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how often do you shop for groceries?
conservativecave ^ | November 20, 2009 | franksolich

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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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Food; History; Society
KEYWORDS: groceries; grocery; shop; shopping
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To: M203M4

Because the majority of people can’t do math in their heads and refuse to even try.

These are the suckers that go to sams club.


61 posted on 11/21/2009 2:32:28 PM PST by mamelukesabre (Pray for Obama...Psalms 109:8)
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To: M203M4

Oh, there’s also the unlucky people that live in a neighborhood that lacks a decent grocery store. All they got is a fancy big name store with really outrageous prices.

Sams club beats those stores.


62 posted on 11/21/2009 2:34:16 PM PST by mamelukesabre (Pray for Obama...Psalms 109:8)
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To: chalkfarmer
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.

i don't like shopping for groceries because i hate deciding what to get... fortunately for me, i handle the groceries once... my boys take them out of the cart and put them on the counter... put them in the car, unload them at home... sometimes i help them put them away... if hubbies at home, he helps unload... if i could afford it, i would order it all online and have it delivered...

63 posted on 11/21/2009 2:35:38 PM PST by latina4dubya ( self-proclaimed tequila snob)
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To: Eska

Bet a lot of people would like to live like ya`ll do.

Not a lot of crime in your neighborhood I`d imagine


64 posted on 11/21/2009 2:42:07 PM PST by Harold Shea (RVN `70 - `71)
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To: franksolich

The healthier you eat, the more often you have to shop. Those who grocery shop once every week or two likely have unhealthy diets of processed junk food. (Exception for those who live out in the country and grow their own food.)


65 posted on 11/21/2009 2:45:21 PM PST by SamAdams76 (I am 34 days away from outliving Lefty Frizzell)
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To: franksolich

Every 2 weeks I shop for “stuff”.

First store is WM for paper goods and cleaning supplies and such and the second is Publix for anything they might have on sale, and that could be anything I use and still have on my list....
And if I don’t use a list, I can’t remember what I need anyway...so I stick very close to it. :-)

But for food....every other day or so....that is, if I need anything.

We don’t buy meat at the grocery, because we buy whole cows and put that in the freezer. We buy pork and chicken from home growers that don’t use hormones and they spring feed their stock. Kill and slaughter on site.

I make jellies and jams and freeze veggies, and sometimes can in the summer/fall depending......
We don’t eat junk. I make everything from scratch, including dressings and condiments and all baked goods.

We have a small garden area and my aunt has a large area and she gives me tons of fresh veggies.
I have a small herb garden and love the tomatoes and herbs from out of there.

We have fig trees and apple trees in our own yard and pretty much anything we want grown close to us here. And we’re right close to the city.

I get to the point of wondering if we can keep affording store bought things.

What in the world do people do, that have to get everything from the grocery stores?
We’d be broke if I had to do that.


66 posted on 11/21/2009 3:31:19 PM PST by LadyPilgrim ((Lifted up was He to die; It is finished was His cry; Hallelujah what a Savior!!!!!! ))
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To: bboop

I grow a bit, is all. Tomatoes, which NEVER fruited this year. The other stuff, I think I just grew for the raccoons. And skunks. Like the corn I grew one year that they ate OFF the cob, off the plant.

Corn-fed ‘coon pie took on a whole new meaning.


67 posted on 11/21/2009 4:13:57 PM PST by bboop
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To: McLynnan

You prompted me to look up small freezers, as I need to get one for my daughter for Christmas.

Home Depot has a 5.0 & 7.0 Cu.Ft, $168 & $198, $22 & $25/yr for electricity. Free delivery.


68 posted on 11/21/2009 4:20:59 PM PST by Cold Heart
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To: franksolich

Big Costco hauls once a month. Beef, Chicken, Fish all the canned stuff plus all the paper towels etc.

Every day or so for local produce.


69 posted on 11/21/2009 4:25:12 PM PST by moehoward
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To: Paved Paradise
I think the Europeans have it right - they shop daily - it is something they do on the way home from work - it is leisurely and they buy just enough for a meal or two or what they need.... it is so much more enjoyable to pick out a few things and head home.

I do the shopping for the family, since I pass a couple of supermarkets and a produce store on the way home from work. Two or three times a week I stop, wander in, see what looks good or is on sale in the meat and produce departments, and go home with it.

For non-perishables, I generally stock up at Costco once a month (which is a small detour coming home from work).

70 posted on 11/21/2009 4:32:36 PM PST by PapaBear3625 (Public healthcare looks like it will work as well as public housing did.)
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To: Freddd
"Yes, you can buy milk and cheese and freeze it. You can even can butter!"

