GTKY: Groceries

[URMySunshine77]

Mar 22, 2015 19:58:50 GMT -5 @marymargaret said:

1)What types of staples do you keep in your pantry/cabinet?

Cans of tuna, dried beans, oats, red fife flour, local honey, peanut butter (we actually bought a 20 pound tub of PB in November!).

2)Do you stock up or only buy when you need?

We only shop once a month so if we see a good deal on tuna for example when we are shopping we will buy several cans to last us through the month.  However, we buy produce as we need it since it doesn't last long.

3)Do you shop based on meal plans or on the fly?

I try to plan meals for the month.

4)Do you have a strict budget?

We aim for around $200 per month.  Lately we have been buying a lot of organic fruit, which is a little pricey, so we are usually closer to $250.

5)Do you shop by yourself or with SO and/or kids?
I prefer to shop alone but DH likes coming with me, so we plan our shopping on a Sunday after church.


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@marymargaret, what is red fife flour?

[Deleted]

Mar 23, 2015 17:33:55 GMT -5 URMySunshine77 said:

Mar 22, 2015 19:58:50 GMT -5 @marymargaret said:

1)What types of staples do you keep in your pantry/cabinet?

Cans of tuna, dried beans, oats, red fife flour, local honey, peanut butter (we actually bought a 20 pound tub of PB in November!).

2)Do you stock up or only buy when you need?

We only shop once a month so if we see a good deal on tuna for example when we are shopping we will buy several cans to last us through the month.  However, we buy produce as we need it since it doesn't last long.

3)Do you shop based on meal plans or on the fly?

I try to plan meals for the month.

4)Do you have a strict budget?

We aim for around $200 per month.  Lately we have been buying a lot of organic fruit, which is a little pricey, so we are usually closer to $250.

5)Do you shop by yourself or with SO and/or kids?
I prefer to shop alone but DH likes coming with me, so we plan our shopping on a Sunday after church.


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@marymargaret, what is red fife flour?

It's a whole wheat flour!

[twocents6708]

1)What types of staples do you keep in your pantry/cabinet? Canned goods, almond milk, baking supplies, tortillas, oatmeal and cereal.
2)Do you stock up or only buy when you need? We have a small stock of frequently used items but mostly buy what we need.
3)Do you shop based on meal plans or on the fly? I try to have a loose meal plan. Before I was in school, I always had a list and meal plan for the 2 week shopping period. These days, I don't have as much time for planning to it's a bit more on the fly.
4)Do you have a strict budget? I wouldn't say it is strict but I do have one and stick pretty close to it each time I shop.
5)Do you shop by yourself or with SO and/or kids? Most of the time we shop as a family but this week I got to shop alone..which was a luxury. I enjoyed every second of slowly perusing the aisles without DH adding junk food or negotiation with DD over healthier snack choices.

[ghostmonkey]

1)What types of staples do you keep in your pantry/cabinet? Noodles, tomato paste, rice, oatmeal,
2)Do you stock up or only buy when you need? Both. If there is a good sale we will stock up on things we use regularly.
3)Do you shop based on meal plans or on the fly? Both.
4)Do you have a strict budget? Ha. No.
5)Do you shop by yourself or with SO and/or kids? Usually with DH and DS, but sometimes alone is just so much faster.

[Deleted]

Big thanks to everyone for posting. I was not expecting this thread to catch anyone's interest. It's been fascinating see how much all of our shopping habits differ.
Seeing that everyone had already gone to store for the week helped motivate me to finally go out to the store... at 5pm, but whatever I still went.

[Ruca]

1)What types of staples do you keep in your pantry/cabinet? Flavored rices, saltines, frozen veggies, cereal
2)Do you stock up or only buy when you need? I usually only buy when I need. Though we buy toilet paper and paper towel in bulk
3)Do you shop based on meal plans or on the fly? We shop based on meal plans. I write out about 12-14 meals and buy the ingredients I'll need for those meals. I then hang my list on the fridge so I remember what I planned to cook over the next two weeks.
4)Do you have a strict budget? No but if we keep it under $200 we are happy
5)Do you shop by yourself or with SO and/or kids? It's a family affair. DH pushes the cart and entertains DD while I get what we need.

[LadyNymeria]

1)What types of staples do you keep in your pantry/cabinet?
Commonly used spices, oils, vinegars, condiments, sugar, flower, chocolate chips (I LOVE chocolate chip pancakes), etc.

2)Do you stock up or only buy when you need?
We'll stock up on certain things, like cans of soup when on sale, but otherwise we only buy what we need for the week.

3)Do you shop based on meal plans or on the fly?
I wouldn't quite call it meal plans, but generally we'll decide what's going to be for dinner that week and shop for what we need to make that/those meals.

4)Do you have a strict budget?
Not at all. We'll check the flyer/circular/whatever you want to call it to try to chose dinners that use items on sale that week, but that's about the only way we limit what we spend on groceries.

5)Do you shop by yourself or with SO and/or kids?
About 70% of the time MH and I go shopping together. The other 30% MH goes shopping my himself. He does basically all the cooking in our house so he's the one that knows what we need.

[singingsea]

1)What types of staples do you keep in your pantry/cabinet? Canned vegetables, soups, instant mashed potatoes, rice, cereal, bread, bananas, apples, peanut butter etc.
2)Do you stock up or only buy when you need? I can only afford to buy when we need.
3)Do you shop based on meal plans or on the fly? We plan a couple meals a week and the rest is on the fly.
4)Do you have a strict budget? I try not to spend more than $150 a week on groceries. I use coupons (no I'm not a couponer) and shop the sales.
5)Do you shop by yourself or with SO and/or kids? Depends on DS's mood. I'll take him sometimes but I really do prefer to shop alone.