I wish I did. When I was married and later when I had a boyfriend who ate here a lot, I cooked actual meals most days from scratch. Shopped systematically. Always knew what I was going to cook. Now that I’m single, I’m a loose food cannon. I go binges (not binge-eating, but sticking with one thing for a week or more), like hot dogs & sauerkraut, or lots of fruit, or protein drinks, or eggs, or soup, or cauliflower, or pizza. I’ve lost all of my foodie organizational knowledge.
Some other questions:
Do you keep your pantry stocked systematically so you can always put together a meal from there?
Do you always/never use a grocery list?
Do you “coupon” (the verb)?
How often do you Big-Shop? How often "just grab a couple of things’?
How many people do you routinely cook/shop for?
Do you enjoy grocery shopping?
Use convenience stores or warehouse stores or something in-between?
What country do you live in?
Probably should, but nope. No coupons, no list, just try to walk in and remember what I need. If I forget something, go again next week. Just the typical middle-aged bachelor thing: if I want a bag of Cheetohs, I get one. No duties, no responsibilities, no commitments. Perfect freedom.
I use a carrying-basket, rather than a rolling shopping cart. Never buy more than I can carry.
Not the worst way of life…
(I should also add, for some reason – I have absolutely no idea what it is! – I never buy frozen food. It’s almost a religious ban. I never, ever, walk down the frozen food aisle in a supermarket. Just don’t, and just won’t. I seriously have no idea why. Maybe Johnny Carson made a joke once, and I was too young to get it. No idea.)
I thought you meant the method in which we literally shop, in which case I’d save picking up the meat, frozen food, and chilled beverages until last.
No, I shop once or twice a week, picking up anything I am running low on. If the list is greater than around 3 items I sometimes make a list as I might not remember everything.
Occasionally a list, but that’s just when there’s too many of the things that don’t fit into a weekly resupply to remember. I try to keep canned and dry ingredients in the cabinets to make whatever I want when I get the time, and dried spices too. I buy fresh food for specific meals in the upcoming week. Not many frozen items, but we try to maintain a frozen pizza and a couple of frozen meals for eat and run situations. I usually stock up on extra bacon when it’s two for one and put some away in the freezer. If we don’t eat the breakfast sausage over the weekend I’ll freeze that too. Oh yeah, I always pick up fresh eggs, a loaf of bread, a package of round rolls, and a package of hot dog type rolls and hot dogs. Paper goods, soaps, and dog food round it all out.
I shop every week, use coupons when I can, and alternate between 4 stores.
When I have no coupons, or I need a lot of non-food items (detergent, tissue, etc.) I shop at Walmart. I hate going to Walmart, so it’s always a Super Big Stock Up trip.
Usually, though, I do my weekly big shopping at one of 2 stores, depending on what’s on sale. Both stores double coupons, so I try to match up with the sales. The more expensive one makes sense when they have good sales on coupon items. They also offer fuel rewards, and their frozen veggies are always the cheapest, plus the coupons they give at the cash register are usually worthwhile: free eggs or bread or $2.00 off fresh produce, that sort of thing. The less expensive store has a smaller selection, but they have better prices on meat and dairy.
Every month or two I hit the “ghetto” grocery, to stock up on the specials. (Pork chops 1.18/lb, ground beef .99/lb, potatoes $3.99/15 pounds, that sort of thing.)
I always make a list, which sometimes gets to the store with me. And I feed 5.5 people (the baby is still nursing.) By shopping wisely, I generally spend about $100-120 per week, including stuff like paper towels and trash bags. This is in rural-ish Georgia, USA.
And I can always scrounge one or two more meals from the pantry and freezer.
I keep a whiteboard (and pen) on the fridge. I have a checklist of the stuff we most commonly and occasionally buy on the computer. When I make out the shopping list, I check both. I do have things that I consider staples (bread, milk, tea) and I’ll make a quick stop and grab for them if I’m actually out or will run out the next day, but most of the time I won’t run out before the next shopping trip.
