September 2009 Weddings
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Grocery Shopping Poll
I was making out my grocery list last night and CB commented that I put too much thought/effort into it, and that we spend a lot. I obviously don't agree but am curious as to what your shopping habits are. So...
Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? (I understand this is going to be different for the moms vs. non-moms and for the area of the country each of us live in, but I'm still curious)
Do you use coupons?
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it?
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go?
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list.
Re: Grocery Shopping Poll
Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? Probably about $150 to $175
Do you use coupons? Yes
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. I usually stop at one of the larger stores on my way home from work because the prices are better and there are more options. There is only one grocery store in the town I live in and they jack up the prices.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? I make a list of the important stuff so I don't forget it and I wing the rest. I'm trying to get better about making full lists though.
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? I'll normally have about 3 meals on my mind and the rest I just choose as I'm shopping. I'm working on planning this out more as well.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. Milk, Cheese and Orange Juice. I buy these every.single.time. I go through about 2 gallons of OJ a week and H goes through a gallon of milk by himself in a week.
Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? this is a wild guess, but around $400, i think.
Do you use coupons? not that much, i more shop based on what's on special that week. there aren't often coupons for what we buy.
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. 2- the Big Y near us and the one up in NH when clint goes up for work. the one in NH has a bulk section and more of a selection of certain things i use, like flours, nuts, etc. and is often cheaper. we also get groceries at BJs but we only go there every other month at the most.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? I do both, but Clint has to have a list.
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? kind of both. sometimes i'll menu plan based on what's on special but mostly we buy a bunch of different things and cook based on our mood. we stock up on meat when it's on sale and then thaw it out when we feel like having chicken, etc.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. milk (for both of us), eggs (for me), deli turkey (for Clint)Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? Truthfully, I couldnt even wager a guess. I dont pay the bills or do our budget so I really dont know.
Do you use coupons? Yes
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. Three. Costco for bulk items, the local grocery store for general items, and a different store for meats (they always have better prices). In the summer I also get produce from the farmers' market.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? I make a list of things we need and I also go through coupons and see if stuff is expiring. Andy goes up and down each aisle and inspects every sale item and compares it to our coupon envelope. If its on sale and he has a coupon, he buys it. Regardless of whether we need it or not. I find this HIGHLY annoying
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? Kind of half and half. We always have deer meat so typically I buy things to make various meals with it and then pick up some other stuff. I really want to menu plan more.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. Milk, cheese, pasta. If the pasta market ever crashes, come to my house. I have a supply big enough to feed 10 people for 40 years.
Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? Yeah, not exactly sure, but probably $300-400. That is sad.
Do you use coupons? Sometimes. I have a pile of them in a pocket in my purse, but seem to only remember them AFTER I've left the store. D'oh.
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. I'll hit the Stop & Shop near work at lunch sometimes, but usually just go to the one near our apt. It's next to my gym so is really convenient. The produce can be pretty dicey there tho. I like the Shaw's (other big MA chain) in my dad's town but the one near us has the saddest produce. It's almost laughable how bad it is there. I've also been hitting BJs lately (a friend gave me her extra card) and we;ve gotten some good deals on chicken and some other stuff, but we tend to not go too crazy there. I will also get some house stuff at Target, but have been finding their prices climbing there and find it's cheaper to get that stuff sometimes at the Stoppie.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? I try to make a list, but considering we tend to buy the same things over and over, I probably don't need to anymore.
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? Make up meals as we go along. If I see something is on sale (e.g., beef), it might give me the idea to make beef stew or something, but normally, we have variations of the same things so it doesn't matter. Half the time, we don't decide what we're having for dinner until the morning and what's in the fridge.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. Diet Coke. Bananas. Yogurt.
Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? about $200- $250
Do you use coupons? not really, the coupons we get are like 'buy 6 get $1 Off!' so it's not worth it..
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. well there are only two choices down here: food lion and Harris teeter. We usually go to food lion because matt thinks it's cheaper, but HT has things FL doesn't carry, so I go there for specifics.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? I try to make a list, but we rarely look at it and end up winging it.
