Grocery Shopping--Is It Just My House?

[Χά�ων]

I found it interesting that people run out of coffee. Do you make more coffee if there is lots of coffee in the house?

I get that certain foods are eaten more of when they're there (chocolate and ice cream , for example), but coffee? Our coffee consumption is completely predictable: four cups in the morning. I could have stockpiles of coffee and that still would not change.

I cannot speak for anyone else, but the coffee drinker in this house is picky. The preferred coffee is only available at one grocery chain or the manufacture and only in select stores. If course they are all in areas we are very rarely in. Stocking up is an option, but since the beans will not be as fresh...

 

Snob. They are a full on coffee snob.

 

Running out of coffee happens when the stars do not align just right on days when the last cup is brewed and no one can get to the store to buy more.

[heartlikealion]

Not just your house and honestly I think I'm bad about this myself. If I ask dh to pick me up a bag of blue corn chips, I end up eating too much at once and not rationing them out. In your case I might just hide food Lol. Like put one box of unopened cereal in a hidden spot. Of course, your kids might go looking for that hidden spot later. It's more the snack/convenience food that is that way I think. We'll buy bread at Sam's that comes in two packs. Usually put one in the freezer and if we are going crazy with the bread we can pull one out of the freezer before the next shopping trip.

 

Other idea is to warn the kids, "you need to make this last" and/or get onto them if you see them eating it all at the beginning of the week? lol

[SparklyUnicorn]

I found it interesting that people run out of coffee. Do you make more coffee if there is lots of coffee in the house?

I get that certain foods are eaten more of when they're there (chocolate and ice cream , for example), but coffee? Our coffee consumption is completely predictable: four cups in the morning. I could have stockpiles of coffee and that still would not change. 

 

I never run out of coffee.  That would be VERY BAD.  :laugh:

[FaithManor]

I never run out of coffee. That would be VERY BAD. :laugh:

Not just bad, apocalyptic!

[SparklyUnicorn]

Not just bad, apocalyptic!

 

Yesterday I ran out of half and half.  At least I still had coffee.  That's better than no coffee, but still...it was not as fun. 

[SereneHome]

This has been such an interesting thread.  I am always so curious how to people do grocery shopping, what they buy, what they cook, what they eat.

 

I never buy cereal, flour, coffee, sugar and many other items weekly or even monthly.  I get them from BJ and stock up when BJ has a coupon for it (I ask for additional coupon books at customer service desk)

 

Somehow most produce easily lasts a week or longer at our house.  Not bc we don't eat it - we do, daily.  But there are lots of fruits and veggies that have longer than a week shelf life.

 

I do have a huge fridge and extra freezer, so I do have space to stock up, thankfully.  Like I said - I despise shopping!!

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

This has been such an interesting thread.  I am always so curious how to people do grocery shopping, what they buy, what they cook, what they eat.

 

I never buy cereal, flour, coffee, sugar and many other items weekly or even monthly.  I get them from BJ and stock up when BJ has a coupon for it (I ask for additional coupon books at customer service desk)

 

Somehow most produce easily lasts a week or longer at our house.  Not bc we don't eat it - we do, daily.  But there are lots of fruits and veggies that have longer than a week shelf life.

 

I do have a huge fridge and extra freezer, so I do have space to stock up, thankfully.  Like I said - I despise shopping!!

 

In terms of how long produce lasts here, that really depends on the time of year.  This time of year it lasts better than in the dead of winter. 

 

I have a tiny fridge.  It's a pain, but I don't have room for a bigger one anyway. 

[Noreen Claire]

 

I never buy cereal, flour, coffee, sugar and many other items weekly or even monthly.  I get them from BJ and stock up when BJ has a coupon for it (I ask for additional coupon books at customer service desk)

 

 

WAIT A MINUTE! They let you have ANOTHER coupon book? You can buy more than one item using more than one coupon? This changes EVERYTHING... 

 

*starts plotting my next trip to BJs*

[FaithManor]

Yesterday I ran out of half and half. At least I still had coffee. That's better than no coffee, but still...it was not as fun.

I get it. I hate black coffee, but the alternative of me without morning caffeine is pretty much a national security issue so I make do if we have a cream drought!

 

:D

[SereneHome]

WAIT A MINUTE! They let you have ANOTHER coupon book? You can buy more than one item using more than one coupon? This changes EVERYTHING... 

 

*starts plotting my next trip to BJs*

 

LOL, I don't know if you are being sarcastic, but yes, I do ask them and if they have it - they give it to me. 

 

 

As a matter of fact, they told me that there is a woman who runs some kind of store locally and comes in with 10-15 books and buys that much of the same item. 

 

I only buy 2-3.

[Arcadia]

And everyone had a corner store that the kids could walk to for milk and stuff. There are lots of things that are easier about now days but I think there are also some that are harder. Even when I was a kid the milkman came everyday. People didn't have big enough fridges or freezers to store a whole week of food.

