Are you the type of person who eats to live or lives to eat? The answer to this question will dictate how you approach your food purchasing and help you to discover what your food habits as you look at your big picture spending.
I Live To Eat
I am the type of person who watches cooking shows, takes pictures of well plated meals when I eat out, and I roam Farmer’s Markets in every city that I visit. I love thinking about food, buying food, eating food, and cooking food.
I used to live in France where buying food is quite frankly an art form and a sport. There is nothing better than roaming the different stalls and choosing the best: cheese, tomato, and bread for a simple meal with a glass of wine. And, tasting the amazing quality of each item separately and together.
So Besides Travel, Food is My Other Drug
So, it was important to me maintain a high standard of food quality while saving money and time as I worked on paying off my debts.
I have become a huge supporter of once a week grocery shopping because it saves two things: time and money.
I was surprised when people were a little leery of this idea and immediately assumed I was eating: packaged foods or bad quality items. That was so far off the mark (and this reaction happened more than once) that I thought there was blog post in the making!! You wonderful readers made me think about how to “sell” or at least give some direction on how to grocery shop and maintain a high level of food quality. (Thanks for this blog post idea ladies!!)
I Basically Don’t Eat
- Prepackaged foods-I would say that about 10% of what I eat comes pre-made: Frozen Croissants from Trader Joe’s, Pot Stickers if I don’t want to make them…
- Microwavable Foods-I don’t own a microwave. I got rid of it years ago as I thought I was buying too many microwavable meals and it took up too much space on my countertop in the little place
- Fast Food-I probably eat “fast food” like Chipotle/Smashburger/Lark Burger (all Colorado Companies) about once every 5 weeks. I do like it on occassion, I just would prefer a higher end meal and am willing to wait to eat a kick a@@ meal later.
What I Do Eat
- Organic-I live within walking distance to a Whole Foods and to several Farmer’s Markets during the summer. I try to get most of my veggies from places that source organic items
- Grass Fed Meats-Having lived abroad I can tell you that every time I come back to the States eating meats that aren’t grass fed grosses me out-there is a HUGE difference. You can really taste it.
- Fresh-I cook my meals people. And, it isn’t that big a deal and doesn’t take up too much time.
You Can Eat Organically And Grocery Shop
Just Once A Week-Here’s How!
- Meal Plan-Have a loose idea of what you’re going to eat during the week. I eat a lot of salads so I tend to purchase: kale/broccoli/cabbage/fennel, and arugula (rocket). The first four obviously last longer in the fridge so I would eat the arugula first as it would go off the fastest. I also eat a lot of carrots, tomatoes, green onion, and zucchini.
- Meats: Don’t eat so much meat. Better quality equals higher costs. If you buy meat that is marked for quick sale eat that immediately or freeze it.
- Freeze Your Meat: Just freeze what you’re not going to eat immediately so that it doesn’t go off. I will pick up items that are on sale and throw them in the fridge. Then, as you work your meal plan you know what to thaw out the night before.
- Know Your Pantry: I have a Rock Star pantry. Seriously. I can right now make: Chicken tikka, fresh chai (have all the spices) or Irish oatmeal. The point is you have to have a well stocked and maintained pantry with items that you use to supplement the fresh items that you pick up each week.
- Fruits: Frozen berries (off season) work wonderfully in smoothies/pies and from what I understand have a high level of nutrients still in them. Apples/Citrus Fruits (Oranges/Grapefruit/Tangerines) last longer so those are the types of fruits I pick up. If I purchased fresh berries at the beginning of the week I would eat those first, then the other longer lasting fruits. I also eat Jicama a lot in the summer. I don’t know if it’s a fruit or not, I just know that it’s delicious with lime juice and chili pepper flakes.
Related Post: Use a Grocery App Like Ibotta!
Use Your Time Saving Kitchen Aids
We live in a time when we have a number of time-saving machines that can be used in our kitchens.
- Crockpot-Personal favorite–There is nothing better than coming home to a delicious meal of pot roast and veggies simmering on a cold day.
- Programmable coffee machines-Waking up to a cup of fresh coffee is heaven
- Bread makers-It seems like people don’t use these as often as they imagine when they first buy it. So, really think about this one.
- Computer–Use your computer to put together a list of easy to throw together healthy and delicious recipes
- Youtube-I love Youtube. I learned how to make smoked tofu watching a video.
Now, I should say, if you have the time to pop into the store every other day then, hey, Rock On! And enjoy 🙂
But, I just spent 10 years commuting and anything that I consider a time eater I am hugely resistant to, and will do anything to avoid it. Also, if I go into the grocery store every other day I will overspend like crazy.
