Rethinking grocery shopping | A reader tip
Recently, I mentioned that I kind of hate grocery shopping, and shortly afterward, a reader sent me an email, sharing how she and her husband reduced their grocery spending, made some healthy changes to their diet AND figured out how to spend less time shopping (always a lovely idea, I say.) I thought her plan might be helpful to some of you too, so I asked if I could post her email here, and she said yes. Thank you, Susan!
Hello, Kristen --
I so enjoy your blog, and often think to myself when I'm going through my fridge "What would Kristen do with this?"!
Being a new empty-nester, and having just moved from a job with the government to being a pastor (with the attendant huge pay cut, but huge leap in happiness), our money is tight, tight, tight.
Groceries were one area where I had problems -- I'd shop every single week, spend WAY too much, and end up with cabinets full of food that wasn't very good, and often ended up being thrown out.
My husband and I sat down and decided to make a big move towards less processed food, and so what we do now is stock up on staples such as rice, pasta, dry milk, flour, sugar, etc. We only need to do this about once every three months, and we also buy our toiletries and pet supplies then.
We shop for these trips at Sam's, and I do the click and pull system to keep me out of the store and away from the temptations of all the pretty packages. Then we just shop weekly for the perishables, and we strictly limit what we spend on those, shopping sales and tweaking the menu plan according to what's on sale.
The best part is that my husband has begun to do this weekly shopping, using a list I make. This keeps me and my poor impulse control out of the store, and makes him much more aware of how much groceries cost. We're eating simpler, healthier meals, sharing more in food buying and preparation, and enjoying the whole process much more! Win all around!
I just wanted to share as I thought it might help some others that have poor impulse control in the store, or hate to grocery shop like you do.
Susan
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Joshua's 365 post: Water Lily
Thanks for sharing Kristen and Susan 🙂 I'm hoping to move towards this kind of shopping as well. I've joined a food co-op that does orders every three months (with the next one in October) and am hoping to be able to stock up on my staples every 3-6 months and just buy fruit, veggies, meat and dairy products as I need them.
One question though, how do you store the dry goods? Pantry moths are very common here in Brisbane because of the warm climate and I'd hate them to ruin 5kg of something!
Well, as a guy who just bought 80 lbs of flour (yes, I love to brag about that 😛 ) here's the system I have.
I got some of these: http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Pages/BigBags.aspx?SizeName=XL (I'm sure there are food safe plastic bags near you) and lined 5 gallon buckets from the hardware store with them. Luckily I was able to find some food safe ones for around $4 including the lid.
No idea how this translates to Metric but it keeps my stuff all sealed and safe.
I stumbled onto some 2-part covers at the local hardware store called Gamma Seal lids that work great on five gallon buckets used for storage. They have a ring that snaps on to the top of your bucket. Then the cover, which has a rubber gasket on it, screws into this ring. The result is completely air tight storage. I buy my flour in five pound bags for convenience. I can fit four or five of these bags (I leave the flour right in the packaging) into each five gallon bucket. Our food storage is in the basement, but I do not have to worry about summer humidity as long as my flour and sugar are in these sealed buckets. I have three 5 gallon buckets for flour and three for sugar. Everytime I put new flour or sugar in, I mark the date right on the bucket with a black sharpie marker. So long as I always use the flour from the bucket with the oldest date on it, I never need to worry about running out of flour or about anything going bad. The covers were not terribly expensive, and they are very good quality. I broke many of the regular kind of bucket covers trying to pry them off over the years. These are so much better. I LOVE them!!
Thanks, I will check out my hardware store. 🙂
Storage was an issue, as I didn't want to spend money on containers, and I live in the deep South, so we also have pantry bugs + high humidity! I use 2 liter soda bottles (procured from neighbors who drink soda), washed out with a weak bleach solution, rinsed well, and dried THOROUGHLY. They are great for rice, sugar, and small pasta shapes, store well, and are free! For flour and larger pasta shapes, I use standard canisters with tight fitting lids.
Susan
We have crazy high humidity as well, thanks for the tip 🙂
Hey Liz,
I have some gallon sized glass jars that I use for this sort of thing. They're harder to find these days because everything now comes in plastic (ug) but there was a time when industrial sized mayo and stuff like that came in gallon glass jars so they were ubiquitous - sometimes you can still find them at thrift shops. I also have a few that were designed for iced tea (without the spout) that work well. Smaller glass jars work too, but you need a LOT of them if you're gonna really stock up.
My dad has an even crazier system. He has an old metal file cabinet that he's converted for food storage. I don't think it keeps moths out, but it does work for mice.
We love the 8# Orville Redenbacker Popcorn and the Kirkland Mandarin Oranges packed in glass that Costco sells. We reuse the popcorn containers for flour, sugar, cornmeal, powdered milk and of course, less expensive popcorn! The mandarin oranges are packed in standard mason jars with reusable lids or can be replaced with standard size canning lids-and-rings. They hold spices and dry goods that I buy at Winco. (Two notes: these are a splurge for my husband's lunchbox as he wears braces *and* they are on the endangered item list at Costco. Seems people buy more of the single serving mandarins in plastic than the glass jars. If you love them, make sure you let your Costco store staff know you want them to stay and BUY some!)