This was what it was like growing up for me. When we bought our marital home, we decided having provision stores and supermarkets within a 10 mins walk was essential. The supermarket down the street from my current home is a 24/7. My previous home has a supermarket next door (literally as in my condo complex and the supermarket share a fence) and a 7Eleven next to it so milk and bread is available for purchase round the clock.

 

A few friends of mine grew up with daily milk in glass bottles and fresh bread delivery to their front door.

[Noreen Claire]

LOL, I don't know if you are being sarcastic, but yes, I do ask them and if they have it - they give it to me. 

 

 

As a matter of fact, they told me that there is a woman who runs some kind of store locally and comes in with 10-15 books and buys that much of the same item. 

 

I only buy 2-3.

 

:lol: I'm being serious here - I always wished that I could go to the desk and get another coupon book (or use my mother's extra coupons). I just didn't think that it was allowed! I buy flour/sugar/chocolate chips/coffee there mostly, but sometimes there are good coupons in that book!

[KungFuPanda]

There are very few foods that we NEED to have EVERY day. I don't feel at all obligated to never run out of cereal or whatever. It's good to run out of those things so they'll eat different things and develop their palates. If we have tea, and a splash of milk for it, I can work around everything else. I can't even get my punk kids to eat cereal like normal people. They can eat eggs. If we're out, there's cheese toast or smoothies or fruit and yogurt or oatmeal. I buy the giant thing of whole milk Indian yogurt at Costco. It's plain so it lasts a while and goes mostly to smoothies.

 

They can suck it up. It's a home not a restaurant and nobody goes hungry. Don't cave to the whining. Skipping cereal for two days is NOT A deprivation.

[Zinnia]

My kids eat to capacity, too.  

Tonight, we went out for pizza for a baseball party.  I over-ordered by 2 slices for the public schooler to take for lunch tomorrow.  Everyone was fine, maybe not stuffed, but fine.  As soon as they saw that there were 2 slices left, they started to lose their mind with hunger.  "I will eat it!" "Let me have it!" "I need it!"  I had to explain to each one of them that there was no way I was giving in, and that pizza was headed for the lunchbox.  

But given the chance, they totally would have scarfed it down.  They do like this with all the "good" stuff and a growing amount of not quite as good, but still acceptable, stuff.  My dh claims that in the height of his teenage growth, he would eat dry oatmeal like it was going out of style.  
 

[Serenade]

I hate grocery shopping.

I'm beginning to feel this way, too. I used to like it. Lately, however, I dread it. I had only finished half of my shopping yesterday, and I was seriously wondering how I would make it through the rest of the list. It seems to be so much more physical work than it used to be.

[Serenade]

Adding, even checking out of the store seems to take so much longer. It is not unusual now for it to take 15 minutes between getting in line and completing checkout. And this is even at the good grocery store, Harris Teeter. Although maybe they are going downhill now that Kroger has bought them out. The cashiers are slow and the lines are long. I shop in a heavy growth area, and I think the stores just don't hire enough workers to keep up with the traffic. I surely wish they would put a decent store in my town, so I wouldn't have to drive to the big city to shop.

[kewb]

Not just your house.  Everyone has come to accept that the day I get home from the store is awesome and the end of the week means if you want something you will have to use the ingredients to make it.  And I don't want to hear any whining since I told them when I would be going back to the store and to make it last.  I am not seeing any ability to survive more than 3 days on a deserted island.

 

I consider it a good day if I am able to eat a plum, or some grapes, or a peach before they are all gone.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Not just your house. My kids don't complain but they jeep opening the cupboard and shutting it over and over. As if food might magically appear. I just set the pb and crackers on the table and walk away.

 

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[Mom-ninja.]

I just had to explain that half and half is not to used as milk. My little one apparently was using the half and half (or heavy cream if we had it) as milk in his cereal and oatmeal. He was pouring it into a glass and drinking it like he would milk. Half and half is so much more expensive than milk! So that had to stop. 

 

My kids do the same thing, and they've just learned that when something is gone it's gone. If they eat all the cereal than they will have oatmeal, buckwheat, or eggs for breakfast. If they use all the milk, there is always a carton of non-dairy milk available. No ice cream? Eat yogurt or fruit. 

 

We run out of bread very fast. Bread gone = no bread until next shopping trip. They can use lettuce to make wraps or eat peanut butter with an apple instead of a peanut butter sandwich. 

 

Pretzels gone? Eat carrots. 

 

My kids are learning to ration themselves if they want their favorites to last. 

[DawnM]

I can't believe some of you go to the store more than once per week. I simply do not have the time or energy to go more than once per week.

 

If we run out of something crucial, like milk or eggs, I will stop at the store on the way home from work.  Otherwise, nope, I will go during the weekend.

 

Dh and middle ds can do some runs for a few things if necessary.  

 

And the last 2 Costco runs have been from DH, who is a penny pincher.......but I am finding out, that doesn't include food.  He will come home with $400 worth of just food!  

 

 

[Zinnia]

I was a once a week shopper for a long time, but it started overflowing our fridge and pantry in a way that was way too clutter and felt hoardy. I didn't like having to look at all of our food for the first 3 days. So now, I shop twice a week for produce, bread, milk.