Grocery Shopping?​

Do you plan your meals before grocery shopping?​

What does meal planning mean to you?

Do you use a list to remind you what to buy?

Hi Anne
One would think that with the grocery store, being a one-way 65-mile trip, we would be very prepared...
But I would say that most of the time, we do not plan meals before shopping.
Dinner planning generally takes place each day between 8 am and noon, just enough time to thaw something.
We do make a shopping list; sometimes it is made just before leaving the house.
Other times, we have a running list on the refrigerator.
Sometimes we forget to bring the list with us... when that happens, it is usually sitting in plain sight on the counter...
When we arrive at the grocery store, there is a 50/50 chance we will remember to bring the list inside, it fits in the car console so well...
Once we make it inside, with the list, we must remember to look at it...

So, planning? lists?  
We just must remember to create one, manage to bring it to town, carry it into the store, and remember to look at it...
Really, how it goes, we just stroll through the store, loading up what we think we want.
If we eat first before shopping, we save money, but spend the next few weeks lamenting not having any snacks...
If we are hungry, we spend extra dollars loading up the cart...

Sure would be nice to have a butler and a chef at our house, then that planning, shopping, and cooking would be their problem, and not ours... so much easier!
Oh yeah, they could do the dishes as well!  Yeah, I like that idea.
Now, if only my unknown great aunt would just leave us a castle and staff, oh, and barrels of money...

I hate grocery shopping - it involves being out in public with the risk of having to interact with people. So my other half does it.

I keep a supply of rice, lentils and dry beans in stock at all times. Himself has a mental list which generally involves oats, milk, bread, flour, cheese, whatever pasta is on special offer, cocoa (I consider this to be an essential of life), coffee (His essential in life), onions, whatever the best value meat is that he can find, free meat scraps for me to render down and use as best I can, and random treats according to what is being cleared out of whatever shop he finds himself in.

I grow whatever I can in the garden, I keep a supply of spices, then I make up a batch of rice pudding or yogurt to have with fruit for breakfast, and a big pan of rice and lentils cooked in bone broth, then we just wing it and put together whatever seems appropriate with what's available.

Sometimes our goat-keeping friend shows up on the doorstep with a litre or two of fresh goat milk because he's run out of beer money and I gladly accept it. He spends the proceeds in the café on his way home. Sometimes he gives us a fresh cheese in return for a lift to town when the boys go grocery shopping. Sometimes we scrump fruit off the neighbours or from abandoned fruit trees that we walk past - there's an awesome fig tree growing wild next to the old village water tank, I have a freezer full of fruit, ready cooked meat scraps, bits of chicken, a few pork tongues, a supply of chicken liver to make paté, and cooked beans to throw into a quick meal. Very little is planned in advance. In the winter I make soup in the slow cooker so it's ready for lunchtime. During the summer it's more likely to be thrown together last minute.

Meal planning for us is longer term - a good garden, a well stocked freezer and food cupboard, some items prepped in advance, and a willingness to experiment and make use of whatever happens to show up.

Like Thomas, we keep a shopping list. Like Thomas, sometimes it makes to the store with us.   Shopping has shifted its meaning. Our primary shopping trips are maybe 4 times a year to the Big City that is 80 miles away. Those times of the year the garden is not functioning, we probably shop about every 2 weeks spending maybe $25.00….on the 30 mile trip for milk and produce.

With the distances and gas prices I am looking more at online shopping.  That 30 mile trip (one way) mentioned above costs $25.00 for fresh produce…an extra $15.00 for gas …and another $20+ for a meal.  Within the last 30 days we made the huge mistake of sitting down in a Dennys and ordering breakfast without looking at the menu.  The tab came to just under $50.00.   It was our first trip in a couple of years to a sit down restaurant …and probably our last.

yes, sometimes. for example I just just promised some friends one of my world famous giant baked lasagnas, I know I will need a fresh tub of RBST free ricotta cheese and provolone and  and depending what the ground beef and sausage looks like and is priced at I might get some of those. And if I can find fresh eggplant for a good price I might make an eggplant Parmesan casserole to go along with it. and if the local food outlet has something extra ordinary like they occasionally do, for example ive seen in the past boxes of fresh blueberries for $1 each while the big name stores have blueberries that who knows what has been added or done to for $5 a box. seems here in Tennessee we get organic leftovers from California that are still perfectly good at our outlet stores for greatly discounted prices. that's what some lady who was in the food distribution business told me.
so yes and no, list yes, good idea and if see something yummy at very nice price, no list necessary.
oh, how I could go on a big rant about what most of the shelves in our nations grocery stores contain. but you all know that story.

