Make a Grocery Plan in 2024 that Works for Your Family

I have personally felt the effects of higher inflation on my grocery bill.

I’m writing this post at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday night, and Chris and I have just gotten back from a 2.5-hour trip to the grocery store.

Everything’s put away, and we’re off the hook – for another two weeks, when we’ll do it all again.

Grocery shopping is a production for us. It’s a well-oiled production, though, and it’s evolved over the past 3 or 4 years into a system that keeps us fed, keeps us on budget, and takes as little of our time as we can reasonably expect.

We have two refrigerators, four basically-adult people in our house, five cats, a dog and a hamster. We want to shop as infrequently as possible. We have some food allergies. We rarely eat out at this point, so our “grocery” spending is easily 90% of our total food cost. T

here are certain brands we prefer to support, and certain products for which store brands are great.

The point of our shopping isn’t “just be cheap.” It’s a combination of all these factors, and today, I want to show you how it works. I’m not promising this is a great system for everyone – or anyone but us, actually. But I hope it’s “food” for thought!

If you need help finding coupons or grocery shopping strategy, check out Grocery Shopping Guide as it has great options for your family.

Menu planning

About three or four years ago, we were those people who stared vacantly in the pantry each evening going, “What are we going to have for dinner?”

If we “felt like” chicken, we’d have to hurry up and thaw it, and then we’d “feel like” a side dish of rice, which we didn’t have, so we’d run to the store real quick, and come out $50 later with rice and 8 other things we needed. And while we never spent long at the store, it seemed like we were ALWAYS at the store.

That’s when we decided to start menu-planning. We set out two weeks’ worth of dinners before our every-other-week shopping trip. Sometimes we’ll switch things, but we know what we need, and we’re never stuck with “I have side dishes but no main dishes.”

Why it works and how it helps

• This is the single biggest reason we have been able to cut down on grocery-trip frequency. With enough food for two weeks’ worth of dinners and the matching amount of breakfast and lunch staples, there’s no more needing to run out for this or that.
• We like that we still have flexibility. If Wednesday gets hectic, maybe we eat leftovers that night and make the chicken and dumplings another day.
• Speaking of leftovers, menu planning helps us waste as little food as possible. We know what we have on hand, and can space things out accordingly with “fend for yourself” or “leftovers” days.
• Everyone gets a say, and everyone’s schedule can be accommodated. We know what we’re having, and if one of us REALLY doesn’t like something, we’ll plan it for a night that person’s not home (or plan for an alternative!) And, Chris doesn’t end up only getting his favorite foods as leftovers, since he is home for dinner less often than the rest of us. Win/win!

The list

Ah, the grocery list. This gets additions between trips, but we sit down and finalize it during our menu-planning time.

Having a list was mandatory if we were going to start shopping less frequently – it was easy to remember fabric softener if you used the last of it and were at the store the next day; sadly, less so two weeks later!

Why it works and how it helps

• Our list keeps us from making too many impulse purchases. We definitely have off-list items, but they’re the exception, and Chris keeps us on track with, “Um, excuse me, are those off-list cranberries?” It’s fun, and it’s a great reminder!
• We are notorious forgetters. We need a list to make sure we don’t plan two meals of chicken and come home without chicken. Yes, this would happen.
• Compiling the list is a reminder to take inventory. We know how many of certain things we need for each two-week period. So while we’re writing the list, we’re also doing things like counting rolls of toilet paper and paper towels, checking the stash of tissues, taking a count of allergy medication and so on.
• Normally, all four of us (Mom, Sarah, Chris and I) go to the store, but sometimes, like last night, it’s just Chris and me. The list helps us make sure everyone’s wants and needs are reflected even if they’re not there to chime in!

Coupons and sale flyers

Believe it or not, I’m not an extreme couponer or sales junkie. We use coupons and check out our grocery store’s sale flyer (and the flyers for the three other grocery stores nearby), but our system works because we don’t have to spend a lot of time and effort on it.

Why it works and how it helps

• We shop almost entirely at one store. Do we pay more for a few things than if we shopped around? Absolutely. But we also earn points that we can use for discounts on gas (I just saved 70 cents a gallon, or more than $10 on a fill-up), and we get special coupons in the mail based on our rewards-card usage. We’ve learned the sale cycle to some extent, and we stock up when it’s appropriate, but we don’t drive all over to get paper towels for $1 less for a 12-pack.
• We specifically seek out coupons for brands we’d buy anyway. I might clip 2 or 3 coupons from our Sunday paper each week, but I often have others. A great tip for getting the most out of your coupon usage? Write to companies whose products you buy regularly. Tell them what you like about their product, and ask if you can be put on their mailing list for any recipes, coupons or updates. MANY will immediately send you high-value coupons! I’ll take that over 50 cents off a product I don’t really love!
• We use our store’s own coupons. There’s a kiosk right inside the door where you can print coupons for things like 50 cents off any store-brand product or $1 off $6 in frozen foods. These are a huge help!
• We don’t use a coupon just because we have it. This week, I really didn’t need to buy 18 rolls of toilet paper to save $1. We’re already stocked up, and we wanted to put the extra money in the grocery budget toward our church’s food pantry.

Shopping day

We’ve got this part DOWN. Chris pushes the cart and mans the list. Sometimes (like above) he eyes up a peanut-butter pie and gets shot down. If my mom comes, she’s got the coupons. If Sarah comes, she’s in charge of used coupons and getting anything that requires bending to a bottom shelf. And I handle coupons if Chris and I go on our own, and also add up our totals on my calculator as we go. Well-oiled machine, like I said!

Why it works and how it helps

• Everyone’s got a job to do. I know it sounds corny, but that helps make a 2.5-hour grocery trip bearable, and we actually have a ton of fun. If we’re going to do it anyway, we might as well make a party out of it, right?
• We know when to go and when not to. Day before Super Bowl? NOPE. 9 p.m. at our 24-hour store? YUP. 2 a.m., when you have to self-check your groceries no matter what? DISASTROUSLY NO, as we have sadly learned the hard way.
• We’re all on board with how much things cost and how we’re doing against our budget. There’s even a system for this – we round everything to the nearest quarter, whoever puts it in the cart gives me the amount, and that’s what I add up. It gets us quite close and makes sure we’re not veering into dangerous budgetary territory somewhere around ice cream. (Yeah, there’s a reason we go the direction we do; produce first, frozen pie last!)
• We bring our own grocery bags and have adopted a rather silly rule of one cart, no matter what. The joke is that if we need more than one cart, Chris won’t carry it into the house, which he does with the help of our dog each trip. I highly doubt that’s true, but I sure don’t want to find out! 😉
• We’ve even got a system for putting things away, which Mom and I (with Sarah’s help) tackle while Chris carries. The only depressing part about the whole process is how quickly stuff vanishes into fridges, freezers and cupboards. $300-some put away that fast? Ick!

Check out this grocery list! You may be doing something right when your grocery list is this long.

So what about you? How do you grocery-shop, meal-plan or otherwise deal with getting food into your house?

Why does it work well for you – or what challenges do you have?