Kitchen

[Mom2Dogs]

@rissajaneen   I do not have master list but I do have a running list on my fridge.  As I see I am getting low or used the last of something, it goes on the list.  I don't have a pantry for a lot of extras, but I did put some shelves in a closet that helps keep extras on hand.  My husband knows that if he eats up something he better put it on the list --if I am not aware that he finished off something I will not know to buy it.

The only stores in my town are a Walmart and a home town grocery.  The hometown grocery is quite a bit more expensive than Walmart, but I do shop there for meat...and other things I cannot get at Walmart.

[RedTop]

Yes, I have master lists for my pantry, main fridge and the freezer.   

I live rural and try to stay out of the grocery store as much as possible.  Before covid, my normal way of shopping was typically one big shopping trip a month to my local IGA from April thru September.  October thru December, I increased the amount of staples and household essentials on hand for my family of four, with the goal to avoid the cart shopping trips to the grocery store from the week before Christmas thru the month of March (highest part of flu season in WV).  

When Covid hit, we were in good shape and I continue my strange ways of shopping, which now includes 2 deliveries a month of pantry staples from Sams Club.  I keep my pantry shelves full, but also have cases of food stacked on the pantry floor for restocking as needed.  As soon as a case from the floor goes on the shelf, I reorder.  I keep 10 lbs of flour and cornmeal in the freezer at all times.

We prefer that the majority of our meals come from our kitchen; no one delivers food this far out, and fast food is an occasional treat for us.   

[Meowingkitty]

I don't keep a master list. I just write down what I need from week to week and on Sunday mornings I go to the store. It's just the two of us so we don't run out of much week to week. I buy my meats at Costco and the rest of the stuff at the grocery store, usually Walmart. Some weeks I don't even bother going to the store. 

[KathyM23]

All this grocey shopping sounds complicated.  No wonder this chore has been passed on to DH.  He doesn't mind how often he goes to the store.  He never makes a list and I have tried to make one for him, but it goes unused.  But the items that are our staples are always on hand so it works. 

Paper goods are bought in bulk and we have a pantry full of canned and boxed items.

He is the cook and a very good one so unless I have suggested or requested something for dinner, he decides what he is going to cook and then buys what he needs.

As there are only two of us our meals are made for two days of dinners and possibly a lunch for him.   We eat out a couple time a week so there is not alot of meal planning or cooking.  Lunch when eaten at home is usually soup or sandwich or eggs.  DH is more complicated and will often make an omelet with all kind of stuff in it or over it or a homony concoction, spicy chicken legs   He also sometimes makes baked oatmeal with brown sugar and dried fruits.  I am still asleep as our sleeping/breakfast schedules are the exact opposite.  My breakfast is cereal unless DH has made the cooked oatmeal.  For me it may be breakfast or lunch.  All these items are always on hand.  No need for master lists, etc. for shopping for our way of life.

[SloopJohnB]

@rissajaneen   Nothing fancy, but I keep a "running tab" of items I need to pick up at the grocery store.  It's just a memo pad sheet of paper that I keep on my fridge with a magnet.  No one will ever mistake me for a female Bill Gates, cause high tech I'm not!  So as I run out of an item, say eggs, Comet, foil, saltines, what have you, I update my list.  Otherwise, the minute I walk through the automatic glass doors into the store, my mind would go blank without my trusty list.  Only problem is, I have to remember to bring the list.  LOL. 📝🏪

[Another new name Sue]

Lots of systems here!  Very good!

I just keep a list on the refrigerator, but it does help if I have all the produce items listed together, meats together, etc.  Always shop with the list which I usually leave in the car and have to walk back to get it!  That's my system.

What annoys me is that for some items you have to have gone online to check the box to get the special price, otherwise when you go to the store, you pay a lot more for said item.  I find that not a nice way to treat customers.  

[ScrapHappy]

When the pandemic hit, I would stock up on a lot because you never knew when/if items would be back in the grocery store.  I really don't do as much of that now but mostly because of the cost of groceries.  I've always shopped the weekly ads and use digital coupons (sometimes paper coupons but those aren't around as much).  I always have pasta, jar sauce, peanut butter, bread in freezer, butter in freezer, I like frozen veggies in the freezer, canned veggies, bisquick, condiments, soup/broth.  But I stock up and have in my pantry usually when it's BOGO's at my local grocery store.  Do you have a Costco to go to?  Even if it's a long drive, go there and buy in bulk.  I don't really buy meat at Costco but for paper towels, toilet paper, coffee, aluminum foil....things like that, it has been great.  

[mimomof4]

I don't have a Master list. I have a standard list of items I buy every week - lunchmeat, cheese, stuff for kids school lunches, yogurt, bananas or oranges, milk, half and half. 

The remainder of my grocery shopping is done by meal planning.  I stock up on meat, canned goods and frozen vegetables when they are on sale.  I try to start my meal planning based on what is in my freezer and allow left overs.  On my grocery list I list out the meal items and what I need to purchase for those meals.  On the weeks I try to "wing" my grocery shopping the meals are a mess and I end up going back to the store.  

Items I always try to keep in stock which give me something to make a meal:

Ground Turkey

Chicken Breasts

Progresso Light soup for lunches

Frozen vegetables

Cream of Chicken or Mushroom soup

Canned tomatoes

Canned Beans - black, chick pea and Kidney (in addition to chili I use these on salads)

Rice (Brown and Rice a Roni boxes)

Pasta - any shape

Pasta Sauce

Cheese (cheddar and mozzarella)

Sour Cream

Peppers and Carrots (less expensive and versatile vegetables)

[Ainhisg]

I do a weekly menu plan.  Then I check to see what I have and what I don't.  I get most of my grocery items at Wal-Mart, so I add what I need to my online cart.  As we get close to running out of staples, I add them to my cart.  If I need specialty produce that I don't trust the Wal-Mart pickers to pick out or a special cut of meat (I buy the majority of my meat at a locally owned grocery store), I write those on a post-it and put it on the fridge.  My husband is trained...lol...to tell me when he uses something up or is getting low on something he uses, so that gets added to the online cart, too.  It's so easy.  Then on grocery day (Wednesday or Thursday depending on what's going on), I run to the local grocery store first and then to Wal-Mart to pick-up my groceries.

[Harpa]

I have a mental grocery list: things I replenish every week. But as soon as I run out of something I do not routinely get, I jot it down on a little sticky note.

Once inside the store when I put those items in the grocery cart, I make a little tear next to the item.

I also add to that list when I'm planning a certain dish that calls for certain ingredients.