I don't meal plan before shopping, but I use a list for staple items that are low in the pantry.

I start with the produce section.  See what's on sale and looks tasty.  Then meat section for the same.  That's 90% of the shopping done as we keep a diverse pantry and can adjust to what's in season.  Although we may need some extra perishables if the recipe wants cheese or something like that.

If I try to meal plan, it's almost guaranteed to be the most expencive price for those items and something will come up to make it so we cannot make or eat the dish.  Much easier for our lifestyle to buy ingredients as they are on sale as these are usually the best quality and most local.

Just as predicted. had to go pay utility bill today. before leaving town went to discount food store. sure enough they had a great deal. 5lb sacks of flour $1.99. got my friend Miss Tina 3 bags so she won't have to worry about the predicted upcoming wheat and flour shortage.

We keep a running shopping list for each of several places, that covers our basics. But, we mostly buy whole muscle meats, that John cuts to our preferences if the moment, when we get it home. For example, he will buy a pork belly, then divide it up too cute some for slicing bacon & some for cubes to go into things. But, he also leaves some uncured, too use in some of our favorite Chinese recipes. A whole sirloin will get cut into steaks, a roast, and some starting meat. A whole pork shoulder (or two) gets divided up to make a couple variations of breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, and brats. But how the meat gets divided up is dependent on what we want in the moment.

That's pretty much how we do everything - 2 bags of lemons, a container of dates, meat, fish, poultry, a couple types of blocks of cheese, canned, diced tomatoes (though I'm hoping to grow enough this year, too cut back on those), a trip to the Mennonite community for milk & chicken feed, we make our condiments, as we need them (except for a few specialty ones) and only go a few miles for fresh produce, as needed. So... I don't really know exactly how to answer this...

Oh! And, that running list is kept on my phone, so I won't run off and forget it, like I *ALWAYS* used to do.

We have a lot of markets and stores nearby (I can walk to two produce stores and the big supermarket), so my strategy is generally to see what's on sale and how I can use it. Once I get to the store I might see clear-out items and take advantage too.
I keep a very deep pantry and try to buy these good deals when they pop up, but often I have a few things to get to top off the pantry.
Using online sales flyers has made my life a lot easier-- all the local stores have a daily bulletin on WhatsApp and specific sales days (Tuesday veg, Wednesday meat) so I can choose which store I'll go to when. We also have a produce-depot type place that has a limited selection but usually the best prices, so if I don't find some sort of fruit/veg I want elsewhere I can always stop there on the way home.

Then when I see that cauliflower is cheap, I'll make something with that when I get home. Our menus really focus on what's cheap in the store or abundant in the garden (or what people give us, or what I find. Last night walking the dog I found someone had cut down a lemon tree loaded with lemons and dragged it to the curb, so I went back with my snippers and the car and loaded up a few bags. Lemons don't make a good dinner on their own, but they make cakes and syrups and other things, so that will be part of the mix.).

The different attitudes to meal planning remind of of Paul's podcast about - Eat what you Grow, not grow what you eat

Here's part of the summary

Paul talks about a video he watched of a family harvesting their food, but a comment about only growing what they eat annoyed him as he felt they don't grow all the stuff they eat.  He offers the example of a PBJ sandwich - you can't grow bread and jelly.  You can grow wheat but getting from wheat to bread is hard work.  It has to be threshed, winnowed and ground and even then you don't get bread like store bought flour; plus all the wheat has to be harvested when it's ripe, with a fairly narrow window.  

