Shop less often
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As I mentioned in the intro to the “Smart grocery shopping” series,one way to cut back on your grocery costs is to cut back on your grocery trips. Frugalites have long brought up the point that when you just need to get eggs and milk, it’s not like you can walk into the grocery store and just buy eggs and milk. No. You have to walk past practically everything else in the whole store to get to the dairy section. This is not an accident on the store’s part. I am very likely to be reminded of something else I “need” and pick up “just a few extra things”… usually extra things I didn’t really need right away anyway. How about you?
I’m not proposing once-a-month shopping (I’m not knocking it either; if it works for you, do it). For most of us, it’s not practical to do a monthly shopping trip becasue 1) we’re not that organized and 2) if you want fresh produce in your life, it still requires more trips (unless you grow it, which is actually a great idea… but not something I do right now). Every family will have to find their own balance. For us, that’s weekly or week-and-a-half shopping trips.
Most produce doesn’t last well for a full week (although some of it does, maybe more than you’d suspect; it’s worth figuring out) so I plan my produce-heavy meals for earlier on in the week and just buy what I need for them, plus a few “staple” veggies, like sandwich fixings. That way, I avoid tossing rotting produce (and the money I spent on it). I’m not perfect at this, but I’m definitely improving as time goes on.
As far as the merits of infrequent shopping go, sure, it would probably save me money if I went less often. But the point is not so much to space your big trips further apart but to eliminate the little trips. Those are the trips to get something I forgot on my big trip, or to pick up just one or two things. I’m actually pretty good about sticking to my shopping list on the big trips (more on that later this week). But it’s so easy to add on to a trip of convenience. Yes, we occasionally run out of milk. We usually go without until the next planned trip. (Admittedly, this is more because I don’t like to brave the hordes at Wal-Mart than because I’m really a grocery stickler, but the results are the same!)
Besides saving money, an added benefit is that limiting yourself to “planned” grocery shopping trips will help you better estimate your family’s needs in the future. Going without milk this week reminds me next week that I need to buy three gallons.
So how often do you shop and do you feel like it’s efficient?
I shop on the weekend, use a list, but shop mostly for produce. You’ve got to know how to store produce.
Eliminate as much air as possible, keep away from light, get rid of excess water, don’t grab produce by your bare hands if you can help it, and use a clean knife if you cut into it and save the other half.
You also got to know how to pick produce, especially the stuff to be eaten fresh. Everybody goes and tries to buy the ripest that they can, but I try to stagger it a bit - pick out some ripe, some that will take a day or two to ripen, some thats even under ripe.
Those are great tips and I’m definitely going to use them. Do you store produce in sealable bags or just get as much air out as you can and twist the store bags?