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Angel
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I've been reading aboutOnce a Month Shopping. I think we could do it except that I'm not sure about milk. The post I linked to above talks about freezing milk. Do any of you freeze your milk? How does this work?
We go through about a gallon a day around here. (Actually, I don't have freezer space for that much milk. But it still might be better than heading to the convenience store every 3 days to pick up more.)
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Servant2theKing
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We shop once a month, but my husband picks up milk on his way home from work, either while picking up monthly prescriptions or when he gets gas, since the gas stations in the area also stock milk (the extra 25 cents or so per gallon is worth not going into a grocery store and risking impulse buying). We also live very close to a creamery that is right on his way home, so we have numerous options for stocking up on milk (or other dairy items) in between monthly grocery shopping. I have tried freezing milk, but it separates and has a watery quality to it. I also don't like using that much freezer space for something that bulky.
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Angel
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Ok, I've already changed the topic to make it more general.  If you have anything at all to say about once a month shopping, please tell me! I really think this would simplify our lives; I'm just not sure about the logistics.
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mimmyof5
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I will have to check out the link you provided. I do twice a year shopping for most items and then about every week I need to make a run to Costco for milk, cheese, yogurt, produce (after the garden's gone). There is no way I could store milk - we buy 8 gallons at a time. I've had frozen milk before, but I don't care for it. I try to be very disciplined and only buy those items I need.
Actually, it's a little date for dh and me. He takes me out for breakfast on Sat. mornings, and then we stop by Costco on the way home. So actually it works out nice for me.
Janet
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DominaCaeli
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Thanks for starting this thread, Angela! I would really love to hear people's once-a-month shopping suggestions. Right now we go once a week, and I don't see how to avoid doing so while still having milk and fresh produce on hand. With a new baby on the way in January, it would be great to cut down on shopping trips for at least a little while after she is born.
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I just don't get how that would work with fruits and veggies???
Do you stock up on frozen veggies for the end of the month? I have nothing against frozen veggies. It is probably fresher than veggies sitting 2 weeks on the shelf.
I can really see the financial benefit of doing this and saving a lot of time and energy, too. I just don't know how to begin to organize such a feat. Do you plan out all your meals for the month and go by that?
I will be watching this thread closely.
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LisaD
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I just tried this for the first time this month. There have been a few things that I didn't check on before I made my lists, and I've had to run to the store for a few last minute items, but overall, it's been successful. For me to continue to do this, it will be only for convenience sake. It really doesn't seem to save us all that much money. I guess I'm not really an impulse shopper to begin with. Also, our big freezer in the garage is STUFFED. I need to order some beef, but there's no where to put it! Maybe shopping every two weeks would work better.
I bought organic milk at Costco. They come in three-pack of half-gallons. The first frozen 1/2 gallon I took out to thaw, I put in the fridge to thaw. It has been five days, and it is still icy! The second 1/2 gallon I took out to thaw, I left on the kitchen counter for 10 or so hours, then thawed the rest of the way in the fridge. It thawed perfectly! I shook it up, and you can't tell a difference between that one and fresh milk. It is 1% milk, I don't know if that make a difference. That said, when I shop next month, I will not buy my milk at Costo. Their organic is ultra-pastuerized, and we do notice a difference in taste because of that. I'll buy it from Trader Joe's as usual and see how that freezes.
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KerryK
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We shop twice a month right now. I'd love to get down to once a month, but it would take more planning. We do sometimes freeze milk, and have never had a problem doing so. But more often, DH will stop off after work and pick it up. We also use a lot of frozen veggies, because things just don't stay good for as long as I need them to. Maybe if someone else has tips it would give me the little nudge I need to give once a month shopping a try!
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Lisbet
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I've not done OAM shopping (YET!) but I do freeze milk. We go through about 10 gallons a week, I usually don't have enough room in the fridge for that many, so 2 go in the freezer. (I don't have to buy it ahead because our ALDIS carries it for $1.99 gallon all of the time, and I go to ALDIS once a week.) When we have 2 gallons left in the fridge, I take the others out of the freezer and thaw them in the sink overnight - they are mostly thawed by AM, and in the fridge they go. I shake them up really well before we open them. No one can tell the difference.
