What should I be buying at the grocery store?

katie: What should I be buying at the grocery store?
I feel like my boyfriend and I go to the grocery store quite often, but we always seem to run out of food very quickly. He suggested maybe we are buying the wrong things. What should we be buying?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Cister
Have you meals planned. We can buy things that we actually don’t need. Then, when is time to eat, that specific thing is not what we want to eat. A week meals plan is easy and makes you save LOTS of money. Have the everyday thing like milk, bread, butter, fruit etc. Then plan the rest.

Take a look at this spreadsheet template:
https://unclutterer.com/wp-content/uploads/mealplan.xlt

Also, it helps you to eat healthy.

Sample:

Breakfast
Banana Berry Wake Up Shake
Pumpkin Raisin Muffin
Coffee

Snack Yougurt/Fruit/Muffin

Lunch Minestrone or Bean Soup
Pumpernickel Bagel
Cream Cheese
Beverage Water bottle /Juice/pop

Snack Fruit/Yougurt/Muffin

Dinner
Steamed Fish Fillets with Potatoes and Asparagus
Crusty multigrain roll
Butter/margarine (2 servings VF
Beverage Milk/Juice/WIne

Snack
Crackers, peanut butter

Answer by greengirl
Maybe you should think of buying the same things but more of them, try buying bulk and freezing more foods. For example you can buy a larger brick of cheese and grate then freeze what you don’t plan on using (be sure to grate it first though and you won’t notice the difference) If you have a tendancy to buy frozen pizza or parogies buy enough for the month. This way the only reason you should need to stop by the store will be for fresh fruits and vegies and dairy.

Answer by Doreen K
this is what I do

We decide on 5 meals and list all the ingredients we need. than all stuff like cereal and bagels, staples like milk and butter and eggs, we each pick a snack. The we make those 5 dinners during that week and eat left overs one night and go out to eat one night.
Keep a list on the fridge to mark down as soon as you run out of something…
Do a little inventory before you go to the store… check paper towels, toilet paper, stuff you use in the bathroom… mayo, ketchup all the stupid stuff you do not think of until you go to reach for it and its empty.

Answer by blueice120
milk, cheese, eggs, sugar, drinks, meats, rice, snacks (optional), bread, cookies (optional), coffee products if you drink coffee..stuff like that…you could be buying all of those things and it still finishes fast..thats what happens in my house…we eat a lot =)

Answer by debbielewis05
Take your time and shop, look for the quality of the foods, items,products. buying store brand items are just as good as name brand items. so next time try buying some of the store brand products, you know like for instance when you buy leg quarter chicken, check out other prices and compare them to one another. don,t worry you will be fine. good luck.

Answer by Chef B ♥
Often, you should be buying milk, bread, eggs, pasta, rice, vegetables, fresh fruit, some canned meals (like chilli, spaghetti & meatballs, raviolis, soup), and several types of meat.

What I like to do is always stock up when I have the extra cash so this way I don’t run out. I mean, of course I have to get bread more often then canned items because it goes bad quicker, but I like to stock up on Liptons Pasta/Rice Sides, lots of canned things like tuna, chilli, etc, I like to buy plenty of rice and pasta for throw-together meals, ground beef and some type of chicken is always in my freezer, and I always have some cereal available.

Answer by gg
It would help to know what you are already buying, and what you run out of the fastest.

Answer by Chetak.
Buy some things in bulk and add a little extra to store.
Buy a decent sized pack of rice, more than you use each week, the same goes for carrots, onions, pasta and canned or frozen foods.
Prepare just what you need, and don’t chuck out what is left over.
With meats, look for value packs and specials. Many of our stores have a pack of meat that is between $ 5-$ 6 that they sell for $ 5, and you can buy 5 packs for $ 20.
A pack of chicken drums (I got some today) had 6. Instead of cooking all 6 and having 3 each, I will freeze two for another day.
You will get a Kilo of mince, divide that into 3 and freeze two sections.
Bulk out your meals with the cheap stuff and put the effort into the expensive.
Lessen the quantities you eat, I think we are all having to tighten our belts.
I shop daily so I can pick up those bargains that are almost at their best buy date, get them home and into the fridge or freezer and they will stay good for a few days or weeks/months if frozen right away.

Answer by Sew What?
You clearly need to learn menu planning.

Since you’ve never done this before, I’d start with a one week plan for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Get what you need to make those meals and nothing else.

If you can stick with this for a couple of weeks, you’ll start to think creatively about food. For example, If you ate steak on Monday and had a half steak left over, you can slice that leftover steak thin, freeze the meat and there’s your meat for next week’s taco night or chili night.

Sounds like you guys do a lot of impulse buying. Take a list. Get everything on it and nothing else. Again if you try the menu planning method within a few weeks, you’ll find yourself becoming a smarter shoppers. You’ll start taking advantage of sales and learning how to get the best use out of leftovers.
You’ll leave the convenience food on the shelf and make it yourself for a lot less money and better flavor.

I think it’s great that the two of you shop together. Do both of you cook? If you both participate in the planning process, you are going to do very well over time.

There’s a lot of information about: meal planning, menu planning, using leftovers etc. on the internet.

Have fun and good luck.

Answer by sweetfox66
What my family dose is we buy the basic’s in bulk (ie. large bags of uncooked rice, uncooked pasta, flour, tomatoe sauce, chicken, fish, perogies, milk, meat) and then we can combine the food to however we like. It is usually cheaper to buy at big stores like Costco then at the local store where prices are usually higher.

I would suggest that for two weeks, you write down what you’ve eaten AFTER every meal (I, personally, find it slightly annoying that I have roasted chicken and perogies planned and someone else wants pasta in cream sauce), and see what foods you’re eating the most and how often you eat your chosen food. That should help you to decided what you need to buy more often then not.

Answer by pattsywattsy
Plan your meals.

Make a list.