When you grow what you eat, you start from what you get at the grocery store which can be a challenge.

Paul much prefers "eat what you grow" as a philosophy. For example learning how to eat the stuff the grows already with no effort.  However he's frustrated by the huge majority of gardeners who are convinced it's all bullshit.  As an example, today they spent 5 minutes getting sunchokes and onions to make soup.

Much of what's in the grocery store is selected for its shelf life, or for ease of machine processing, or for high profit so there's a limited choice.  

I have the same list for our 200 miles trip to the big city once a month.

Then I add to that list thing needed or wanted.

I also have the Aisle number so we don't walk all over the store looking for stuff.

I go to the aisle and get the thing listed on that aisle.

I feel having a list helps save me money as there are few impulse buys.

Our latest impulse buy has been $10 cooler bags which were then filled with all the frozen or refrigerated items.

Unfortunately a can of biscuits did not quite make it home so we had biscuits for dinner....

I plan meals by opening the freezer and taking out the first item that I find interesting ...

I've started grocery shopping every 3 weeks. Sometimes 4, if I stop by the local tiny store for eggs and milk. I hate grocery shopping, and have been developing an increasingly elaborate system to avoid it. Sadly, my local store is more like a convenience store than a grocery store, with double the cost of a normal store, tiny package sizes, and doesn't stock most things I eat.

I keep a running list on my phone of things I am short of, plus always-buy items.
I put a star beside items I am completely out of, otherwise I wait for a sale. I have started to organize some of it by shop - my tea and international foods comes from one shop, I tend to buy meat at another plus a specific condiment, a third is good for gluten free bread and household goods, a fourth for canned goods, a fifth for dish soap, a sixth for gluten free flour and soy sauce... Etc. Some stores I go to every other trip, others maybe once a year. Some items might end up on a list for months before I buy them.  If I list what I tend to buy at those places and grab them while I am there, then I don't have to go back!

If I have an appointment in town, I'll grocery shop then, otherwise, Flyers run Thursday-Wednesday, but you can see the Thursday flyer online on Wednesday. On Wednesday morning, I try to glance at the flyers for BOTH weeks to decide if I am shopping that day, or waiting a day.  Then I go into town, and sometimes hit one store, sometimes 2 depending on the sales and what items I am completely out of. Once I'm in the store, I check out in store meat/dairy/fruit sales, and buy whatever appeals. I am a good enough cook I can make something tasty from whatever is cheap that week plus pantry staples. I find it fascinating that I have no interest in 95% of the items in a grocery flyer. When I get home,  meat goes mostly into the freezer, usually after being cut and portioned out.

I find I save money this way - I save gas, I save on impulse purchases, and I also don't end up stopping for coffee or a snack as often. A list is critical, otherwise I forget I'm out of something, and end up driving back sooner.

As I do this longer, other than eggs/milk, I often reach the 3 week mark and really am not desperate for anything. I have enough long term staples to last longer, and even milk, I have evaporated and dried milk, so it's not really an issue.

I sometimes go grocery shopping with friends, it really doesn't work well!  They want to wander the aisles and get a few things for dinner, while I'm grabbing a dozen cans of tuna and half a dozen pounds of butter because they are on sale, and keep checking a list! I also struggle with grocery shopping with my mom, who wants to walk down every aisle and talk about random things we see, rather than my strategy of shopping the outside, then checking my list for whatever I have missed and ducking into relevant aisles. By the time we have walked every aisle, I have impulse grabbed several things and am WAY too tired to want to bother checking my list to see what I have missed, and inevitably, get home and realize I forgot something critical.  

I always make a list, but we intentionally keep our meals simple and predictable.

My biggest help is buying bulk a couple times a year. We have dry goods, sauce ingredients, vinegars and seasonings etc on hand all the time to whip something up. Then, if I don't have time for a trip to town I can always scrounge up something from the pantry and freezer.

