We made it to Saturday! Aside from a few trips to CVS, I did not darken the door of any supermarket for two weeks.
Two. whole. weeks.
It felt like an eternity. Well, almost! At any rate, we made it through two weeks of no-shopping and we learned a lot along the way:
1) It is hard to let good deals pass by, especially when I have the time to snag them, the right coupons, and the store is only a few blocks away.
2) A half gallon of milk does not last two weeks. Um, yeah, I should have known that one; don’t ask me what I was thinking.
3) Even if it was painful to miss a few deals, it is rather nice to not have to even think about menu-planning or shopping-list-making for two whole weeks.
4) Finally, yes, it saved me time. Yes, it saved us money (well, in that we were able to buy more with $80 than we can with $40. Do not ask me how that works, though, because I’m still scratching my head over it!). And last of all, we made it through two weeks without running out of food (ahem, except the milk bit!) and we even had quite a bit to spare.
The consensus? I think I’m going to try doing my grocery shopping every two weeks. However, instead of only going once every two weeks and spending all $80, my current plan is to do a bigger stock-up shop (say $65 worth) every two weeks and then use the leftover money ($15 or so) to make a quick run to a store to buy milk and the rock-bottom deals the week I’m technically not shopping.
This plan seems like it would give me the best of both worlds as I would still save time and have more wiggle room for stocking up every other week, but I’d also not have to miss out on exceptional deals the week I take off nor would we have to worry about going without if we run out of something like milk. That said, while it seems like a good plan, I have to try it out for awhile to really know it’s effectiveness.
I’m curious to know: Does anyone else shop like this–a big trip one week, a small trip the next? Do you think it could work?
We just got back from a two-hour shopping trip to multiple stores and got some wonderful deals but I need to head for bed so I’ll try and share those tomorrow or Monday.
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How’d you do this week? Post about the deals and
bargains you were able to snag this week on your blog (with pictures,
if possible!) and then come back here and leave your link below.
I think you’ve just inspired me to give it a try!!!
I have 4 young children, and have reached a point in my life where I dread almost all shopping. I have started going to the grocery store once every 3 wks. I enjoy the challenge of making my food stretch past my planned menus. For minor shopping (milk, fresh fruit/veggies)I stop at our local farmer’s market (which I pass every day on my way home from work), or send my husband with a list (he sticks to it, and isn’t led astray by the deals I would see). I have found I ALWAYS save money doing my grocery shopping this way!
Crystal – I’ve typically done the two week thing, but lately am seeing the value in getting the deals each week. Like you, I think there is more wiggle room with a larger chunk to spend one time over two weeks – but I think what would be ideal for me is one trip the first week and then a small trip the next week for produce or a few sale items. I hope you settle on something that works great for you!
Crystal, that’s pretty much how I do it. One big shop, where I buy based on a one week meal plan, and whatever is seasonal, a good deal, on discount, etc.
Then the next week, I meal plan based on what I have left from the big shop, and if I have to, I make a very small trip for just a few items to fill in the gaps. This works really well for us!
I’m glad to hear that the two-week shopping went well for you!
I shoppped every two weeks for years until I found your blog. I was stocking up on no frills items every two weeks, but still ended up shopping in between for milk and other staple items. I was spending way too much money.
Now, that I go more often I spend a lot less because I am shopping by sale not by payday or meal planning which was what I was doing before.
I do a once a month grocery shop. Our family spends $260 a month on groceries, toiletries and cleaning supplies. I usually go to Aldi, Walmart and BJ (like Sams) and then leave a bit for if we need milk or bread. I recently read that every rip to the store adds more to the budget. I had been getting these $10 off coupons form a local store and found that while I was saving those $10 I was some times buying stuff at BAD prices or junk we didn’t need just because I had ten free dollars to spend!
I would miss leaving the house if I could only go every 2 weeks. I have tried to consolidate the trips due to the $4.30 gallon for gas. BTW Target has their summer things for 75% off.
