The iron triangle of management: FAST-CHEAP-QUALITY; PICK ANY TWO. There are many variations of the triangle this one works well for the topic.
Since you are willing to spend time, Cheap & Quality are what you get.
My daughter's old house had the largest maple tree in the county! I made maple syrup for a few years, then the son in law, now they moved. Was very good but lots of time watching the production.
I like Campbell's Cream of Mush and Crm of Chix soup the best. I wait until the holidays when it goes on sale. I always have 2 flats of each in the pantry
I like Del Monte or Green Giant canned veggies the best. Again, they are usually half price before the holidays.
I like Dean's milk vs store brands or off name brands. It usually goes on sale every few weeks. I buy a few gallons, divie it up in quart containers and freeze it.
I like bbq sauces. When they are on sale, I try them. When they are on sale again, I buy the ones I like. ALWAYS have a variety of sauce on hand.
Virtually all the groceries I buy, I buy the quality I like. When it is on sale, I stock up.
Around the holidays, Land O Lakes butter goes on sale for about 50% off. I'll buy 50-75 pounds and put it in the freezer.
Seldom do I HAVE TO buy by need vs what's on sale.
IF...IF I have to buy something because the pantry/freezers are low, I buy what's on sale and adjust my menu to that.
But because of the way I shop, seldom do I sacrifice quality.
Mom likes to go out for breakfast on Saturday mornings. One of our favorites is Walker Brothers. At Christmas time, like a lot of restaurants, they have a special on gift cards. Buy $50, get a $10 bonus card. So, I buy $300 in gift cards and get an extra $60 in bonus cards. Now I can take mom to Walker Brothers once a month, for an entire year and all I have to pay for at the time is tip.
I'll do that with other restaurants too. Claim Jumper, TGI Fridays, Gino East (not anymore since they closed the one by me).
Shopping sales is fun.
Of course there is the part of pushing a packed cart through the store.
Every couple of months, Meijer has Alpo canned dog food on sale. Spend $35+ and get a $5 coupon. Spend $50+ get a $10 coupon. It's great when that sale coincides with a 20% of price sale.
(Of course the person at the cash register will have carpal tunnel, after shooting 100 cans with the register gun.)
(Hopefully I don't have the same person when I go back after they restock the shelves.)
100 cans = 9 flats of 12 cans. 9 flats = 36" high in the cart. 108 cans x 13.2 oz = 1425.6 or 89lbs