Grocery Shopping

[Kandy-Sugar]

For those of you who do your own food shopping, how much on average will you spend on groceries a week?

This includes not only your food shopping but also for toiletries and such. Just general household items.

Do you shop once every week? Once every fortnight?

Or do you do little shops here and there when you need to?

I don't have a consistent routine when it comes to shopping for groceries. I usually try to stretch it out as much as I can before I have to go back to the shops, because even though you say you only need one thing, you come out with a lot more than you originally went in for.

I sometimes do little shops when I find that I've forgotten something I desperately need like milk.

Sometimes I do a little shop after the main shop if I want to cook a specific meal later in the week that requires meat and vegetables. I like to buy that sort of thing fresh. Buying meat and storing it is generally okay but vegetables must be fresh for me unless I only intend to keep them in the fridge for a day or two before their next use.

I only buy in bulk things like frozen chips and such when they're on special.

So I'm not really all that anal when it comes to my shopping routine like some are. Some will sit down with all the catalogues sprawled across the table to find the best bargains and then work out where they're going first and how much they will spend. That's all well in good, but I find that I do just fine when I go in without looking at a catalogue. I will only buy things if they are on special.

On average I will spend just over $100 every fortnight which is pretty good. $50 a week is cheap. Steve and I don't eat a lot and there's always leftovers for work lunches which saves on buying takeaway.

 

[Bambi]

i just shop when i need to, sometimes i just dont do any shopping for ages, i hate food shopping, doing it online is a pain as well, it just seems to take forever, and bvecasue theres a minimum spend limit i find myself spending more just so i dont have to go out and do it

im that inconsistent with it, i couldnt even say how much i spend on average

 

[Jack's Smirking Revenge]

i just go every few days and get stuff. i don't like planning my meals a week ahead or anything because i never know if i'll want it in a week's time, i think it's pointless.

i'd say on average it comes to about £40 a week just for me

 

[Kandy-Sugar]

I tried doing the whole planning what meals I'm going to eat each week when I first moved out, so I knew what to buy when I got out to the shop. But I found that when I did that, I never felt like eating what I'd organised to eat on the night I was meant to make it.

I'm also very lazy and just can't be arsed organising what each nights meal is going to be. >.< Too much effort. Figure it out when it got to dinner time.

 

[Linnaete]

Back at home, I may irregularly go out from time to time in place of someone else in the family to do the grocery shopping. I don't really keep track of shopping "schedules" at home as grocery shopping trips tend to take place when we're running short of a certain ingredient(s) or item(s) in particular.

Now that I'm at university, I usually follow a similar kind of routine. I go out and visit the local Costcutter or Tesco about 20 minutes away mainly when I really need to, or if I'm suddenly feeling ambitious when it comes to dinner preparation. While Costcutter is nice and close to where I live, there isn't that much when it comes to choice and it's considerably less value for money than Tesco. Tesco itself is quite a lengthy walk away anyway and not ideal if it's pouring down. So I mostly just use Costcutter whenever I want anything basic and I tend to spend anything from £15 to £20 whenever I visit anyway. Buying things in bulk is inadvisable considering the limited shelf and fridge spaces for all of us.

 

[Squid]

I try to do one big shop a week but it's never enough so I end up going once a week and then a couple of short trips every so often to get top ups like bread and milk etc.

I've been a bit lazy lately and the cupboards are getting bare... though... I think it's a good thing because I am not snacking so much through the day.

 

[Rapture]

We shop weekly at our house...and we usually spend at least $150.00 a week

I plan meals though and we really only eat out one or two nights during the week. I cook most of the time and most of what we eat is pretty healthy...which is a lot of chicken, pasta, and lean meat.

I've never been one to run to the store here and there for every little thing because we go grocery shopping at a huge grocery store which is in the city I work...and its a 20 minute drive to get there and another 20 to get back so it'd be a huge waste of gas if I went almost every day We drive there though because the selection of food is amazing and priced very well, so the drive is definitely more than worth it. The grocery stores in our city just aren't the same.

Never go shopping when you are hungry though. Your bill will always be expensive

 

[Donald Trump]

I usually go every couple to get fresh vegetables. Because they are the best kind. It's not a pain because the shop is about a minutes walk. I probably spend more time in the lift than I do walking there. I get milk when I run out, I don't really need to plan ahead.
I have to go to the shops every other day to buy cigarettes anyway.
Mhm aha.
ah yeds.

 

[Rydia]

For me, it really depends. Sometimes, my husband and I don't shop for a month so our food bill could be over $100. If we do manage to make it to the store every week, usually we spend about $25 to $30.