Had some trouble with the Garnier Nutritioniste producing ECBs but other than that, had a great week!
Riannon
I tend to shop one big trip one week followed by a smaller trip the next week, since my hubby gets paid every other week. But since we seem to max out my household budget every time, which includes cleaners, diapers, stuff for the kids, house and garden, leaving me with very little wiggle room until the next payday, I’m trying to do a minor shopping the first week followed by a bigger trip the second week. This makes me buy only the essentials the first week and leaves the extras or optional deals for later when I can tell better if we can truly afford it.
I should just have a food-only budget, but since I mostly shop at walmart, and we try to limit how many trips we do, things get lumped in together. I hate it when I think I’ve left myself enough for the second week and fall short before payday.
We are military so I used to meal plan and shop once a month for all the non-perishable items 45 minutes away at the commissary. Then I would go to the local store to get perishables when needed and the farmer’s market for veggies. we’ve moved and now I shop the sale papers and plan meals accordingly every two weeks. We budget about $125 to $150 a month for two of us and thank God that the money stretches each month.
where are the CVS deals this week?
We have been grocery shopping once a month. This works especially well for us in our current location, because the health food store, Trader Joe’s, Sam’s Club, etc. are all an hour away in the nearest city, across a toll bridge.
Just this month, though, I have started to try to add a quick run by Farm Fresh and/or Food Lion (the only supermarkets here besides SuperWM) and/or RiteAid (the only chain drugstore we have here) to our weekly errand trip if they have good deals going on, and I think it’s working well. We’ll see, though, as this is the first time I’m really trying it this way.
I do my major grocery shopping at the Commissary every two weeks, because it is 15 miles away and we want to save the gas. Then I run to Publix on the off week to take advantage of the BOGO sales and my husband picks up milk, lettuce & bananas at the commissary after work. It is working really well for us, and nice not to have to grocery shop every week! It definitely saves time & money.
That’s how I shop, a big trip every 2 weeks and small trip (for milk, produce) in between. I menu plan for 2 weeks at a time. We love it and we save a lot of money, and I have no idea why, either! Maybe because we eat more leftovers than I realized and I can stretch the menu farther? I always have at least one meal that gets bumped into the next menu cycle.
I do this type of shopping every THREE-FOUR weeks. I live in NYC but shop in NJ. It costs $8 toll plus gas and time, but there are much better prices and much better selection and all the stores are close. I load my car to the hilt of whatever is on sale and use coupons and still end up more than paying for gas and tolls. I am able to buy almost 100% organic foods for the same price that I would pay for non-organic local foods. I can also hit a bunch of thrift stores first…and find all sorts of things. I purchase my clothes there, kitchenware, housewares. Many things are brand new, yet dirt cheap. Between trips, I just visit the weekly farmer’s market for a few pieces of fruit. But most of the fruit I get in NJ…if you use (and reuse) the special fruit bags, I have had apples keep nice and fresh for 8 weeks in rhe refrigerator!
I shop like this. It takes the pressure off when its not a great sale week. My DH gets paid twice monthly. The check at the beginning of the month has his commission for the entire last month included with his salary. The check at the middle only has the salary. So I have stock up trips and cherry picking trips. As far as an impact on our gas budget, there are no affordable groceries in the nearest town. My DH travels some as part of his job. He can pop into Aldi’s or stock up from my list weekly or more often if necessary. He is driving right by there – so no gas cost. One of my seven children needs allergy shots so we are in a town with a great Kroger, an OK Walgreens and a CVS with a scanner once or twice weekly. I have a CVS in my town as well. It’s not affordable time or gas to travel to Aldi’s weekly but its too expensive to buy basics anywhere else. So I check the pantry and freezer, make a general 2 week menu to utilize what I have, check online to see what Kroger and CVS have for next to free, and make the Aldi list to cover the rest. I do hate asking my husband to pick up the longer Aldi lists. He is an excellent shopper and knows prices. I just really do not like asking him to take on one more thing. He has told me he doesn’t mind and is thrilled to save the money in gas. I have noticed it is cheaper to shop this way too. I think it is the law of diminishing returns. At some point the ammount of something (money, energy, time)you invest in a project/outcome is maximized and both sides of the graph – too little and too much investment get you less(outcome). I have no other explanation for it but I have seen it happen for the last 10 years. Another advantage to shopping this way is that if the baby is sick on your planned market day, you can probably still make dinner with going to the store or for takeout.
