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Grocery shopping day = take-out night?


alisoncooks
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Am I the only one who gets worn out by grocery shopping?

 

I am grateful for food and the money to buy it, but MAN!  The last thing I want to do after grocery shopping is go home and cook a full dinner.  (And then I feel a bit guilty for having just spent $$ on all that fresh, new food...only to run to the diner and pick up something quick for the next meal.)

Please tell me I'm not the only one like this. :o

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Costco shopping day(I buy for the whole month) always includes something premade from their deli/ hot food section.

It usually takes me 2-3 days to find my kitchen counters again after the monthly Costco trip, and I'm always afraid to buy something premade because I might not have any fridge room for it. We shopped last Saturday morning, ordered pizza that night.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets worn out from it.

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Grocery shopping is exhausting! When my dc were young I did a big grocery shopping trip once a month on a day dh could be home with the dc. It took several hours to get everything and I was wiped out by the end of it. That was always a take out night for us too.

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Would it solve the problem if you went shopping more frequently, but just briefly each time, instead of a once-monthly mammoth shopping trip?

I shop several times per week, just quickly stop on my way from work and hop in the store to get fresh stuff. (Of course, only doable if you don't live dozens of miles away from the store)

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Would it solve the problem if you went shopping more frequently, but just briefly each time, instead of a once-monthly mammoth shopping trip?

I shop several times per week, just quickly stop on my way from work and hop in the store to get fresh stuff. (Of course, only doable if you don't live dozens of miles away from the store)

I do stop at Aldi every week for milk and produce, but I was sick of having half of my weekend, every weekend, consumed by grocery shopping. The drive (about 15 minute drive to Costco), the shopping, the unloading, the package dividing upping, the chopping, the prepping. I'd rather spend one exhausting day a month doing that than 1/2 to 3/4 of a day every week, while DH and the kids are out hiking or playing games or whatever. I think I spend less only going to Costco once, too.

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It is so much easier to have a simple plan for dinner on shopping days. It varies what we do, depending on the season. Nice weather usually means hamburgers or hotdogs or sausage on the grill with fruit and salad. Cold weather usually means grilled sandwiches or frozen pizza.

 

I dislike doing a big shopping trip and not having a plan for dinner that night.

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I'd still cook if I did a big shopping trip like that, but I'd cook a box of corn dogs!  :D

 

Ha! The girls actually ended up eating corn dogs and leftover soup.

DH and I had grilled cheese + soup.

(Soup we've been eating on for 3 days and are so glad to be done with it! :p)

 

So glad to know that I'm not alone in this! I was seriously feeling guilty over it, LOL.  

Not that it's stopped me from getting the take-out, week-after-week, :D but still... ;)

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I always do my shopping in one day...everything that needs to be bought for 2+ weeks are purchased on that day.  Since that's the case..I don't cook dinner that night.   I either pick up something from Costco or we order out.    I never cook on shopping day and my family loves it.  :D

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Especially after hauling it all in and putting it away - even with help from the kids it is tiring!

 

We usually do grocery shopping in the morning, so it's not quite as hard as making dinner for everyone, but even on those days I plan something very easy for lunch - cottage cheese with fruit or something that takes little-to-no preparation.

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Not alone. Grocery shopping wears me out.

 

Lazy shopper tip here - see if your grocery store has an option to shop for you. For $4.95, our grocery will shop for your order, call when it's ready, and load it in the car. They won't even take tips. We use Harris Teeter, but other stores probably have the same option!

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I shop for 2 weeks at a time. I am using a R.V. fridge so I cannot fit too much, and most doesn't have to be fridged anyway. I am an hour away from main shopping area and that's one way. I am exhausted!! I thought it was just me! My dh thanks I am just trying to be lazy and he has no idea the magnitude. So I pick something up. Chicken, or stop by a pizza place. Delivery nope, not even the ambulance could find us when we needed them. 

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I do shopping 7am once a week just as the stores open and I am home in 1-2 hours depending how many stores I have to hit. No traffic, stores are empty, get in, get out, go home. Kids make their own breakfast that morning for sure. I get mandatory half hour sit in a chair and relax with my tea once the food is put away- no debating over that one.

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we have a 100 km trip each direction to the closest decent shopping center. unfortunately ( or perhaps fortunately) take away is extremely limited, and would involve a 20 minute drive. When we do a big shopping trip. I buy shop bread ( A treat) and we make jaffles for tea. Each person making their own.

I had to go look up jaffles. Sounds yummy!

