Stockpiling, Meal Planning, and Grocery Shopping, oh my!

Unbelievably long post ahead. Skip if uninterested in my grocery shopping and meal planning system. I mean it. This is not entertaining AT ALL.
 

Here we go.

I discovered when I was working full time that going to the grocery store every Saturday was really a drag... I mean, the last thing I wanted to do on my weekend home with my baby was go battle it out with every other working mom over the last can of beans on sale or whatever.  In searching the internet for solutions to my meal planning woes, I stumbled upon some instructional articles about stockpiling and once a month shopping.  I wish now I could remember where I got the info originally, so I could give credit where credit it due.  Sorry, oh wise internet people!

The main idea is:  do a huge grocery shop once a month, keep a lot of the basics on hand (stockpile), and meal plan out of your stockpile.

*Note:  If once a month shopping sounds extreme and intimidating, you can always do this system as a twice a month thing too.  

Stockpiling is where you buy in bulk the stuff you usually use.  Even better is to stockpile when it's on sale.  Typical things I stockpile: frozen vegs, frozen waffles, cheese (shredded freezes well), meat of all kinds, bread (freezes well too), canned tomatoes/beans/fruit, boxed oatmeal/cereal, pasta, rice, jarred salsa/pasta sauce, soup, cake/muffin mixes/baking supplies, tortilla chips, peanut butter, applesauce, and household items like TP, paper towels, cleaning supplies, detergent, shampoo, deoderant, etc. I have researched the couponing thing to the inth degree and though I have largely given up on actually using coupons (see note near end of post), I still follow the concept of "buy in bulk when it's on sale."   Most veteran couponers agree that sales come in 6-8 week cycles, so when a staple item is on sale, you want to purchase enough of that product to stockpile to last you until the next sale comes around. So for example, this month, canned tomatoes were on sale, and I was running low, so I bought 12 cans. That should last me about 6 weeks. 3 months ago, Jiffy corn muffin mix was on sale for .20 cents each, so I bought 24 of them. I still have about 8 left.

Now, on to meal planning. At the beginning of the month (or every 2 weeks, if you want to start small and work your way up) I inventory my freezer and stockpile shelves and plan meals BASED ON WHAT I HAVE ON HAND. That way I'm using up stuff I already have, so things don't expire or go to waste. Since I'm planning for a whole month (and therefore only doing one big stockpile shop a month too) I plan 22 different dinners. I usually plan at least 3-4 new recipes as part of that 22 meals so that we don't get into dinner ruts. We never eat the same dinner twice per month, unless we're eating it as leftovers.  I figure eating out and eating leftovers and whatever we scrounge up randomly will cover the other 8-10 dinners per month. I do not specifically plan out which meal I will make on which day... I just have a list handy of what I planned for, so that every morning I can decide that day what's for dinner. Then before I go do my big shopping trip, I check my inventory of lunch and breakfast supplies, and plan to get more as needed. If I've got lunch meat/cheese/bread/waffles on hand but frozen, I dig it out during inventory to start to thaw. I bring up cereal, oatmeal, etc from the stockpile closet for breakfasts. Then whatever new of those I buy on sale will go in the freezer or the closet.  

I have found that even though shopping more often would help me hit more items while they are on sale, there is an element of doing a big shop once a month that really enables me to save money. If I'm going to the store less, I buy fewer unnecessary items. If I have tons of food and staple items on hand, I don't feel the need to go out to eat - if I want Mexican, I've got the stuff to make Mexican. If I want Italian, I've got the stuff to make Italian... you get the drift. So a typical month for us, I spend around $200 at the first of the month and then $30 a week the other weeks of the month.  The weekly budget mostly goes towards milk and fresh ingredients needed for whatever planned meals I'm cooking this week. Example: during the second week of this month, I only needed to buy milk, cilantro, fresh fruit, and a couple vegetables and salad ingredients. Then I bought a few sale items for my stockpile... otherwise, I was still set for meals.

When I write my shopping list, I use a couple of pages and make columns according to categories, like frozen/canned/boxed/fresh/dairy/meat/etc. I even try and put the categories in the order they come in the store. (I know, I'm hardcore!)  First, since I've already looked through the sale papers, I'll add whatever sale items I'm going to buy for the stockpile. Then, I go one planned meal at a time and add any missing ingredients to the list (since I've already probably got the staples on hand in my stockpile). After all my meal ingredients are accounted for, I pick through the cupboards and add items like tinfoil, trash bags, olive oil, random spices I'm low on, etc. Then I go back to my stockpile and add anything that's getting low that hasn't already been added due to sales or meal planning. If any item on my list has a matching coupon, I write a little "c" and circle it next to the item on the list, so I don't forget to check my coupon in store (and use it).

*Note about coupons:  I've largely given up on coupons.  I don't have a lot of impulse control, so I found myself buying stuff I wouldn't normally buy, JUST BECAUSE it had a coupon.  I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather eat generic stuff than spend hours every month cutting out coupons for the brand name things. 

Ok, so now we've planned it... now how do we accomplish it?! The only way is to block off 4 hours and go ALONE and probably do two transactions and two trips out to the car... first, for the non-perishables and second for perishables like meat and dairy, etc. It's about an hour and a half in store per trip if I do it right, but the good news is: YOU ONLY HAVE TO DO IT ONCE A MONTH! Then your weekly trips to the grocery store are quick 20 minute in and outs. When I get home, the bags get brought into the basement which is convenient for me, because that's where the stockpile is. I then weed out the ingredients that will get used that month and take those upstairs, while the rest of the stuff goes to its new home, waiting in line behind the other stuff in the stockpile to be used. Large purchases of meat get broken up into meal sized portions, labeled, and frozen. And yes, by this time, I'm exhausted and wishing I'd remembered to put wine on the shopping list.

And now that I've written all that out, I'm embarrassed by the specificity with which I could recount my grocery shopping habits, while at the same time being unable to recall any of the upper level writing classes I took while in college a measly 5 years ago.  Oh well, that's life!  

Got awesome tricks and tips of your own?  PLEASE share in the comments - I'm always looking for ways to hone my skills!  (Don't implore me to use coupons though... I promise, I've been there, done that.  It was too.much.work.  And I was having awful, insomniac type dreams where I was cutting cutting cutting coupons ALL NIGHT LONG.  Haha.)