Saving time
Recently I started my side job at a supermarket and I noticed the same customers coming in everyday to do their daily grocery shopping. Now there's nothing wrong with that if you have unlimited time and you simply enjoy going to the supermarkets everyday, but most of us don't have that luxury.
Especially now, since most supermarkets only allow a maximum number of customers inside at the same time. So there's a high chance of you waiting outside in the queue, which is totally fine if the sun is out :-)
Anyhow a few weeks ago I started the experiment of planning what ingredients I needed for the whole week, so I could buy everything in one go on a single day. I invested more time initially, since I needed to plan ahead what food I would eat and the actual grocery shopping takes a bit longer. After doing this for a month the final verdict is in and I must say: I love it!
Benefits
I noticed the following benefits while doing weekly groceries:
- I felt less stress of choosing what to eat, normally I wouldn't plan a head and just go to the supermarket and decide there what to eat.
- I didn't had the urge anymore to run by the chocolate or chips department and dump lots of sweets and savory snacks in my car.
- It saved me money! I'm lucky to have 3 different supermarkets nearby and a local farmers market so I can check weekly discounts and shop accordingly.
- In the end it saved me so much time; I knew what to cook when I was coming home from work.
Downsides
- Fresh ingredient with a short expiry date would go bad if I didn't consume them first. Which is a double waste of money and food. :-(
- Doing grocery shopping requires a lot of shopping bags and you need to carry that all the way home especially if you don't own a car (I'm lucky to have supermarkets nearby, a 5 minute bike ride).
- You need plenty of freezer, fridge and cupboard space.
In my opinion the improvements outweigh the negative points by a mile, but some minor adjustments can fix most downsides. You can opt in for doing groceries online and deliver it to your house (in the Netherlands all major supermarkets offer these services for a small fee).
To fix the expiry date problem you can do grocery shopping twice a week or make sure you plan meals according to expiry dates. Also most food that is expired is still OK to eat. Just make sure to smell it beforehand and if it still smells good there's a high chance you can eat it.
Let me know if you have ever tried doing weekly grocery shopping and how did you experience it. Or if you don't feel like doing it, let me know why! I'd love to hear everyone's view on this.