[quote=UCGal]We’re old school… pad on the fridge, as family members notice stuff is running low, we add it to the list. Then before the grocery run hubster and I talk about mealplans and adjust the list accordingly.[/quote]

UCGal: Great system, and the one we use, too. We map out meals two weeks in advance (and we have certain items that never change, i.e. spaghetti on Wednesdays without fail), and then break out the “where” (Costco, Walmart, Stater Bros, etc).

I get the “heavy” staples at Costco, including dog food, meat and veggies at Stater Bros and certain bulk items at Walmart (like charcoal for grilling). If you are ruthless about menus and pricing, you can manage your budget very effectively while still delivering high quality meals.

I still remember the Internet bubble days with Webvan and the promise of frictionless commerce.

But we were supposed to have electronic, Internet connected, refrigerators that automatically order our stuff.

How things change, and how they remain the same.

We are opportunistic shoppers. Pretty much no meal planning beyond a day or two except for parties/guests. We make everything from scratch or modified scratch, and everything we need is in the fridge pantry, chest freezer or garden. When I go out for things like milk and cheese,we will get more tomato sauce if it is on sale. Last week I bought 10 bottles of salad dressing for $1 each.Most of it will get left at potlucks this fall. If seafood looks good, ceviche is on the menu. My wife gets all the paper, cleaning and hygiene stuff. The kids cook and prep together with us.It’s actually a lot of fun. Not for someone who doesn’t have time.

One thing, if your designated shopper is not good at picking out fruits, vegetables or meats they probably never will be. Better do most of it yourself rather than be frustrated all the time.

[quote=Jacarandoso]We are opportunistic shoppers. Pretty much no meal planning beyond a day or two except for parties/guests. We make everything from scratch or modified scratch, and everything we need is in the fridge pantry, chest freezer or garden. When I go out for things like milk and cheese,we will get more tomato sauce if it is on sale. Last week I bought 10 bottles of salad dressing for $1 each.Most of it will get left at potlucks this fall. If seafood looks good, ceviche is on the menu. My wife gets all the paper, cleaning and hygiene stuff. The kids cook and prep together with us.It’s actually a lot of fun. Not for someone who doesn’t have time.

One thing, if your designated shopper is not good at picking out fruits, vegetables or meats they probably never will be. Better do most of it yourself rather than be frustrated all the time.[/quote]

I know a lot of people operate like this but it seems it would require going to the grocery store frequently (basically every day) unless you eat out often. I guess for some people they might not mind but I like to minimize my trips to the store as much as possible. I try to buy enough food for at least 3-4 meals at a time, although our household only has two people so for a family this may not be feasible unless you have a very large fridge.

Meal planning is the heart of our grocery lists, specifically for dinner where extra is made for brownbag lunches. Breakfasts will be a rotation of 2-3 things that mostly are pantry items, like cereal or oatmeal, and supplement with fresh fruit, milk and other dairy items (butter, cottage cheese/yogurt). Pantry is organized to allow a quick glance to see if we are out of a particular class of item, and never overbuy to overflow that item into where another thing belongs (i.e. only 2-3 boxes of cereal, so we don’t run into where the soup belongs).

Get a whiteboard for the kitchen and put on it four columns:

1) Days of the week
2) Who will be home for dinner that evening? (ie do you have time to cook, how many to feed)
3) What is already in the freezer, fridge and pantry?
4) Based on the info 1-3, plan meals for the week.

Update the board every week and make a list. Go through all your local grocery fliers to see what is in season/on sale. THEN go grocery shopping.

There is the one time cost of purging, inventorying and organizing the freezer, pantry and fridge the first time. (Which you probably need to do weekly anyway for trash night.) But then you add items to the board as you put groceries away. Voila. Now meal planning takes 15 min a week, and you will never overbuy/throw out food again. Better yet you can avoid wasting energy opening and closing the fridge and freezer to see what is in them, you just consult the whiteboard.

And to counteract any whining about how much work this is, I offer the following: How much money and time are you wasting throwing out expired food? Or wandering around the grocery store not knowing what you want?

[quote=CDMA ENG][quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=UCGal]We’re old school… pad on the fridge, as family members notice stuff is running low, we add it to the list. Then before the grocery run hubster and I talk about mealplans and adjust the list accordingly.[/quote]

UCGal: Great system, and the one we use, too. We map out meals two weeks in advance (and we have certain items that never change, i.e. spaghetti on Wednesdays without fail), and then break out the “where” (Costco, Walmart, Stater Bros, etc).

I get the “heavy” staples at Costco, including dog food, meat and veggies at Stater Bros and certain bulk items at Walmart (like charcoal for grilling). If you are ruthless about menus and pricing, you can manage your budget very effectively while still delivering high quality meals.[/quote]

MREs do not count as meal plans Allen… Actually I am impressed that you guys can do that but doesn’t that a get boring? To know what you are eating two weeks in advance?

CE[/quote]

CE: MREs? Screw that, dude, its C-rats all the way! You know what MRE stands for, right? “Meals Rejected by Ethiopians”!

There is definitely some variety in there, Wednesday happens to be the one night that we’re all home as a family and everybody can participate in the meal. Weather permitting, we try to grill at least 2x per weekend and there is a big variety there, too. I hunt for the cheapest cuts of meat and then use dry rub and slow cooking to break the meat down. Stater Bros usually has tri-tip on sale a couple of times per month and that stuff is awesome with some Texas dry rub and cooked off the heat.

[quote=SmellsFeeshy][quote=Jacarandoso]We are opportunistic shoppers. Pretty much no meal planning beyond a day or two except for parties/guests. We make everything from scratch or modified scratch, and everything we need is in the fridge pantry, chest freezer or garden. When I go out for things like milk and cheese,we will get more tomato sauce if it is on sale. Last week I bought 10 bottles of salad dressing for $1 each.Most of it will get left at potlucks this fall. If seafood looks good, ceviche is on the menu. My wife gets all the paper, cleaning and hygiene stuff. The kids cook and prep together with us.It’s actually a lot of fun. Not for someone who doesn’t have time.

One thing, if your designated shopper is not good at picking out fruits, vegetables or meats they probably never will be. Better do most of it yourself rather than be frustrated all the time.[/quote]

I know a lot of people operate like this but it seems it would require going to the grocery store frequently (basically every day) unless you eat out often. I guess for some people they might not mind but I like to minimize my trips to the store as much as possible. I try to buy enough food for at least 3-4 meals at a time, although our household only has two people so for a family this may not be feasible unless you have a very large fridge.[/quote]
Not every day, but you are right, the more you go the more chance of catching the really good deals. It’s easy for us to find excuses to dash through the aisles. Kids in need of a clean restroom is one. Frequent replacement of milk, etc. I like to drink mineral water so instead of stopping at starbucks or a fast food chain, I’ll run in and get a bottle of sparkling water and peruse the sales quickly. Sparkling water is almost always on sale now!