I usually only cook for two, but this is the same system that I’ve used when my daughter was still living at home, and when I was cooking a meal for the D&D group that we hosted every week. I don’t plan weekly menus, other than trying to mix up the routine. I know that my husband would prefer for me to cook at least two pasta meals a week (I suspect that I could feed him pasta at least five times a week and he wouldn’t complain). Most of the food items that I buy don’t have coupons for them. Some of the non-food items do have coupons, but it’s cheaper to buy another brand.
I usually go to a regular supermarket. I don’t like the warehouse stores, and I don’t feel like the savings are enough to notice, if they are true savings at all. I usually go big shopping once a week, and I take my own bags. Some are just cloth bags, but some are insulated as well, which is especially nice during Texas summers. That’s in the US, it’s not a separate country, despite what some of my fellow Texans might say. My husband usually goes with me.
Usually I enjoy grocery shopping, but not always. I always make a list, unless I’m going in for just one thing. When I was younger, I could get away with not using a list, but I’ve come home too many times to find that I’ve forgotten the cat litter or some other essential to do that any more.
I’m a very spontaneous shopper. I very rarely make a list or use coupons. I usually just go to the store and see what looks good. I might do something like see there’s some lamb shanks and decide to make some stew. Then I’ll go around and buy the other ingredients I need.
The closest thing I have to organization is I go to the frozen section last so my frozen food doesn’t thaw while I’m shopping.
We systematized things when my wife had her eye problems and I needed to shop.
Some other questions:
Do you keep your pantry stocked systematically so you can always put together a meal from there?
Not intentionally, but we design our list so we plan a week in advance, and so unless there is something that needs to be bought at the last minute, we generally have all the components for a weeks worth of meals after we shop on Sunday. We usually have enough for an extra meal also.
Do you always/never use a grocery list?
Do you “coupon” (the verb)?
These things go together. More than coupon, we go through the Safeway circular and arrange meals around what is on sale, and often around having enough meat leftover for lunches for me the next week. We go through the recipes and make sure we have all the components. Then we sort the list in the order the items appear in the store in our traversal (starting at produce, ending a the Deli.) We buy very little not on the list, unless there is a special sale or some new product we want to try.
How often do you Big-Shop? How often "just grab a couple of things’?
Once a week big, almost never for grabbing a couple of things. You might count trips to the farmers market that, and there are a few things our Lucky’s has that Safeway does not.
How many people do you routinely cook/shop for?
My wife cooks because she works at home and so can start meals early (and she is better at it than me, though I’m not bad.) We shop together, and it is just the two of us, though we did the same thing when the kids were home.
Do you enjoy grocery shopping? Yes.
Use convenience stores or warehouse stores or something in-between? Never convenience stores. Yes for warehouse stores (CostCo). There are some things they are cheap on, but not all, but there are other things that they are just good at. They get bread from a local bakery, and it is excellent - as good as bread from a regular bakery. They have a very good type of frozen salmon, and better pastrami than in the delis.
Do you keep your pantry stocked systematically so you can always put together a meal from there?
I always have the staples like salt, oil, flour, spices, but they’re not really meal-makers. I do try to always have at least pasta and sauce in the pantry, along with rice, stock, and soups. That way if I forgot to thaw the pork chops, or forgot the cheese for the stuffed peppers, I can turn to one of the quick substitutes I have on hand. That can also mean a meal of frozen pizza or ravioli.
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Do you always/never use a grocery list?**
I always make a list, by checking out the flyer online to see what’s on sale and then trying to figure out what meals I want to make out of the sale items. I don’t usually plan out the whole week, I just buy stuff I’d need for a few meals and wing it. Whether or not the list makes it with me to the store is about 50/50.
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Do you “coupon” (the verb)?**
Most of what I buy doesn’t usually come with coupons, so I’m not much of a “couponer”. For example, lately, I’ve been making a lot of salads because I’ve fallen in love with the produce at Wegmans. I buy meat in giant club packs (sometimes at Costco) and freeze individual portions for later, getting a little savings by buying in bulk. How often do you Big-Shop? How often "just grab a couple of things’?
Costco run monthly or so, and smaller grocery store runs a couple of times a week. Lettuce and salad stuff doesn’t store well, so I’m often there twice a week.
How many people do you routinely cook/shop for?
Two
Do you enjoy grocery shopping?
I do! Not sure why, but I like wandering the aisles looking for stuff.
