Thinking about ‘how to grocery shop’ got me to thinking about how we plan our grocery list. I’m going to share what was on our list (as it was written):
- butter x4
- milk x4
- eggs x2
- froz veggies x10
- fruit
- salad veggies
- olives x6
- tuna
- cheese, shredded x4, sliced x2
- juice x4
- ground meat
- tea
- oj
- yogurt
- crackers x4
- flour x4
- dishwasher soap
- laundry soap
- toilet paper
- mayo
That is what I put on our list for one month’s worth of grocery shopping. You might see there is a lack to my list. It isn’t orderly; it doesn’t have specifics; and it doesn’t really tell what is priority. I do have a word document file that has everything split up into categories {cold: dairy; frozen: veggies, meat; dry: noodles; etc} as well as prioritized but I haven’t used it in a few years. When I began shopping for my family, I did use it and will definitely print some out for my kids when they get to that point.
I like to buy enough that it will carry over to the next month. The reason for that is because I’m never really sure what may come up {what unexpected expense will take from the budget} or how the prices may change. Milk this time was a great deal so I purchased 5 gallons instead of the 4 I’d planned on. Sometimes I can only get 3 because the cost would prevent the purchase of another item that is wanted/needed. On my list, not everything was crossed off; we didn’t buy it. Sometimes rationing does have to happen in our house. There are some items that I try to get every time we go shopping. These are our staples.
What are ‘staples’? Staples are the items that you just seem to always need. They are the ingredients that you can make just about anything from. What are staples for one household may not be for another. From the short list I gave above the staples for our family would be milk, eggs, fruit, flour and possibly frozen veggies. These are the food items we consume the most. My hubby would love to have meat be included in that list but honestly, I don’t include it. My ideal list would look more like this:
- flour- whole wheat and white
- rolled oats
- dry beans
- oil
- dry milk
- honey
- fresh fruit and vegetables.
The first time I saw a staples list {that I can recall paying attention to} was in the More-with-Less Cookbook* (page 41 in my book). I have other things that I would include on that list that I would like to stock my shelves with but those are the ones I would like to make sure and get each time. Honey would be the first thing to be taken off the list if needed.
Many times people consider staples also to be storable. In that case, fresh fruit and vegetables do not fit in that category. Canning and drying would be a viable option for those but that’s a post for another time {and probably better written by someone else!}.
I’ve been trying to help the kids learn to make some basic food items, such as bread, pancakes, granola, etc. {hmmm, need to get more in there besides breakfast!} so that they will be able to do it on their own when they move out. There’s no point to purchase granolas for $5/lb when it can be made relatively inexpensively at home {and you know what’s in it}. I think having a list of ‘staples’ will help with that.
I think it will be quite fun when the time comes to go shopping with my kids, when they do the shopping for themselves.
*Amazon.com affiliate linked image; “an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.”
I’m linking this post up with Making a Home at Linda’s Lunacy, where we can share posts about homemaking ideas, recipes, crafts, decorating, cleaning tips, basically anything that has to do with caring for a home and family.
