Is it easier to…

[Anonymous]

Keep your refrigerator and pantry stocked at all times and do mini grocery shopping trips twice (or more) a week or eat everything/clear the fridge and pantry, and do one big grocery haul? What do you do?

I find that if I grocery shop all the time, we end up eating more of certain things and less of other things and stuff just expires or piles up in our freezer.

If this matters, we do a combination of grocery delivery for bulkier items and in-store shopping for produce.

[Anonymous]

I grocery shop once a week, and maybe a second small trip if I decide to change the meal plan, or find out my kids ate the last of something I needed.

First in, first out. If you use it often and it's on sale, buy two.

I also try to clean and cull my fridge, freezer and pantry quarterly, and take anything nearing expiration that I don't plan to immediately use to a food bank, and recently-expired canned goods, which are probably still fine, to the free pantries in my neighborhood.

This system is designed around having a weekly meal plan. If you're just winging it every night, you'll probably miss/lose more things to expiration dates, etc. (I do).

[Anonymous]

I do mini trips. From a large family so the best part of that was food turnover was fast and we had to get fresh food everyday vs houses where bread and milk last a week or so

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grocery shop once a week, and maybe a second small trip if I decide to change the meal plan, or find out my kids ate the last of something I needed.

First in, first out. If you use it often and it's on sale, buy two.

I also try to clean and cull my fridge, freezer and pantry quarterly, and take anything nearing expiration that I don't plan to immediately use to a food bank, and recently-expired canned goods, which are probably still fine, to the free pantries in my neighborhood.

This system is designed around having a weekly meal plan. If you're just winging it every night, you'll probably miss/lose more things to expiration dates, etc. (I do).

This is us, a family of four with two active teens.

One bigger, weekly haul (usually on or near the weekend)...with one small fill-in during the week. Weekly meal plan is a standard with at least one night of OYO (on -your-own!) which generally means clearing out of any leftovers. I'll also usually schedule at least one night of stir-fry or quesadillas/fajitas to use up strays of anything.

[Anonymous]

It’s both: Mini trips for fruits that spoil quickly / bread / milk. Once a week or once in 2 weeks more general grocery shopping for non-perishables / freezable items (meat, deli,pasta, root vegetables, cleaning supplies, etc).

[Anonymous]

I meal plan about 3-4 meals at a time, which lasts us close to a week with leftovers and the random sandwich for dinner night. I do sometimes go in between for eggs, bananas, etc.

[Anonymous]

I used to shop every few days when it was just DH and me, but after kids we do just one run a week. I don’t use any delivery services. I plan so we eat the more perishable foods first.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks! I was feeling like my mini trips were getting excessive but part of me also feels like if I’m ordering delivery, I need to make it worth it and make a long list to stock up and sometimes, I don’t need that much, just a few items.

I’m also really bad about remembering to thaw my frozen food. So I’ll use the fresh meat before reaching for the meat in the freezer bc it’s easier. I do need to plan better…

[Anonymous]

I like having a well stocked pantry and freezer. It makes me feel secure. I also find that I don't really like to follow a weekly meal plan, some nights feel crazier than expected and I don't want to cook something ambitious, or I'm not in the mood for the plan, or whatever, so having common ingredients and freezer meals helps me stay flexible.

I do the big weekly grocery haul but I admit produce is the weak point. Sometimes we run out of the kids' favorite fruits early. Sometimes I buy more vegetables than I cook.

[Anonymous]

I do a main shopping trip once a week, and typically make a mid-week trip to refresh bananas, bread, etc as needed.
I buy all my pantry essentials in bulk, so my weekly shopping is likely to be just the meat, produce, perishables I need. And any pantry items I need to restock. I meal plan for the coming week on Friday morning and make my list to go shopping on the weekend.

[Anonymous]

I like having the basics stocked up!

I do a big costco shop for things like, pasta, canned tomatoes, frozen salmon, etc. And then things like rice keep forever. I do mini shops for fresh items, because I hate wasting food and them going bad.

I do try and meal prep a bit, like: salmon & salad one night, chicken & zucchini next, butternut squash soup day after. And then can add things to jazz them up. Like if I goto the grocery store and see broccolini on sale, I might grab that to add some sauteed green veg to the salmon dish.

I also dont mind going to the grocery store if its only for a few things. Its super quick to pop in to grab a few things.

[Anonymous]

I do weekly meal planning and have a decently stocked pantry. I will sometimes do a random grocery run late on a weekday where I just grab things we tend to use. Then I get giddy with happiness when I realize I have less to get on Sunday. And yes, my life is very boring : ).

[Anonymous]

I go once a week. I meal plan for the week, but also always have staples on hand for quick pantry meals if things go haywire during the week.

I plan our meals to use the more fragile produce first, and save things like brussel sprouts and carrots for later in the week. Same with fruit - berries first, apples and oranges later in the week.

Before shopping each week, I do a quick inventory of what's left. Compost anything that is going bad. What's left goes first on the next week's meal plan. Then finish planning the rest of the week. We also keep a running list of staples that we're running low on, so if someone uses the last of the cereal or whatever, it gets replenished. That running list + the meal plan make up the shopping list for the week.

[Anonymous]

I've started going more like every day. When I buy stuff for a week I just end up not wanting it or not feeling like cooking and it goes bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do weekly meal planning and have a decently stocked pantry. I will sometimes do a random grocery run late on a weekday where I just grab things we tend to use. Then I get giddy with happiness when I realize I have less to get on Sunday. And yes, my life is very boring : ).

Hahaha. I’m the same way! We can be boring together.