Teach Me: Grocery Shopping

[Deleted]

Grocery shopping has to be one of my least favorite activities in the world. And it doesn't help that I don't think I'm very good at it.

Share with me your secrets!

How many people are in your family? Ages? 4 folks/Me, DH, DD-6, and DS-1

How much do you usually spend when you shop? I've been spending $100-$150 a week. Is this too much? About right for 4 people? I have no idea.

Do you coupon? If so, where do you fall on a scale of every once in awhile to having your own TLC show? No. Again, have no idea what I'm doing.

Where do you shop? I usually do my main shopping at Walmart and take advantage of the Savings Catcher app. We have a Publix VERY close to us that I use for random minor purchases.

How often do you shop? Once a week, usually on Monday or Tuesday. I buy enough things for breakfast, school lunches, baby lunches, snacks, and 5-6 meals for dinner that week. *Also any household things we need, bathroom stuff, cleaning supplies, etc.

Any other drops of knowledge you would like to bestow would be greatly appreciated!








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[ashiscute]

How many people are in your family? Ages? Four soon to be five. DD is 4 and DS is 2. #3 is due in July

How much do you usually spend when you shop? I would say $75- 100 depending on the store and the week.

Do you coupon? If so, where do you fall on a scale of every once in awhile to having your own TLC show? I definitely coupon but nowhere near TLC show. First of all, those people never buy fresh food. I cut coupons from the paper each week (if it's a good enough set of coupons I'll buy another paper). I also print coupons off coupons.com and target.com has coupons as well. The grocery store I shop at doubles all coupons up to a dollar and Target allows you to use a manufacturer's coupon, Target coupon, and Cartwheel coupon for the same item. I find it pretty easy to cross reference with sales and use these. I do not buy items specifically because I have a coupon though. I try to stick to what we need.

Where do you shop? I do my main shopping at Remke which is a smaller grocery store. I buy my meat, produce, fresh food, etc there. I tend to buy most of the dry goods at Target because there prices are so much better but they a lot of times have a smaller selection. We do not have a Target Super Center.

How often do you shop? Usually DS and I go to Remke every Monday after taking DD to preschool. It's not abnormal for DH and I to stop there another time during the week because we've run out of bread or bananas. We go to Target probably twice per month for food and other household items (this does not include trips for toys, crafts, clothes, and all of the other wonderful things that Target sells me).

I tend to buy meat for two meals and freeze. Check out the stores ad before you go and if they have BOGO it's a great time to stock up. I make a full list and try to stay as close to as possible. I feel like I'm slowly starting to feel like a grown-up.

[mrslka]

How many people are in your family? Ages?
4- DH, me, E (2.5), & W (1)

How much do you usually spend when you shop?
$75-100, the only meat we have to buy in store is chicken and we eat mostly whole foods so most times the cart is 90% produce,

Do you coupon? Not really, if there is a specific coupon in the ad. I do meal plan off the ad though.

Where do you shop? normally I shop at our local grocery store. I buy paper goods at Walmart or target though.

How often do you shop? I meal plan 2 weeks at a time, all items that can be purchased at that time are, then I do another run halfway through. I don't have a set schedule for cleaning & bathroom supplies, we just buy it as needed.

[penguin129]

Mar 2, 2015 15:20:40 GMT -5 @annperkins said:

How many people are in your family? Ages? Me, DH, and DD (20 months)

How much do you usually spend when you shop? I'm not really sure. I meal plan and usually only buy meats two trips out of the month. On the trips where I buy meat and other groceries it is usually $80. I do several trips in between my "big trips" where I spend $20 - $30 a trip. I am at the store every couple of days because we go through milk so fast.

Do you coupon? If so, where do you fall on a scale of every once in awhile to having your own TLC show? I don't coupon to grocery shop. If I go to Target I use the Cartwheel App if I remember.

Where do you shop? I shop at Winn Dixie. We live in a small town and there aren't many options unless I want to drive a 1/2 hour away.

How often do you shop? I pick up milk a few times a week, but only shop for big things with a list once a week.










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[rlpointer86]

How many people are in your family? Ages? 3 - my husband, me, and my daughter (2)

How much do you usually spend when you shop? I usually end up spending about a hundred, maybe a little over a week on groceries.

Do you coupon? If so, where do you fall on a scale of every once in awhile to having your own TLC show? No because usually I shop around the outside of the store, the produce, dairy, meats, etc (it's healthier that way) and there aren't a lot of coupons for those sections.

Where do you shop? I shop at a store called Payless Discount Foods, which used to be Price Chopper for my main groceries and anything I can't find there I go to Target. However I might have to start checking out Whole Foods since I have to have a change of diet thanks to PCOS.

