Posted on 11/21/2009 10:33:48 AM PST by franksolich
How often do you shop for groceries?
I don't mean for the last-minute half-gallon of milk or package of cigarettes from the convenience store, but the heavy-duty grocery shopping.
All the older siblings and their spouses appeared to shop once a week, filling up the automobile or van to the rafters.
I on the other hand have always emulated the parents, who shopped for groceries every single day excepting Sundays (but then and again, it needs pointed out franksolich has no spouse and dependents, so it's a somewhat different sort of thing).
In the town of circa 3,000 alongside the Platte River of Nebraska, where I spent my childhood, and in the town of circa 3,000 in the Sandhills of Nebraska, the routine of the parents never changed; they went to the grocery store every day (excepting Sundays), usually about 5:00 p.m., and until we were teenagers, hauled my younger brother and I along with them.
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It is a hateful chore because of how many times you have to handle the groceries that you buy. You take it off the shelf and put it in your basket. You take it out of the basket and put in on the check out counter. You put the darn groceries back in you grocery sacks and back into the cart. You put the grocery sacks into your car. You take the grocery sacks out of your car into your house. Then you have to take the crap out of the bags and put in storage.
Are they Democrats too?
I gave up my Costco membership. You can get bulk items at the grocery store now, so I don’t think it makes much sense. I always used to go into Costco and buy a lot things I didn’t need.
It seems like I do 1 big grocery shopping trip every week and get things like milk, eggs, etc. Then I do little grocery shopping trips throughout the week to buy what I need for dinner.
My husband thinks I should only need to go once a week. However, he doesn’t cook, so I don’t think he knows what he is talking about.
I do that. I have a local market, right down the street, with an excellent butcher. Go there every other day or so, for food for a few dinners, keep up with the milk and lettuce. Every few weeks I go to the supermarket not too much farther away, get larger amounts of staples, paper goods and so forth.
That's the key to keeping expenses under control. Plan what you'll eat. Stick to the list. Keep shopping trips to regular intervals so you have a gauge of normal spending. And eat everything you buy. Americans throw something like 20% of their groceries away.
5 freezers?
what happens when the power fails?
Well, gee, at least you don’t have to plow the land, put the seeds in and so forth. I say we are all spoiled to the gills. Compared to the Middle Ages.
I live alone. I have zero waste unless something happens to spoil on me. I cook every other day in mild weather and cook every day in cold weather. I’m a big fan of soup. I like to make all kinds of soup from scratch with fresh veggies.
My lab eats all the crumbs and scraps. I don’t know what it is about labs, but they seem to be extra extra fastidious about getting every last little speck, like a cat. And mine likes veggies, even raw and unseasoned. So all the trimmed skin and bad spots I cut off fresh produce get gobbled up by the dog. If something spoils, i trim off the mold, and give the rest to the dog.
I never keep a fridge stocked up. I stock up the cupboards and the basement pantry. The fridge is almost always bare.
We live along the Yukon and our road is closed over half the year. Nearest sams & costco is 600 miles away. We eat alot of salmon, moose, and caribou. Grow huge garden, usually have 1000 lb taters in basement, ect.
We still haul in about 6 gran worth of food supplies every fall before road drifts shut. Beats paying 3X the price flying it in on bush planes. Oh how I wish I could bag my own groceries, ha.
Waste is my big problem. I have 3 teenagers, and I like having things around for them just to be able to eat. However, it seems like they don’t eat some of the things I buy (bread for sandwiches, bananas). I also buy things like bananas/apples/oranges once a month, and rotate those things. That way they don’t get sick of them.
Now, I try to keep things that don’t go bad quickly (oatmeal, cereal, canned goods, frozen pizzas, pasta).
Don’t forget taking it out of storage and hauling into your kitchen. Then unloading the morsels from its boxes and cans into your skillet, then unloading your skillet onto your plate, then unloading your plate into your mouth. THen hauling the plate into the kitchen for cleaning, then restocking the cupboards with clean dishes.
It’s way more efficient to be a coyote. Get hungry? stand up and chase a rabbit. Then eat it. then lay down.
Cows really got it made.
It really helps cut that down
Yep. Main reason to use the list. We can from our garden. Hunt an fish an barter for stuff we need with stuff we have excess of. Have a neighbor who gives us eggs in return for venison etc.
No waste here.
It has been several months for me, when I can I prefer to buy at least a years supply of some things like grits, toilet paper, rice, canned goods and such.
Even eggs and milk and bread, I may go a month or more, I freeze some milk and the bread and the eggs I buy as fresh as possible and keep them as cold as possible with out freezing them.
Actually I do grow a lot of my own food and preserve it. The husband hunts.
I always thought the Jetson’s had a good thing going on!
This seems to be one of those either-or. I make a trip to the big-boxes about once a month, though lately I've been able to stretch it out to six weeks. I keep a running "Sam's" list of cat food, dog food, TP and other paper products. I save HUGE by storing stuff like Swiffers, cleansers from Sam's. Plus, I love to see shelves in the basement with stored canned goods. Just satisfies the "root cellar" impulse in me. I like the feeling of being provided for over the long haul. I could prepare pantry recipes for months out of my store. When the kids come home, they go "shopping" in my basement.
If you manage well, you'll save hundreds a year by storing and shopping in bulk. I also order some kinds of food in quantity. I was surprised to find out that some places will ship for free if you buy in quantity.
The kind of lifestyle you describe where you pick up food everyday is only for city dwellers, and only for city dwelling that is convenient and comfortable. I always hear people talk enviously of how those in German villages just walk to their market and then go home and cook.
How much does that food cost per serving? Might surprise you. What do their homes look like? To Americans, their apartments seem like walk-in closets.
But, the fresh ingredients do appeal to me.
While I am in a rural area, the resort up the road put in a luxury Fresh Mart-type place and now I can do European-style shopping out here in the boonies, using my bulk-purchased canned tomatoes from Sam's.
However, their fresh meat and produce is EXPENSIVE, which would be like European sidewalk markets.
It's a trade-off. So, I love Sam's.
Wow. I thought I was roughing it when I lived 90 minutes from the closest Safeway! I hate shopping period.
Get a small new energy efficient freezer:)
Get yourself a replicator like on startrek.
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