We do one big shop a month, then a small shop every 7 – 10 days. I have a list of about 45 meals that we rotate, and I usually only cook 6 days a week. So I choose 24 meals, making sure that everything is balanced, then make my menu, check my cupboards, make a list and pull out coupons. Because I can buy bigger things of meat we save more, then we just seperate and freeze. Then I keep back about $20 a week to pick up milk, bread, produce, or the chicken that goes on sale super cheap. This works well for us. Because it’s been so hot out lately and we have been very busy, I probably have only cooked twice a week, the other nights were a sandwich or a salad…so our ‘meat’ supply from May 1st is practically still all there.
it must be a relief to not worry so much about all the sales! i need to start limiting my time spent more 🙂
I do the every other week “big shopping” and off week “milk, bread, eggs and produce” shopping. It works really well for me and I have to say that I’ve even noticed a pattern (for some reason) the “better” ads are sometimes every other week. Or maybe it’s just the food I know I need at that time. -?-
My “big” shopping tends to be at Costco once a month then Super Walmart (they price match ads) the other time of the month, then I do smaller trips to Trader Joes and Sprouts for the more natural stuff that we eat. I don’t think I could ever go a full 2 weeks without stepping into a store at ALL! It makes me itchy just thinking about it…
We shop like this all the time and love it.
I know this will sound funny but I got fresh whole pineapples for a dollar this week. I thought that was a fantastic deal!
Robyn
Recritique.com
Restaurant Printable Coupons and More.
I used to do this, when the store that was cheaper was further away. I’d go there and do the bulk of my shopping every other week and then pick up what was on really good sale (as well as milk and produce) at the closer store on my off week. I’m not sure why I still don’t do this, frankly!
I read your Drug store articles and actually went to CVS last week and made $10. I can’t wait to go again tomorrow! Hopefully there will be some good deals.
Thanks for the good information!
My husband and I are both teachers in the same district, so we get paid once a month. We try to do one large trip for the month, stocking up on staples, and small trips the other weeks, for milk, fresh fruit/veg, and any exceptional deals. Add to the issue that we live in our RV, so have very limited refrigerator/freezer space, so we have to focus our big shopping trip on pantry items, rather than perishables. you might be interested in my post about stocking up–I was taught by survivors of the Great Depression how important it is to have a well stocked pantry, just in case.
Living in Southern California I think I do this subconsciously as the sales are very hit and miss. I have my monthly Costco trip, and that week I probably only go to CVS unless there is an exceptional deal. But it does seem like I go in cycles of one or two regular weeks, an small week, a large week etc.
But my budget is monthly, so that makes a difference (and makes it tough in 5 week months too!)
I think you’ll like your new system a lot. I think it will be better to at least go to the store on those off weeks to snag the deals since some weeks there are amazing offers and other weeks there aren’t and you could miss out bigtime. Also, in addition to your milk tasting fresher, it would be nice to get produce like lettuce, bananas, peaches, etc. each week instead of twice a month.
This is somewhat the system I use since the Wal-mart, Smiths and Walgreens are 30 miles away. Lately I’ve only been going over every 2-3 weeks but I buy the sale items in town every week to supplement.
It will definitely save you time to do a two-week menu plan at one time!
I shop every two weeks, which is when my husband gets paid. I plan my menus for 2 weeks and shop accordingly using the sale flyers and usually lots of coupons! I do include my milk in that as well (usually 4 gallons lasts my family of 5 two weeks) and bread (I buy that at the Wonder bread store and freeze it). It has actually saved me a lot of money that way. The only frustrating part is when I could have saved even more if a great sale hits inbetween paydays!