I do that also. When I used to be able to find milk, bread or cheese that was marked down I would buy as much as they had or as much as my extra freezer would hold. The area I live in now doesn't have too much organic on clearance, so I can't do it like I did in Washington state.

I shop biweekly. I have quite a bit stocked up now, so I usually only buy what is on sale and what I have coupons for. Makes grocery shopping a lot less expensive than buying daily at the going price.

71 posted on 11/21/2009 4:35:22 PM PST by My hearts in London - Everett (So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.)
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To: McLynnan

Bread with freezer burn? Save a couple bags from previous loaves and double bag the new purchase. Works for me! :~)


72 posted on 11/21/2009 4:43:42 PM PST by My hearts in London - Everett (So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.)
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To: McLynnan

My favorite kitchen plaque: “I have a kitchen only because it came with the house”!


73 posted on 11/21/2009 5:19:03 PM PST by Grams A (The Sun will rise in the East in the morning and God is still on his throne.)
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To: Paved Paradise
I hate every other type of shopping other than grocery shopping. I often thought of doing peoples' shopping for them as a business, however local stores now offer delivery for on line orders at a very modest fee, so I don't think I would be able to compete. I use cosco for mainly paper and plastic goods and other non perishables. I have another store for meat, another for produce etc. I am grocery shopping several times a week. And what's more...I ask my neighbors if I can pick anything up for them while I am out. = )
74 posted on 11/21/2009 6:12:49 PM PST by murphE ("It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged." - GK Chesterton)
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To: franksolich

Once a week.
Hit Wal-Mart on Tues morning, place nearly empty, have list set up by floor location of stuff, zoom thru.
Then on Thursdays get 5% “senior discount” at local grocery for meats and vegetables.


75 posted on 11/21/2009 6:20:42 PM PST by nascarnation
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To: franksolich

I use the commissary for meats and general groceries every other week, then I usually use Piggly Wiggly or WalMart for produce a couple of times a week. The commissary is a huge money saver, but we live about a half hour away from base, which is why we only go every other week. The Pig is just down the street from my work, and WalMart is on the way home for hubby, so it is more convenient for the stuff that goes bad quickly.


76 posted on 11/21/2009 6:21:50 PM PST by USMCWife6869
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To: bgill
An hour every day?!? That must have been your parents’ version of socializing. I do the big hauls about every three weeks. Any more often is a waste of time and gas to the only grocery store within 20 miles.

I believe it was "socializing" on their part, although perhaps they didn't see that themselves.

The paternal ancestor was a hospital administrator, and both parents were registered nurses, and spent, easily, circa 10-12 hours a day at work six days a week, and about half that on Sundays.

These were two small towns, back in a more mellow, relaxed era, and nothing was far away from anywhere else--we're talking two towns of circa 3,000 people each--and so it wasn't like there was much driving involved.

Most locals seemed to shop abour two or three times a week, and Saturday evenings (it later became Thursday evenings, in imitation of the big cities) was usually when the grocery stores got somewhat too busy for socializing.

The older siblings all had after-school jobs, and so it wasn't like supper had to be at 6:00 p.m. We were perhaps the only family in either town that never had a television (why, I have no idea, but obviously its absence didn't hurt)--we did however have an enormous library, more books than either local public library. And because of their standing in both communities, the parents had to be visible and accessible.

I have no idea how the parents handled it when the older brothers and sisters were younger, before my younger brother and I came along (there was a gap between them and us), but I assume this spending an hour at the grocery store every day for just a couple of sackfuls of goods evolved as a means of both winding down and informally socializing.

I dunno how my younger brother felt about it--but of course he did his own "socializing" there--but I myself was never bored. It was always interesting, watching the interactions of people, even though I couldn't hear them.

77 posted on 11/21/2009 10:57:18 PM PST by franksolich (Scourge of the Primitives, in service to humanity)
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To: murphE

You remind me of my dad - he was like that too. He loved grocery shopping. I wish you were my neighbor.


78 posted on 11/22/2009 11:17:47 AM PST by Paved Paradise
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To: bgill

You think so? She’s an evil person and lives about five states away. I think not. She’s also a fat cow because she eats all the crap she buys in bulk - guess there are advantages to having an empty frig once in a while.


79 posted on 11/22/2009 11:21:13 AM PST by Paved Paradise
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To: Sacajaweau

That’s a great way to look at it - healthy in many ways. I will look forward to when I can do this - in school now so no time.


80 posted on 11/22/2009 11:22:11 AM PST by Paved Paradise
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