Grocery Shopping - Appleton,WI

I do one really large shop each month and stock up on staples. I do a small shop for perishables every week. I also shop the weekly flyers for great specials.

I shop weekly at two different stores. I buy a lot of fresh fruit, so I have to go twice a week for fresh bananas --I won't eat them if they get over ripe.

I should add that I meal plan, sometimes up to a month out.

We have an organic food delivery service that takes care of about 60% of our needs. On Saturdays we go to the farmer's market to take care of another 15%. The last 25% we get at the grocery store once every week or two. We cut back on cleaning supplies in favor of vinegar and baking soda for most things and washable rags instead of paper towels. That also has helped cut down on it. It was actually easier to go to the store when my kids were toddlers than it is as preteens. They whine more and are less distractible now.

The secret is to make a weekly menu and purchase the groceries you will need. Then prepare the meals in an order so that leftovers can be used as lunch or as portions of another meal that week. Instead of roasting one chicken on Sunday, roast 2. One for that nights meal.. the second for chicken enchiladas. Or chicken with pasta..

A huge Roast for one night, The rest another night as sandwiches. on good French bread with onions and melted cheese.

I tend go all of the time.. We eat so much fresh fruits and vegetables, no canned vegetables or fruits, no canned soups.. we just do not eat that way.. and my kitchen is so tiny, it is hard to store a bunch of food .

We do try to make a weekly menu, especially when our daughter was in school. so that we know what we will be eating, night to night. What she was taking to lunch.. In the summer we do grill a lot more, because we can grill huge amounts and freeze the extra items.

If I had the space, I would love a standing freezer, so I could purchase good deals on meats.. and save them in the freezer. I would love a walk in Pantry, So I could organize all of my baking things, Dry goods like beans, pasta rice. my soup things, my Serving dished.. ect.. Not going to happen, we are thinking of trying to live in a "Tiny House".

Oh my gosh, what a great question. I am afraid we shop weekly and run out during the week for missing items. My husband is a grocery store shop a holic. He cuts coupons out in bathroom. He drives (we that is-I am his sidekick I guess) and we go from store to store on the weekends. Makes me crazeeee. I used to try to get everything during the week so we could enjoy the weekends. THAT is his enjoyment! Grocery shopping. Not video games, baseball, wrestling or swimming. Grocery shopping. Okay he does a lot of other things but that seems to be what he loves on the weekend. And if a store is opening even better. He is there for the treats (with me again of course). And since he started doing that we have two refrigerators and store food all over the house. yikes. Can't wait to hear from others.

I'm in the grocery store 2-3 times a week. I am just not someone who plans meals ahead.

I have learned that to cut down on waste and really prepare good meals, I need to shop 2-3 times a week. I used to try to shop once a week, but too often, produce didn't stay fresh or I bought the wrong quantities. Now I go to a regular store once a week, the mrs greens organic store once a week, and once a week I bring my cooler to another town when my son is in preschool and go to the fishmonger there, which is next to an Italian butchers and a farm stand type store. We also go the farmers market almost every weekend during the season. It's a lot of shopping with two kids, but we eat better for it!

i'm amazed at how organized most of you are! i'm all over the map. i hit the local produce stands almost daily when there's fresh stuff in season. i've got to go a grocery store once a week or close to it for milk, and salad greens. i hit the discount mennonite store a couple of times a month. they have raw milk! and cheap local honey. i love costco but it's not close, so i only do it once every couple of months. and the hippy organic store of awesomeness whenever i can swing by, usually once every couple of months. wegmans and trader joes are far off my beaten paths, but i try to get there every 2 or 3 months too just because i love them.
i'm one of the few women i know who likes to grocery shop! and since we're empty nesters, i just don't have enough excuses to go as often as i want.
:) khairete
S.

I shop weekly. I plan my meals and make a list throughout the week for the following week and do my shopping on Sundays. I keep my list in my deal at work so I can write things down when I think of them.

When my kids were little and hubby got paid once a month it was kind of a necessity to make large meals that would last for the month. I made up a menu chart for five weeks. The fifth week was a bonus week which meant meals could be pulled or changed due to what was in the house. In the meantime, I would go to the local grocers on Tues for fresh fruit and veggies and on Thu for fresh cuts of meat. We were stationed outside the states but could get food supplies twice a month from the states.

I would shop with a list and if it wasn't on the list it didn't get bought. All but five or six meals were homemade. Leftovers were eaten for lunch and Sat we ate all the odd things up. Chili, spaghetti sauce and soups were made in quantity and frozen for later in the month.