How often do you shop? For groceries I shop once a week. Sometimes I have to pick up one thing here and there throughout the week and usually the trip to PDF and the trip to Target are not right together either. But the main grocery run is once a week on Mondays.

Any other drops of knowledge you would like to bestow would be greatly appreciated!

[hlm184]

3 people, DS is almost 1.

We spend around 80.

No couponing.

I generally shop at WinCo, with once or twice a month going to Costco and the Commissary.

Once a week.

[beckyrosen]

How many people are in your family? Ages? 4 people (including my 12 week old that is EBF)

How much do you usually spend when you shop? usually between 50 and 80 bucks depending on the week. But that's because we get a lot at Costco about once a month and freeze (especially meat). We normally spend about 100 to 150 at Costco.

Do you coupon? If so, where do you fall on a scale of every once in awhile to having your own TLC show? yes, but computer has stopped working I can't print coupons anymore so I use whatever comes in the newspaper and I love the cartwheel app for my target shopping.

Where do you shop? DH goes to Sprouts every week, sometimes I join him. Once a month I go to Costco, and depending on the sales I may go to Vons or Albertsons or even Target. I love shopping at Trader Joes but the one by me closed so I have to go to the one by my parents house.

How often do you shop? Once a week for groceries, once a month for costco.

Any other drops of knowledge you would like to bestow would be greatly appreciated!

Meal plan. I got lazy the past couple weeks and I don't like that. I only started meal planning a couple months ago but it really helps me to know what I need and less food goes to waste because I'm not just buying random shiz I don't need.

Also, make a list. It really helps when I make a running last throughout the week.

[jensriot]

We have 5 people - me, DH, C (6.5), L(4.5) and A (2).

We spend $150/week, sometimes a little more.

I couponed before DS was born. I have enough shampoo, soap and shaving gel to last years, lol. When I see a good sale I will stock up, but I don't coupon match anymore.

I buy most of our groceries from Costco and Aldi plus some random stuff from Kroger and Market Street.

I go to Aldi once every couple weeks and Costco every week. I hit up Market street when we need coffee. Kroger for quick runs like we ran out of onions or whatever.

I don't really meal plan as much as I should. It helps save money and cut down on random trips. I tend to buy so many packages of chicken, fish, shrimp etc. that we will eat in 2 weeks and then add produce each week. My advice is to make a list and stick to it. If i stick to my list I'll spend less and throw away less impulse stuff that nobody really wanted anyway.

[redfraggle]

How many people are in your family? Ages? 4 of us, kids are 3.5 and 1.5

How much do you usually spend when you shop? It varies a lot, as I buy in bulk when I get a good deal on something. I freeze a lot of my meat and bread, and I get milk, yogurt, cheese, and bread at Costco because it's usually a lot cheaper there, and we go through a lot of it. I have a small pantry and a little space in my basement storage room where I keep my bulk buys. We also have 2 refrigerators (1 was free, so why not?) and a small chest freezer.

Do you coupon? If so, where do you fall on a scale of every once in awhile to having your own TLC show? Yes I clip coupons, but I'm not extremist. Our grocery store puts out a good ad in Sunday's paper, and they also have other coupon books in there. I give them a quick once-through to find the ones I will likely use and put them in an accordion file in my purse. If I'm not 80% sure I'll use it, I don't bother clipping it because I found myself with a ton of unused coupons each week when I first started.

Where do you shop? Regional grocery chain with lots of weekly specials and coupons for healthy staples, Costco, sometimes Target

How often do you shop? usually once a week, but if the coupons are really good, sometimes I'll go back a couple times to get something, like our store will put out an online coupon for milk at 2 gallons/$5 (almost $1 cheaper than normal), but you can only use 1 per family per day for that week, so I go a few times to get the milk cheap.

You asked for other tricks: I took pictures of the aisle listings and used them to make a list of all the things I typically buy in the order they are found in the store. So when I make my shopping list each week, I get that master list out and write my shopping list in order of how I go through the store, which saves me time and money because I'm not wandering around and buying lots on impulse. (I do still buy some impulse buys but significantly fewer.)

[Deleted]

Thank you all so much for your advice!

From what I gather, I'm not spending way over the norm, but I could definitely do better.

I'm going to start looking online for coupons. I've heard people say that Publix is a great place to use them, so I think I will start utilizing it more than just as a random shop stop.

I would really like to start buying in bulk, but we are currently renting and have limited storage space. It is certainly something I will start doing as soon as we have the room, hopefully by next year!

Shopping around the store is a great strategy. I had never really thought about it before. Saving money and eating healthier, who knew?

Thank you all again! I know this was probably helpful for more people than just me...or I hope so at least!

