How often do you food shop?

[Quiver0f10]

I normally do a large food shop every two weeks, but I am considering doing a smaller weekly shopping instead. I am mostly considering this because we want to eat more fresh veggies and fruit rather than frozen and/or canned, which will  require shopping more often. I pick up eggs and milk from farmers every week anyways, so picking up fresh food makes sense too. Will I hate life shopping weekly though?

[Joker]

Our store is 1.5 miles down the street, so I go about every other day. We're in Florida and the weather is usually nice enough to walk, so it limits how much I can do at one time. I enjoy it much more than when I would shop for two or more weeks at a time. We eat better food and there is not any waste.

[Laura Corin]

Weekly, for the fresh fruit and vegetables and also because we don't have enough storage space for a larger shop.

 

L

[SKL]

Ideally, once every 2-3 weeks, except for bread.  Bread doesn't keep that long, so we grab that about once a week.

[Tammi K]

Short answer: Absolutely no more often than I absolutely have to because there are not words in the English language to describe how much I hate shopping of any kind.

 

Long answer: Costco run about once a month to stock up on freezer items, pantry staples, etc.   For perishables, the grocery store is 1/2 block away from the ice rink and we're at the rink every day. So, I often grab that sort of thing during a quick stop while the kids are practicing.

[Pretty in Pink]

I do my main shopping once per week and stop to pick up odds and ends once or twice per week. My supermarket is probably one mile away or less. It's really close.

 

I shop weekly because we like lots of fresh produce and also because we have no extra storage space.
 

[mamaraby]

Once a week. I'd love to go less often, but I find we spend less on groceries and less food goes to waste if I go once a week. Plus, I'd never have room in the fridge for all the fruits and veggies if I went less often.

[LibraryLover]

 Lately, several times a week. 

[helena]

Almost every day. I'm surprised how long some of you can make it without going! I live super close to a produce market though, so it's not a big deal to pop in for a cilantro, coffee beans, or whatever. 

 

I think I need to go back to meal planning. I can see I'm going way to often!

[Kathryn]

Main shopping happens once a week. Forgotten items or cravings more often.

[QueenCat]

Main shopping, once a week. Picks up in between for produce and menu changes (usually the result of last minute company or going somewhere where we need to take food).

[TammyinTN]

I shop at Costco every two weeks, but on the inbetween week I hit Aldi for fresh produce and more milk.  

[Occasionally]

Weekly. I very rarely need to pick anything up during the week. I plan all three meals for the entire week and use that to construct my list. I also ask everyone if they'd like anything "special" from the store that week.

[Wabi Sabi]

It seems to work best when I shop once every 3-4 days. I prefer smaller, more frequent trips.

[marbel]

I am in one food store or another every 2 - 3 days. 

 

Costco, about once a month, then Aldi, the produce market, and/or a regular grocery during the rest of the month.  I don't have one place I can get everything I need.  One grocery store that often has great day-old bread products, good sales on meat, and the yogurt we like best, is on the way home from the library, so I might go in there if convenient even if I've been in another store that day.

[Susan in TN]

I'd say 5 times a month - one big trip for staples (often at Sam's Club) and then a weekly trip.  But honestly, we stop much more often than that to pick up something here or there that we forgot or that we need to get for something or another.

[Pawz4me]

Every two or three days.

 

Teenaged boys eat lots of food under normal circumstances.  Oldest DS runs cross country and is training for a half marathon in November, and according to his coach he needs to be consuming a minimum of 3,000 calories a day, including lots of fresh fruit.  And I hate lugging home a truly huge load of groceries at one time.  It's much less stressful for me to go several times a week.  And since we have four grocery stores within three miles of us, it's not a big deal.

[nmoira]

TJ's every month or two.

Sunday for M-F meals

Saturday morning for weekend meals (I roll with the sales and my mood)

I pick up fruit every day, when I walk the dog in the morning, so no waste.

 

Plus occasionally cases of sale items.

[creekland]

Generally once per week at our grocery store and once every 2 - 3 weeks at Wally World.  Either can vary if necessary.

 

We don't buy many eggs or vegetables due to having our own garden (many veggies get frozen to carry us into or through winter).  Right now we also have more pears than we know what to do with and  just finished up our grapes.  We do buy what we want to eat, but don't grow (like celery).

 

I'm not fond of shopping, but I'd rather not buy huge amounts by going less frequently.  We're pretty close to the local store and I use their sale flyer to shop each week plus they'll take any competitor's coupons.  They're the best around for meat anyway (combo of best price and fresh meat).

[Dandelion]

1-2 times a week.

[bolt.]

About twice a week: once with a plan for the week, and once for additional milk/bread/produce as things run out.

[Mrs Mungo]

Once a week for a big trip. Sometimes a trip in between for more milk and bread.

[JudoMom]

Once a week.  I keep a dry erase board on the fridge, and we add things we need to that board, and then before I shop I make a menu and list.  

I pretty much refuse to shop more often than that.  It's got to be something pretty major for me to run in and pick it up (and the nearest grocery store is only a mile away).  Otherwise?  Put it on the list and I'll get it next week.  Even if I walk in the door with groceries and you ask if I got [insert item here] and when you find out I didn't because it wasn't on the list and you give me puppy dog eyes and a sad face, I still won't get it until next week.

 

[redsquirrel]

Once a week. We don't eat much packaged food. I count things like pasta and bread and cheese as packaged food. I try to have my shopping be produce based. I have a freezer so I try to make stuff we eat often (black beans, refried beans, hummus, pasta sauce, muffins) at my leisure and freeze.

