Feeding Frenzy

By Fred

June 9, 2008 12:19 PM | Link to this

Even worse….I seems to always make the cardinal sin of going to the grocery store hungry.

By chocoholic

June 9, 2008 12:57 PM | Link to this

I really try to be organized like you described. I read the sale papers, clip the coupons, plan the meals, make the list, and then hit the stores. But lately I’ve been asking myself if the time I’m using doing all of this meal organizing is really worth the money that I save in the store. I only have one child and a husband, so it’s not like I’m buying in bulk. My personality is definitely “Type A” so I love the feeling of being in control and being organized, but I’m considering loosening up a little!

By S.C. BBQ Boy

June 9, 2008 1:12 PM | Link to this

I always shop with a menu and a list. One thing I like to do. I try to organize my list to match the lay out of the store. That way I hope to get everything as I go and not have to double back.

By Anne

June 9, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this

This topic is well timed. My 11-year old daughter and I did the family’s weekly grocery shopping yesterday after Church. On our way home, she commented on how much money I had spent on groceries. It was a great teaching moment - discussing how I planned the week’s menu in advance, wrote out the shopping list (according to how the store is organized), used coupons, used the “buy one, get one” promotions, and finally, the “compare the store brand to the name brand” specials. She had a much better idea of how I try to get as much as I can out of our food budget. She was also a part of putting the list together - what camp does she have this week, how that impacts snacks and lunches, planning for her friend’s sleepover this week. I’ve found I can’t take a vacation from how I plan/spend our grocery dollars.

By Buckshot

June 9, 2008 2:56 PM | Link to this

I keep a dry erase board next to the refrigerator and one on the door of the pantry. When I notice something low, I write it down. Then when I do my shopping list I make sure those items are on my list. I clip coupons, too—only I don’t put them by category but in envelopes marked by the month they expire. When you start getting older, you need all the “reminders” you can get! I pile up all the coupon sections of the newspaper on my desk and every Thursday I take them to work with me and on my lunch hour, I clip away! I also check the different grocery store websites to see who is running the best specials for the stuff I need to get. It only takes a couple of minutes and it makes a difference. Sometimes one of them is running a great sale say, on meat, and I have saved quite a bit. If you get yourself in a routine, it goes faster and you don’t forget.

By eye_kay

June 9, 2008 4:01 PM | Link to this

BTW by Georgia law the buy one get one free or two for the price of $X.XX, is illegal. If something is Two for the price of $X.XX, it means that if you buy only one, you get it at half price.

By catlady

June 9, 2008 5:14 PM | Link to this

I couldnot figure what “organized groceries” were until I read the responses. I DID have a friend that organized her pantry, including spices, alphabetically. Now THAT was “organized groceries”.

When my son was at home, I had to shop nearly every day: if I bought a day’s groceries, he’d eat it in one day. If I bought a week’s groceries, he’d eat it in one day.

By FYTVLSis

June 9, 2008 6:18 PM | Link to this

Buckshot, that’s a great idea about putting a dry erase board on the fridge and one on the pantry. I have on the fridge, but it is on the side. I guess I need to redo my photo gallery on the freezer side so I can fit the dry erase board there - it will be easier to jot down what is missing in the fridge. Putting another one in the pantry is a great idea! I wonder if putting one in the kids bath and master bath might work for seeing what they need, too. Might be kind of tacky, but if it works…

By MOT

June 9, 2008 8:01 PM | Link to this

I have been in the process of raising ten kids for 34 years-the oldest 6 are raised and gone. I have two college kids and a senior and 8th grader still home, 7 boys 3 girls, the most teens at one time were 4: 13, 15, 16, 18.

I had to be organized and good at menu planning, food organizing, cooking in bulk, shopping bulk and stretching our food dollars. Things I did:

1)Shop by the month (requires an old extra fridge in the garage or basement, and a freezer) 2)Shop by sales/coupons but rarely coupons since the big bulk items did not usually have a coupon. 3)Shop with my husband-we made a date night, we usually filled 2-3 buggies and it was always a contest to see who could guess the correct amount at the register. 4)While we shopped, kids cleaned out pantry and fridge to prepare for the onslaught of food being brought back. 5)Out of necessity we kept a locking pantry for cereals and lunch items, otherwise they would eat those things up in no time. (They made their own lunches in the a.m. while I made a hot breakfast nearly every day) 6)About 10 years into it, I learned a great method of menu planning. Especially for so many, it is hard to please everyone, but if you can please them several times through the month they are more accomodating at eating during the other times so one night I sat everyone down with little squares of paper and told them to write down their favorite meals even if it something we have never had before. When everyone was through, those were my menus…forever. I used a poster board that was marked to look like a calendar and just switched the meals around or in and out each month. Anyone only had to look at the board to know “what’s for dinner?” I only had to look to know what I lacked in my food supplies for the month as I made my list. 7) A few years after the beginning of my perpetual menu board, (which would have benefited greatly from post it notes!!) the personal computer came along. I then put all into the computer and only had to go hit print each month, after making any minor adjustments to what we needed. NEver spending more than a few minutes to make a grocery list again, nor to plan menus.

