Do I spend less when I shop less?
What I Spent
A reader last week asked if I tend to spend more when I make multiple stops vs. just a few stops.
I did less shopping this week, so let's see!
My Hungry Harvest box ($25) stops right at my house.
I spent $40 at the grocery store where Lisey works.
And I spent $71 at Aldi.
That brings my total to $127.05.
Last week, I made multiple stops and spent $26 more. But I think that has more to do with the fact that I bought three big bags of shrimp than with me making multiple stops.
Because I'm not a big impulse shopper, I think my spending seems to stay relatively consistent whether I make 2 stops or 10.
But, if impulse shopping is tempting for you, then by all means, stick to as few stops as possible!
What We Ate
Monday
I made a chicken BLT salad, which we ate with sliced apples and toasted bread (which I pulled out of the freezer).
Tuesday
It was Halloween night, so we were here, there, and everywhere. The girls all ate at friends' houses, Joshua was at work, and I just grabbed some sloppy joe filling out of the freezer for Mr. FG and me and we put it on some buns.
Wednesday
I tried a new recipe from my ATK quick cookbook for a Cajun corn chowder. This was quick and easy, and it was also just kind of ok.
It fed us, and I'm eating the leftovers as I type this post, but I don't know that I'd make it again.
But that's ok. Not every recipe is going to be our favorite!
Thursday
I was feeling pretty unmotivated, so I made breakfast for dinner: local sausage, plus buttermilk waffles topped with whipped cream and berries.
Breakfast for dinner isn't zero work, but for some reason, it feels way more manageable than a regular dinner. I think it's a mental thing for me.
Friday
The small pizza thing I did last week worked out pretty well, so I think I might do that again.
This week I chose to list the proteins I had and work around that. For me it worked well. I hate thinking what will I do. Often I start one meal and my mother wants to do a u turn after I have prepped everything.
This week we have have had roast chicken and vegetables. omelettes, tacos. beef and vegetable stir fry with rice and ham and salad.
Breakfast for dinner is definitely not less work. In fact, in the case of pancakes, it's probably more (anything that has to be individually cooked is a hassle in larger families), but I think it's because you don't have to thaw anything or do any prep except right before you start cooking. For me, anyway. Not that we ever eat pancakes for dinner, but the same is true of scrambled eggs and bacon.
We're getting our half cow today or tomorrow, and I am SO EXCITED to have beef again. Heavy on the lamb and pork this week . . .
Monday: Pork shoulder roast with a mustard sauce, baked potatoes, canned baked beans, mashed delicata squash with maple syrup and butter, and some leftover roasted beets
Tuesday: Leftover pork shoulder fried for carnitas soft tacos with lettuce, tomato, etc.
Wednesday: Lamb backstrap in a red wine sauce, fried potato cubes, braised leeks with cream, steamed broccoli
Thursday: Leg of lamb, roasted tomatoes, frozen french fries (so disappointing--can never buy again as I'm now too used to my own par-cooked potatoes from the freezer), roasted cabbage in bacon fat, carrot sticks
Tonight: Not sure. My MiL is driving up and planning on doing a big tea party with scones or pie or something for the kids after school (it's really too bad she's such an amazing baker, because I can never measure up and my kids know it :-), so they probably won't be very hungry for dinner. Maybe I'll just make the aforementioned scrambled eggs.
How do you par cook your potatoes and freeze? Do you cut them into chip size? How long do you cook them for ? Your meals sound delicious.
I peel them (you don't have to, but I do because our potatoes from the garden tend to have thick skin and are filthy), then cut them into chunks for roasting and pile them on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Add fat of choice to the pile of potatoes--I usually use lard or tallow, because I have it, but you can use butter or olive oil or whatever you would normally roast with--plus salt and pepper and any flavorings you might like (garlic or onion powder, oregano, paprika . . .) and mix it all up on the pan to cover the potatoes, then spread the potatoes in a single layer. Roast in a 425 degree oven until the potatoes are soft, but not browned, about 20 minutes. Take out and cool right on the pan, then put the pan right in the freezer. When frozen, peel off the parchment and put the potatoes in a gallon-size freezer zip-top bag. They can be fried in a pan on the stove (cover for the first few minutes to thaw a little before they start to brown) or put in a pan in the oven still frozen and roast again at 425 until they're crispy.
Thank you, what a great idea I'm going to give this a go.
I am finding out the answer to this question myself. My work location recently moved to right near my preferred supermarket. I can tell you one thing for certain: I will spend more if I keep buying sushi for lunch.
