Grocery Trips

[pseudo_vegan]

How many times a week, on average, do any of you go to the grocery store (for edible items/foodstuffs)?

I live by myself; I eat a vegan diet...lots of fruits/veggies...also tofu and meat analogs (TVP, self-made seitan, etc.)...

Last week I spent about $50 on groceries :eek: ...On average I'd say I go about two times/week.........I'm always afraid I'm like "that weird girl" that shows up at the store every other day :worried: I try to tell myself the reason I go so often is because I like to have fresh produce on hand (as opposed to having no life :cry: ), but I can only consume so much and I don't want to buy a bunch and have it be wasted because I can't eat it all in time...

So again, how often do y'all go? What's your household size; what do you purchase?

:nigel: Cheers and thanks.

[missleigh]

My husband and I go shopping once a week. For the both of us, we spend about 100 bucks a week. It's that high because we buy almost all organic, produce as well as juices and things.

[shagginabit]

I go once per month for groceries, and every two weeks for produce. I spent around 150 bucks a month, since its just me.

[Dirty Martini]

We go about 3-4 times a week, picking up a few things here & there. we spend anywhere between $US20 and $US40 a week, depending on what we're making that week (sometimes it's a fancy week, sometimes it's pasta or rice week).

[Kiz]

Pretty much exactly what OregonAmy said. I am such a copy-cat! :D I know I could be more frugal with my grocery choices, but food is how I spoil myself.

[Walter]

I go nearly every day since I work at a grocery store. I spend at least $50 a week. :(

[CharityAJO]

Yea, well, I work in a grocery store... Soooo... I just pick up what I need when I need it. But before I got the job, maybe once or twice a week. I try to average spending $10 per day on food, about 50-70 a week I guess (for just myself).

Oh yea, and I spend a lot less if I just shop every three or four days, picking up what I will eat, rather than stocking up on things that kind of look neat and I might get around to making.

[Kiz]

I was calculating all groceries in, and stuff for my cat, not just food.

[Dirty Martini]

DH and I go maybe 2 or 3 times a year and "stock up" on dry stuff like beans, flour, rice, pasta... that way, we always have the staples around, and any shopping we do during the week is just to go pick up fresh produce or whatnot. It better to ONLY buy the stuff you know you're going to use. You save money - and cabinet space! :D

Unlike my MIL who will buy 6 boxes of cereal at once, just for her DH, just because it's on sale and she'll save 13c per box. :rolleyes:

[Dirty Martini]

oh, and also we typically don't buy any of the fake meat stuff (except this past week - we went to the vegan grocer and went crazy. oops!). It is really expensive here compared to in the US so we just go without (I am so not paying $5 for 6 slices of "lunchmeat".) That has cut down our grocery bill dramatically. We just stick to tofu, tempeh, and beans in place of meat. And maybe homemade seitan if DH has been feeling particularly househusbandy. :)

[ynaffit]

we (my boyfriend and i) get groceries at least twice a week. sometimes we go every day or almost everyday. i don't like to get produce more than a day before i'm going to use it because it usually will go to waste if i try to buy for more than that (and i'm also a bit obsessed with food freshness).

[catswym]

i spend $60-70/ week on just me*. i wish ihad some saving tips.

i do buy a lot of organic and i feel like a eat more than what most people do on these boards but i also live in boston where things are very expensive. when i went to visit some relatives in virginia i was SHOCKEd at how cheap things were!

*this includes everything: food, cleaning supplies, toilitries, etc.

[rincaro]

I go once a week usually. Sometimes a mid-week trip to the farmer's market for extra produce. We spend about $125 per week for our family of four, but that includes household stuff, toiletries, and vitamins/supplements for the boys.

I have two stores I go to though. I go to Publix every week, and then to Native Sun (HFS) every other week. Fortunately around here the Publix is getting more and more organic/veg*n friendly food! :D

[Lelena]

I usually go once a week and spend between $10 and $25 a week. I go to wholefood markets 2-3 a year to stock up on things I cannot get around here. I usually spend between $60 and $100 each time. It's just me by the way.

[Christy]

Once a week, unless I forget something. I go about once a month to Whole Foods, since it's not that convenient.

[msbunnicula]

I go for one big shopping trip a week and then I go to the store one or two other times to pick up a few things.

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

I go once per month for groceries, and every two weeks for produce. I spent around 150 bucks a month, since its just me.
How do you make fresh produce last that long? Any tips? I have to shop every two to three days for produce. (Plus a family of 4 or 5 goes through it REALLY fast!)

Maybe it's odd, but I LOVE going grocery shopping, I love the game of "How much can I get for 20$" and I like seeing the new products and such, and talking to the people in the store.

Since the places I shop are at opposite ends of the county, I go once every other week to the Asian Market for fresh tofu, soymilk, curries, and some produce, and on the opposite weeks to Trader Joes (best prices around here for nuts, cereal and frozen fruit).

In between, I go to the Farmers Market for produce and the bulk bins at Warehouse foods.
So, all told, I'm at the store every two to three days. They know me there. Sometimes the produce guys save me a box of something that was "less than first quality" - something I can use but they can't sell. I love it.

[SeaSiren]

$125 -$165 per week depending on the sales for a family of 4 (plus 2 teens on the weekends). This includes all the household groceries, from shampoo, to toilet tissue, to dog food because I would rather give an extra buck for these items to my local grocery store which has organic veggies, and soy products than to the local Walmart. And if I watch the sales, I can get them at the same price.

[remilard]

About twice a week. It will all be at Whole Foods from now on, now that I live a 5 minute streetcare ride away. I spend around $25 per week. Oh yeah and I go to Food Fight! about once a month.