 

I also don't have a costo, or whatever has bulk buying, in this town. We have a small family, only 4 of us, so I see no need to drive 45 mins to buy super jumbo sizes. My mom sometimes brings us jumbo boxes of goldfish crackers or whatever, and it either encourages us to overeat or it goes stale and gets tossed. If I am tossing it out, or if it is unhealthy food that I overeat, I don't consider that cost effective. The times that I have gone with her into her big giant super store place I didn't find the unit prices to be any better than my local supermarket.

 

That said, I live in a small city and it takes me moments to drive to the store. Around here a traffic jam means that it took me 13 mins to get to the store instead of 9. Plus, I have three small stores and an Aldis within 2 blocks if I run out of eggs or milk. I have to do that a couple times a year. If I had to drive an hour to grocery shop then I would be going much less.

[Arcadia]

For heavy items like gallons of milk or sack of potatoes, once a week as my hubby does the carrying since it is a long walk from the garage to our unit.

For anything else we can walk to the supermarket any day we want as it is 0.3 miles/1584 ft. away. When kids were younger and in the double jogger, I would walk and dump the heavy items into the jogger's basket.

[Carrie12345]

Weekly. Dh picks up more milk and other odds and ends as needed. (I can't fit all our milk for a week in the fridge!)

[PeacefulChaos]

My regular 'grocery trip' once a week, with a stop off or two to pick up bread or something in between.

[bluemongoose]

I shop every 3 weeks. Shopping requires a trip to town, so I just make one all day trip of it. I buy bulk, fresh, frozen, pantry stuff, and anything else needed (clothing etc.) at that time. We eat fresh until the fresh is gone (about 1-1.5 weeks) and then we switch to frozen for the duration. It is not my favorite to eat frozen, but this is just how it works for us right now.

[HomeschoolMamaOfTwo]

We shop once a week and that is it.

[GSOchristie]

Weekly now that there is a grocery store that I like right on the way home from CC.  I used to shop every 10 days (three times a month).

[texasmama]

About once a week.  I order from Bountiful Baskets, go to the farmer's market, go to Kroger and do a once a month (on average) trip to a salvage grocery store.  I rotate these trips.  The Bountiful Basket produce keeps up well-stocked for a week, with some items lasting up to two weeks.  The farmer's market is good on the off weeks of Bountiful Baskets (which delivers every other week at the location I use), and I also get local raw honey and chicken fajita meat there.  I choose the organic option for Bountiful Basket and sometimes order an "add on" of a specialty produce bag. 

 

I don't mind going to the grocery store usually, and I like to cook healthy, fresh food so that means I am at the store quite a lot.

[OnTheBrink]

We buy somewhere between 6-10 meals from a place where we go in and assemble the meals and take them home to freeze. We do this once a month, and then I buy lunch and breakfast stuff about 2x a month. 

[Quiver0f10]

Thank you all. I am going to try shopping once a week instead, but still do a big SAM's every two weeks. Hopefully that ill help keeping fresh food longer.

[kewb]

I hate grocery shopping and like to do it as little as possible.  However, fresh fruit doesn't last long in this house. 

My monthly shopping looks something like this:

Costco run every couple of months for staples. Big bags of baking soda, big bag of sugar in the raw, 20lb bag of rice, frozen wild blueberries, assorted other freezer goodies, and cheese.

 

Trader Joe's run once a month for cereal, crackers, assorted things I like from Trader Joe's

 

Bi-weekly trip to the poultry farm for eggs, poultry, and dog food.

 

I belong to a food co-op that I pick up bi-weekly.

 

Once a week to fill in what the co-op did not cover-assorted herbs, fruit, meat on sale, etc.

 

I do find that if I buy less and go with more frequency I have less spoilage and use what I have for fresh fruit and veggies.

[Ann.without.an.e]

Local grocer, once per week

Sam's, once per week

Trader Joe's, once per month (about 45 min. away)

 

We eat paleo so I could never shop less than once per week.  We use LOTS of freshies.

[shukriyya]

Three times a week.

[LaCEmom]

Big trips every 2 weeks with additional trips in between for produce & dairy.

[Dory]

I do my main shopping once a month. I pick up fresh stuff, and the odd thing I missed, once a week.

[Lisa in SC]

Once a week, but it's not necessarily for the items needed for that week's meals. I'll buy produce and other perishables for the week, but the rest of the trip it's to get the stuff we use regularly that's on sale for the lowest price I've ever found it. So, for example, if ground sirloin is at it's lowest price, I will stock up for the freezer even if we won't be serving it at all that week.

[Alessandra]

Every day. I love to buy fresh food.

 

 

[linders]

Major trip tied to meal plan? Every week or two. But we go through so much fresh produce that I go for quick shopping every couple of days.

[Parrothead]

Every other week. I've learned to stagger the fresh produce so there is always something available and not going bad.

[Debbi in Texas]

Almost daily, but I work there.

[Scarlett]

My life is never the same two weeks in a row....so I have settled on shopping for groceries on Mondays and Fridays. Because I buy differently based upon what is going on on the weekend.....if we have the kids or not and if we will be home and if we will have company.

[BlessedMom]

Usually every other day.

[AHASRADA]

Twice a week. 3-4 days worth of food is manageable to plan for, fit in the cart, bag and carry into the house, put away and fit in the fridge.

 

A full week of groceries would be overwhelming, and we would never have room in the fridge for all that produce. Plus, the fruit would be mushy half-way through the week.

[Mbelle]

I typically shop once per week for a big shop, but that means 2-3 different stores.  Once every two weeks I will head to Costco.

 

I have a tried a new method lately.  I will get everything for Friday night through Monday morning.  Then I will go get everything for Monday through Friday morning.  Meal planning and buying on sale.  The main grocery is only a mile away.