Monday-(grocery shopping right after work) so hot dogs and Mac and cheese, baked beans for me(no one else eats them!)
tue-Halloween, kind mish mosh - daughter had left overs, I and omelet, dh and son grabbed something on the way home from soccer practice.
wed- Chicken cutlet, butter noodles, and corn
Thursday- shrimp scampi, and chicken nuggets and noodles for the son (he doesn't eat this) (after daughters soccer practice)
Friday, son has soccer practice, so I am thinking breakfast for dinner-maybe pancakes and bacon, and some cut up apples.
I've been traveling for work, so I've been eating the meals put in front of me! It's been nice having a break from cooking!
Yum yum everything looks so tasty as usual! We go grocery shopping once a week, but I would send Mr. FAF to the grocery store to pick up some items on his way back from work about once a week.
He just gets what I told him and goes home so I don't think we buy a whole lot more.
I have been trying to not run to the store this week- wanting to use up all the odds and ends around here...
Monday- used up baked sweet potatoes in the fridge to make a few batches of sweet potato muffins... Dinner was homemade stuffed crust pizza for the kids and Chicken Tiki Masala and Naan for husband and I ( Aldi kit mix and bread)
Tuesday- Homemade alfredo sauce with pasta and steamed frozen broccoli served with Panko crusted chicken patties...
Weds- salsa chicken from the freezer served with seasoned black beans, rice and all the toppings...
Thursday- LEFTOVERS! husband was working late on a business call so I just pulled everything out that needed finished up- pasta, buffalo chicken dip, apples and caramel sauce, tortilla dippers and carrots... hash brown patties that had been lingering in the freezer.. totally random and thoroughly enjoyed! lol
Friday- pulled a container of beef tips and sauce out of the freezer.. will thaw/heat/thicken gravy.. will serve with egg noodles...and some veg from the freezer...
I pulled a package of bone in chicken breasts out to thaw.. will do something with them for the weekend!
freezers almost empty!
I am very impulsive in the grocery store and getting more so. My 3 boys eat soooo much (and everyone talks about child obesity now...all three are skinny as can be. Hollow legs, I suppose.) and so I will impulsively buy 6 bunches of bananas rather than 3 and 4 bags of pretzels rather than 1 and so forth. Our food waste is confined to things that I burned because I was reading while cooking (am I the only one that gets bored while making dinner?) because they churn through whatever I bring home. So, fewer stops = fewer impulsive "this would be good for lunch boxes!" items. Also, when I shop less it is entirely because I planned better and that always saves me money.
Monday: chicken sautéed in a wine sauce, roasted zucchini/yellow squash/onions/mushrooms and broccoli
Tuesday: pasta and meat sauce
Wednesday: I can't remember!
Thursday: homemade chicken noodles for the kids, my husband and I had an appt. all evening so we grabbed salads and ate them at home while the kids were going to bed.
Friday: Buttered peas, baked potatoes (sweet for the husband and I) and roasted brussels sprouts. The protein is a question mark. Everything is frozen so I might do my shopping today and grab some salmon to roast and push the frozen meats to next week's plan.
Chris, some stores sell "seconds" produce for discounted or deeply discounted prices. So you may be able to get produce such as bananas, apples and tomatoes for much less. Ask someone in the produce section if they have bruised or damaged produce they sell for less. My store does this with bananas - about 45lbs for $3 or so.
Chris, some stores sell "seconds" produce for discounted or deeply discounted prices. So you may be able to get produce such as bananas, apples and tomatoes for much less. Ask someone in the produce section if they have bruised or damaged produce they sell for less. My store has an extreme version: about 45lbs for $3; usual price is $.59/lb.
My husband is a volleyball coach and he had games Mon/Wed/Thurs this week, so it was often just me and my two kids (ages 1 and 3).
Monday - Tortellini. A new food for my kids. Neither cared for it, so they mostly ate popcorn at the game.
Tuesday - Sloppy joes, mac & cheese, carrots & hummus (my 1yo likes to eat hummus by the spoonful!)
Wednesday - Chicken nuggets
Thursday - Shrimp fried rice. Again, neither kid really cared for it. They mostly ate applesauce squeezie pouches at the volleyball game plus a little popcorn. I also think maybe our earlier-than-normal dinnertimes Monday and Thursday might have contributed to their lack of interest in dinner.
Friday - Chicken thighs, sweet potatoes, and.... I'm still thinking of what other side we'll have.
Saturday's plan - Baked potatoes topped with broccoli/cheese and chili for lunch, pizza for dinner.
Sunday's plan - Pork roast for lunch, fajitas for dinner when we host our church small group.
Kristen...I think another topic of interest would be desserts. No one ever mentions them so I'm guessing they're a bygone option usually? Didn't many people have the typical meat, starch, sides and dessert growing up? We had desserts when the children were young, but any more it seems to just be for a big holiday meal, birthday cake or occasional ice cream.