Would You Be Willing To Try Once A Week
Grocery Shopping?
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I totally thought almost everyone in the US shopped once a week. Until I started blogging and saw so many articles extolling the virtues of shopping less frequently. I’ve never had any problems eating a whole foods vegan diet shopping once a week. And back when we ate meat, we froze anything that wouldn’t be eaten in a couple of days.
I love that you’re a Vegan making this comment. Having done a month long vegan challenge I actually would love to read a post on how you do it?! Those grocery stores are open 24-7 for a reason. We love to buy food NOM NOM.
We grocery shop once a week. It works for us. We do eat bad foods, but our fresh food mostly lasts a week, so we don’t have to. I hear our store just added an organic section, so I’m excited to check it out. At our last place our local store had a big natural/health/organic food section and we did eat better then. Walking to Whole Foods would be pretty awesome!
I love that you admit to the bad foods!! I think that there are some things where it does make a difference (organic or not) I would check the list of fruits/veggies that have skins that pesticides can penetrate. Then just purchase those organically.
What would you say your average food budget then is per month? I know you stock up heavily on certain months, but what does it average out to aprox?
Last year I spent between $40 (did a challenge and survived) to about $275 a month. The average was probably around $245. I just am super, super deliberate about looking at what’s in my pantry, then making a menu based on what’s in there. Since I don’t really eat out that much I think this is fairly reasonable.
Like Michelle, I average about $250/month on groceries (I can’t say for sure because I don’t break out groceries from my cash draw — I just take out $300 a month and use it on whatever, so some months groceries are higher and some I have to be more careful because I’m seeing more movies. But I think $250 is a solid guess for average.) I think we have a fairly similar approach to shopping so I guess it’s not that surprising that it works out about the same.
There’s another way to do it?!
But seriously. Have always done weekly. Can’t do it less often as there just isn’t room to store the food in our small fridge/pantry. Only downside is with fresh produce – that’s one area where sometimes weekly doesn’t work so well.
Most US Fridges are HUGE. And we typically have a lot of storage space outside of (NYC) so most people have a ton of food in their homes. It is not unusual for people to stop at the grocery store 3-4 times a week on the way home from work. Then, a lot of grocery stores are open 24 hours or until 12 a.m. so food is always very, very accessible.
Good on you re: graduating debt free!! Processed food is both evil/delicious/scary. I am glad that you noticed a drop in your grocery expenses (and made this comment) people can really get resistant to this idea and I really can’t see why it’s so revolutionary? I think the key is meal planning and that’s really where the resistance comes in as people don’t want to be as intentional about their food. But, doing it this way saves me so much money that I won’t be changing this habit anytime soon. You also have to jump on good deals. Whole Foods is now rolling out deals because of all the other grocers that are in competition with them which works out well for the consumer.
I’ve always done the bulk of my shopping once a week — I only go again if I’ve forgotten something or didn’t realize I was running low on something critical. And I am a foodie! It’s just a matter of planning ahead a little, as you say. (I should say that even though I only go once a week, I frequently visit the farmer’s market AND two grocery stores while I’m out, sometimes adding another specialty shop to the mix if I need something I can’t get at any of those three. There are certain things I like to buy at each location and occasionally I’ll have a week where I only go to one of the three, but mostly I’d rather get what I want at the place I want to get it 🙂
I think we’re shopping twins. I do also go to several different store when shopping. All meats come from Whole Foods. Veggies from another store or Whole Foods depending on what I plan on getting. Almond milk from where ever it’s usually the same price everywhere. And fresh veggies from the Market when it’s summer.
I’ve been trying to grocery shop only once a week too. It’s really tough! But it’s good to hear how you’ve planned it out. Thanks for sharing!
You may need more food in your pantry. If you have a pretty well stocked pantry then you can use what you get on the weekends to supplement it. Keep us posted.
Great tips on eating organically but still only grocery shopping once/week! I have a friend who only eats organic, and she goes to the grocery store every 3 days. I hate grocery shopping, so that sounds crazy to me!
You really don’t need to go more than once a week. Americans have more than enough food in the house. I eat a lot of fresh food every week and still go to the store usually on Saturdays. I do buy veggies and fruits that do well in the fridge: Kale, citrus fruits, and apples. I’ve lived in Europe before and do understand why people enjoy going to pick up their fresh items several times a week. But, I don’t have time for that. I do have a garden in the summer so that’s a nice way for me to get my fresh veggies and fruits in.