Daily or Weekly Shopping?

[ambra]

My SIL swears that since she switched to Daily shopping she saves loads of money and wastes less. Does anyone agree?

I cannot for the life of me fathom going to the supermarket every day as it would turn an otherwise fun event into a chore. I think it might be different if I were a retiree and had plenty of free time, but alas, I am not and I do not. I also think it would be fun to plan out my meals according to freshness and cravings, but still, time is an issue. I have a toddler and I work at home. I need to have a few reserves in the fridge/freezer. I also like to take advantage of sales as well as stock up on heavy things like water and detergents when my son is not with me!

I don't really have a problem with waste as I take extra care, but I would like to save. I also might have some extra time since my son will be going to school in September. And finally, I've also recently moved to a place with a smaller freezer and fridge and am wondering if I should re-visit my SILs theory....

What do you do?

[Anna N]

In one of my wildest fantasies I live minutes from a market and I pop out each day to purchase my fresh food. But the reality is that it takes a lot more time than I imagine to actually shop including time to choose, time to checkout, time to get back and forth and I would have to commit a lot of time to daily shopping. I am retired but you'd be surprised how little time is free! Further, unless you are really, really disciplined, unlike me, you could find yourself making far too many impulse purchases and spending a lot more than if you shop once or twice a week. I would love to see some real "proof" that your SIL really saves money! Just my 2 cents.

[ambra]

Anna, I didn't really believe her either. I feel like it would increase my spending. In fact, I worry about the impulse purchases as well!!!

[Chris Amirault]

I share these fantasies and do not live them. Shopping daily would slice 20-30 minutes away from time with my family each day, and I much prefer time with my wife and daughters to time in shopping lines.

However, I look forward to shopping daily in my empty-nest retirement, spent in a small French village with the best meat, fish, and produce available daily in small markets a few blocks from my well-appointed kitchen. Did I mention the vast funds provided to a Swiss bank account by an auntie I didn't know I had? Bon appetit!

[nikkib]

I work in the service industry so may only get to eating at home sporadically so a big weekly shop is not necessary for me - i buy small amounts of things in order to avoid waste (2 eggs rather than 1/ dzn, a couple of carrots rather than a bag etc) I tend plan out any meal i want to cook in advance and then shop for that. Certainly i make the odd impulse by but i feel this is cancleed out by the lack of waste a big shop would cause

[Mjx]

I shop pretty much every day, because my plans to plan ahead never seem to happen. For the most part, I still end up going to the local supermarket (early in the morning, usually, when there's no one there apart from a scattering of octogenarians), because I bake all our bread, and the local butcher charges prices that suggest that he is funneling substantial funds into a Swiss bank account he does have.

Anna, I didn't really believe her either. I feel like it would increase my spending. In fact, I worry about the impulse purchases as well!!!

I think I actually spend more when I buy ahead, since I'm spending so much money and getting so much stuff already, getting a few impulse purchases doesn't seem as spendy. When I'm shopping for that day, I stick to the list.

[DeliciouslyLekker]

I live within a minute walk from a very good (but very expensive) butcher, 2 minutes from 2 supermarkets (and 10 minutes walk to 4 others)and 15 minutes walk to the market so I do try to shop almost everyday. It's not so much because I want the freshest things or anything like that- it's mostly because I never quite know what I feel like having that day and because shopping once a week means we throw a lot of things out. Things happen or we don't feel like eating what we'd planned and it ends in the bin. Spoilt, huh...

[Jenni]

I am lucky enough at the moment to be able to easily buy fresh fruit and veg every day as I need it. I can walk for just 5 minutes and get to a market and select whatever looks good or draws my fancy. If the veg there doesn't look so good, another market is not far away and vendors with carts make their way around the streets too so sometimes the best pick of the day comes to me!

If I leave my house and go in the opposite direction, it's just 2 minutes walk to a well stocked but tiny store that sells staples like rice, dal, flour, spices, ghee, oil, drinks, milk, butter, etc. So that's easy too. And it's maybe a 3 minute walk to a bakery that sells some of the less common items like packaged fruit juice, if I should want it, and also ice cream.