Also, whatever did we do before Mexican food?
I have a friend who offers some sort of dessert every night. She's Anglo-American. I grew up in an Italian-American family, and we only have dessert after dinner on special occasions. We tend to have our sweets for afternoon snack (which shocked my friend when I told her). I think it as much a cultural difference as a generational difference.
I tend to spend more if I make random store runs, because running to the store opens up all sorts of possibilities. Instead of just grabbing ground beef for tacos, I suddenly decide that (insert whatever food here) sounds good for dinner instead and buy the things for that meal. Then I have extra food and am pretty much setting myself up for a food waste extravaganza. Not good.
If I stick to one shop per week, based on pre-planned meals, then I'm stuck cooking those meals, which saves me money (and time running to and from the store).
I usually spend more when I go to more than one store. This past week was especially bad budget-wise. We just had our first Sprouts open up in our area so I wanted to check it out. I told myself that I would only buy some produce and only if it looked good and was on sale. $42 dollars later I got out of there (and only about $5 of that was on produce). Then I stopped at Trader Joes because, you know, it was on the way home and dropped another $40. Then 2 days later I went to the regular grocery store to get the things I forgot and spent $38. So I spent almost double my $60 budget last week, although some of it was for Thanksgiving things. And then! I didn't cook all week. The meats I bought went into the freezer. Sigh.
3 nights I had sandwiches. 1 night I picked up pizza. 1 night I went out with friends for Mexican food. I can't remember the other nights.
All in all, not my best week.
I can't tell if I spend more on multiple shopping trips or not. I think I do though.
We had:
Farm made link sausage, mustard greens, roasted beets and carrot sticks.
Salmon patties, fried okra, cottage cheese and peaches. Oh and grape tomatoes.
Mashed oriental sweet potatoes, sautéed zucchini and onions and meatloaf.
Spaghetti squash with mushrooms, pesto and pasta sauce, along with garlic bread.
Tonight leftover meatloaf with green beans and mashed sweet potato.
The grocery bill was lower but I have to add all my receipts to see how much.
If I do more shops it usually means I haven't planned well or I forgot things. I don't always buy more that way but it uses up more petrol and time. Some things don't last that long anymore but i try to coordinate those supermarket trips so their on my way home from somewhere else though I 'm not always successful.
A usual week here...long days away from home ...but applauding myself for my efficiency ...enough left over for lunches for both of us almost everyday! And no eating out!
Monday: Grilled Hot Dogs ..a little chilly for grilling for some..as a Midwesterner..meh..its just fine!
Tuesday: Chili with ground turkey and fire grilled veggies
Wednesday: Chicken Thighs & Buttered Steamed Broccoli
Thursday: Mushrooms Steak &Green Beans
Friday: Snack Night...kinda ...pretty much leftover whatever...cheeses,crackers, veggies... along with a few tortilla chips at the bottom of the bag....tasty, sustaining ..and .... beats tossing all the 'last ofs"..
And...we received a giftcard from a local restaurant for our anniversay ..sooo.... no dinner out cost tomorrow ..
Happy Weekend!
I'm at a point now where I try to only go shopping once per week if I can. I've been going over budget on groceries, and I figure if I stay out of the store, I won't buy extra stuff we don't need. My husband picks things up as needed between my weekly trips--he's better than I am at staying on list!
Saturday--grilled ginger turkey tenderloins, garlic roasted potatoes, peas and carrots
Sunday--slowcooker sesame chicken (from budgetbytes), rice, steamed broccoli
Monday--turkey brats, baby carrots, apple slices/banana
Tuesday--tacos
Wednesday--hot dogs, fries/sweet potato fries, apple slices
Thursday--cheesy taco soup, corn chips
Friday--salmon, creamy garlic shells, carrots
I decide what the menu will be for the week and try to stick to one shopping day per week. This week I had a $25 gift card to spend at Aldi's.
Monday- Spaghetti and meatballs, lettuce salad, garlic bread and brownies.
Tuesday- Cod, sweet potato fries, corn
Wednesday- Grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit
Thursday- Veggie pizza: broccoli, cheese, onions, green peppers, and corn
Friday- Salmon, garlic toast, mixed veggies, lettuce salad
I also made the Cajun corn chowder for the first time on Halloween night. We also found it just ok. The flavors for sure were better then next day, but still only meh. I got lucky and my parents came for a visit this weekend so my dad was happy to eat up the leftovers I had stashed in the freezer. Otherwise I'm afraid it would have been a food waste at our house.
I love reading everyone's comments! Y'all have made my meal planning for this upcoming week so much easier now. Thanks for all of the great ideas!