Today, I want to talk about the pros/cons of only grocery shopping once a month and then HOW we plan to make it happen.
I am trying this out for a couple of reasons..
First, my weekends are too hectic to be able to spend a few hours worrying about making lists, coordinating stores, and then actually shopping. I have been trying to buy more in bulk anyway so when I had drill one weekend and couldn't shop, I made sure to purchase enough in the week before to have enough food for the following week too. On top of that, I then had to work the following weekend, and I never got to the grocery store so we ended up stretching that for another week. Now we are going to try for a month.
Second, cost effectiveness. I am a bargain shopper. Also, I am an ingredient shopper. That said, my grocery bills can stack up very quickly. I shop the sales, the BOGOs, the coupons, and even if we do not need that item specifically this week, if it is on sale and I know I will need it sooner or later, I will still grab it. Ingredient shopping help avoid having to go to the store numerous times just for specific items. Keeping us out of the store prevents wasting more time and energy on the trip as well as keeps the cost low as we are not tempted to buy extra things just cause we are at the store. All this said, bargain shopping for things you do not need today but will in the next week or two, lines up perfectly with monthly grocery shopping.
Here is how I am doing it..
Figure out what you use on a weekly basis and how much.
We opt for almond milk. This isn't for the dairy-free aspect; it is for the shelf life. All I use almond milk is for is my coffee or sometimes in protein smoothies so a few cartons can last us quite a while. By shopping the sales, we can grab enough BOGO almond milk for a month quite easily.
We eat a lot of hard boiled eggs for our quick breakfasts or as a snack. We average about 4/day. This means, we need about 2 dozen eggs to get through a full week. So when I go to Aldi or get a good egg sale at Publix, I absolutely stock up. We are not on our land yet so with no access to chickens, this is the best we can do. I can buy about 6-8 cartons of eggs and boil them for snacks as needed while always maintaining 1-2 dozen raw for when the need comes that I need them for baking, want them sunny side up, or batter some chicken.
Flour. I bake our own sourdough now and am on track for not having bought a loaf of bread yet this year! ( We are wrapping up September at the time of writing this. ) That said, we do not worry about bread going stale as the flour will last much longer. I bake 2 loaves every weekend and use about 8 cups of flour doing so. With feeding the starter, making the dough, and shaping, I go through about 2.5 LBS of flour a week. So we average about 10 Lbs of flour a month. I keep a large bag of All Purpose on hand at all times, but the bread flour is specifically for these loaves. The AP flour gets spread throughout extra feedings and making pizza crust, adding to any baked goods such as brownies or cookies, or making buns for a BBQ. If I buy a 10 LBS bag of bread flour and one of AP flour, I can absolutely go a month with no baked goods purchasing.
Butter is another item we use quite a bit of, but can also buy in bulk to keep in the fridge for a while or even freeze. Count up how much you go through in a week then multiple! This technique works with many other foods. You just need to adapt it to you!
One category of things we do not buy anymore or worry about keeping fresh is veggies. We choose to grow the veggies we might need and fine tune what needs to be bought. At the end of the day, we mostly eat sweet or bell peppers, spinach, or some broccoli. We overcome these shopping trips by growing our own spinach now which has taken off tremendously and while we have peppers planted, we haven't had any fruits yet. At this time, I buy a bulk amount that last a while or I wash, cut, and freeze a good amount to use throughout the month. There is nothing quite like the freshness of a pepper to jazz up a meal.
After determining what you need to buy on a weekly basis, you can try to double that on your biweekly pay weeks. Once you have mastered that theory and applied it a few times while making adaptations throughout, you can ensure you are adding enough buffer in there for extra items that are not necessarily a weekly purchase such as oils, spices, condiments, etc.
Buying in bulk and freezing items will help you stretch the foods you are getting throughout a longer time and keep you from making extra trips to the grocery store. Large bags of berries or veggies can be frozen and used throughout a few weeks for example. Shopping the sales, I have bought strawberries myself, washed and cut them, then frozen them for a cheaper rate than if I just bought the frozen ones. With this, I could confirm their freshness and that they were ripened before freezing.
It is time to push the boundaries. Do a practice week where you "try to make it one more week". Get comfortable with how long you can currently go and then add another week. Then another. Then another. Adapting your prepps and stored foods along the way. In the long run, you will save money by shopping the sales, ingredient buying, and ensuring the security of your food big picture. You will also save money by not taking extra trips to the store.
Most good foods will last. The next thing you know, its been 3 weeks with no shopping, then a 4th or a 5th. Buying essentials like cheeses, butter or meats and freezing them to last does not self sufficient. It means you are taking the resources you have, making it work for you, and planning for a stable future. Limiting the amount of face time you have in the stores will decrease that temptation of buying things you do not need and self supplying the things you need more regularly will decrease the cost of shopping as well. I haven't bought spinach in months, tomatoes in over a year, or as I mentioned above, a bread or baked product since Christmas. I hope to continue down this pathway going forward and see where else it takes me.
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