Catie George, you sound to me like a shopping ninja! I also dislike shopping intensely but have not developed such efficiency forward strategies. I try to avoid it all together and shop in the woods or garden, but I still need to enter so-called civilized spaces occasionally for things I can't get the hard way, like milk and eggs, quality fats, nuts, citrus, coffee, salt, spices.

I have only two firm rules regarding grocery shopping: lists are a must, the more the merrier (they actually need to be on hand to be effective). And, whatever I do, I don't shop hungry!!! That last one is key. The things I buy when I let my rumbling tummy drive the bus are never the things I need, or even want. Shopping with friends?!!! The horror!

Meal planning for us happens in the morning over coffee. I often wish I were better at making big meals with leftovers to feed us for days, but barring the colder months when soups and stews abound, we tend to make meals from scratch daily. It takes up a lot of our time, but we also drive great pleasure from eating like royalty when bean counters might call us paupers. There are many kinds of affluence.

Anne Miller wrote:Do you plan your meals before grocery shopping?​

What does meal planning mean to you?

We don't do meal planning per se. Rather, we have a dozen or so "go-to" dishes we consistently enjoy and keep all the ingredients on hand.

We also have a few "emergency meals" in the freezer for times we are tired or brain-dead and don't feel like cooking. Some are frozen meals from scratch (like chili), some are commercial products like chicken pot pies, unseasoned beef burgers, frozen breaded fish, and smokies for roasting. 10-30 minutes and they're on the table, padded out with rice/potatoes/bread and raw carrots or frozen peas.

Anne Miller wrote:Do you use a list to remind you what to buy?

Yes, always. I'll never remember the fiddly bits we need. And I blanche at the prospect of wandering aimlessly through a grocery store -- I want to be in and out with military precision.

One good thing about smart phones is that I can take a snapshot of the list before heading out for assorted errands. Or my wife and I can text other a picture of it depending on who is home.

Because it is medically essential, our diet has become very limited. Meat and seafood, with a few low-carb vegetables once in a while (still working on figuring out which ones don't cause problems). And because my back is bad (much better on low to zero carbs, but still bad), I can't stand for very long - walking is usually okay, standing is right out. So my cooking has become as simple and easy as possible - usually 'throw a chunk of meat, or several chicken legs, into the electric cooker and put it on roast for the appropriate amount of time.'

Meal planning consists of estimating how many meals we need each month (I allow for two meals a day, with some canned meat in pop-top cans for when my under-weight daughter is willing to eat a third meal; I eat once or twice a day - intermittent fasting), then figuring how how much meat we need to accomplish that many meals. I usually add some cushion, budget allowing.

As often as possible, I go to town only once a month (it's not that far, about 25 minutes each way, but daughter has been refusing to leave the house without a struggle - physical - for several years, so I need to coordinate my trips to town with my brother, who lives next door. Daughter can't be left home totally alone, in case of an emergency; having her uncle next door means that if strangers come down our dead-end road, or our house catches fire, he'll notice and deal with it.

So. Once a month, as much as I can manage. To make the shopping trips as fast as possible, I've been doing Walmart parking lot pickup orders. (Prevents me from doing any impulse buying, as a side benefit!). This, of necessity, requires me to make a list - and I don't have to worry about leaving it home, or forgetting it when I go in the store! Another benefit is that, if I go in the store, I may or may not find enough of each necessary item to get us through the month. But if I do parking lot pickup, they can almost always find enough of everything in the back even if the stock out on the shelves is getting low. So there are multiple benefits to me.

I still go in the store at the feed store (dog food, cattle cubes for the goats, poultry feed), but if they'd make the website work, I could do parking lot pickup there, too.

Most anything else that we need can be purchased off Amazon, and comes right to our door. I've been buying coffee this way for a couple of years, for example, and have gotten a few other things, like kipper snacks (smoked herring). You can get quite a bit of staple foods that way, actually, and the prices aren't that far off of Walmart's in-store prices. I do pay for Amazon Prime, but save quite a bit more in shipping charges than what that costs.  