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? I also try to do this. I'll have a few in my mind before we go, and as I see what's on sale, I'll plan out meals while I'm there. Matt pretty much eats like a teenager, so we do a lot of chicken patties, pizza, hamburger helper, chili, grilled cheese. So those are easy meals. Once work starts we rarely eat together so we have a lot of easy one person foods.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. I'm gonna say a shells and cheese for lazy nights, bananas, and deli meats for sandwichesDo you use coupons? -- I ALWAYS use my Similac checks. And I do clip coupons and try to use them wherever I can, but I don't change what I'm buying based on what coupons I have.
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. -- One. Just the Walmart Supercenter. It's the cheapest and they have the best selection. But, sometimes I buy meat from the local butcher.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? -- When it's my week to shop, I make a list. When it's Guy's week to shop, he wings it.
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? -- I honestly just kind of wing it. I need to start meal planning.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. -- 2 gallons of milk (my husband drinks a TON), wheat bread, bottled water.
Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? I would estimate we spend about $500 at the grocery store, but that includes non grocery items like shampoo, ziploc bags, paper towel, etc.
Do you use coupons? Sometimes...if I have them. I don't actively look for them which is something I'd like to get better at doing.
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. Mostly just one - Wegman's. We sometimes go to Whole Food's for meat and produce if we're not satisfied with Wegman's selection. We go to Costco for paper products, laundry detergent, etc.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? List! Always!
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? We do both, but mostly I try to plan!
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. Milk, chicken, cereal.
<a href="http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/adia83/?action=view
Do you use coupons? ~ Not usually. Every once in a while we use coupons at BJs but for the most part I just focus on the meats/poultries that are on sale and call it a day.
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. ~ 3..well, 2 every week and 1 maybe once a month. There's a great produce place up the street from us where we get all our fruits & veggies, then we go to Shaws for the grocery items and BJ's for bulk items
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? ~ List. I use PlanToEat.com and we menu plan and then make our grocery list. Otherwise we forget things we actually need and buy a lot of crap we don't need at all. I think since we've started menu planning we've definitely saved money and cut down on random trips to the grocery store. Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? ~ Menu plan. We pick 5 meals and then decide which one to make when we get home from work. We also stock up on chicken/meat when there's a sale, so we usually have whatever we need in the freezer.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. ~ Milk, spinach, cucumbers (also peppers, carrots, celery, bread, deli turkey)
Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries?
$125/month
Do you use coupons?
yes
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one.
lots. i'm a coupon shopper, so it depends on the best deal/worth the effort. i'm surrounded by 3 of the major grocery stores within 5 minutes of me, so it's not too bad. i also need to go to the asian grocery stores because some of the produce isn't available at major chains.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it?
half/half. when i'm buying staples with coupons, etc..there's obv a list. for everything else, wing it.
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go?
make up meals
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list.
asian grocery stores - bok choy, gailan, seafood (usually shrimp, but varies)
major "american" chains - eggs, pasta, oj
ETA: i also get organic farm boxes delivered every other week with fresh/local produce.
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Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries?
It varies depending on the week, so I'll just do it by weekly. On weeks we're cooking at home more, probably $100/week. If we're not, then probably $35/week.
ETA: This is both food and non-food. If we're buying meat then the amount for that week is pretty high. I think in general, the monthly average is about $450.
Do you use coupons?
Nope
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one.
Usually Harris Teeter since that's the closest but lately I've been pushing to go to Wegman's since they offer a better variety of produce and,have a larger selection overall. Rarely, we'll go to an Asian or International grocery store to stock up on Asian specific things.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it?
Wing it unless I need something for a recipe.
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go?
Usually menu plan since we don't go to the store unless we have an idea of what we want to eat for the week. Our menu plans aren't detailed with a breakdown of what dish we'll eat for what day, but more of a general "this is what we want to have at some point this week."
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list.
Soda (Patrick loves this), fruit (varies by season, but right now I'm on an orange kick), and lettuce/spring greens.
Do you use coupons? Yes- there are 3 categories of coupons- store, manufacturer and then the "extras" like the ones that come with the receipts. I use them all.