[namastebiotches]

How many people are in your family? Just the three of us. DS is 3.5

How much do you usually spend when you shop? Usually $100ish every two weeks. $40-50 the in between weeks.

Do you coupon? No. We save money by buying a lot of store brand which often taste just the same & even better.

Where do you shop? Walmart. It's the closest & really, the cheapest. We have an IGA even closer but just go there if we forget something small.

How often do you shop? Once a week, we weekly meal plan.

[Deleted]

There are 3, soon to be 4 of us. We spend about $150-180 on average for two weeks (but I have a wheat allergy so some things are more expensive). We don't coupon, but do look for in store sales as well as compare prices of that item across brands. We shop either at Safeway or a Kroger owned store (depending on the meal plan). We also buy some stuff on Amazon, we have prime and they have a prime pantry which can sometimes save us money on some things.

I find that meal planning helps a lot, also if/when possible using one ingredient in more then one meal can help. For instance for the two week meal plan I just did, I needed a very small amount of tomato sauce for one meal and was able to use the rest for another meal. I will also be making mini pizzas, I won't use all of the sausage, so I will save the rest for spaghetti. I just started doing this, mostly since I will have a baby soon, but freezer meals if/when possible can be done without spending too much more. Living in a few different parts of the US the cost of food can very a bit depending on where you live as well as where you shop.

[KC thepouchh8r]

Four people-35, 32, 5 and 4.

$80 a week

Couponing but not food-more like Laundry detergent, tp, shampoo. I haven't paid for toothpaste in years.

i shop twice a week everywhere--discount grocery chain, trader joes, local markets, butcher shop, ethni markets.

I have tons of ways to save. You can find steals like chrap quinoa, big bags of rice, beans and other vegetables dirt cheap at ethnic markets if you live near a city. Going to a butcher shop and buying like 20lbs worth of meat at once is cheaper (and fresher/healthier) than going to a grocery store. You can fit a lot with freezer bags stacked. Buy large cuts of meat like whole chicken, turkey, pork shoulder and freeze (saves you time on cooking too!!). Managers specials two days from sell by helps cut costs by 50% so you can get huge deals if you pair that with a Sale. Avoid any Packaged convenience foods. If you buy a cheese shredder you can buy big chunks of cheese for cheap and shred your own (and tastes a million times better!) Grow a herb garden-super easy even if you don't have a green thumb. Use that to flavor meals. Go meatless once a week.

[nerdalert]

How many people are in your family? Ages? 
3- me, DH, DD (3 months)

How much do you usually spend when you shop? 
about $75/week

Do you coupon? If so, where do you fall on a scale of every once in awhile to having your own TLC show? 
yes- just the weekly ads and coupons.com. Target has been having coupons for just any produce so that is great. I don't "stockpile" anything really because we don't have the space.

Where do you shop? 
Target, Walmart, local grocery store. Walmart is great for household items and boxed/canned things, but the produce never looks good so I have to get that elsewhere.

How often do you shop?
once a week

Other advice:
meal planning is very helpful. also, shop with cash in order to save money. it's less tempting to overspend when you only have a certain amount of cash in an envelope designated for groceries for the month.  

question for you all: how do you shop with a baby? the carseat takes up the entire cart, i can't even put the seat thing down at most stores. and the diaper bag takes up a lot of the under-the-basket space. my mom has been watching DD for about an hour or so while i shop each week so that i can actually get everything i need in one trip. I plan to wear her at the store once it warms up a little bit. it's way too cold to try to take her out of the carseat and put her in the carrier in the parking lot. i'm also not that skilled at using the carrier yet, haha. Any other tips?

[Deleted]

nerdalert, When I wanted to do big grocery shopping, I would have my husband go with me. When I went by myself, I never took a diaper bag...I would just stick a few diapers and wipes in my purse. That freed up the bottom of the cart for items, and I would put some smaller items around the car seat. Baby wearing never worked for me when shopping because DD would always fall asleep in the car and I hated to wake her up.

How many people are in your family? Ages? 3- Me:31, DH:34, DD: 19 months

How much do you usually spend when you shop? I would say around $100.

Do you coupon? Nope. I don't have the patience to sit and look for coupons for groceries.

Where do you shop? Usually Kroger or Target.

How often do you shop? Kroger once a week. Target I usually end up going there twice a week because my husband forgets to write things down on our list.

[nerdalert]

Mar 5, 2015 1:20:58 GMT -5 @auri said:

nerdalert, When I wanted to do big grocery shopping, I would have my husband go with me. When I went by myself, I never took a diaper bag...I would just stick a few diapers and wipes in my purse. That freed up the bottom of the cart for items, and I would put some smaller items around the car seat. Baby wearing never worked for me when shopping because DD would always fall asleep in the car and I hated to wake her up.

