once a month grocery shop

System

Ive found i spend more shopping online so ive stopped completely its only cash from now on

loupoppins

well I doa big shop.....once a week LOL
Couldn't imagine how much I would need to buy for a month:eek:.....but then I am feeding 8 - 2 adults and 6DC...including a non stop eating 11 and 10 yr old....LOL
I do menu plan though. Cook MOST from scratch,bake a lot of our own cakes/biscuits etc....and I LOVE my slow cooker!:rotfl:

tessie_bear

id struggle to do a shop once a month...i like little and often with shopping...i suppose an online shop for basics like wash powder could be useful

amyandoli

I do a monthly shop (on payday), based on a menu list, and get as much household, cosmetics and groceries as I need if I know I can't get them cheaper elsewhere. I go through mysupermarket.com to make sure its with the cheapest supermarket too. I buy mainly frozen veg anyway, all veggie 'meats' which have long lifes on them. There's only 2 of us, and living in a village it's expensive to keep going to the town for supplies. I use the village shop for milk, bread and fruit top ups. It can be done .

notisis

I too do a shop online every 4 weeks (5 weeks if I can stretch what I have in the freezer/cupboard). As others have said you get a feel for what you use so I buy meat (some of which I bag up into portions before freezing), lots of flour for breadmaking, tins of tomatoes etc so I've got the basis of meals and vegetables. Surprisingly if stored well lots of vegetables last for a couple of weeks. You can make up double quantities of food (eg lasagne, soups, curries etc) and freeze. I often buy the foil cartons in pound shops or Wilkinson and make a couple of lasagnes for example one of which is ready to freeze. No washing up the container when you cook!

Stocking up on toiletries, especially when on offer, is good too and it's all delivered. Figure out when the cheapest delivery slot is and use codes for free delivery. Be prepared for occasionally stuff you order not being in stock so you still have to pop to a shop if you really need it. I don't impulse buy when I shop online.

alandbailey

I bulk buy tinned fish, instant coffee in jars, toilet rolls, fish paste, spirits and other items that I consume and which won't go off for years.
Buy special offers that will store for months or years. Soap & detergent are good examples.
Be more careful with frozen stuff, I have 3 freezers full up and have to force myself to stop buying, especially now I live alone. I have more than a year or two's supply of the first 4 items and enough booze to stay drunk (if I wanted ) for months.
Only do this when there is a special offer available or BOGOF.
The saving is more than a savings account but only if you use the goods bought. It is too easy to get carried away and end up with a grocers stock in the garage! - lol!!!!:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
Stocking up is usually an inflation- beater - if you can afford the outlay. My Mother used to say: You have to speculate to accumulate!

babs2008

I keep my veg - spuds, squashes, onions etc in a brown paper bag in a dark cupboard. Most last for ages. Usually over 4 weeks. If I buy in a supermarket I take it out of any packaging before storing.

jenniewb

My mum used to shop like this (once a month) only she'd go buy stuff from the supermarket as oppose to getting it delivered as it was too unreliable to get online food.

But she was just wasting so much- it shocked me as every week I'd see so much food being chucked out, mainly as things happened at the last minute and the defrosted meat/salad bags/dinner for the next few days had gone to waste as she was no longer at home to eat it.

For that reason I'd say if you are going to do this, make sure your going to eat what you buy- make menu plans for every day, don't buy "just in case" by because you know 100% that you will be eating it. Otherwise you stand a good chance of not eating what you pay for and not saving money.
Also, make sure you have a fairly set pattern and wont need to go out for meals or babysitting or whatever at the last minute. It can be easy to slip into thinking you haven't got anything in as you've forgotten about it, or are too tierd to cook or whatever the reason. You end up visiting a supermarket at the last minute on the way home or getting food out and not eating what you do have. Again- preplan everything! Its annoying the first few times you have to do any preplanning but once you get used to it, its alot easier.