Groceries|Pad Patter 8.13

I plan meals in advance then grocery shop online. It saves us time and money--when I can see everything in the [virtual] cart and know what the total is before I check out, it's much easier to resist impulse buys or swap out more expensive things if I'm over what I wanted to spend. I still go to the grocery store most weeks, but I'm running in quickly for the 5 or so things that either aren't available in the online order or are cheaper in the store. Meat is the biggest thing I purchase in person, since the sales are almost always better at the local store.

 

We have a list printed and we make a menu for what we will have the next week for dinners and check things on our list...as we finish something we need we check the list, so that on Sunday when I go grocery shopping I use the list. I very rarily buy off the list. We do not like the frig stocked so you can't see what is in there, and the same with the freezer.. We do not have a lot of food waste either this way by buying only what we need each week. It works for the 2 of us. Hubby loves to cook dinner so we generally will make something for dinner and then have some leftover planned for another dinner. This has worked for us for years You would be surprised how much money you save when your menu and shopping list is planned. Also as far as coupons go, I only use coupons for things we use. I am not one for buying just because there is a coupon.

 

I'm a "meal planner and list maker before I shop" kinda girl. Every once in awhile I run in to the grocery store to pick up one or two things that are desperately needed and then I'll do a quick run through while I'm there for other stuff. I usually just end up buying staples on those trips - buying things I always get. I have so many different types of eaters in my house ... that I really do have to plan the meals to make everyone happy. Without my list - I'm like a deer in headlights at the store!

 

I used to plan meals for the week, shop online and have my groceries delivered. Then at the new year, I decided that I needed to walk more and to walk more, I needed a purpose. So I stopped having groceries delivered and started walking to the grocery store about every day. We're lucky enough to live within walking distance from a regular grocery store, Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's. I thought I would mix it up more, but I tend to go to Whole Foods 99% of the time. Now I plan one or two days at a time which actually works out better for me. With having two teens and a husband who travels a lot, I never know who, if anyone will be home for dinner any given night (or there are some nights everyone plus friends are here to eat). Shopping a day at a time means less waste. And since I have to carry it all home, I tend to not impulse or over-shop.

 

I plan out my meals for two weeks at a time and order via Kroger's Clicklist. I use the Paprika app to save recipes and make my meal plans and then order online for pickup. We are a one car family and I live in a rural area so with jobs etc. it is just easier for us to pickup. We still might pop in the store here and there but our main shopping now is through Clicklist.

Also, I am not tempted (or the kids) to add "all the things I don't know how they got in my cart when shopping hungry" items when doing it from home haha.

 

My OCD comes out full force when I grocery shop.

I figure out the meals for the week and what ingredients I will need and then write those ingredients on my list in the order in which they appear in the store working from the doors to the back. If I am buying something from the other non-grocery side of the store or something I don't normally buy (e.g. Cheez Whiz for one particular casserole I make a couple times a year) it goes in a separate second column (and makes me twitch to look at).

I unload my groceries on the belt in the following order: milk/apple juice, stand-alone bags like potatoes, refrigerated & frozen items, cans, boxes, miscellaneous small items, produce, chips/bread/other light bagged items. I practically scream aloud if the cashier goes rogue and bags, say, the hamburger with the cheese or a loaf of bread with a can of diced tomatoes.

I also park in the same row when I go to the store (or anywhere) and as close to the cart corral as possible. I will park farther away if necessary to be next to it so I can unload, shove my kid(s) inside the car, and put the cart away. I'd bite off my own arm before neglecting to put the cart away properly.

I be cray. I know.

 

I live in the land of Target, so that is where I primarily grocery shop. I actually save quite a bit using their app, but I always come in with a list. I will likely add a few items not on the list to my cart, but I like to get it and get out. So - a list makes that possible.

 

I really love grocery shopping. I make a list of the must-buys for the week based on the sales and our staples, plan menus accordingly. Then I'll fill in or make adjustments with good deals (mainly Kroger markdowns) I find in-store

 

I meal plan each week and make a list. I would be completely lost without my meal plan and shopping list!

Now, as far as the second part of your question goes...I hate grocery shopping. Like with a passion hate it, especially for large weekly shopping trips. So, I either order from Walmart and pick-up or if my schedule is crazy and/or I just don't want to leave the house (because sometimes I just can't make myself do it) I order through Instacart and have it delivered. This is, of course, a little more expensive, but sometimes it's just worth it to me.

 

DH and I go grocery shopping together, usually every Sunday with some sort of a list. I don't mind shopping, I do mind putting things away. The local grocery store is usually for fresh produce and perishables and paper products. We make it a point to go up and down EVERY aisle (my exercise for the week). LOL.

I do quite a bit of on-line shopping for items I can't get at our store, almond flour and coconut flour in bulk, macadamia nut oil, avocado oil, etc., etc.

 

I'm DEFINITELY a list girl! I make a menu, then plan my list off of that. I put the menu on the fridge, so no one asks what we're having. 90% of the time I'm very prepared, but I was on vacay last week and feeling a bit discombobulated at the moment. BUT, I already made the menu and list for next week... so there's that... #listmakingcalmsmysoul

 

Nope, not a planner.

I have a few things that end up being on the list every week. I usually only go once a week and sometimes I can wait 10 days. Milk is usually the only thing that I might have to pick up in between trips and I can do that without going to the actual grocery store. When I am going to go, I might add something that sounds good to me at the time and add it to the list.

A lot of times, I will see something at the store and pick it up or even think of something I might need while there.

I don't cook big meals and right now I'm on a pretty limited diet so I tend to eat the same things a lot. I also go out to eat at least once a week so it doesn't make sense for me to keep a lot of food in the house.

 

i feel like i spend half my week in various supermarkets; in reality it's really not that much but as the meal planner, list maker, accommodate-r of all their dislikes and quirks and fussiness, it feels like a never ending story and is on the (evil) chore list for sure.
Have tried the online thing before and by the time i track down where things are (their fly out menus and organisation weren't terribly logical to me) and compare across like products for specials, it takes me about the same time (but without the benefit of the steps) And although you can 'favourite' items to make the next time faster, the comparing bit is the hold up (we aren't really brand loyal for most things) and the delivery time windows were kind of a joke and the way they would bag in multiple nested bags and then finding food sitting outside because they missed the window so it's still been delivered and just left there makes me mad (and that was before the main grocery shops here got rid of single use plastic bags - we're so used to taking our own reusable 'green' bags now but they can't accommodate for that with delivery ( but it annoyed me bigtime yesterday to see a woman put one banana, one mandarin and 1 carrot in 3 different 'produce' plastic bags that are still available because really thats triple the plastic she would have had before the grocery plastic bags were banned and completely unnecessary- why they didn't get rid of all the plastic is beyond me). Sorry rant over! (people and plastics are more my problem than grocery shopping itself i guess!)