Menu Planning Part 2

Before you move to this second step, make sure you have a starter set of meal cards made.  At least enough for a week or two.

Grocery shopping is a part of meal planning.  For most people it is more time consuming than anything else done.  I bet you could sit down and make two or three months of meal cards in the time it normally takes you to make your way through the grocery store once.

About four years ago, I really changed the way I shopped.  At the time I was beginning a continuous ‘hurry up and wait’ mode that I knew would last for several years.  One of my parents had become severely physically disabled with daily doctors, rehabs and errands. I had a teenager in the house with school activities and carpools. And I was telecommuting from work.  I was always running people somewhere and waiting to pick people up or running for quick stops at work. I was always on the go, but not getting anywhere.

My poor little guy was almost always in tow. After spending more than half of the day in the car, he was miserable, I was miserable, and it would be time to go get groceries.  If you are a Mom, you know what it is like trying to get through the store with a tired baby. {Whaaaahhhhh…. } And I was not the only one of us feeling fussy and crying.

I came up with a way to eliminate the long store trip while working my grocery shopping into the ridiculous hurry up and wait 10 minutes here and there schedule I was bound. It may not work for everyone, but it may be a big help to anyone working full time doing their shopping on the way home, or to anyone else always on the run with errands. I will write a list at the end of the article for many individual things anyone could try to shave a little time or stress from their grocery shopping.

Quick Stop Shopping

I had my starter grocery lists for shopping for spares.  I had the menus and grocery items from the dinner flash cards.  I would roughly plan out meals far enough in advance to fill up the rest of a whole sheet of the little spiral notebook I keep on the edge of my kitchen counter to list the spares.  The list was usually two weeks worth of groceries and a week or so away from needing any of them.

I kept the full list in the car with me at all times. Any time in my crazy running I had 10 minutes and happened to be near a grocery store, I would make a quick stop. Before I went in, I scanned my list from top to bottom and tried to identify and mark items in the same aisle or section of the particular grocery store with a little dot in front of the item.  I would run in and hit that one section of the store as quickly as possible then check out. I marked items off my list as they were scanned.

I would only get the melty quick perishables when I was passing the store on the way home. But I kept a six pack cooler in the car for things that could make it just a bit longer.

If I had one of the teenage carpools with me and passed a store, I would stop, assign items to each person and send everyone scattering across the store to their own little section for two or three items each. (They were rewarded by a cold drink from the cooler at checkout.)

The chance to take a quick walk was a good break in the sitting pattern for me and the little guy. I was also able to keep up with all of the chauffeuring without anyone waiting. But there were many benefits I wasn’t expecting that keep me shopping this way even though I am no longer running everyone around all of the time.

• It is much easier to carry in and put away one or two bags of groceries than it is for ten.
• I discovered I did not mind the quick stops nearly as much as the long trip.
• Little Man seemed to like them much better, too. When you hit only one aisle, they just do not have time to be bored and if they are already fussy, you are out of there before it gets really out of hand.
• I learned that each grocery store was different in their best offerings. One had the best meats, one the nicest selection of fruits and veggies, one the best store brand comparable products in the canned section, etc.. I would never have taken the time to travel across town to some of the other stores before to find out and I would still not shop at them if they were not already on my way to somewhere else.
• I also started including bulk shopping from two sources I frequently passed meaning I could go longer between purchases of some items. I would not shop them before because they were across town, I was used to getting all of my groceries at once and I did not have the room to store all of our groceries in bulk.
• When I was getting close to needing the most perishable items but had not had a chance to get them, Hubby minded stopping for me less since they were all in the same section of the store.
• We started going to the local farmers’ market. Before it just seemed easier to buy off the shelf during my normal stop instead of making a special trip. (Besides, I had been doing my regular shopping on Wednesday afternoon and Saturday mornings. The exact days the farmers’ market was open. They did not have the meats and things I needed, but the regular grocery store had the fruits and veggies. The regular grocery just seemed more convenient.)
• I started looking for and using other specialized stores. There is an Amish store, a natural store and a restaurant supply I still frequently shop. Stopping in once whenever I pass one, gives me an idea of what they have available. We are opening our culinary options wider than by stopping just at the big chains.

But the biggest differences were in our food waste and the adjustment in our overall grocery bill. I thought I had been doing really well on both before. We were now buying the perishables off the list last, so they stayed fresh just that little bit longer. By going in with such focus, I did not have time to impulse shop or explore the shelves for interesting things to figure out how to try.  There were less things to catch the kids eyes, too. You just do not realize how quickly an item here or there will add to the budget over time. I was really shocked when I realized just how much we saved.

Not Quite Quick Stop Shopping

Even if you do not try the quick stop shopping all at once, there are several individual things you could do to make your shopping a bit easier. If I list the process in individual pieces, you can pick and choose a few things to try or build up to quick stop shopping in smaller steps.

• Shop for spares.
• Plan your menus and have a grocery list ahead of when you need it.
• Carry your grocery list with you so you could get a few items on your way to or from other places when it is convenient. (Coupons, too if you use them.)
• Carry a little cooler in the car to extend the amount of time before you have to be home so you can fit in another errand when you need, too.
• Divide and conquer when possible by sending the family (or carpool) to their own section of the store.
• Buy and carry fewer items at a time to make the hauling and chore of putting everything away a bit easier
• Keep the trip as short and fast as possible.
• If you have a fussy child, instead of enduring it through the whole store, buy what you already have and make another trip on a better day.
• Have your list sectioned by aisle.
• Find out where the bests are and shop for those items at those stores instead of doing a whole spree.
• Buy often used items that can be stored long term in bulk when possible.
• Ask your husband, driving teenager, or other family to get pick up certain things on a set day of the week.
• Look for a local farmers’ market to buy the freshest produce while supporting local individuals.
• Look for and check out other specialized shops you would not normally notice.
• Try to reduce your food waste where you can.
• Really watch your impulse buys.

And if you have any tips to share with me, I would love to try them!

image credit: top image and feature/teaser thumbnail: Metro Grocery III by appaloosa