Monday, April 29, 2013

The hated Chore of Grocery Shopping

Am I the only one that detests grocery shopping?  I don’t think it’s just the RAD even though lifting cases of water and jugs of milk can be painful.  Partly I don’t like spending the money and then having to unload the stuff, generally by myself, and finally put it all away.

Last week, I managed to stay out of any large grocery store except for one small trip Wednesday.  I wouldn’t have gone then had I not needed one item to complete our meal.  Sigh.  I did a pretty good job of using what we had in the large freezer and the pantry.
But this week I had to go.  And I went alone.  Of course most of what I needed was for Scott.  I hate for him to have to work all weekend on the trucks and trailers and then have to do his own grocery shopping for the truck.  Plus, I probably spend less than he does and buy him healthier stuff.  Except the Oreos, I caved on the real, name brand Nabisco Oreos. 

I don’t count the specific items I buy for Scott for the truck in my budget.  The poor fellow has to eat, right?  I would like to be able to save a little more and cut our weekly grocery budget down to about $50/60 per week without extreme couponing and eat healthy.  Is that asking too much?
I had hoped that by planning menus and shopping wisely, I would be able to avert the dreaded weekly shopping trip.  That’s all good, but unfortunately, none of my “help” plans to eat next week.  So I had to lift all the heavy items and load them in the bus myself.  Then, unload it all by myself.  Do you have ungrateful little grocery eaters at your house too?

I am continuing to adjust our budget to reflect one income.  Of course, next to housing and utilities, food tends to be the next largest expense for us.  So, how do you buy groceries? Especially my fellow autoimmune sufferers…do you go once per month and stock up on everything? 
Do you go once a week because you like to escape?  Scott use to accuse me of that when the girls were very little.  Do you use a menu plan to save money?  I'm open to suggestions.  Got to get those dollars and our budget tighter!

2 comments:

  1. I use to go weekly but I found that I was spending to much money. Now I menu plan for the entire month. I then go to Costco for all our meat since it is cheaper and the quality is good. I then go to the regular grocery store with my dad who helps with the heavy lifting and loading the car and pushing the second card (family of 4). I find that I'm saving much more by doing this. The less times I go in the store, the less money I spend. I have an article coming out tomorrow on monthly menu planning - check it out! www.detoursinlife.com

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  2. I will definitely check it out. I plan menus ahead too...but we still wind up with leftovers that aren't getting frozen or ate. Very frustrating. We don't have a Costco down here. Will have to check one out next time we are in the ATL.

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