Grocery shopping
I love grocery shopping. I don't see what there could be to hate about it. I get to slowly browse all of the aisles, be inspired by new ingredients, think about things that I would like to make and EAT (mmmm), and do some guilt free spending. Everyone needs to eat so I don't think I should feel guilty about spending money on food, right? Well, I'm starting to re-think this a bit. I've heard that groceries is one of the biggest expenses that is easy to cut down on. So here are some of my grocery habits that I have and I need to know what I should change. What are some ideas that you all have about grocery shopping?
- I never look through flyers. I'm a spontaneous shopper and I like to pick things up as the inspiration hits me.
- I don't feel guilty about throwing away food. I know I should but I would rather buy the apples and peppers and have them at home with the hopes that we'll eat them (and we usually do) rather than stocking the house with processed food that won't go bad. Besides, compared to the processed food, it usually is cheaper.
- I have NO problem with no name brands. In fact, no name is one of my favourite brands. It drives Dan nuts (he swearst he no name sour cream is soupier than the name brand stuff) but I think there is rarely any difference at all.
- I will almost always spend more money to buy the local food than the stuff from California. I don't care if the Gaylea cottage cheese is more than the other stuff, it says right on it that it is made from Ontario product. Yeeahh... I also always buy Hewitts when I can. I always go home from the shopping trip planning on calling all those 1-800 #'s on the packaging to ask about where it's from but I never have.
- I love to do the once-a-week big shopping trip but sometimes I just don't get around to it and I end up picking up something everyday. Sometimes I end up doing both.
- I love to grow and preserve as much of my food as I can. I figure I don't really have the energy to grow that much food so I'll buy bushels of whatever is in season and preserve as much of that as I can. Unfortunately, I don't do that as often as I would like (last year it was just a lot of red peppers). I'm hoping that as a stay-at-home mom I can one day have more time to do that (?).
- I love to host and make people feel comfortable. I know that I probably spend too much money buying the food etc. to make people come over.... although I sometimes fail in this area too.
- I love eating. I love eating expensive food. I limit myself with buying these foods but I do enjoy buying a new expensive cheese (or something like that) once in a while.
- There's a foodland grocery store about 2 min. from our place where I buy most of our stuff. It's an okay grocery store. I don't think the produce is all that fantastic and neither are the prices but it's still alright. There's a Fortino's right beside my job which I LOVE!! They have everything! They have all the meats and cheeses and funky produce you could want and it's all fresh. But the prices are a little high. I rarely shop at the food basics across the road from work. I do NOT like that store. I feel dirty shopping there but that's because I'm a snob. I should get the basics there because I do love their prices.
Pinching pennies is not fun for me. I know some people live for it but it's like pulling teeth for me. I feel like grocery shopping is my one area of life where I get to just forget about it. So is there a way to enjoy my grocery shopping and still make things cheaper? What new grocery habits can I start and still enjoy getting food?
- I never look through flyers. I'm a spontaneous shopper and I like to pick things up as the inspiration hits me.
- I don't feel guilty about throwing away food. I know I should but I would rather buy the apples and peppers and have them at home with the hopes that we'll eat them (and we usually do) rather than stocking the house with processed food that won't go bad. Besides, compared to the processed food, it usually is cheaper.
- I have NO problem with no name brands. In fact, no name is one of my favourite brands. It drives Dan nuts (he swearst he no name sour cream is soupier than the name brand stuff) but I think there is rarely any difference at all.
- I will almost always spend more money to buy the local food than the stuff from California. I don't care if the Gaylea cottage cheese is more than the other stuff, it says right on it that it is made from Ontario product. Yeeahh... I also always buy Hewitts when I can. I always go home from the shopping trip planning on calling all those 1-800 #'s on the packaging to ask about where it's from but I never have.
- I love to do the once-a-week big shopping trip but sometimes I just don't get around to it and I end up picking up something everyday. Sometimes I end up doing both.
- I love to grow and preserve as much of my food as I can. I figure I don't really have the energy to grow that much food so I'll buy bushels of whatever is in season and preserve as much of that as I can. Unfortunately, I don't do that as often as I would like (last year it was just a lot of red peppers). I'm hoping that as a stay-at-home mom I can one day have more time to do that (?).