Even before we came out here to Germany I shopped this way. I shopped once a month for a long time and then just did a quick pick up for perishables. I now shop once every 2-3 weeks and just get perishables if I need them. I always have my coupon book in my car though just in case there is an outrageously good deal on something. It works great. I stock up so well on non perishables that I often only have to run in for a little meat.
This is exactly how we shop. I plan 12 meals (based on sales, when possible), then go shopping at Meijer or SuperWalmart for the items for these 12 meals plus breakfast/lunch/snack foods to least 2 weeks. I hit the local grocery store on the “off week” for milk & other perishables. It works pretty well for us.
I’ve enjoyed some of the suggestions mentioned. I’ve been a weekly shopper mostly, but I’m thinking of changing strategies, especially with the price of gas.
Instead of lumping my grocery money together I think I will try dividing it by the stores I frequent and then decide how many times per month I need to visit. I’m hoping this will save me more and I’ll spend less time and gas running around.
I typically shop a “big shop” every two weeks, mostly because my favorite/cheapest store is further away and is out of my way. The store to pick up milk (best price for the organic local kind I like that comes in a glass bottle) is right by school so I can stop there easily.
Hi,
I started a couple months ago shopping this way and it is much easier and less stressful, and I believe cheaper as well. If you aren’t in the store, you won’t buy any impulse buys (even if they are bargains). I have been sort of alternating a real, big grocery trip, with a smaller wal-mart/cvs/etc trip…also doesn’t take up as big a chunk of my weekend, and I can usually pick up some fresh things, or whatever at the smaller trip. You need to plan a bit so that the things that don’t have a long shelf-life are used first.
I do our shopping every 2 weeks and do not go in between. Our commissary is 10 minutes away and our local stores (within walking distance) are so overpriced that I only shop there every once in awhile when they have products that are cheaper than the commissary (very rarely here in San Diego).
I am working on getting my “staple pantry list” completed to make this even easier. Right now the thorn in my side is getting 2 week menus together, but it is coming slowly but surely together. : ) You & Tammy (tammy’s recipes) are huge helps to me. Thank you for that! 🙂
Great job. I hope the 2 week shopping trips prove to take a load off of your work. It sure does mine.
Michelle
PS – I totally understand about the milk thing. If you can believe this, we go through around 5 gallons of milk every 2 weeks. I drink a huge glass everyday myself, and the kids drink in twice a day at 2 meals. I also cook alot with milk.
We shop for food for meals once a month. I plan enough meals to last us an entire month and then go shopping and spend about $100 (purchasing cereal, pasta, produce, etc).
Through the next few weeks, I shop for only rock bottom deals on food stuffs that we will use such as meat, juice, and cereal. I write down all of the items that I buy on great sales and then subtract those items from the shopping list for the next month.
This has worked so well for us — after the monthly shopping trip we chop all veggies and cook all meat that will need cooked and freeze it in containers labeled with the name of the meal. Then, on weeknights after long days of work dinner is easy and the temptation to eat out instead of cook is non-existent.
We are going to start shopping like that come July 1st – two larger trips of about $100 each and then two smaller of about $25. And the smaller trips will be for fruits/veggies/milk. 😀
I definitely think that viewing your grocery budget in two-week increments rather than just weekly can be very beneficial. I would really struggle to stick to a weekly amount because it really does limit how much you can stock up on great deals. As someone else mentioned, I also try to shop once a month at Aldi and Super Walmart but alternate those trips with weekly trips to one or more of my local stores to buy specials. The prices at Aldi/Walmart don’t vary much, so I don’t feel like I’m missing much, and yet they both have items that I rarely find cheaper anywhere else.
