So I consider myself organized. Generally speaking, I stay on top of things, have several spinning plates going at once, and hardly miss a beat in our daily homeschool routine. (Okay, well maybe that last one is stretching it.) I arrive on time to appointments, balance my checkbook, pay bills by the due date. I remember people’s birthdays. You get the idea. But there’s one area of life… there’s always that one area, isn’t there?… that gets me to no end. I have tried many times over to get it under control, and the control always eludes me. I’m talking about–
Managing some semblance of grocery shopping organization.
To put it bluntly, it just doesn’t happen.
Grocery Shopping Systems: Doing the Mom Comparison
What “They” Do
I know many moms that neatly go to one store once a week, and they are “one and done.” They get in, they get out, and voilá! They have their provisions for the whole week. Other moms might even stretch it to every OTHER week. What a concept, one that deserves a round of applause.
To outdo those moms, then there are THOSE moms who (insert gasp here) only cook, from scratch, once/month and freeze meals in carefully labeled containers. I can’t even.
What We Do
Our family?!? I’m almost embarrassed to say this. We end up going to multiple stores for a total of NINE times a week. Of course that is only an approximate number. Some weeks it may be as few as eight and a half, which makes me downright proud.
Gulp…So What Exactly Do We Spend?
With all of these grocery store trips under our belts, you have probably guessed that staying within a predetermined grocery budget rarely, if ever, happens. For a family of four, I know what many frugal moms think we SHOULD be spending. Suffice it to say, whatever number they would suggest to us, that’s NOT what we’re seeing leave our wallets every week.
Strikes Against Us
Food Sensitivities
To be fair to us, we do have some circumstances not working in our favor. We have a son who needs to be both gluten and dairy free. And, as anyone in a similar situation knows, all gluten- and dairy-free items are not created equal. Certain brands work better for certain items–and not the same brands across the board, but various ones, and scattered throughout a myriad of stores. And many of the items we need to buy as substitutes are anything but inexpensive.
Quality Control
We are also picky. Very picky. We care about food a whole lot and serving high-quality, nutritious meals is not something we blow off very often.
But still. We know many others who care just as much about great food as we do and have managed to streamline their food acquisition process to a near art form. So it’s hard to put too much of the blame on this issue alone.
Overlapping Domestic Duties
We also have two cooks in the kitchen. My husband is our main cook, and I’m his backup. Sometimes we buy things the other has already bought. Sometimes we both come home from a store with neither of us bringing that one item we really needed. Often we suffer miscommunications. It would probably help considerably to have one of us the designated go-to-the-storer, and the other one the stay-putter and butt-outter.
Yes, I’ve Tried to Keep to Systems
I’ve had well-meaning moms offer to give me advice on how best to do the shopping and how to save money in the process. Their advice always seems pretty simple and most of it I’ve tried in the past. I’ve written it all out, kept master lists on the fridge for each store, clipped digital coupons (I am consistent at that), made careful menus, etc. All to no avail. It might work for one week but not the next. Or the next.
So I Conclude…
My current grocery shopping organizational skills, or more precisely a lack thereof, just are what they are.
Really and truly, I think it boils down to this: our lives are busy, sometimes bordering on chaotic. Life is hitting us from all sides. Damien has traveled for work most of our marriage. We are both “doers.” I have my projects, and he has his. Food, while not exactly an afterthought (it never is when you have a child with special dietary needs), isn’t always on the front burner of what we’d like to think about.
Perspective
I’m not giving up. I’ll keep working at it. But I also know that these years are passing very quickly with our kids, and grocery shopping will not always involve following the advanced mathematical algorithms it does now. One day before we know it, the issue of food will become simple again.
And guess what? When that happens, I will most likely miss these years. Because with great mess comes great productivity. These days are full of riches, even if groceries seem to be making me poor.
What is the one elusive area in your life that you just can’t “get”? Comment below and please share/pin this post!
I think the most that I ever go to a grocery store would be 5x a week, but that honestly only happens if I’m not prepared. I try to meal plan for 2 weeks at a time. I know most people can’t make this happen, but we pay for all grocery/restaurant purchase and household items with 1 credit card to help control spending and budgeting. We pay it in full at the end of each month and are awarded points by the credit card company to later redeem for gift cards or credits toward the next bill. I do try to meal plan and add items to my Walmart grocery cart at the same time. I use a free app called ShopShop as my grocery list and keep track of what I can’t get at Walmart so I can buy elsewhere. Running a household is serious work!
Yes, it is serious work! It sounds like you have a great system down and some excellent suggestions. I may have to try some of those…
Ha! Such an honest post, do what works! (Or I guess, whatever happens!)
We spend so much more on groceries than the suggested amount as well don’t feel bad!