That's what we do, in our particular situation. I haven't had a garden for several years because of my bad back. (And I get an employee to load the feed at the feed store, and have them set the bags up on end in a row at the back of the truck bed; I have a cap on the truck, and just leave the feed there and feed right out of the back of the truck.) Down to four ducks, and since daughter can't eat eggs - autism symptoms come back with a vengeance - my brother gets most of the eggs.

I have seen a lot of adversely affected by global plans.  The best shopping advice is to procure cheap bags of soil and sunflower seeds, like at a Dollar Store (bird seeds), and then, start growing microgreens for yourself and others.  Mung beans, adzuki beans, lentils and winged beans are to be procured in bulk any time you shop.  The rest is simple: Ask AI why I said this. Happy journeys

I cruise the 30-50% last day items and select from this almost exclusively, but I have several freezers. I also visit an outlet for restaurants for bulk dry pulses and cans. That's about the only thing I buy. It's always a surprise what will be for supper! It's a once monthly activity usually right before the end of the month when the stores are quiet and there is a larger selection of discount items

At some risk of going off topic, what is a grocery?  In practice, my definition seems to always be in flux.

John F Dean wrote:At some risk of going off topic, what is a grocery?  In practice, my definition seems to always be in flux.

Food? That's what I would mean by it, although we usually do buy other products (paper and hygiene and cleaning products, mostly, but they do come out of the grocery budget).

Burra Maluca wrote:Sometimes we scrump fruit off the neighbours or from abandoned fruit trees that we walk past.

Scrump!  An excellent, old-fashioned word you rarely run across: to forage fruit, with the strong connotation of leaning over the wall to "forage" from someone else's orchard.  As a young(ish) American, I probably would never know this word, but I learnt it staying in Britain during college when I was introduced to hard cider.  One of my favorite pub ciders was called "Scrumpy Jack."  BTW, even with the exploding craft beer scene here in my corner of the Southern USA, I still struggle to find hard cider as good as what I remember from that summer in Britain.

Carla Burke wrote:We keep a running shopping list for each of several places, that covers our basics. But, we mostly buy whole muscle meats, that John cuts to our preferences if the moment, when we get it home. For example, he will buy a pork belly, then divide it up too cute some for slicing bacon & some for cubes to go into things. But, he also leaves some uncured, too use in some of our favorite Chinese recipes. A whole sirloin will get cut into steaks, a roast, and some starting meat. A whole pork shoulder (or two) gets divided up to make a couple variations of breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, and brats. But how the meat gets divided up is dependent on what we want in the moment.

Oh, I so wish I had the freezer space to buy whole joints of meat like that!

Rio Rose wrote:And, whatever I do, I don't shop hungry!!!

Always sound advice.

In classic permaculture style, my answer to the OP's question is "it depends."  I have different strategies for different shopping trips.

I am a prepper, so my larder of pantry goods is very large.  This includes dried goods - beans, grains, spices, nuts, pastas, dried fruits, dried mushrooms, etc. - that I mostly keep vacuum packed in mason jars.  It also includes jars and cans of sauces and condiments and soups and such.  I largely keep the larder stocked at my favorite dented-can bargain store, appropriately named simply Bargain Foods.  It's fantastic, a discount store the size of a Walmart where you can hardly exceed $100 spent in a single trip even if you try.

Unfortunately, it is a 45-minute drive away, and I'll often combine it with stops at other, even farther away specialty stores in the same direction, making a whole day of it.  So, I don't go often.  When I do, there is no list, except for hopefully a mental note that "oh yes, my stock of tinned fish is running low," etc.  Mostly, I just buy whatever I discover there, largely comprising canned goods of dubious vintage at half the normal price.  A precise shopping list would be of limited use, since product availability varies considerably.  When occasionally they do have a real gem - bottles of quality olive oil at 1/3 the price, or blocks of imported cheese at 4-for-$5 that would normally cost $10 each - I stock up!  But you can't count on the same items being in stock each visit.

Week to week, on the other hand, my shopping trips to the local grocery stores are different.  Those are when my supply of salad greens is low, or I've pulled some meat from the freezer and a can of sauce from the larder and am planning a specific recipe (usually scaled to produce at least a few days' worth of leftovers).  Then, I have a precise list of usually only a few items, whatever I need to complete the recipe.

