Improve Your Grocery Shopping Trips

Grocery shopping can be a chore. For some people, there are not many options for stores selling food close by. For others, there are almost too many to choose. Fast food and sit-down restaurants create more challenges to wanting to shop for groceries on a regular basis. It’s easier to let someone else cook for you when you have little time outside of work.

Whether you have a great deal of skill in the kitchen or only know how to use the microwave, it can be a challenge to prepare healthy food at home that both saves time and money. From experience and through education, I have learned that there is a constant battle between convenience, healthfulness, and cost when it comes to food. Usually you can achieve two of these things but there will be a sacrifice to the third. Strategic grocery shopping can help balance the scales, so to speak, so you don’t have to waste too much time and/or money to eat a healthy, well balanced diet.

Time is something that we don’t usually have a lot of. This can make it hard to want to prepare meals at home because of the time it takes to get to the store, shop, get home, and prepare the meal. This doesn’t even include the time it takes to decide what to eat! Here are some tips and strategies to improve your grocery store trips and hopefully save you some of that time or make the experience more enjoyable. Some of them you may already do, others you may wish to learn more about. This article is the first of a multi-part series where we will go into more detail on each of the outlined tips.

A mistake that I made for a long time was trying to put too much variety in my menus. It’s great to have something different for each meal if you have the time for it, but it is also okay to eat the same thing two or three days in a row. If you can use the same ingredients for multiple days, you can usually save some money by buying in larger quantities, and you can save time by preparing that ingredient all at once.

Having a list of the items that you need ready before you go shopping can reduce impulse purchases and give you a better understanding of what your grocery bill should look like. You may even be able to find coupons or specials on the items that you need! (Look out for a future article on shopping for discounts)

Learn how to pick out and store fresh food.

There is nothing worse than purchasing food at the store and overnight it looks like a sixth-grade science experiment. Fresh food may have to travel long distances to get to the grocery store before you purchase it. This can mean that it has been days or weeks from the time it was harvested before it enters your refrigerator! There are resources available that can help you to be a better produce shopper, but it will take a little time to learn this new skill. Once you learn it, though, it will make the grocery store less overwhelming and save you time going back to the store a second time. Learning how to store fruits and vegetables after you purchase them can save you space in your refrigerator and help to make sure that it’s the best quality when you are ready to eat it. (Look out for my articles on purchasing produce and storing produce for quality and safety)

Shop the perimeter.

You may or may not have heard this phrase before, but it can be a beneficial strategy. Fruits, vegetables, fresh meat, dairy, and frozen food items are usually arranged along the outside wall of the store. Pre-packaged items and processed foods are typically in the center of the store. If you can avoid the isles with the high-priced snacks and pre-made food items, you can save yourself some money by avoiding impulse buys, and save yourself the debate over whether you need that box of cheese crackers or not. If cheese crackers are on your meal plan, then that’s another story. Otherwise, avoiding the temptation is more important. Sometimes, the fresh options are limited or not-to-be trusted in the store where you shop. You can still eat a healthy diet, but it does take some more time to figure out which items to purchase. (Look out for my articles on various food prep and shopping strategies to save you time and make healthful meals)

Research your options.

You may only have convenient access to one grocery store, or five, or none. There was a time when this was the only way to get fresh food at a reasonable price. Now, there are other options available, such as farm stands, farmers markets, produce boxes, and more. Even convenience stores have stepped up their game in some areas. I know it seems strange to get your apples and zucchini from the gas station, but if they are coming from local suppliers and pass the fresh test, then why not? The point is, grocery stores are not the only players in the game anymore, so knowing your options and which ones are best for your needs can be a time and money saver in the long run. (Look out for my article on store options)

These are just some of the ways that you can be more confident in your grocery shopping. The amount of fresh versus processed food items and whole foods versus pre-prepared items you need to purchase can depend on many factors. Usually the best strategy to save both time and money is to find a good mix between the food that you can prepare from scratch and what is best to purchase already made. Learning how to menu plan and strategize meal preparation may seem like hard tasks, but with practice and some training, they get both easier and more enjoyable over time.

Eat well, shop well,
Brian