I have been blown away with all of the positive feedback that I’ve received about my once-a-month grocery shopping experience! Thank you to everyone who has commented, sent me messages, or talked to me in person about it! It ‘s been especially encouraging to hear that I’ve even inspired a few people to try grocery shopping only one time a month as well. I’m still working on improving my “grocery shopping technique” (wow, that's nerdy ... ), but I’d be happy to help with anyone who has questions! I will answer them as best as I know how.
For the month of August, I’ve included 6(!) new recipes that I’ve never cooked before, and my total grocery budget was still half of what we had been previously budgeting. It's so nice to know that there’s a little bit more wiggle room in the monthly budget because I’m not using up so much money every month on food .
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These are some things I’ve enjoyed so far about grocery shopping only once a month:
I only have to go to the grocery store ONE TIME!
Granted, I may go back to the store halfway through the month for some produce and perhaps something I have forgotten for a recipe, but other than that, I only have to do it one time! When Seth was still a little baby, I felt like I was at the grocery store every other day because I would A. keep running out of food for him or B. Because I would forget something that I needed because I wasn't planning ahead. Lessons have been learned, and I'm so glad that the people at my supermarket aren't seeing me 3-4 times a week anymore.
We haven’t gone hungry once yet!
It’s amazing to me how, when you just set aside the time to plan, you are, and feel, so much more prepared for this grocery shopping operation. Our leftovers get eaten up much more often, and we have very little food waste (if there is, it’s me overlooking something in the fridge). It's a satisfying feeling to visibly see all the hard work paying off as your fridge and freezer become more bare.
Well, what if you miss a day?
That’s okay! Just shuffle your meals around. I’ve put some “Leftover” days on the calendar on purpose, which allows me to have some buffer room. Made too much food one night (because you didn't read the whole recipe beforehand and overlooked the tiny print that says it makes 8 servings. Not that I've personally done this or anything ... )? Either eat it for lunch the next day, have it for dinner two nights in a row, or freeze extras for later on. Or perhaps you don’t feel like eating lasagna tonight, but you think you probably will tomorrow? Switch it up, then! This isn’t a legalistic calendar regime.
My day/week/life feels so much more organized.
This is most likely my favorite reason that I'm doing things this way. I’m not stressing out at 5 PM trying to think of something to cook for dinner. And, even if I end up having a busy day, I will just look at my calendar in the morning and see if I need to defrost any meat from the freezer, and most of the meal is taken care just like that!
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When I first started preparing and planning this way last month, I was a bit skeptical about whether it would work or not, but I thought I’d give it a one try. I can definitely say that I will keep doing things this way indefinitely because I actually am starting to have fun with it- getting everything all ready and prepared. I’m thinking maybe I’ll make a 3 or 4 month calendar and do a rotation, so I wouldn’t have to think up 12 months of meals, it’d just be rotated each trimester or every quarter.
Let me know what you guys think! I’d love some feedback on this. Do you want me to keep posting updates like this? Is it helpful if I post my whole month of meals on social media for you all to see? Do you have any ideas of something that could possibly be helpful in the future? Thanks guys!