But I still manage to apply a bit of the former, opportunistic strategy to my local, limited shopping trips.  That is because my local Walmart seems particularly bad at managing inventory and routinely has perishable items - fresh produce, meats, baked goods - marked down for quick sale.  I always peruse for mark-downs in addition to the few items on my list.  Depending on what really good deals might catch my eye, those items will either refill my freezer (meats) or influence what I cook that week.

I don't meal plan before shopping, I use a web site / app called Pepperplate to keep a list of pantry items I want to maintain.  The family knows when they use something to grab a new one from the pantry,  and then I simply inventory my pantry before leaving for the grocery, approximately every two weeks when I get paid.

My list will identify how many of each item I want to keep on the shelf and if I have that number, I delete it from this weeks list.  If there is a sale or coupon, I usually buy items that are shelf-stable, then I organize my list (in the app) by the store I plan to buy it at.  BJ's, food lion, Aldi, Save-A-Lot, Wal-Mart, etc.  If I have something on the list that happens to be really expensive, I may delete it and try to get it next shopping run.

Sometimes, if I'm making something "special", I will add that recipe to my shopping list to ensure I have the necessary items.

This works for me and my family.  
Good luck.

I've a couple of small supermarkets in nice walking distance, so a visit is exercise, whether I buy or not. Usually checking for last minute reductions. Many items will last way beyond their 'best before', so I keep a stock, aware that some may lose vitamins, or lose bits to decay.
Lots of improvisation in the kitchen: naans can be pizza bases, egg mayonnaise for the sauce, a stir-fry of assorted veg, greens and weeds from the garden, then fresh marjoram and cheese due 4 years ago... all depends what comes!
So no, I don't plan meals, and I don't make shopping lists. Although there is a short mental list of any staples needed when I go into town.
I'm a volunteer for "Love Food Hate Waste", and we suggest, if you're out for the weekly shop, buy for 6 days. On the 7th you use up leftovers.

John F Dean wrote:At some risk of going off topic, what is a grocery?  In practice, my definition seems to always be in flux.

Actually most folks have already gotten off topic because these were the questions:

Do you plan your meals before grocery shopping?​

What does meal planning mean to you?

Do you use a list to remind you what to buy?

We do plan meals about 50 % of the time.
   A quick look in the freezer to see what is on top, gives us an idea of the week for dinners.

   What we are hungry for makes up a lot of our planning.  Planning meals also means what we need to use that is getting older in the pantry.
   Some of our planning happens at the store.  In store specials or things just fall off the shelf into our cart. :-)

   We have a list on the fridge, by store.  Shopping the weekly ads is a must.

Town is only 15 miles and we usually make a trip once a week.

Yes, I meal plan every Monday and write out a physical grocery list to go shopping when I go into town on Tuesday. My 13- and 15-year-old kids are now responsible for one dinner each week, so they have to double check and make sure we have all the ingredients needed. I have this cute. illustrated weekly calendar, where I write down every lunch and dinner we are having for the week, so no one is asking me constantly "what's for dinner?" I write the dates and the week # and put it back in the plastic sleeve with the rest of the unused pad of paper, after that week is finished. So next year we can get some ideas, etc... and see what we were eating at the same time the previous year.

I mostly cook from our deep pantry and whatever is in the garden but as my kids are developing their cooking skills, I'm more lenient about what they can buy to cook. I spend half of our grocery budget at our local food coop (and some local farm stands) on Tuesday and then my husband picks up an order from Aldi on Wed or Thurs with the rest of our budget. I slowing restock our deep pantry by adding a few extra cans or bottles every week and do big bulk orders of rice, beans, oatmeal, etc.. once in the Fall and once in the Spring. I resisted meal planning for many years and am SO pleased with how our system is saving us money and mental fatigue.

I try to keep things flexible, but keep an eye on what I already have and try to use it up before adding to the pantry or freezer. Lately I've been using my flyer app to see what's on sale at the stores closest to us, and I build what I want to make for the week around that before I even leave the house, and I always try to complement or supplement where I can with what I'm growing.  

