How do proper grown ups grocery shop?

Angel_Jenny

I have noticed (finally) that I grocery shop in the same way as I clothes shop - I buy items not outfits. Or, I buy bits of food not actual meals. I've never meal planned before as it always felt too hard with me & my husband working different shifts. I now work Monday to Friday 9-5 so really want to figure out the shopping / planning thing. I am sure it is costing me a fortune with the way I currently shop. He still works shifts so I am not always home when he has his tea. 

Do you have a meal plan? Do you plan a week at a time or do you have a repeating menu? 

Any tips welcome! I feel stupid not knowing this stuff at my age. 

RobM99

I buy every couple of days or so, no meal plan. It's case of "What do I fancy today?". (The cat isn't fussy!)

Depends on circumstances I suppose. I live close to a Morrison, Budgen, Co-op so I don't need to "stock up".   Whereas if someone lives in the wilds of Norfolk with the nearest shop ten miles away and no car, their shopping needs are somewhat different!

LunaCatty

We sat down a while back and put together a list of everyone's favourite meals (there's 22 meals on the favoured list) and I build a meal plan around this each week, with a meal or two each week that are not on the favoured list (to try and get kiddo to branch out on foods he eats). I'll check what is in the fridge/freezer/cupboards before sitting down to plan and then the ingredients we don't have get added to that week's shopping list. We're 8 miles from closest supermarket so use deliveries as it works out cheaper for us with a delivery saver than the fuel costs. 

My husband eats later than us on work days as he isn't home until nearly 7 and kiddo can't wait that late for dinner. I tend to make on these days meals that can easily be kept warm - slow cooker/instant pot meals - or things that can be reheated fast for him whether that be in the micro or oven. I also tend to double batch a lot of recipes - things like cottage pies and lasagnas - and whack the second in the freezer for a following week quick meal.

When I don't plan we spend a lot more than when planning and sticking to it and I also find if I shop hungry I'm more likely to shop items rather than meals too. Usually chocolate and crisp based items  

TheBanker

I think it depends on the household.

I'm a single person and find it easier and less wasteful to shop 'little and often'. When I worked in the office full time, I shopped every day on my way home from work (the office being located between Sainsburys and Morrisons, with an Aldi on my route home). Now I don't go into the office every day, I'll shop for a couple of days at a time. I buy whatever I fancy for tea, bearing in mind that if it's a bigger pack I'll have to use it over a couple of days, and taking into account whatever I already have in the fridge. I still do a 'big shop' once a month when I get non-perishables, cleaning products and frozen food. 

I have a local shop near my house but they don't have much in the way of fresh food and they are very expensive so I try to avoid using them. They seem to cater for people who want to pay £3.50 for a single portion of ready made spaghetti bolognaise and £1.49 for a frozen garlic baguette, not people who want to buy meat or potatoes or carrots. 

When I first moved out, I tried doing a weekly 'big shop' just because this was what my mum always used to do. But I was wasting a lot of food by buying packs that were too big, buying things that I then didn't fancy, or buying food then eating out. It was when the council introduced food waste collections that I realised how much I was wasting! 

I found I was buying certain things like eggs and cheese because I thought you should have them in, rather than because I wanted a meal that involved those ingredients. I guess this is what the OP means about shopping for items not outfits. 

On the other hand, my mum is now a single person household and still does a weekly 'big shop', yet she wastes hardly anything. So I think different people will have different approaches that work for them. 

tooldle

I do a bit of both.The occasional big shop and a weekly trip to our local coop for odds and ends. We have a monthly food market within walking distance and many of the food retailers in our central market will also deliver. I tend to buy standard items that i know i will use i.e. minced beef, sausage, eggs, cheese, tinned toms etc, and then i plan for a few days at a time, based on what we have in that needs using up. Mid month i have a veg delivery and meals are based around whatever is in the box.

Pollycat

I meal plan for up to 3 weeks at a time, based on what fresh food I have in and what is in the freezer - precooked and raw.
It's flexible depending on what YS stuff I buy and what Aldi super 6 are.
I use an Excel spreadsheet so I can switch things around easily, 2 months per worksheet.
I have 5 + years of meals so can easily check back for ideas.
OH does the big shop at Tesco, usually once a week, I wander round Aldi usually once a fortnight.
I find meal planning money saving as I will buy a family pack of peppers or mushrooms to do 2 or more meals instead of just buying enough for one meal.

bouicca21

Worries about rising energy prices mean that I have taken to meal planning again recently  so that I can make a list and buy exactly what I need.  I used to shop that way when the children were small and we were seriously hard up. It’s had a serious impact on my budget. 

 It’s not that I used to waste food because I didn’t, it’s more that shopping this way stops impulse buying.

Robin9

We keep a well stocked larder and freezer - used to live in country.

As we run low we add to a rolling list.

We -  a couple of OAP -  bulk buy and have deliveries from ASDA . Ocado. Mainly for meat, heavy tins and booze .    We don't do a big trip to the supermarket  but  lots of small  - 3/4 times a week for milk, bread and fresh veg

London_1

I live alone and menu plan for the week on a Sunday morning, then I prep my veg for the week and put in the fridge in water (carrots,Potatoes etc) I shop as a rule around twice a month and always carry my shopping list with me and do my best to stick to it I budget to a set amount a month and any left over gets squirrelled away for a bigger shop when I have almost empty cupboards This month so far I have only had a very small shop for a few bits and spent only £4.89 .This Wednesday I will do a larger shop and know withing arounf a pound or so how much it will cost as I check three supermarkets locally for the best prices and will shop in all three to get the best bargain. I have been shopping like this for may years ,even when I had my late husband and children living at home .but then I was brought up during the 1940s-50s with rationing and a canny wee scot Mum who could make a shilling do the work of three if she had to  

JackieO xx

Penguin_

We do a food shop on a Sunday for Monday - Thursday. We write down the 4 meals we will have in the evening & then list the ingredients needed; then we look in the cupboards & fridge & cross off any ingredients we have already. We then add on the bits like salad items, fruit yoghurts which we have in our lunches.

PollyWollyDoodle

I have a rough plan - meat-free Monday, meat on Tuesday, Weds is a light meal (omelette, soup) as I go out; freezer dive Thurs, fish on Friday, Saturday is off menu, and Sunday is pizza (home made). I quite often eat out either at friends or ‘out out’ and in that case I’ll just shift that night’s meal along one, or skip it altogether if that works. 

I tend to do a big Aldi shop once a month for staples, tins and frozen stuff, and also fresh stuff (eg mozzarella for pizzas) that I can freeze. Then top up with veg and dairy as and when, depending what’s in the fridge. 

Usually cook full size and freeze the spare portions as I live alone. So any of the days above might come out of the freezer or might be cooked fresh. I buy veg depending on what’s available/how it looks and then create a meal. So eg aubergines are cheap, I’ll make aubergine parmigiana or roasted veg or ratatouille. If fennel looks good, I’ve got a dish I do with that. I cook everything from scratch, but only actually have to cook a main course three or four times a week. 

I like a rough structure so I don’t have to think too hard, but I also need flexibility. I can make whatever is in the fridge/freezer fit within this plan eg ‘meat free’ might be lentil stew, veg curry, or jacket spud; ‘meat’ could be bolognese, sausage and mash or chicken. As @TheBanker says, we’re all different.