My daughter said she thought it was a big deal to have grilled cheese sandwiches and vegetable soup for dinner once a month. That was our meal just before payday. It didn't occur to her that there was no extra food in the house.

I now shop about once a week for odd staples but still keep a well stocked pantry.

the other S.

PS I cook like we are all home but portion it out into lunch and dinner size meals.

I go weekly. Usually by the time it's the end of the week, we are about out of food so I need to go. Produce doesn't last that long either.

We grocery shop every two weeks, on payday. I choose meals to eat during that time, and make the list I need. We may make a quick trip for milk, or if a recipe towards the end of the second week needs fresh produce, or other things like that.

I am aim for bi-weekly, but still find myself going in to the store periodically.

I have a list, and then shop off that.

Every week or two. Our fridge is awesome and stuff keeps for way longer than I would have expected.

I usually shop twice a week because the stores in our area have Wednesday/Thursday specials and Saturday/Sunday specials. Both of those are usually produce, but occasionally they will advertise meat.

I alter my menus based on what is on sale. I've found that many items have a seasonal sale. Examples: Corned beef is cheapest just before St Patrick's Day. Turkey is cheapest just before Thanksgiving. Ham is cheapest just before New Years. Charcoal is cheapest just before Memorial Day and 4th of July. I place meat in my freezer and use it when the need arises. I use meat that is going out of date whenever possible and am grateful many housewives don't understand what the date code really means. We eat much cheaper because of that. (My wife and I were invited over to a coworkers home for a cook out. I happened to be in the kitchen when his wife pulled out 4 T-bone steaks out of their freezer. She looked at them and said, "Oh no!" and threw them in the trash. When I asked her what was wrong, she said the steaks went out of date yesterday. She sent her husband to the store to get four more steaks that were "fresh".)

I have a large walk-in pantry. I store the things I use frequently close to the door and spices I seldom have to replace on the back wall. I also have a large chest freezer.

Good luck to you and yours.

I don't menu plan. I'm doing well if I know this morning what I'll want for dinner tonight. I don't know a week or a month ahead what I'm going to want. I'm not going to cook and eat tacos because the menu says it's taco night if I don't want tacos. If it's taco night, and I want tuna salad and I'm out of tuna, I will go to the store and buy tuna.
I do keep a store of staples - flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder, pasta, rice, dry beans, tuna, canned and frozen vegetables, eggs, milk, salsa, tortillas, cheese, cold cuts, bread, hot and cold cereals, potatoes, onions, garlic, and whatever meat is on sale when I go shopping. That way, I acn make what I want, when I want it.
I get paid every other week and usually just replenish what Ive used the week before,

I go once per week to grocery shop. I always make a list including having meal plans for the week as well. I do not have the room to do bi-weekly shopping. I wish I did. That is not to say I always use 100% of all the dry goods I purchase. I always buy fresh fruit and vegetables that in our home last the week. Occasionally I will make a trip to the store for a special treat that wasn't originally included in my list.

I'm at my favorite store almost daily.

I go to the butcher shop about once every 8 weeks and stock up on quality meats. I go to Costco about once every 3 months.

My almost daily grocery runs are for fresh fruits and veggies. I've found that the fruits and veggies go bad quickly if you get them at the ripeness that we enjoy.

I also buy a lot of bottled water.

Weekly. Put together a menu based on what's on sale and what we haven't had in awhile. I take a look at our freezer/pantry/fridge and get what we're low or out of. We are in the process of trying to cut back on toiletries/groceries so this will become a lot more detailed/planned than it used to be :)

We have a very small pantry but still have three shelves - one for canned goods/one for snacks/breakfast items and one for sides (mashed potatoes, pasta, flour, cereals). We have an extra fridge/freezer outside so when we do stock up or get extra drinks/milk/frozen items, they go in there.

I am like you. I usually shop weekly, well 2x a week really.

I shop Walmart once and Kroger once. I get toiletries and cleaning stuff, can goods, staples like, milk and bread and all the odds and ends like, birthday cards and office stuff at Walmart.

Kroger, I get their specials and produce and meat..and anything I forgot at Wally World.

we go once a week.I only make a weekly menu, because we change our minds quite a bit. We also go to dinner once a week.Ive tried to do monthly or bi-weekly meal plans, and yea Im not that organized...I do have a huge pantry that i keep staples,and chest freezer because we get Omaha Steak items every other month.