So many of us so this all the time.. this brought as smile to my face! I am guilty of not being prepared, sometimes I dont know what I’m doing for dinner until 4:45 pm.. and it could be ordering a pizza! Life happens and mine is perfect for me!❤😂
This made me laugh! Yes, we know THOSE moms… I might be one of them, but only because I hate grocery shopping so badly so I do try to limit my shopping to once a week. Meals get creative a few times a week if I’ve forgotten something because I am NOT going back! Have you tried using Amazon for some of the specialty items? I find prices are the same or better and it eliminates me from having to go to specific stores for such specific items. Again, I hate grocery shopping. 🙂
For whatever the reason that you are one of “those” moms, I applaud you! Hating going to the grocery store (I do, too) is reason enough to start. And I have not tried Amazon–but I should! Thanks for the great tip!
I have my grocery game down to maybe a couple trips a week xD Practice makes perfect, I have gotten better about meal planning and writing down what will be for dinner this week!
I am also gluten intolerant so I feel your pain gluten free not only is not easy to find it is never cheap but now that most stores are doing free pick upIt’s a lot easier to order from more than one store and just drop stop and pick stuff up and then only have to go shopping one time to pick up the things that they were out of
Great post. I use a meal planning spreadsheet that helps me know what I need for food and then anything else is in there. It has helped me – otherwise I am all over the place. Thanks for your honesty and sticking to it!
Haha I feel ya! I go to multiple stores myself!! No one carries everything! And yes that makes us spend more. Yep. It is what it is.
Very humorous!
When the kids were growing up + a one-income family (ie, poor!), I quickly realized the the less times you go to the store, the less $$ you spend.
I have figured that out, too, but unfortunately I don’t abide by it very well, lol!
Oh man. I feel ya. You’re doing your best though! But shopping for certain foods (in our case, any animal product-free and usually organic), it gets pricey. And I have to go so many stores to find it all. So it’s exhausting. I hate it so much, in fact, that I only go shopping every 2 weeks now! And I hit up 4 stores. It’s a HUGE process. I plan for meals for two weeks and then I don’t have to think about them for those next 14 days. Which is great. But the planning…. yikes it’s exhausting! Keep up the hard work and do whatever is best for your family. 🙂
I don’t have any kids yet and it’s hard to only go to the grocery store once a week, just for my husband and I. Those momma bears who do so well, they must be super hero’s lol! I’m organized but those ladies, they are on an entire new level!
I have gotten much better at the grocery thing. We do a lot of bulk purchasing. I still have times, though, when I want to make a recipe and realize that somehow I managed to forget to put one of the ingredients on the grocery list. Nothing like that last minute run to the store to pick up what we forgot.
I needed to read this! I hate going there so often. It is the last thing I want to do after work.
I know we spend more than I realize. I used to be so much better about bargain shopping, but I’ve fallen into the one-stop-shop method.
Thanks for the laugh! In my chaotic home, I can honestly say we at least have the shopping down to a science. Every Sunday, Hubby and I sit down and plan out the weekly menu and subsequent grocery list. Sometimes we are in the same room to do it, most often, I am at work and its done over the phone. Hubby does the grocery shopping, usually while I’m home with the kids. We used to all go, but COVID changed that. Most times, we get it all on the first shot. Others… a second trip is necessary because of stuff that was forgotten, or stuff that runs out and wasn’t put on the list. Our system has made it so we have less, if any, food waste, and less time spent in the grocery store.
I got a couple of chuckles from your post, like the butt-outer. I also go to the grocery often but it’s partly because we patronize three organic food stores and an Asian grocery – and they all have somewhat different things – as well as Costco. A list is a MUST, but I know if the stores weren’t all pretty close by, I’d plan more in advance.
We’ve recently been hitting up an Asian store early on Friday mornings because that’s when they get their bok choy in. So now add another store to our endless list…
This made me laugh. We are so there with you. No matter what we do, we seem to forget something, LOL!
I have to be organized in what we need at the grocery store because we live 25 minutes outside of town! I learned that lesson when we first moved out here to start a list of what we need so that nothing gets forgotten or I waste an hour just driving to and from the store.
I work at Walmart in the self check out area. If you were shopping at my Walmart you would probably be called one of our “regulars”. I have some who come once or twice a day. Others come with two or more carts and I can tell they are one of those “once a monther”.
I shop every day when I get off work and always spend more than I should, but hey I found it on clearance!
Man, I feel you on this! If I don’t go into the store with a plan and a system these days I forget everything haha
We all have our special gifts. And.. there are many days I wish I was the back-up chef!
I do love the fact that he cooks (and cooks well!).
Believe me, you are not alone in forgetting that one thing that was not added to the list. Been there, done that. We started the insta cart delivery during the early days of the pandemic & one thing I realized was it was not only a relief but was so easy & less stressful to be not going to the store, saving us dollars in impulse purchases , only ordering what we needed. Just a suggestion if you needed to give it a try, to see if that works for your family.
That is a great suggestion! I’m sure it would save $$ and precious time and hassle. Thank you!
I decide daily right before cooking what I will make…Weekly we buy staples so we have flexibility to make most of our usuals…so I guess I’m not very organized either…oh well!
Such refreshing honesty! Thanks for making me feel like I’m not alone in the world!
I’m working on this too. I’m trying to schedule out a month of meals so I can better shop and make use of ingredients. I’ll let you know how it goes! ‘-)
Please do!