Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Master Grocery Lists


One of the ways I save time and money is by making one large grocery trip a month. I was having problems remembering what I wanted to buy where. I finally realized that I needed to make a master grocery list for each store I shop at. I keep a master plan for each store in my home management binder. I make a copy and take it with me when I shop. This helps me save time and keeps me organized while keeping five children busy at the store!

For more works for me ideas check out We are That Family

3 comments:

solstice letters said...

I tried this a long time ago and it worked really well. I need to go back to that system. Thanks for the reminder.

Anonymous said...

If you only go once a month what do you do about those items that do not keep well like eggs, and fresh fruit and veggies?

Elaine H

The Prudent Homemaker said...

Elaine,

The American Egg Board says that eggs are good 4-5 weeks PAST their expiration date. Most eggs are dated 2 weeks after purchase.

I usually buy 13 dozen eggs at a time (when they are on sale for their lowest price). That lasts me until the next sale, if I carefully use them (my family can eat 18 eggs for breakfast).

Many fruits and vegetables last a month or more: carrots, celery, apples, potatoes, oranges, etc.

One thing I have done is eat fresh fruits and veggies the first week, and then canned and froze veggies the second week (along with apples, potatoes, carrots, etc).

Right now it's been 6 weeks since I've been shopping. We are still eating potatoes that I bought before Thanksgiving (I bought 360 pounds then), and lemons and pomegranates that I harvested from our trees in November and December. My garden keeps me supplied in lots of the other things for much of the year (especially vegetables throughout the year, and fruits in their season). Right now, we can eat home canned peaches and pears, as well as store-bought canned mandarin oranges.

I don't anticipate going shopping before April (though I would love to, but our income has stopped). However, this week I'll harvest my first turnip for the year, and I harvested swiss chard today.

But for a normal shopping period, once a month is totally possible! It's nice, too; it gives you time to do other things!