Like so many others of you we both hate shopping so do it as little as possible, once a month at most or preferably much longer (until we crave something fresh again that forces us to shop). Our shopping strategy is based on how long foods last:

1. Only buy fresh foods that we can eat before they go bad. That includes things like bakery bread, berries, leaves, tomatoes, etc. No matter the price, it's not a good deal if you're won't eat it before it goes off.

2. Next, get fruit and veg to eat after those in #1 are gone, like root veg, citrus, apples, things in the cabbage family, etc. Anything that will last longer in the fridge.

3. Make sure we have enough frozen veg and fruit to last for a couple of months. We try to eat as much of this before we shop again. That way we don't end up wasting frozen food by misplacing it in the bottom of the freezer either.

4. Lastly, always keep dry goods on hand, usually ordered in bulk from essentialOrganics dot com or countryLifeFoods dot com. We always have a variety of grains, beans and spices on hand. You can do great things (and always have healthy, filling and delicious meals) with these humble ingredients. You can grind your grains into flour if you need and make your own tempeh or koji anytime as well. We would almost always rather make a thing than go shopping for a thing. Bonus, this keeps us from snacking on garbage bc we don't actually buy it and don't live close to any stores. It sort of forced us to learn to make snacky foods too (or skip snacking altogether) which are undoubtedly better than anything store-bought.

It takes some serious fresh food cravings for either of us to *want* to go to the grocery store.

Do you plan your meals before grocery shopping?​
Generally yes.

What does meal planning mean to you?
I figure out what primary protein I'm going to cook, and then sometimes I pick sides and sometimes I let that just be whatever I can find.

Do you use a list to remind you what to buy?
Yes, for a while I've used the free version of the "Out of Milk" app. It took a while to setup over time a little here and there... but I can add the prices and category (I named them according to aisle or department) and it will keep track of items on your list and that cost and the items in your cart, including tax. I had it sorted by aisle, so I could skip aisles with nothing I was planning to buy. After the setup, it helped me be very efficient. And back when I was married, it has a feature to sync across devices so that if I was shopping, she could add stuff and it would show up, or I could add stuff to it while she was shopping. It would even show what was in the cart... so when I was shopping with the kids and she was wondering why it was taking so long, she could see if I was mostly through the list or not.

Of course Lidl, which is very much like Aldi, can scupper any grocery list you might have with all it's lovely offers...

Just don't forget the milk!



Lyrics, for anyone who struggles with the accent...

I've been shopping in Dunnes Stores now all me life,
When suddenly walks in me lovely wife.
We haven't got a drop of milk
And the rent man's on his way,
I got me hair washed cut and blow dried
so we've no funds left today.

We'll go to Lidl, Lidl, whatever the feck it's called
We'll go to Lidl, Lidl, the prices say it all,
I got a pair of shoes an anorak scuba gear
chicken nuggets satellite T.V.
I got the whole back garden decked out for 13.43.
I forgot the milk, and she'll f##king kill me.

Every month the magazine comes out,
from camping gear to brand new German stout.
The mother wont touch the meat
She still thinks that its odd and the father's wearing Lycra,
just to walk the fecking dog.

We'll go to Lidl, Lidl, whatever the feck it's called
We'll go to Lidl, Lidl, the prices say it all,
I got a lawnmower, volleyball laptop dartboard
a box of Hitler tea, I have the Christing fecking sorted
with enough for J.R.B's , I forgot the milk.

Now me shopping's less than 20 quid,
The cheap auld Mars bars take up half me fridge,
The Tayto's still crap, we'll forgive them for that.
´Cos the vodka almost kills you with a sip

We'll go to Lid, Lidl, whatever the feck it's called
We'll go to Lidl, Lidl, the prices say it all,
I got a weighing scales, beach towel, head torch
and a foot spa for herself.
I got a little German midget to come home and wash the delft,
I forgot the milk, I forgot the milk, cheers.