I am interested in OAM shopping, I'd love to only go out one time. I do see how bi-weekly might be more practical though? One issue I would see is having room for the sheer amount I'd have to buy of certain things to get us through an entire month.
I know I will do a months worth of cooking in Jan. - so we'll see!
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mimmyof5
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Well, I could give frozen milk another shot, but I still wouldn't have room to freeze all we would drink in a month. I buy fresh spinach, lettuce, broccoli year round (except summer) and that wouldn't keep for month either. Yogurt and cheese would probably be okay. Even with two fridges, they seem full most of the time. I just don't know how to do it with fresh produce???
If dh and I weren't out on Sat. mornings, I would ask him to pick milk, etc. up for me on his way home. He goes right by the store, so it's not out of his way. I do love staying out of the stores and having items on hand.
Janet
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Bookswithtea
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I have done every other week shopping. And yes, I did buy frozen veg. to rely on for the last few days. I liked that method better, but lately, have been shopping weekly. I buy most of what I need one week and then just stop in for the perishables and things I ran out of early on the second week. But its driving me crazy. It sucks up time I would rather be spending at home.
Janet, how do you big shop only twice a year? That sounds even better to me than once a month, which sounds *great* to me.
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LisaD
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Storage is the main difficulty I see for OAM shopping. Fresh fruits and vegetables aren't that big of problem for us, at least in fall and winter. Apples and oranges seem to last all month, and only dh eats bananas, so he gets a week's worth, then he relies on frozen fruits and berries for smoothies. Salad and fresh vegetables last a really, really long time in Green Bags. We eat a lot of frozen veggies, too. To store snack items that don't need refrigeration, I use lidded plastic storage bins in the garage. I can take out the chips, crackers, etc. for each week, and the rest is out of sight of the kids. Plastic bins can be used to store cereal boxes, oatmeal, canned items, etc. and then store them stacked in the garage, basement or a spare closet (does anyone actually have one of those?!), if you don't have a large pantry.
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I don't do once a month shopping.. partly because then you only can hit those particular sales.
I could do twice a month shopping.. since my shopping money is split between 2 pay days.
But even then.. I miss 2 weeks of sales.
I stock a pantry and the way to keep it working at the cheapest is to buy items ONLY on sale (as much as possible)
So when we get down to the last item in the pantry, say mayo, then I look for it on sale for the next few weeks until the mayo is gone.. if there's been no sale I buy ONE to keep us in mayo until a sale.. then on a sale.. I buy and restock my pantry. But if I only shopped once a month, I'd miss many sales and have to buy many items NOT on sale.
Of course I don't have many options for shopping that it sounds like a lot of you have (we have 2 grocery stores and that's it)
I do also buy in bulk several times a year (different items that I buy a year's worth of).. grains, canned goods and such.
But, I am able to shop in our little town only and not drive 130 miles one way to get to those bigger stores. And generally spend about what others do on groceries that go to the bigger town, but I'm not spending the gas to get to that town (about $100)
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JodieLyn
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Lisa - you know you can freeze bananas for smoothies?
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Angel
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JodieLyn wrote:
I don't do once a month shopping.. partly because then you only can hit those particular sales.
I could do twice a month shopping.. since my shopping money is split between 2 pay days.
But even then.. I miss 2 weeks of sales.
I stock a pantry and the way to keep it working at the cheapest is to buy items ONLY on sale (as much as possible)
So when we get down to the last item in the pantry, say mayo, then I look for it on sale for the next few weeks until the mayo is gone.. if there's been no sale I buy ONE to keep us in mayo until a sale.. then on a sale.. I buy and restock my pantry. But if I only shopped once a month, I'd miss many sales and have to buy many items NOT on sale.
Of course I don't have many options for shopping that it sounds like a lot of you have (we have 2 grocery stores and that's it)
I do also buy in bulk several times a year (different items that I buy a year's worth of).. grains, canned goods and such.
But, I am able to shop in our little town only and not drive 130 miles one way to get to those bigger stores. And generally spend about what others do on groceries that go to the bigger town, but I'm not spending the gas to get to that town (about $100)
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What was interesting me initially about OAM shopping was the convenience, but this is a good point. I live in a small town, too, with only 2 grocery stores. Dh and I have been talking about getting a food club membership, but we'd have to drive 40 miles for the nearest one. And, like Lisa said, the sheer volume of what we'd have to buy at one time -- coupled with the fact that we'd more than likely have to buy it at ONE store, not a food club -- seems logistically, um, difficult.