 

[Not of Rust]

Grocery shopping is a big affair for me because I love to cook and the chain grocery stores around here suck a tremendous amount of balls. I live on the edge of major farm country so I've got a lot of fresh-from-the-farm stuff available.

- I'll go to a chain market once a week to get non-perishables, toiletries, cleaning products, etc.
- I go to a nearby butcher shop for all meats. About 40% cheaper than in the market because you don't pay for their ridiculous brick and mortar, territorial battles. The quality is exponentially better as well.
- My wife's cousin's fiance manages a co-op market with a local university that has an outstanding agriculture program - so I stop there for produce and herbs (and he hooks me up with a family discount).
- We have a little fish market about 300 yards from my door on the main road of town - I stop once or twice a week for fish/seafood for the night.
- A couple dairy farms w/i a 5 minute drive so I'll get anything dairy there.

It's a lot but I've gotten it down into a routine. Generally spend about $200-250/week depending on how many meals I cook as food prices just continue to escalate.

 

[Lirael]

When I was at Uni, I was spending about £50 a week. I didn't buy any ready-made meals, didn't eat out a lot, and didn't buy meat (pescatarian), but I had the recommended five portions of fruit every day, a pint of milk each day, a couple of pots of plain yogurt each week, fish or Quorn occasionally, lots of lentils... honey every two months. Add toiletries to that, and, well... it was hard to keep the price down. :/

Having said that, I spent about £2 on alcohol across the entire three years there because I really really don't like the stuff.

Fresh fruit and veg was the killer. And chocolate soya desserts...

 

[Tyler Breeze]

For the 5 of us... It's about $450 every two weeks. Yeah, this is fucking crazy. We'd like to spend more, but we can't afford it most of the time due to bills.

My parents are gonna be so happy when I finally move out. That total will decrease drastically. That's what they get for having 3 kids.

 

[Luminas]

When I lived alone for college I had an $25 dollar limit. Which sucks alot cause with $25 a week you can't buy much. I barely ate during that time. T~T

 

[Ed Elric]

OMG the cost of living is way too damn high

I'd say for just groceries alone-- (no cleaning supplies, etc) about $80.00 per trip and we go at least every other week. food for two people?! c'mon you're killing me

I had to stop buying healthier foods because being healthy cost way too much money and we're broke. [fruits/ salad]

My diet: sandwiches and cereal oh and Healthy Choice TV dinners. xD

 

[Six]

Hm...I usually go every other day. I don't own a car so it's a bit hard to take stuff for the whole week on your bike. Groceries are getting more and more expensive as well, I think I spend a good €40,- a week. I really need to start watching my budget more, and go to the butchers for meat instead of take it with me, conveniently, in the supermarket. That's a few trips, but I've started doing it occasionally.

Take a trip to the butcher and take meat with you for the rest of the month, freeze it in, go to the grocery store get potatoes, veg (stuff you can freeze in sometimes too), and bread. Go from there. I need to stop drinking coke, I think that's what I spent most money on. At least a liter bottle a day. It's ridiculous. Water from the tap would be much cheaper.

 

[Big Casino]

I try to get a big shop in whenever I go to the supermarket. I usually get enough to last me 2weeks that's including munch to take to work with me aswell. Tends to cost around 60-70 quid for a fortnight which is pretty good. I shop at Iceland though which is cheaper. Were I to shop at tesco or the co op that figure would easily be at least £100.
Aside from stuff for sandwiches at work etc my shopping list tends to be mostly potatoes and fresh chicken, beef etc. I enjoy cooking so I make almost every dish from scratch. I think I save a lot of money cuz I don't buy ready meals and much frozen foods. No sweet tooth so I don't spend money on chocolate or desserts either.

 

[Miko]

We spend a lot more than I feel like is necessary for the 2 ½ of us. If I had to take a guess I'd say collectively we spend around $120 a week on average. Isn't that ridiculous? We shop usually once a week between two stores on Thursdays and then small shopping trips inbetween since we forget stuff a lot, despite having a shopping list on the fridge

We tend to go through different seasons of spending depending on my work status. I used to work seasonally - so that really reflected the cash flow. I'd be really pinching pennies and harshly meal planning during my off season. During season, however, there would be a lot more of a cash flow and we would be really busy, so the planning & caution would be tossed to the wind.

Currently we're back at a place where I need to start looking at budgeting again and figuring meals out. I've been working on meal prepping in the beginning of the week as well but that's still a work in progress. Too often I let vegetables rot before I get to them.