I get the grocery/household money for the entire month at the beginning of the month. For us, a family of 3, that is $180. If there is a good deal on something we use, I stock a LOT of it. (We have a pantry and a chest freezer). So one week I might buy 8 whole chickens…another week I might go by the bread store and get enough stuff for 6 weeks. I also take advantage of the ‘super deals’ each week, to some extent. With a toddler, I do limit the travel/running around a little bit.
Some months I just have a few dollars left at the end, but some months I have quite a bit left. That is when I stock up on ‘things we need that never go on sale’. This method has worked really well for us!
We shop once a month. Our budget is $160 for 4 people. I always have tons of stuff left at the end of the month. We have two big freezers in the garage that are full of meat, bread, cereal, and other misc items…like frozen veggies and fruit.
We also freeze our milk so we don’t run out. If I shop on a weekly basis I can easly spend $100. I always tend to get things we really don’t need. I have found that shopping on a monthly basis really does save us time and money!
I do one big shopping trip once a month. I get my meats, eggs (organic, cheapest I’ve found) and stock up on other stuff at Costco. I then use the remaining for veggies and fruit at a local store and toiletries at CVS and get the best deals. I tried doing the once a week thing but I seemed to always “need” something else and I had difficulty staying within budget. I also save a lot of time by not trying to hit so many stores and planning the trips.
Just F.Y.I, milk freezes well. I buy it at a place other than my supermarket (because its RBGH free, and not as expensive as organic). So, I buy 3 gallons at a time and freeze them.
I have only tried this with the plastic gallons of milk, and don’t know that cardboard
half gallons would hold up well in the process. Anyway, we just take a gallon out the night before we need it, and leave it on the counter with a towel around it overnight because of the condensation. It still has some ice crystals in it for a few days, but it works great for us.
I have completely stopped having a weekly budget because I can’t seem to find an amount that our family uses. We have 9 people that I’m feeding now and our budget is $400. I think God has been really stretching the money for us lately because I’m actually have trouble spending it all.
Here is what I do with the money.
$60 right off the top goes to Angel Food Ministries. This is where we get the majority of our meat for the month.
I shop at 10lb meats sales for the rest of the meat we eat.
I shop in bulk through a buyers coop for grains, beans, dried fruit, etc.
With the rest of the money I go to Kroger and just buy what I can find on manager specials and what we can get really cheap with coupons. We are never left without food.
I also hit Aldi’s for whatever I couldn’t find marked down elsewhere. This morning I’m also going to check out the local farmers market to see what we can find.
This and a lot of prayer really seems to really work for our family.
I shop a week at a time.
We used to do our grocery shopping once every month or two! We lived in Alaska and were 200 miles away from Anchorage, so it was not possible to do grocery shopping every week or two. When we did a shopping trip we would first do our Wal-Mart shopping. Next we would go to Sam’s Club and buy almost all of our food in bulk. Our last stop was the grocery store to pick up a few remaining items.
Shopping only once every month or two was out of necessity, not primarily as a way to save money on groceries. However, we did notice that we saved quite a bit on our grocery bill compared to later when we lived near Soldotna, AK and could go grocery shopping every week.
We are now outside of Alaska, and I must say that I miss the huge shopping trips every few weeks. We had great quality time during the drive, and once the trip was done we didn’t have to worry about shopping for 2 months! Great time saver. 🙂
A tip to avoid runing out of milk. We like soymilk and that has a much longer shelf life than cows milk. There are also some brands that do not require refridgeration until opened so you can stock up when it is on sale and have a nice stash. I got tons of the silk when the $2.25/1 coupon was out and waited untilthey were on sale $2/5 to get a bunch for a quarter. They took up that entire back of our frigde but they were good for over a month so we did not have to worry about running out of milk or having it expire on us. Of course this only makes sense if you like soy milk. My kids had had this since they were little so quite use to the flavor. They love the chocolate!
I shop once a month and leave a little wiggle room in the budget for those can’t-pass-up offers. We live 20 minutes from “town” so it’s not cost effective to run to the grocery to pick up a few items given the price of gas. If we have to go for an appointment or something else, I’ll check the online ads to see if there’s something worth stopping for.