I'm very fortunate right now for these places to be so conveniently located and to have my schedule be such that it is easy for me to shop everyday. Having said this, daily shopping is not at all uncommon here. People do not necessarily have a fridge and electricity is tempermental anyway so the fridge may not always be so useful. In addition, people don't always have a lot of space for storage, and on top of that shopping is an enjoyable part of the daily routine - it's a chance to chat, gossip, haggle playfully and indulge in selecting the finest produce of the day. In addition, most shops are open very late so it is easy enough for even those who work full time.

[Chris Amirault]

Can everyone share where they live, at least in general characteristics? I think that'd say a lot.

I now live in the NE US suburbs (Coventry RI), and save for today and Saturday (farmers market days), most of my shopping involves stores like Whole Foods, a megagrocer, and a set of Khmer, Indian, Central American, Japanese, Mexican, and West African stores. With my schedule, it seems nearly impossible to figure out how I could anything daily except hit Whole Foods.

[ambra]

Good point Chris!

I live in Tuscany, Italy.

I can technically do the "dolce vita" shopping if I wanted to you know, take out a second, and maybe even a third mortgage, as Chris A. pointed out, however, it's just not my reality. And frankly, my neighborhood supermarkets (esselunga, coop) have extremely high quality ingredients which I am sure my fellow Italian expats could attest to. (Or maybe it's just like that in tuscany?) They also do a really good job at providing shoppers with "kilometro zero" that is, local, produce. (Italy in general is very "aware" of where their food comes from.) Don't get me wrong, our tomatoes and our oranges come from Sicily, and our grapes from Puglia, Meat from Spain or France, but we get still get a lot of local stuff. I do however buy my bread at the bakery everyday and for special meals we'll treat ourselves by going out to the farm and buying meat straight from those that raised the animal. I also very often buy produce from the saturday morning weekly market, but I don't wait for it to do my weekly shopping if that makes any sense. But I'll walk through weekly to see what's special that week. for example, it was those long skinny green peppers that you fry in oil and serve on bread whose name is escaping me and peaches that you could smell a mile away this week.

In any case, my nearest market is about a mile away. I should be able to do the daily thing. I just have a total block about it.

[Darienne]

We shop haphazardly to some extent. We live far out into the country from a large town in East Central Ontario. The town is pretty provincial (don't say I said so)so there is a basic limitation to what we can buy. Just recently we have been able to get fresh poblanos for the first time ever.

So we shop when we need to go to town which is usually twice a week because it's the center of forty years of our lives now...dentists, doctors, hardware, computers, lumber, library, etc. When I am out of something at home...I make do/substitute/make something else.

On the other hand, we spend time when we can in a small Utah town which is two hours from everywhere. We can live below a sandstone cliff on the wild edge of town and it's still just 5 minutes to the store if I decide to make something for which I need something (assuming I can get it in the first place.) It's a very strange and wonderful time for me living in the red rocks and having a grocery store at hand. We pretty much shop daily then.

[Chris Amirault]

It's funny what counts as "local": here in RI, stuff from 200-300 miles away in Maine is considered local, but you consider Sicily non-local.

I can technically do the "dolce vita" shopping if I wanted to you know, take out a second, and maybe even a third mortgage, as Chris A. pointed out, however, it's just not my reality.

You should meet my rich uncle. For that matter, so should I.

[Peter the eater]

Daily shopping . . . saves loads of money and wastes less. Does anyone agree?

It can if you're not driving a car. To really save money take the right amount of cash and no credit card.

[Katie Meadow]

My preferred places to shop in the East Bay are a 20 minute drive from home. We now have one car for the two of us and try to be as efficient as possible. The Berkeley Bowl and the Berkeley Farmers' market are within blocks of each other, so we do that combined shopping once a week. In summer I admit we go to a second farmers' market a different day; the quantity of tomatoes, corn and fresh fruit we consume wouldn't last a week. Besides, ripe tomatoes and peaches and avocados can't sit around for more than a few days before they melt into the counter.

I infill as needed for fish or meats, or a change of plans. I'm kind of neurotic about keeping meat in the fridge for any length of time. And there are a couple of specialty shops I go to once a week on average for my cheeses and my ethnic supplies. But it would drive me nuts to shop every day. I've gotten pretty good at long-term menu planning, and even like the challenge of a practically empty fridge for "kitchen sink" night and using up weird left-overs.

[Jenni]

I am currently living in Allahabad, North India, if that clarifies any of the details in my previous post

[Chris Amirault]

I am currently living in Allahabad, North India, if that clarifies any of the details in my previous post

It does -- andI just googled Allahabad to see you on a map.

