go to the store two other times a week for items that we go through quickly and fresh produce. Our family consumers 8 gallons of milk each week, 10 loaves of bread, etc.
When one of us has to go stock up on more milk, lettuce, bread, friut, etc then I add on any items I need to complete a meal for that evening or the next few days. Which might be two items a week, maybe.
If I plan out menus before I go to the store, the items I need are not on sale it seems. I have tried to planned menus from the sales ad before I go to the store, but it doesn't seem to work for me. The sale ads here generally only have one really good sale on meat. My family does not want to eat the same kind of meat several days in a row.
We buy a side of beef every 6 months and I buy other meat when it is on sale. Our family likes to eat chicken, pork, fish, and turkey.
I realize that some people use a list so that are not tempted to buy expensive items that they don't really need. I do not do that. I only go grocery shopping after a meal when I am not hungry. That way I am not tempted to buy any junk.
So,.....help me please. If I am going at this wrong and you can reduce our food bill, I will be forever greatful. Our grocery receipts for last year equaled out to be 158.00 per week. That does not include the beef we have processed. I think we do a pretty good job. If we can lower it though I would be really happy.
I want to hear your suggestion, please!
Which is best? With a list or without!!
June 21st, 2007 at 03:28 am
June 21st, 2007 at 05:57 am 1182401823
I'm thinking that with 9 people you aren't going to do much better than you are. Tactics you might try are:
1.) Identify, item by item, what you are spending the most on, then try to lower those costs. I'm guessing it is going to be milk and bread. Would baking bread be cheaper than buying it?
2.) Eating produce in season - if its in season, big supply, fresher, lower price - and thinking less about heading to the grocery. It might be that a garden, P-patch, U-picks or buying a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share might be cost-effective.
June 21st, 2007 at 06:04 am 1182402261
I wish we could have a cow!!
We dont have any of the things you mentioned such as p-patch, u-picks, or csa. We do have road side vendors in some places, but they never have prices posted. I don't like to ask a price and then put the items back. Just makes me feel uncomfortable. But, a great idea that I need to explore! I need to get over my silly fears of offending people. Thanks
June 21st, 2007 at 06:07 am 1182402464
since u say u have a large pantry and freezer, maybe the more crucial challenge for you is to keep up with what you have bought and not waste anything?
June 21st, 2007 at 07:46 am 1182408362
Thanks for the suggestion though, it was awesome! Plus, food doesn't really have a chance here. I have two teenage boys eating non stop. What they don't eat, their sisters in college steal when visiting!!
June 21st, 2007 at 01:02 pm 1182427339
I make a list from the weekly grocery fliers and plan meals around the meat specials.
Without a list, I ALWAYS forget something.
June 21st, 2007 at 01:32 pm 1182429142
June 21st, 2007 at 02:02 pm 1182430920
I like lists just for things that we're running out of. I make my menu based on what we have on hand and the basics that we need to replace.
Feeding those teens is a challenge!
June 21st, 2007 at 02:04 pm 1182431061
If the no list thing is working out for you though, so be it. I honestly would just have no idea what we would need if I went listless. LOL. It's less of a temptation thing, more of a preventing the "doh I forgot the bread and have to make another trip" moments.
June 21st, 2007 at 11:17 pm 1182464266
After several weeks, I think there might have been one actual thing we needed put on the list. My hubby even joined in on the list of things he wanted. I am in great hopes the blonde was added by one of the boys and not my hubby. But, I can't be 100% certain.
June 22nd, 2007 at 01:11 am 1182471079
June 22nd, 2007 at 02:04 am 1182474292
Yes, they have a sense of humor. Their humor is why I know longer take them with me to the store. Cart racing in the aisles, acting blind, yelling down the aisles about needing tampons, asking loudly if my constipation problem is still occuring, asking the clerk if we can trade a small kid for the groceries, acting like they are licking the ice off the freezer section doors, pushing the 16 year old "IN" the cart, etc. Such is my world!!!
June 22nd, 2007 at 07:47 am 1182494844
June 22nd, 2007 at 05:23 pm 1182529420
My success in lower food bills is mainly to coupons. I am a massive coupon user. I get coupons from everyones Sunday papers that I know don't use them. I get a great deal from my hubby's single friends. My mom and grandma send me the ones they don't use every few weeks as well.
Plus I love the fact that you can print so many coupons off the internet now. Unfortunately, my favorite store will not take coupons printed from the computer. Apparently, some people were making copies of the coupons and getting tons of products. So, I can only use them at one of the groceies stores that I only visit a few times a month.
If I haven't saved at least 30% off my total at the grocery store with coupons, then I have failed miserably that trip. My all time best trip to the store happened a few years back. I went to just use coupons and not to buy any staples or meat products. They double coupons here for 50 cents or less. I bought 114 items totaling 96.10, with coupons totaling 93.50. I only paid 7.17, Most of it was sales tax. I was thrilled.
Silly, but I really felt like I had won the lottery that day.
June 23rd, 2007 at 05:40 am 1182573605