I do the $65 one week and $15 the next as well. It seems to really work for our family of 4 and that way I don’t miss the deals at Kroger or something that has a short season at the market
A helpful hint to make milk last longer… when you first open it up, put a VERY tiny pinch of salt in it. It will last a good five days longer!!
I do my shopping like that, one big stock up at the beginning of the month, then each week I go and spend about $20 to get the little things we need like fresh fruit and veggies. My grocery budget is more than yours, but this saves us a lot of money. I have $300 a month for groceries, and last month shopping like this I only spent about $200, and we had a lot of meat left over that followed into this month.
If it works for you, it’s way easier!
That’s an interesting qustion, Crystal. Since I started readingyour blog a short month ago, I’ve not only saved a ton of money at CVS (how handy that I was jsut about out of toothpaste and shampoo!) but I’ve become more aware of my spending habits. In the past I jsut shopped when we needed to, and knew in general how much we spend on food. I would like to get a bit more organized, set a real budget and try to work with it. I have a hard time passing up good deals so I really like your approach of splitting your budget into those 2 parts. We’ll see how this goes!
~Karen
I do all major shopping every two weeks. I also plan my menus for two weeks at a time. We do run out of milk ( I don’t have a place to store 6 gallons.) and I make a quick dash while we are doing other outings to pick up milk. But I think that you will find it is much easier to do two weeks than I week, especially if your family grows. Shopping with 4 kiddos in tow is much easier everyother week than every week.
This is how I shop all the time. I tried going every week but the stores that double and triple coupons are 30 miles away. So one trip every two weeks to the far away stores that have the better deals and then once a week trips to the stores just a few miles away to pick up loss leaders and resupply milk. We live in the country so “close” is less than 10 miles away.
My husband and I used to do this years ago when we were first married. I have not tried it since we have had a family. I do try to only hit the sales 3 of the 4 weeks of the month and do a big meat buy the last week, but it’s hard not to go to the stores for those “fabulous” deals!
I do an internet grocery shop once a fortnight and try to avoid the shops in between, although I do call in for things like veges & milk.
I’ve found that if I don’t walk down every aisle, I don’t pop extras in, like pretty wrapping paper for craft, extra chocolate & craft supplies…
I usually spend at least $25 more if I do it in person, and given that delivery is only $10 here, I figure that I’m ahead of the game.
~Not to mention the energy I save, which is vitally important to me too. 🙂
That is almost exactly how I shop. One stock-up trip to Aldi at the beginning of the month, one stock-up trip to Walmart about the middle of the month, and weekly trips to Kroger and CVS if there are good deals there that I need, or if I need to buy milk or produce. It definitely saves money, b/c everytime I go in a store I probably end up buying one or two things I didn’t need/wasn’t on my list just because it looks fun or the kids ask for it (e.g. my 3 yo daughter always wants to try some different type of produce she sees, like apricots or a fresh pineapple).
I usually go every week, but I do stock up when I can and that will make the following week a smaller trip. I never really thought about it though, it just kind of happened as I bargained shopped. I don’t make two weeks worth of menus though!
I started out trying to stick to a weekly budget, but it has morphed into more of a every other week shopping trip. But sometimes, depending on the sales, it might end of being two big weeks, then two small weeks…or one big week, two small weeks, then another big week (you get the idea). The key is just trying to make it balance out to around what I had budgeted weekly for groceries. I am not a real stickler on my grocery budget (as far weekly allotment goes). If chicken is at a rock bottom price, I might buy 40 dollars of chicken!
I have learned SO MUCH from your site! Thanks to you and all the folks who faithfully share!!
We have been working on spending less each week. Before going to the store we plan our meals out. Two week plans would be on the difficult side with meals that primarily include fresh produce (we have a Kosher house and are practically vegetarian). We do notice that we are buying less each week because of the plans and thanks to coupon clipping we are saving some as well. I laugh since my husband now has the CVS and coupon clipping bug!