That is a good idea to just not take the diaper bag in... I never considered that! 

[beckyrosen]

nerdalert I normally put my diaper bag straps around the bar on the shipping cart (not sure if that's a proper name for it, the part where you put your hands to push it). Also, I've done what @auri mentioned, putting just wipes an diapers in my purse.

[wildflower810]

How many people are in your family? Ages?
Three. Me, H, and the 3 month old. The baby is ebf.

How much do you usually spend when you shop?
About $100-$115 a week, but that includes toiletries, household stuff, etc. I would say more like $80-$90 for groceries.

Do you coupon? If so, where do you fall on a scale of every once in awhile to having your own TLC show?
I use the local grocery store's sale ad to do my menu planning, and my shopping list. Whatever meat is cheap that week becomes what we eat 2-3 times, and I look for other expensive ingredients that are on sale to use as well. I stock up on pantry items or things that won't go bad quickly (like cheese) when there is a good deal. I also use the MPerks app, but I rarely buy something because of the coupon. I scroll through and "clip" coupons for items that I often buy, and then if it winds up helping me out at the checkout, great.

Where do you shop?
Meijer. We don't have a decent Wal-Mart near us, and with a 3 month old, I don't want to make multiple stops, even if it might save me $5. We have other grocery stores in town, including an Aldis, but again, it's worth $5-$8 to not make a second trip, or a longer trip, with an infant.

How often do you shop?
Once a week, hopefully. The last few weeks it's been twice, and my grocery bill reflects that.

My tip is to menu plan, menu plan, menu plan! I will have all 7-8 dinners' recipes opened on my computer and will go through each recipe to make sure I have everything. Breakfast is a matter of keeping cereal, milk, yogurt, fruit, and granola in the house. Lunch is meat, cheese, bread, salad fixings (for me), etc. Then I check on my protein snacks.
I also keep a running shopping list on the whiteboard on the fridge. That is helpful for things I might forget about, like a certain spice, or bandaids. When I use the last of an item, I can just write it on the board and I don't have to remember it any more. H isn't very involved in the shopping right now, but he sometimes adds things to the list as well.

[BostonKisses]

How many people are in your family? Ages? 3: myself, MH, and my 4 year old

How much do you usually spend when you shop? Between $60-100/week

Do you coupon? If so, where do you fall on a scale of every once in awhile to having your own TLC show? Rarely. I usually only use the coupons that print at the register if it's a good deal. Most coupons in the paper are for things I don't use.

Where do you shop? My main shopping is done at the regional grocery chains. There are 2 that are practically the same, and I usually go to the one that's most convenient at the moment or has the better sales. I also do a lot of bulk shopping at Costco for cleaning supplies, paper goods, and nonperishables.

How often do you shop? Once a week and as needed at the regional chains. I'm usually at Costco once a month picking up various things as we go through it, but I don't replace everything at once each month. Sometimes I'm just getting tissues and TP, other times soap refills, other times juice and cereal, etc.

Any other drops of knowledge you would like to bestow would be greatly appreciated! I try to buy what I can in bulk. It really does help save a lot of money, especially on items that we would go through faster. I also try to buy generic/store brands as much as possible, and I always stock up when there's a good sale, especially for nonperishables. During the late spring, summer, and early fall, I buy local for produce because it's often cheaper, significantly fresher, and not as laden with pesticides. Once we move and I can get a chest freezer or an upright freezer, I'm going to start getting more of my meats in bulk from local butchers.

[tee]

Wow I spend a lot compared to many of you. What am I doing wrong?! We are a family of 4 (ds 1.5 dd 1 month). Can this count as my intro on this board??

I spend about $150 a week. We also buy a quarter of a cow yearly (grass fed/local) which is an additional $55/month budgeted.

I buy a lot (most?) organic so maybe that accounts for my high bill.

I shop at costco and whole foods mostly. Occasionally at Safeway. Whole foods is my favorite.

I don't coupon. I did once upon a time but the coupons never fit with what I buy.

[AuntShannon]

We are a family of four. DD is 4 and DS is 15 months.

I've been trying to spend about $350 a month for all of our groceries and household items.

I usually shop at Aldi because I spend less there, Wal-Mart when I need something specific. Not many other choices around here.

I do not coupon, but sometimes I meal plan with the ad. We also have beef and venison in our freezer from our farm.

I agree with the meal planning. Lately I've also been getting my groceries via Amazon Prime Pantry. Love getting my groceries delivered to my door but I found I also spend much much less when I order online versus Wal-Mart. Then I go to Aldi or my produce. This really cut my grocery budget down.

Oh, paying with cash is also known to save you money at the store. It a kind of a pain to keep a running total, but it does save you money vs running a credit card because it is psychologically harder to part with cash.