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I start the pizza dough (a package--just add water) and see how far I get in making 3 pizzas. One for dh, one each for the boys.

 

At 5:30, when DH comes home, I hand off whatever is left of cooking the pizzas to him. They stay home and eat pizzas.

 

I head out to Sonic and get a Jr. Deluxe Burger and sit in the car for a good hour. Then, I go shopping. I get home between 9 and 10.

 

It works for me.

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Hmm, I don't find grocery shopping to be exhausting.  Maybe I am weird.

 

My problem is that our favorite grocery store is a half hour away from home.  It's hard enough to find time to get all the way there and back.  I only go there about once in 3 weeks, and in between I go to our second choice, next door to our TKD place.  That's where I buy those pizzas.  :)

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Costco day means Costco food counter because seriously, where else can you feed a family out for like $5-10? I totally get it. But Costco day is like every couple of months and isn't that big of a trip anymore.

 

We shop a lot of different places to get the best prices but not all on the same day so grocery shopping isn't too much for one day here. I have a couple of produce markets I hit en route to other things for holes and in season stuff. I go to an Asian grocery store every few months to stock up on various things like rice noodles, peanut oil, curry pastes, tamarind, soy sauce, rice vinegar. I go to a discount grocery store to see what their specials are. I stop by an Ethiopian market for spices and injera and clarified butter. I go to the bakery outlet on the way home from homeschool classes when I don't have time to bake and buy sandwich bread and English muffins and bob stuff. I pick up my co-op stuff ordered online 2x a month. When I need a pepper or lemon for a recipe or a fast rotisserie chicken dinner, I swing by the grocery store across the street and get those things and also check their managers specials, loss leaders and clearance shelves. Essentially buying food is rarely too big of a production. It's rare to spend more than 20 minutes at any one store or to go to more than one store in a day.

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When I do major shopping, OR, if I am at Costco anyway, I always pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner.

 

Last week I spent $600 at Costco, almost all food!  

 

We were almost out of basics when we got sick, and between being almost out and sickness, we were in need of just about everything.

 

We are now pretty much stocked up for the month, and will just need to do some produce runs.  In fact, some things will last more than a month, but since we were out, I went ahead and bought it.

 

I had to take a boy with me as I knew we would need 2 carts.

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When I do major shopping, OR, if I am at Costco anyway, I always pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner.

 

Last week I spent $600 at Costco, almost all food!  

 

We were almost out of basics when we got sick, and between being almost out and sickness, we were in need of just about everything.

 

We are now pretty much stocked up for the month, and will just need to do some produce runs.  In fact, some things will last more than a month, but since we were out, I went ahead and bought it.

 

I had to take a boy with me as I knew we would need 2 carts.

 

No matter how long the food would last, if I ever spent $600 on groceries at one time I would need an ambulance. g 

 

I totally forget what it's like to feed a growing family since we're now down to just dh, me, and ds.  He's 20, so he's past those 'eat everything in sight' teenage years.   

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When I do major shopping, OR, if I am at Costco anyway, I always pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner.

 

Last week I spent $600 at Costco, almost all food!

 

We were almost out of basics when we got sick, and between being almost out and sickness, we were in need of just about everything.

 

We are now pretty much stocked up for the month, and will just need to do some produce runs. In fact, some things will last more than a month, but since we were out, I went ahead and bought it.

 

I had to take a boy with me as I knew we would need 2 carts.

Our total is usually about that, but this Saturday was $702. To be fair, we had a few expensive non-food things (dishwasher tabs, diapers, smoke detector batteries), and bourbon. I needed that to make DH's bourbon butter birthday cake, and to drink and forget that I spent $700 at Costco.

 

My legs were sore after pushing those carts around. I needed Salt 'n Pepa there for encouragement.

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Y'all, just reading this thread I think I need to lie down.

 

I pretty much never cook after going to the store.  Rotisserie chicken with sides made by dh, or a whole meal made by dh, or it's pizza or leftovers.

 

It's not as bad if it's a Saturday, because I usually go midday and have some time to recover.  But if it's Costco, it's always worse than a regular grocery trip... I spend more time driving there, more time navigating the store, and more time putting everything away.  I try to go every other month.

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we have a 100 km trip each direction to the closest decent shopping center. unfortunately ( or perhaps fortunately) take away is extremely limited, and would involve a 20 minute drive. When we do a big shopping trip. I buy shop bread ( A treat) and we make jaffles for tea. Each person making their own.

I learned a new food word today!

 

Jaffles--we will be trying out different combos and practicing saying 'jaffles' with our best Aussie accent. :)

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