Thanks for all of the wonderful suggestions 🙂
This is how I always shop…one week heavy and one week light. We are paid every two weeks so I do a “payday shopping” and then I reserve just a bit for milk, bananas, salad and loss leaders that can’t be passed up on the opposite week. It works great, and it does save time and money!
Congrats on surviving your experiment, Crystal 🙂 !
I’m still new to this CVS thing…but I’m doing better!! I spent $8.38 OOP, saved about $16 and got $10 ECB’s! Woo hoo!
This is also how I grocery shop – it was difficult in the beginning to let the deals pass by. But after I while I had such a good stockpile of food that it made it easier. I do a large shop (around $50 or so) every other week, and then allot about $15 – $20 on the off week for produce and some odds and ends that seem to crop up along the way. So I spend around $140 a month for 3 of us, and then add $10 a month for the purchase of coupons online – I have found that this often saves me around $50 when I do the “big shop” and is the primary reason for my great stockpile of nonperishables.
Your blog has been such a help and an inspiration to me I can’t even begin to thank you. I look forward to reading it every day. Thanks so much for all you do!
That’s what we’ve been doing for the past 2 months and I like it. I make a big trip to the Super Walmart every other week (lately once a month) and just do a grocery store trip for dairy and produce once a week. It works!
I used to do the big trip one week, small one next week and it worked well. The only problems I had were not being able to take advantage of all the good deals on my week off! I am currently trying to start shopping once a week, as DH is starting a new job paid weekly instead of 2x/month. But yeah, I thought the big/small trip worked great!
We get paid every 2 weeks. So we make a bigger shopping trip on payday. I save some money for milk, veggies, and fruit (or something I forget!) until the next payday.
We do this and it works best for us. I usually just send the hubby by the store on the off week for a fresh loaf of bread and some milk, unless there is superb deal. You can get more for your money because it allows you to buy bigger packages for a little more money but a bigger savings, and I love it because I spend more time with my family and less time spending and shopping!
How do you make produce last two weeks?
Actually, I do. People think I’m crazy, but I’ll often plan and shop for a month at a time. No matter how many “deals” I miss, I always spend less if I don’t do a big shopping trip more than once a month. Also, if I’m not there, I can’t splurge on impulse buys.
This doesn’t include milk and fresh produce, of course. My husband knows his way around the produce aisle pretty well, so I send him on his way from work one day a week for the fruits and veggies.
I imagine I would save a little more (not much, probably) if were a close sale watcher and shopped more frequently, but I’ve decided my time is worth a few dollars, too! I love having most Saturdays at home with no need to shop.
Crystal, I used to shop like this when before I had my third child (when my oldest was 2 and my second was a baby). I’d go by myself on Fri pm after my husband got home from work.
It did save me money at that point in time and it also saved me the stress of shopping with tiny children (something always goes wrong!).
Since we now have three and they eat so much fresh fruit/veggies and drink so much milk, this doesn’t work as well for me at this point in life.
We shop one big trip one week and a quick trip the next. The quick trip is typically for milk, bananas, and yogurt, plus anything special if it pops up (extra food for a potluck dinner, etc). This really has saved me time and $, too! Plus, I was ready when one of our cars broke down and I couldn’t leave the house for 2 weeks during the day (my normal shopping time). We had our meals planned and shopping already done, and we were even able to hang in there another week without going for a large trip!
I used to shop for a month at a time! Because only one of the local stores has specials, and they aren’t that great, I wasn’t missing much in the way of specials. I honestly think it’s the Lord that makes the money go further, because I have no other explanation. We definitely spend more by going every week, although sending my 21-year old to shop has helped with that. The time savings is wonderful. I agree, though, that it’s a good idea to keep a bit of money on hand to get things like milk, produce, or a special you can’t pass up (or that item you run out of because no one told you it was almost gone, so it didn’t make it to the list!)
Hello Crystal,
Thank you for all your helpful information. Your information really helped make this week an awesome money-saving event.
Wendy