[OliverB]

I don't mind shopping, but try to not hit the supermarket more than two or three times a week. I'm in the Far East Bay (east of SF). If I lived in a way where I'd walk past a market on my way home from work I'd shop every day I think. As it is, I shop on most Sundays at our local farmers market, then either at Target (as I park in there for the market) or at Safeway for other things. I get a lot of meat directly from farmers now, but also buy at Safeway and sometimes at Whole Food, though rarely at their crazy prices.

Fish sometimes from the market, though I really don't like spending $16-26 per lb of fish, no matter how good or fresh. Recently I got into sardines and other such cheaper fish, tasty! I also go to Asian supermarkets for fresh fish.

We have a small safeway really close, I usually go there, or to trader joe's which is in the same komplex as my boy's karate school.

I don't really plan for dinners in advance, I cook as I go and I shop that way too, rarely do I have a shopping list with me. Maybe once I get a "smart" phone with some kind of app for shopping, I might use that. So far I gave up on writing a list, as I usually forget it at home ;-)

[nolnacs]

I fall into the weekly shopping bucket for a couple of reasons. First, the place where I do most of my shopping (Reading Terminal Market), I can only get to during the weekend due to their hours. Second, I think daily shopping would take an inordinate amount of time compared to weekly shopping. I plan out the menu ahead of time and make a list. That makes going grocery shopping much faster. Third, I already don't get home from work until 6:30-7:00 PM. I can't imagine taking another 15-30 minutes to go to a store to pick up ingredients on a regular basis.

Oh, and I live in center city Philadelphia. There is a crappy Superfresh about .25 miles from my apartment but I only buy things there when I don't have the opportunity to go someplace else. It's expensive and lower quality.

[Country]

Haphazard. Here in midcoast Maine (North Waldoboro) it's six miles to the local chain grocery (Hannaford), which isn't all that great - and seventeen miles to Damariscotta to a better Hannaford, a good local grocery, and a coop.

I'm trying to cut down on driving and it's my hope (wishful thinking?) that someday soon I'll only leave the house to go shopping every two weeks. (My shop is across the road so I don't have to drive to work.)

[Country]

I am currently living in Allahabad, North India, if that clarifies any of the details in my previous post

It does -- andI just googled Allahabad to see you on a map.

Hmm. Close to Nepal and a 17 hour drive to visit the DL in Dharamsala.

[FrogPrincesse]

I live in San Diego, CA.

With my current system, I pick-up my weekly CSA bag on Thursdays which is my main source for produce. Then I do a weekly trip to Trader Joe's for pantry staples and dairy (and some additional produce) - I am usually in and out in less than 30 min because I know exactly what I need. I typically buy meat and fish about every other day at local shops on my way home (which adds about 20 min to my drive home). On occasions, I do a quick trip to Bristol Farms or Whole Foods if I need a bunch of specialized items and have limited time. Otherwise I try to look for these special ingredients on weekends when I have more time and can combine with other errands.

I also go to the farmers' market about every other weekend.

[JimS]

I'm in a rural area and don't like to drive more than I need to. Grocery shopping is an every other week event most of the year. During the winter, I try to plan things to go at least three weeks, sometimes a whole month.

[Chris Amirault]

So for you it's "weekly or monthly?" not "daily or weekly?"

[BeeZee]

I live in NJ (call it mid-atlantic/northeast US)...recently changed jobs, going from one that was totally working from home/on the road to back into an office almost every day (45 min commute each way). When I was driving around for work, I used to pick things up in my travels (I knew where all the Trader Joe's or Whole Foods or Wegmans were on my usual route). I absolutely spent more buying that way vs. the once a week torture of a regular food shopping with the pre-shopping inventory and list-making.

[ambra]

It's funny what counts as "local": here in RI, stuff from 200-300 miles away in Maine is considered local, but you consider Sicily non-local.

I can technically do the "dolce vita" shopping if I wanted to you know, take out a second, and maybe even a third mortgage, as Chris A. pointed out, however, it's just not my reality.

You should meet my rich uncle. For that matter, so should I.

Love to meet the rich uncle! HAHA!

RE: local, yes, "Made in Italy" is great, but made by, say, your neighbor, even better. heehee

Edited August 17, 2011 by ambra (log)