Do most of you who shop once a month have 2 refrigerators? Also, are you fairly strict about meal planning?
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LisaD
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Angel wrote:
Do most of you who shop once a month have 2 refrigerators? Also, are you fairly strict about meal planning? |
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I have one refrigerator with a top freezer in the kitchen, and a 14 cu. ft. freezer in the garage.
I planned out four weeks of dinners (basically 10 dinners repeated around 3 times each), plus made a list of all of our breakfast, lunch and snack options. I then made grocery lists for Costco, Trader Joe's and our local supermarket based on those menus. I can either follow my menu plan in order, day by day, or I can just make what I feel like making based on what we have.
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I was doing once a month shopping. I went back to twice per month, one a big shop and one our little shop for things we're out of and fresh stuff. I went back because we only have one fridge and no garage. And I hate only having certain things like lettuce at the beginning of the month.
I stock up on bulk things like 20lb boxes of noodles, I might get 4 of those, 20lb bags of rice, 20lb bags of flour, and dry milk powder. I also buy bread/tortillas/buns at a discount bread store, this I would do once per month and store in the chest freezer.
I have an organized Menu plan for each month, which I rotate. But for fresh stuff I just have to get there more often.
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I did one big shop a month for a while, with smaller fresh produce and milk shops in between. However, I felt like we were actually spending more money. Now I am back to once every two weeks, but still getting my bulk of toilet paper, flour, etc. in the first shop as we are only paid once a week.
ps The other thing that threw the big once a month shop was company (which we like to have!). I would always be running out for odds and ends for company but would have spent most of my monthly amount already, so those extra shops seemed to skew my budget. But I am definitely not a horribly organized person, whom I am sure could have pulled it off alot better than I did!
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Bookswithtea
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LisaD wrote:
I planned out four weeks of dinners (basically 10 dinners repeated around 3 times each), plus made a list of all of our breakfast, lunch and snack options. I then made grocery lists for Costco, Trader Joe's and our local supermarket based on those menus. I can either follow my menu plan in order, day by day, or I can just make what I feel like making based on what we have.
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This is interesting. I shop at those same three places, and I am forever trying to make food lists similar to what you've described, but they never seem to work.  I think you definitely have to have defined menu lists in order to shop less, and storage is a must. We have a second pantry in the basement and two full size fridges and two 18 cu. foot upright freezers. One of the freezers is full of our year's supply of whole chickens that we raised in the fall. But we have also stored food in odd places when we had less storage space. We used to have canned goods in inexpensive under the bed type boxes under our couch for years. Coat closets can be used for those white buckets with grains and beans at 25 lbs each.
Maybe if I could get my menu list truly squared away, it would work better for me. I think part of the problem is that I make my meal lists based on my ideal vision of what I want my family to eat. Then real life interrupts and we end up eating scrambled eggs for dinner because we are short on time or something like that. And that happens for days at a time...  I find it frustrating to no end...
I sometimes feel almost desperate to capture more time at home and less car seat time for my littles. The drivign for my older kid's activities is non negotiable. They need that stuff. So less time at the grocery store seems like my next best option.
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Bookswithtea
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Angel wrote:
What was interesting me initially about OAM shopping was the convenience, but this is a good point. I live in a small town, too, with only 2 grocery stores. Dh and I have been talking about getting a food club membership, but we'd have to drive 40 miles for the nearest one. And, like Lisa said, the sheer volume of what we'd have to buy at one time -- coupled with the fact that we'd more than likely have to buy it at ONE store, not a food club -- seems logistically, um, difficult.
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Angel, we live in a small town and have a 40 mile drive to Costco. We are considering dumping our membership. We do save money over shopping local, but I'm not sure the extra gas money, time and stress involved with Costco is worth it. If you know someone with a membership, I'd maybe try it once before paying for a year's worth. The problem I have discovered is that once I buy the membership, I feel obligated to use it to get my money's worth, which eventually translates into more trips into the city than I would like.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Once a month shopping