NOW, notice I began all that with the words, this is what I DID. I went back to school 3 years ago, I will graduate as an RN in one year. I let everything go. Because I had been so organized it carried us for a while, but now my husband “cooks” for us and we eat lots of pizza, boxed meals-mac/cheese, hamburger helper, or grilled meats that were grilled on weekend and saved for the week. We shop more spur of the moment and I have not been grocery shopping for a months worth in nearly 4 years. I do know I do NOT know how to shop or cook for less people, no matter how hard I try.

The set of kids still home now think more in terms of convenience foods and fast foods than the older ones ever did and I am sad about that.

If you can get organized it IS worth it and once you lay the ground work, it is a snap and becomes a time, stress and money saver all at once. Plus you always have good basic things on hand. I always had neighbors borrowing things they would run out of. Now I am the borrower.

By FCM

June 10, 2008 7:09 AM | Link to this

Good timing. I drove the eldest to camp on Friday. Got up on Saturday to find the freezer thawed out. Thought it was the thermostat and adjusted it. (Yes, I tossed the food). The food in the fridge seemed cool to the touch (I didn’t let anyone touch the dairy). Sunday I went back to get eldest. Came home…the fridge was dead. Had them out to repair yesterday…fan was dead.

I lost a total of 6 large kitchen trash bags (the big white ones) of food. As I tossed the food my child wrote each item I tossed…that way I would have an idea what we lost.

Then I went over the list to see what items (milk, eggs, etc) were ‘musts’.

Then I took all the sales adds and determined which store had which items we would need to get.

Then I determined my plan of attack. I know which stores to hit when and what to get at each.

I am still very frightened of the bill.

By JJ

June 10, 2008 7:58 AM | Link to this

FCM Sorry about your fridge….and all the food you had to toss……

I too am very organized in the grocery department. I plan weekly menus, check the coupons, and try to put things in order of the store. I hit Publix about 9:00 Sunday a.m. Over and done with and still have the rest of the day ahead.

I try to cook up a storm on Sundays and “prep” food for the upcoming week. My daughter is helping at a Camp this week, so it’s just me and the animals. I have plenty of stuff in the freezer, so I didn’t have to go to the grocery store this past weekend…….I saved a ton of money.

By Rhonda K.

June 10, 2008 1:17 PM | Link to this

I consider myself somewhat organized. I do know what we are having for the week, and usually stick to it, but I also add a couple buffer meals for back up. Usually it’s just my husband and daughter, but for the last 2 summers and this one, my step kids are staying for 3 weeks….2 teenage boys who are always hungry so I’ve had to change our menue a little to make sure they get full!

I’m not much of a coupon user, I do better buying what’s on sale and adjusting our menue to that…with coupons more often than not I end up buying things we normally won’t use….

I also buy extra when items I know we will use are on sale….

By Rhonda K.

June 10, 2008 1:17 PM | Link to this

I consider myself somewhat organized. I do know what we are having for the week, and usually stick to it, but I also add a couple buffer meals for back up. Usually it’s just my husband and daughter, but for the last 2 summers and this one, my step kids are staying for 3 weeks….2 teenage boys who are always hungry so I’ve had to change our menue a little to make sure they get full!

I’m not much of a coupon user, I do better buying what’s on sale and adjusting our menue to that…with coupons more often than not I end up buying things we normally won’t use….

I also buy extra when items I know we will use are on sale….

By CC

June 10, 2008 2:27 PM | Link to this

I am organized in that I keep a list on the fridge to write down things that we are out of and I always shop with a list (and try to stick to it). I normally try to shop for a few days at a time instead of planning for the entire week. However, during the summers when school is out and I’m not working, I just buy things as we need them and I shop about every two days.

By FCM

June 10, 2008 6:04 PM | Link to this

Trader Joes: $77 Walmart: $55 Publix: $87

Total: $219…that is what I normally spend in a month! That didn’t even include meat! I can still see space in my fridge!

Crazy.

However, I am thankful I am able to replace what we lost. There are many out there who would not.

Yes, I will still have to go back to the store next week for staples. Milk says it will go bad on 6/19. Also the store was out of the Chipolte Cheddar from Sargento…good stuff (and on sale so I will be looking for it tomorrow).

By BB

June 25, 2008 5:27 PM | Link to this

Ask your grocery store for a list of what is on each aisle. On your word processor starting with what is on the far right side of the store make a master list in a column format of what you need along with aisle number i.e. Produce Meats (aisle#)1. Bread 2.Breakfast 5.Baking etc leaving a small space to write what you need to buy. Print this master list in columns that can be cut apart then clipped together. Keep lists handy along with a pencil so you can write in what you need to buy. Easy to grab and go. Having aisle numbers helps to avoid backtracking.