- I love to host and make people feel comfortable. I know that I probably spend too much money buying the food etc. to make people come over.... although I sometimes fail in this area too.
- I love eating. I love eating expensive food. I limit myself with buying these foods but I do enjoy buying a new expensive cheese (or something like that) once in a while.
- There's a foodland grocery store about 2 min. from our place where I buy most of our stuff. It's an okay grocery store. I don't think the produce is all that fantastic and neither are the prices but it's still alright. There's a Fortino's right beside my job which I LOVE!! They have everything! They have all the meats and cheeses and funky produce you could want and it's all fresh. But the prices are a little high. I rarely shop at the food basics across the road from work. I do NOT like that store. I feel dirty shopping there but that's because I'm a snob. I should get the basics there because I do love their prices.
Pinching pennies is not fun for me. I know some people live for it but it's like pulling teeth for me. I feel like grocery shopping is my one area of life where I get to just forget about it. So is there a way to enjoy my grocery shopping and still make things cheaper? What new grocery habits can I start and still enjoy getting food?
posted by Nicole at 11:08 a.m.
6 Comments:
I meal plan 2 times a month and I look through the flyers while I'm planning to see what's on sale and that will determine what we will eat.
Nicole meal planning ahead of time is good because then i cuts down on alot of misc. buying. Also i found i bought less when mike and i use to bike for groceries. It makes sense are you really going to buy a case of coke if you have to lug it home or a bag of chips - because i takes up to much space. Walk with cloe, to get the groceries you need and you won't buy as many things because you have to carry it home. I would try to go to food basic for basic things like canned food but the grocery store in your town is good enough. They aren't the priceyest neither are they the most expensive. oh and Sarah had a good idea about buy to much produce, but this comment is long enough so you will have to ask her. Hope you still have fun shopping, i do!!
Teresa always looks in the weekly flyers. It's a habit that I've become accustomed to. We have a No Frills in town that is really good. Foodland is pretty expensive, but they are opened 24/7, so they are good for emergencies. I don't mind no name food, but I usually buy the brand name Coke.
BTW, I just ordered a cheese making book online, so I'll need to see how that works out.
Well. A subject that I most certaintly adore!
I can relate to you on shopping at grocery stores that are great but expensive. We have a Choices 200 steps away. (I've counted,) It is at the top for $$$. But it
s fantastic! These are the tricks that Peter and I use.
1. We go to the grocery store perhaps 2 times a month. On these trips we buy things like flower, canned goods, etc.
Sometimes I will go if I see a really good deal in the flyers. Eg. Dried cranberries.
2. We meal plan at the beginning of each week.
3. Save the expensive cheeses for special times or buy in small quantities and make it last.
4. Some things you can't buy no name. Ice Cream for one. You would be disgusted to know what I buy a box of vanilla ice cream for. But it's made local and from natural ingredients. When we have it, we only get once scoop! Savour it to the end!!
Grocery shopping has become a social event for us. If you think going first thing in the morning will get you ahead of the crowd you are wrong. We meet more people from our church grocery shopping than attend the PM service. We could, and do have small group meetings in the isles, exchange news, needle the minister, and debate the merits of Dutch products. It could be just shopping with your dad but it seems to take a looong time. It is also more expensive shopping with your dad. He likes a thick steak once in a while, fancy cheese I would only buy at Christmas, tends to over-stock on some food and likes to try out wierd mustards and pickles. Still he keeps me away from the chips, ice-cream and cookies. Here's my 2 bits.
-I never look at flyers either. Maybe I should, I know I'm not a great shopper.
-I love it that you are buying food, and cooking with food. I think you should feel guilt-free when buying anything on the outer perimeter of the grocery store. OK maybe not the chocolate eclairs at the bakery.
-Generally I'm with Dan on the no name stuff.
-We are still having the cheese debate. Dad says all cheese is made from powder. He's seen warehouses full of the stuff. All cheese is good- even no name.
-When did we quit eating dessert?
-I have no problem eating leftovers 3 times a week. Where did we ever get the idea that we needed a different dish every night of the week? I think we are obsessed with variety. It sure saves on time, effort AND expense.
Enough for now, I'm getting hungry.
WOW!! What fun responses! Thanks guys!
By the way, this week we started getting our newspaper and flyers delivered to our door.... I think I'm going to start checking them out. It's almost as fun as shopping!
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