How often do you do it? Monthly, bi-weekly, weekly?
Do you divide the staples (e.g. sugar, flour, rice, etc.) from the produce?
How much of your grocery list includes canned or frozen items and what are they?
Apparently we could all save up to 28% of our annual grocery bill by shopping more frequently and avoiding bulk-buying from places like Sam’s or Costco because we end up buying things because they are an apparent bargain. In the end we tend to throw these excess items out…
Weekly for fresh produce etc.
Staples once a month or even less (flour, baking stuf, rice etc), we're a small family so staples last us a little longer.
We barely buy canned or frozen items.. if we do, it's canned beans etc, frozen spinach sometimes... again, this is occasional stuff. Bulk shopping we only do for like cleaning supplies or paper towels. I agree that bulk shopping goes to waste for smaller families.
Re: Grocery Shopping
Husband and I, once a week on average, some weeks we buy more, some weeks is less.
and yes, I'll be the first one to admit, I buy canned/frozen. Hell I'll buy pre cut vegetables/fruits to save my time/energy.
My parents on the other hand, they buy staples (atta rice ghee) every few months, and will do other grocery shopping (meat, produce, milk/eggs etc) a few times a week because they have the time to do so.
Re: Grocery Shopping
I buy once a month, going to different stores over the course of a few days to stock up. Most non perishables are bought during that time. Then I go weekly for persihables or sale items e.g I buy Purex detergent, the hypoallergenic kind when it goes on sale at Walgreens for $1.99.
Re: Grocery Shopping
Produce: mostly weekly, sometimes biweekly
Staples: Once every 3 months or so.
Canned/frozen: Very rarely, except frozen peas.
Costco: non-perishables like paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, dishwasher tablets, trash bags, etc. Recently we made the mistake of buying a crate of pears which was about 4 lbs (we're a small family), and we couldn't finish them. There's only so much of it you can consume before you get sick of it.
Re: Grocery Shopping
Weekly for perishables from Aldi.
Other items when ever I run out.. usually will visit krogers instead of Aldi if I run out of something that week.
Desi store as needed only if run out of Marsala.
Re: Grocery Shopping
Indian grocery including halal meat ... once in 6-7 weeks
Non Indian stuff ... once a month
perishables (other than meat) ... as needed
Re: Grocery Shopping
Small family here, no kids (yet).
I buy fresh produce on a weekly basis. The non-perishables get stocked up when I am getting a good deal, so whenever. I like to keep a can of beans, sweet corn and frozen veggies for convenience.
Re: Grocery Shopping
Grocery shopping is weekly, with milk and bread buying it whenever we run out of it during the week. Staples like ata and rice only when we're running out of it (unless there's a sale on washing powder, then get it that week). The only canned stuff I get is the beans and chick peas. Frozen includes fish, which is rare, or frozen peas or bhindi. Meat is monthly. Don't do bulk shopping. Don't have the space for it, and I find it probably makes you spend more money that you would be normally. Sure there's a sale on it, but does a family really need 36 boxes of tissue paper?
Re: Grocery Shopping
Fresh produce ....weekly from various places.
Staples like rice...once or twice a month
Lentils....every 2 or 4 months
We do buy paper towels, tissues, toilet paper, Ziploc, detergents, soap, shampoo, toothpaste from Costco but they last good 4-6 months.
Meat every 2-3 weeks. It depends from where are getting it.
I have stopped buying too many of the frozen veggies as my kids love eating veggies in the raw form. I keep green peas on hand all the time.
I buy precooked naan/roti, we shop for it weekly. However I keep them in freezer to avoid mold.
Re: Grocery Shopping
I haven't shopped at Costco for nearly 5 years. Just found that the savings, even on non-perishables, were not significant enough. (I found better sales on paper towels etc. at WalMart.) When I was shopping at Costco I would come home with a large container of croissants or specific fruit and vegetables that we would get sick of before we could finish them. (Just like someone else mentioned in the thread.)
Re: Grocery Shopping
All perishable foods once a week. We go to the local farmers market for all our produce (Also have a local CSA deliver a bag of weekly veggies and fruit).
Anything else is the local store. Don't buy any cans or frozen stuff. I do however freeze berries (when in season) and bananas to make smoothies later.
For non perishable (paper towels etc), nuts and some trail bars...we go to Costco when need be. We don't buy any food items though (the quality is way too much for us and I rather go to trader joes for it)
Indian store probably once in 7-8 weeks to buy rice, lentils etc.
Re: Grocery Shopping
Fresh produce ....weekly from various places. Staples like rice...once or twice a month Lentils....every 2 or 4 months We do buy paper towels, tissues, toilet paper, Ziploc, detergents, soap, shampoo, toothpaste from Costco but they last good 4-6 months. Meat every 2-3 weeks. It depends from where are getting it.
I have stopped buying too many of the frozen veggies as my kids love eating veggies in the raw form. I keep green peas on hand all the time.
I buy precooked naan/roti, we shop for it weekly. However I keep them in freezer to avoid mold.
Sorry off topic, but is there a specific brand of precooked roti/naan you can suggest?
Re: Grocery Shopping
Sorry off topic, but is there a specific brand of precooked roti/naan you can suggest?
Sometimes we get them from costco, it is in the breads sections. othertimes from indian grocery store. I wil check the brand. They are whole wheat, baked on stone. I have also used whole grain flat pita and whole wheat tortillas from costco.
Re: Grocery Shopping
I agree with Muzna and Sehar: I have stopped buying from places like Costco because I found that I was wasting more, and so there was no advantage to my wallet.
We are a family of 6.
Produce - buy weekly from Farmer's Market whenever possible.
Meat - once a month, to be consumed fresh, without freezing. We do meat one week, then veggies the next, then fresh fish the third week, and then veggies, and so on.
Staples - every 2 months or so
Canned or Frozen - never
Non-perishables - Amazon subscriptions every 2-3 months.
I do buy whole wheat pita twice a month and freeze them to make them last longer. We also have a weakness for samosa chaat - I buy samosas and freeze them to quickly make chaat as needed.
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I would die if I ate just veggies for one whole week!
Re: Grocery Shopping
I would die if I ate just veggies for one whole week!
I've few vegan friends. God, they kill me with their anti-meat and pro-veg posts on social media.. So far i'm not convinced to be one of them but surprisingly they are in very large number here
Re: Grocery Shopping
From Sam's:
Milk (3 pack of Horizon for $12)
Eggs (organic eggs are cheaper there for some reason)
Diapers
Wipes
Toilet paper
Cheeses
Some produce like bananas, spinach and avocados since we go through these quickly
Baby clothes sometimes
Kids' snacks stuff
Things pertaining to my kid get divided between my house and the sitter's house he goes to during the week...so it makes sense to buy more.
I try to limit my trips to once a week...OH and I also use Wal-Mart Grocery. I shop online, pay and pick up my grocery at a designated time. That saves me some time too. My husband picks up the meat once a week from zabiha stores.