[catswym]

can some of these people who say they spend $25/wk on themselves give me some idea of what they eat on a regular basis, or what they buy with that? i'm so curious.

[shagginabit]

How do you make fresh produce last that long? Any tips? I have to shop every two to three days for produce. (Plus a family of 4 or 5 goes through it REALLY fast!)


This is what I do.

Root veggies: Carrots, onions, potatoes, yams...etc. I buy those and they last for at least two weeks without the risk of spoiling.

Bell peppers, green beans, spinach and mushrooms..: I freeze them. I blanch the green beans and throw them in a ziplock bag. Spinach freezes well too. This stuff lasts for over two weeks.

Fruits: I buy bananas and pears green so they can ripen at home. I also do the same for avocados, buying only a limited amount of unripened stuff to eat for a couple days or so. Oranges are refrigerated. For smoothies, I buy bananas in bulk and freeze them. I also buy strawberries and freeze them as well.

Brocolli, Cauliflower: I *usually* buy frozen varieties of these, but if I can get them fresh at a decent price, I blanch them and freeze them.

Tomatoes: I buy a couple of pounds every two weeks and they seem to last. For lettuce, I just buy a couple heads of lettuce, shred both heads, and vaccuum seal it and throw it in the fridge.

Basically, I freeze 1/2 of the stuff I can freeze, eating the "fresh" stuff the first week. The second week I eat the stuff in the freezer, and the next week do the same thing. With fruits and veggies that can't be frozen, I try to buy things that are unripened and a few things that are ripe. By the time I eat the stuff thats already ripe, (which takes about a week) the stuff that is ripening in paper sacks or whatever is ready for eating. Next week, buy more stuff. Seems to work for me.

[bluegrrrl79]

I go twice a week, though sometimes I'll totally skip a week. The reason I go twice is cause first I look through the 2 grocery fliers, and write out which things are on sale at which store, that way most of the things I get are on sale (lol I know that sounds dorky). But I end up spending on average $25 a week, give or take, including non-food items. This week I only went once and spent almost $50 though :o It's cause I stocked up on a bunch of stuff that was on sale though, so hopefully next week I'll spend very little!!

What I buy....as far as produce, I try to buy most of it frozen, I got sick of forgetting to eat stuff and having it go bad! Plus, if you're just going to use it for cooking anyway, then may as well buy it frozen not fresh. For fresh, I buy the bagged pre-washed lettuce/greens since if I bought a whole head it would go bad. I try not to get things that go bad quickly, and try to make sure any fruit/veggies I get are hard, nothing soft/mushy. I eat apples all the time and they last a long time. I try to get lots of beans, especially they were just on sale 3 cans for $1! Rice is cheap. I dunno, I don't really buy a lot of organic things, and I try to mainly only buy things that are on sale which helps a lot.

[MollyCat]

It's just me and I average about $40-$50 a week but I have to start cutting back since I bought a new car (new to me, that is!).
I buy dried beans, lentils, brown rice, barley and TVP in bulk at the HFS and I pick up soy milk and sale items at the grocery store. I don't buy crackers or cookies or granola bars. No nibbly-type stuff. I hit the marked down sections in the bread and veggie departments. I was going to go grocery shopping today but when I went through my cupboards I found that with a little effort, I could last another week if I did some serious cooking. I've gotten too caught up in 'quick' meals like veggie burgers lately and I need to buckle down and pinch some pennies.

[MollyCat]

This is what I do.

Root veggies: Carrots, onions, potatoes, yams...etc. I buy those and they last for at least two weeks without the risk of spoiling.

Bell peppers, green beans, spinach and mushrooms..: I freeze them. I blanch the green beans and throw them in a ziplock bag. Spinach freezes well too. This stuff lasts for over two weeks.

Fruits: I buy bananas and pears green so they can ripen at home. I also do the same for avocados, buying only a limited amount of unripened stuff to eat for a couple days or so. Oranges are refrigerated. For smoothies, I buy bananas in bulk and freeze them. I also buy strawberries and freeze them as well.

Brocolli, Cauliflower: I *usually* buy frozen varieties of these, but if I can get them fresh at a decent price, I blanch them and freeze them.

Tomatoes: I buy a couple of pounds every two weeks and they seem to last. For lettuce, I just buy a couple heads of lettuce, shred both heads, and vaccuum seal it and throw it in the fridge.

Basically, I freeze 1/2 of the stuff I can freeze, eating the "fresh" stuff the first week. The second week I eat the stuff in the freezer, and the next week do the same thing. With fruits and veggies that can't be frozen, I try to buy things that are unripened and a few things that are ripe. By the time I eat the stuff thats already ripe, (which takes about a week) the stuff that is ripening in paper sacks or whatever is ready for eating. Next week, buy more stuff. Seems to work for me.

Shag, you got it going on! :vebo: I believe you are the budget queen of VB!

[qetta]

Shag, you got it going on! :vebo: I believe you are the budget queen of VB!

No kidding, Shag. You're brilliant. I am printing out your post to tape to my fridge.

Except, I love, love, love grocery shopping and would go every day if it wasn't 30+ miles to the nearest co-op.

But my favorite co-op is building a new store that's gonna be right on my commute home - I can't wait - I'll get to go everyday again! I love just wandering through the produce section to see what looks good and from there deciding what to have for dinner that night.

But for now, I go once per week and generally spend $60-100 each week (for the two of us). I always buy organic if it's an option. And this amount includes the meat stuff that I buy for my omni husband, too, which really adds up. I know we spend a lot on food, but, well, I like eating and eating well. :D