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. A ton. We have 3 grocery chains, plus Costco, Target, Walmart, etc. We go through each ad and find the best deal and sort our meal planned ingredients list according to where it will be cheapest.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? Meal plan, search the fridge/ cabinets for elements, then make list.
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? We meal plan.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. Organic apples, milk, cheddar cheese
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Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? We spend about $250-$400 a month depending on if we do a BJ's trip too. That's where we get all of our paper products and jarred stuff.
Do you use coupons? At BJ's I do.
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. Mainly just Wegmans and BJ's. Sometimes I get stuff from Walmart or Target but mainly grocery shopping is done at Wegs. I trust their produce and meat more than the other places.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? I make a list
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? I try to. For the most part I'm successful at the plan but lately there hasn't been one lol.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. OJ, Milk, Cereal:Blog:
Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? For me and Danny, about $300. I think that's a lot for our area, but we buy a bunch of fresh meats, fruits, and veggies.
Do you use coupons? No. Nowhere around here doubles and it's usually cheaper to just buy one of what we need than the 2 or 3 to get the 50cents off.
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. Two. We go to our locally owned market and also to Wal-Mart. We get more of our processed stuff (frozen, cereal, organic milk) at Wal-Mart, but I refuse to buy my fresh stuff (deli meat, real meat, fruits, veggies) at Wal-Mart. We pay more for them at the local market, but the food from the local market seems to last longer than the Wally World stuff. I've purchased apples from Wal-Mart that have browned/bruised within 3 days, whereas the apples from the market last at least a month.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? Depends. If our cupboards are bare, we make a list, but if we need just a few things or to make a few meals, we wing it.
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? We should probably start menu planning, but we usually just make up meals as we go. We check to local ads for sales and say, "hmmm, we can do this, that, and the other thing for dinner with these items," but when we get to the store, we usually change our minds.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. Milk, apples, ground beef.
Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? We probably spend $350 - $400 a month on groceries... we buy all of our meat at the butcher and spend probably $60 or more per visit on fresh produce.
Do you use coupons? When I have them... usually on HBA's.
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. Our normal shopping day has 3 stops - Walmart for paper products and shampoos, soaps, cleaning products, etc. The butcher for pork chops, chicken, sausage, ham, ground beef, etc... the only thing we don't buy there is fish. And Weis Markets (it's a chain of groceries stores through PA, NY, etc..) for the rest.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? We make a list to replace what we need or what we know we want for the next 2 weeks.... but it'll just say, "Fruit" instead of "bananas, apples, grapefruit, plums..."
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? We will plan maybe one or two meals every couple weeks - like taco night or something. But we just make sure to always have enough meat on hand, whole grains (a lot of couscous, quinoa, rice) and vegetables, plus a bunch of little recipe extras (hoisin sauce, capers,etc) and make it up as we go along.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. Milk, couscous, bread
Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? we budget around $200/month specifically for food, but occassionally we go over as needed. Sami's items are not even considered in this amount.
Do you use coupons? I use them if I have them, but I don't go out of my way to clip them.
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. We go to Stop & Shop for our basic everyday food items, we go to BJs for bulk non-perishables and meats, and I go to Target for our toiletries and household items
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? It depends. We usually have a running list of things we depserately need in between shopping trips, but other than that, we don't make a list prior to food shopping
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go? Buy things and make meals up as we go, though I wish I could plan better...
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list. Milk. Bagels. Apples.
updated 10.03.12
Wow, I am jealous of all of you that spend less than $200 per month!
Approximately how much do you spend per month on groceries? $300 - $350. This includes pet food and supplies and cleaning/paper products.
Do you use coupons? Yes. I probably use $10 worth of coupons per week.
How many stores do you normally go to? Feel free to discuss why you go to each one. I go to one or two. I usually hit Stop and Shop because it is really close to my house and I like their health food and produce section. I usually go to Walmart for paper supplies, cereal, etc. There is a cheap grocery store about 20 minutes from me (Marketbasket) I hit when I am in the area.
Do you make a list or just sort of wing it? A list, but I don't stick to it 100%.
Do you menu plan or just buy things and make up meals as you go?
I menu plan.
Name 3 things you always buy/are on your list.
Skim milk, soy milk, chobani yogurt.