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Use convenience stores or warehouse stores or something in-between?**
Costco, Giant, Wegmans, generally. There’s a Safeway by work so sometimes I’ll stop there too. In season, I hit the farmers markets for veggies and fruits as much as possible, and often plan meals around what looks good there.
We add things to the grocery list as we think of them, then on the weekend I come up with a rough meal list for the week and finalize the grocery list.
Then I send my husband to the store With both kids
We shop at a big discount grocery store, and there is often a 2nd small visit mid-week when we run out of milk.
We Big Shop once a week, after going over the sales flyers online, and almost never run to the store for one or two things. We keep a running inventory of the freezer and pantry contents. I check what we have, list the sales that look good, then make up a menu for the week. Everything we need is on The List, by store (have five options) and by where the items are located there.
If it’s not on The List it isn’t remembered so isn’t bought. Every once in a while something is such a good buy–an unadvertised special—that we add it to the buggy. A couple weeks ago we were shopping late in the afternoon and noticed a large beef roast that was originally almost $20. We got it for $13. I can tell you how that roast is going to be fixed and on what date.
We have a section in the fridge and on a shelf that’s up for grabs. Snack from there; eat anything else at your own risk because I know what it’s going to be needed for. The guys call me the food nazi, but now we eat well on a poor man’s budget.
I shop twice a week and know what we will be cooking for all the dinners between then and the next shop. I have a list including all the ingredients, plus whatever staples we are running out of soon. About the only things I buy that are not on the list are fresh fruit, where I will see what is on offer and what looks good, and occasionally vegetables where I will not decide what we are having with the upcoming meals until I see the produce in the store.
While walking the aisles I will buy some regular items that are not on the list if they are on offer.
I use coupons sent to me by Kroger. I do not clip. I do not go to more than one store. Periodically I will go to Publix and stock up on things not stocked by Kroger.
I am a single person. I don’t shop until I desperately need at least 2 things so it’s every 2-3 weeks for me. I can usually cobble something together from what I have (I do keep junk in the pantry when I can) but if I can’t I can go out.
I keep a list when I need more than a few things. I keep it on my iPod Touch in an app.
I live near a large grocery store that’s open until 11. Plus an Aldi and a Wal Mart that now has food. If I need to run in somewhere I usually go to Wal Mart so I can get other non-food junk I need.
We live about half a mile from a grocery store, and there are three stores on the way home from the office, so picking up that night’s dinner is not inconvenient.
I don’t “coupon” but I do use coupons if they are for something I need.
My wife and I are organized in different ways. She’s all about deciding what meals we’ll make in the coming week ahead of time, so usually on Saturday morning we’ll come up with a week’s worth of menus (spacing out the big meals so we’ll have leftovers for lunch all week). I set up a grocery list with four categories: Produce; Before Frozen; After Frozen; and Dairy. (We pretty rarely buy anything frozen, but if we do, there’s a fifth category). It corresponds to how the local grocery store is set up.
Usually there’s a generic “fruit” on the list, and I almost always buy whatever’s on weekly special, because it’s relatively inexpensive and it’s usually whatever’s in season and is therefore tastiest. Otherwise I mostly stick to the list, although if I notice something’s on weekly special I’ll gravitate toward it.
I shop for two adults and a 3-year-old, and it’s my favorite chore by far.
So yeah, I guess we’re reasonably organized on grocery shopping.
I don’t have a real methodology, I basically impulse buy whatever I think I’ll want over the upcoming couple of weeks. Sometimes I’ll be inclined to get unexpected things like cottage cheese or apricots or something.
Sort of. I’ve got certain key items I keep stocked, but other stuff is hit and miss.
Almost never. I quickly go through each aisle in the store and that seems to work.
No.
Big shop every 3 weeks or so. Small shop at the corner store every 1 to 2 weeks or so, but usually for milk only or drugstore items. I usually get milk in its own trip.
Just myself right now.
I don’t mind it while I’m in the store, and it’s better than clothes shopping or something. But I can’t stand carrying the stuff back and unloading it.
Big shiny yuppie grocery store for big shopping. Corner store if getting a few things. I don’t go to warehouse stores.
I’m insatiably curious and not picky.
With both kids