Grocery Trip Tips

We plan our big trips to the grocery for once every 8-10 weeks. We decided to do this to 1) save money (you can't spend it if you're not in the store!) and 2) eliminate the better part of one Saturday per month being consumed with food procurement.

We didn't jump right in to grocerying for two months. We got comfortable with two weeks, then three, then one month. From there two was easy. I usually just grabbed twice of what I was already used to buying. And it really didn't take anymore time.


I try to work from one cookbook for every two-month cycle. I love the Taste of Home Quick Cooking Annual Recipes books. They have hundrends of quick recipes to choose from, so I only have one book sitting out on my counter. I only try new recipes once or twice per week. The rest of the time I rely on family favorites (like Sausage Braid) or quick & easy (like jarred Spaghetti & frozen Meatballs).


I print blank calendars in Word and then write down family events like 4-H meetings. Then I plud-in the meals. I rarely stick exactly to the plan, but mix arround meals based on what's going on and what I feel like cooking!


We shop on one day (about three hours spent away from home due to the 20 minute drive one-way). We shop at Aldi and Super Wal-mart. Aldi first, and the Wal-mart to get what Aldi doesn't have.




We only do a little bit at Sam's Club. Most of those purchases would fall under "impulse buys." We only have a membership because their eye exams and glasses are cheap, and their vanilla is a steal. We sometimes buy their "Take & Bake" pizzas for our Bible Study nights. Those are a great deal!


I don't take the time to plan around the sale ads or clip coupons. I do keep an eye out for good meat sales and will stock up then (Wal-mart meat is pretty lousy and not that cheap). I'll also check out the produce sales, but only go in to get something if I need something else.


Which brings me to the milk & eggs. Our eggs come from our beautiful flock of backyard chickens. Bryan picks up milk once or twice per week on his way home from work. There are often an item or two that I missed from the big trip, or that I underestimated the quantity, so he'll grab those for me too.

I am blessed with a walk-in pantry. We designed our own home, and that was one thing of many things we made Stumpf-size. It has our upright freezer and a lot of shelves. B.P. (before pantry) I had a small, free-standing linen cupboard in my dining room for boxed items and stored cans in the garage. Not as handy, but it worked!