I don't buy them, but I have friends who do, so they save the jars that the chocolate covered raisins and other chocolate goodies are packaged in at Costco. Currently these hold nuts, coconut, dried mushrooms, pasta, rice, etc.
Because I use this small-medium-large assortment, my pantry always looks neat and tidy and I never have any bug issues. I didn't pay extra for any of these containers and they are not in the landfill, either. Woo-Hoo!
I buy Carlo Rossi wine (well...on occasion. My friends/family buy more often), and they come in these fabulous glass jugs with handles. The sizes are great for heavier items. I can lift them and store them easily!
If you buy a lot of flour and stuff in bulk, you can go to your local bakery (in my grocery store), they have 5 gallon buckets with tight fitting lids that their frosting and fillings come in. They sometimes give them away or I had to pay $1 for each one. Most bakeries just throw them away so it is a win win if you can get them. They were made for food so they are food save.
Thanks everyone 🙂
What is "the click and pull system?"
I was wondering the same thing.
Sam's Click & Pull:
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/pagedetails/content.jsp?pageName=howToCnP
Me, too--thank you, Melanie!
If you have a Sam's Club nearby, they probably do this. Basically, you do your shopping online, putting your items into a cart, then all you do is go to the store to the customer service desk, and they bring you your groceries! It's free of charge, and saves loads of time as well as keeping me away from temptation.
Susan
What a great idea. I could save a hundred dollars a visit to Costco if they had that system. But they probably don't want me to save money...
Another thing that has helped me is to rethink my approach to meals. I don't need to eat a fancy, complicated, or exotic dish every day; they can be "treats" once or twice a month, instead. This means I don't need to buy a particular spice or ingredient that will only get used once and then languish in the cupboard or fridge. Instead, I focus on basic firsts (e.g., roasted vegetables) and charming leftovers (roasted vegetables in soup or a casserole).
This translates to a much more limited number of things I have to consider at the grocery store, and I've found that reducing the number of options I have to choose from goes a long way to keeping my anxiety and irritation about grocery shopping in check. Choices are overwhelming, and that's why grocery stores are set up the way they are. It triggers a response to overspend in most people! For reference, look up Barry Schwartz's TED talk on "the paradox of choice."
I've found our new way of shopping leads to eating simpler meals, too, and it's a welcome change. The roasted veggies in soup is a great idea!
Susan
I also try to limit the "extras" that I buy, those things that are only used in one or two dishes I make. But I'm willing to buy spices because they are a relatively cheap way to add variety to often-repeated dishes. I eat chicken, rice and vegetables usually at least twice a week, and having spices to change the flavor profiles encourages me to eat well (and eat what's in the house) without eating out or splurging on expensive ingredients that don't add much in the way of nutrition
This is a great idea. I, too, have been sending my husband to the store in the hopes that he will begin to understand more about the cost of our food. Downside (or upside, depending on my mood): he always, always, always finds the ice cream sales. If there is a deal on ice cream, he will find it.
Thank you Susan and Kristen. I do agree that women are kinda weak when it comes to shopping. We tend to spend way too much - even when we are not emotionally turned on lol.
Also the less number of times we go out to shop for groceries, the more we can save and we can avoid wastage too. I used to do grocery shopping every week or sometimes, 2 times per week and ended up in the same situation - wastage!
Now we plan ahead and do once or twice per month! Feels awesome 🙂
Although that does depend on the person...Mr. FG is sometimes more impulsive than me when it comes to grocery shopping!
Kristen, what're the type of impulse buys that Mr. FG throws into the cart? Is he a fancy sauce kinda guy, or a twinkies/chips man?
Jane, I heartily disagree with your "women are kinda weak when it comes to shopping" statement. Shopping and effectively managing your household budget are ways of demonstrating strength and discipline. To paint all women with this flaccid statement does your sisters a huge disservice.
It also makes you sound like a bit of a wimp. And I don't want to even think about what you mean by "when we are not emotionally turned on lol".
Surely you didn't mean it the way it sounded.
This is very much how I shop, too (I also hate grocery shopping). I keep the stables on hand and try to avoid 'boxed meals' as much as possible. Then I only need to stock up on produce and dairy on a regular basis! Plus, I have a garden and can/freeze/dehydrate as much as I can so that cuts down on some of the grocery expense, too. Great tips in the article above. Thank you!
Funny, I actually LOVE grocery shopping :). But, I do appreciate the tips to help keep the impulse buys at bay. One thing I'll do to keep it simple is to plan for 2 meals worth of food - so the same ingredients, just double the quantity. I freeze the other half with EVERYTHING together in a bag and pull to either re-heat or do the prep knowing that it's all there in the bag. Just a thought :).
I have a family of 3. Almost all standard recipes feed 6 people. I immediately freeze the leftovers for a second meal later. I love when I can just pull a meal out of the freezer and heat it up in minutes!
Loved the article, loved the comments!
Fantastic advice packed with common sense. I'm currently considering adapting my own grocery shopping routine. Just one shop a week for me currently and I do stick to budget - so it does work. But it's easy to become complacent!
I am trying to simplify life but I don't have many good recipes that have staples ingredients. Does anybody have some suggestions?
interesting...