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Grocery Shopping: Giving Groceries a Home – Part 3 of 3

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Emily Connell)

This past week was a slim grocery shopping week for our family. Factoring in my messy coupon binders with the slower sales this week, I opted to grab Fabuloso, yogurt, and tea bags on my way home Tuesday night.

Other than hamburger buns, strawberries, and milk picked up from Aldi earlier this week, my grocery shopping has been minimal.

Even with a small grocery shopping trip, I still follow the same process to continue using time wisely.

In the Giving Your Groceries a Home series, we have unloaded our savings, organized our cold items, and organized our grocery items.

After putting away the groceries, I have reusable bags, plastic bags, and boxes cluttering my kitchen as well as debris on the counters from the packaging materials and any cleaners or hygiene items. With the food items in their designated locations, I focus on preparing for future savings.

Preparing for Future Savings

1. Put away the grocery holders. I use the word “holders” to include bags and boxes. By the end of this process, the bags are on the floor and the counters. If they have not been used as train cars, then the boxes are also on the floor. 🙂

    • Reusable bags. I fold them up and place them on top of my diaper bag.
    • Plastic bags. Gathering these bags together, I place them in an oblong sleeve that my mom made especially for me. My sunflower-patterned sleeve is kept inside my pantry door and clipped to my upper spice rack.
    • Boxes. When my children finish playing with the boxes, I stack them together by the garage door.

On my next trip out to the garage, I take my boxes to the recycling container and the reusable bags to the trunk of my vehicle.

2. Remove items from counters. Taking the remaining items from the shopping trip, I divide them into the upstairs and the downstairs placement.

    • Downstairs Placement. At this time, I will leave the kitchen to put these items away.
    • Upstairs Placement. The products that belong upstairs, I add to the “to go upstairs” pile of items.

3. Wipe counters. With the counters clear, I take a clean cloth or sponge and wipe down my kitchen counters. When I enter my kitchen to prepare the next meal, I will start with clean counters.

Though this organizational system works for me, it may or may not work at your home. Using a system continues to save me money, energy, and time while using time wisely.

Consider your process. Does it work? If so, then continue. If not, try another option. You might be surprised to find one trick (not leaving the room until all is cleaned and organized) that maximizes your time and prevents distractions. Happy organizing!

Question: What do you do with your plastic grocery bags? Please add your answer to the comments.

Grocery Shopping: Giving Groceries a Home – Part 2b of 3

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With entertaining company, accumulating new items, and visiting friends and family, my house (except for my dining room) needs attention. My progress is slow, but I’m gaining momentum. On the agenda today is grocery shopping.

As I scrape together meals on what we have on-hand (or borrow from my fabulous neighbor :-)), I value the buying ahead principle. Keeping my refrigerator, freezer, and pantry well-stocked with merchandise purchased at rock bottom prices stretches our budget, especially when life gets busy.

At the beginning of December 2011, I introduced step six: giving your groceries a home. In part 1, I shared how I unload my savings upon returning from the grocery store. The next week in part 2a, the cold items were given a home on designated shelves and sections of my refrigerator and freezer. Today, I will continue with the series on organizing my pantry with the remaining deals from grocery shopping.

Pantry

Finding an organizational system that works for you may take some time. I share with you my system that has evolved over the years. Since I am shorter (5’4”), I place most of the items on shelf #2 and lower. The top shelf houses items I use infrequently since I have more difficulty reaching those items. With that said, I still use the shelf, I just ask my tall (6’2”), handsome hubby to use his strong muscles to help this damsel in distress with her 5 lb. bag of flour. 🙂

Tracy’s Pantry Organization:

Shelf #1 (top shelf) – flour, confectioner’s sugar, brown sugar, cake mixes, brownie mixes, and spices

Most of my spices stay on two racks on the inside door of my pantry. The spices on the top shelf are rarely used or the containers are too big to fit in my rack.

Shelf #2 – condiments, dry oatmeal, bread crumbs, pudding, and jello

Shelf #3 – pasta, rice, sides, popcorn, crackers, and a basket with baking ingredients (chocolate chips, marshmallows, etc.)

Shelf #4 – canned goods and instant beverage mixes (tea bags, hot cocoa, lemonade, etc.)

Floor of pantry – bottled beverages, chips, cereals (boxed and instant – oatmeal, grits), sugar, and snacks

By designating the type of items for each shelf, I can easily find the ingredients I need. Sometimes one shelf will get overloaded from a great sale, and I will “borrow” space from another shelf until space becomes available.

I also keep a box out in my garage for overflowing items, like the extra 6 bags of 4 lb. sugar packages I purchased for $.71 (shared this deal on Facebook on November 24).

Tracy’s Tips:

1. Keeping snacks and cereal at the bottom allows little ones to help at meal time.

2. Can goods dropped from any height could crack or damage your floor. Though I have not had this happen to my floor, I have had my toes crushed. Ouch!

3. Keeping like items together aids in making your grocery list as you scan your available resources

4. Add newly purchased items to the back and bring previous purchased items to the front. Keeping the items rotated will help prevent purging expired items.

5. When an arrangement is not working, fix it. The longer it bothers you, the more time you waste.

6. Teach your little ones your organizational system. They LOVE being big helpers (most of the time).

By the time my pantry items are on assigned shelves, my groceries have all been given a home. In using time wisely, I usually reorganize my pantry at least twice a year. Anytime the shelves get a little thin, I use that opportunity to reorganize before restocking.

As you find an organizational system that works for you, putting your groceries away and retrieving them will take little time. Keep plugging away while using time wisely, and happy organizing!

Question: How do you organize your pantry? Please add your answer to the comments.

Grocery Shopping: Giving Groceries a Home – Part 2a of 3

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Bosch Appliances)

Even after eating a cookie while grocery shopping, my children are usually STARVING by the time we walk into the house. Not sure if it is all the food they see, or just the time of day. Whatever it is, they are hungry.

Upon sending them to the pantry for nourishment (ahem) or junk food, I concentrate on the counter full of groceries that I just unloaded. Before giving my pantry items a home (which will be covered in Part 2b), I turn my attention to the cold items which will be placed in the refrigerator or freezer.

Organizing the Refrigerator

Each shelf or drawer in my refrigerator holds certain items. By keeping the same system, I can quickly put items away and retrieve them while preparing meals and snacks. Though there are exceptions to these guideline when hosting parties, holidays, and other events, my refrigerator contains the following items on each shelf or in each drawer:

    • Shelf #1 – beverages
    • Shelf #2 – butter, eggs, bread, and sourdough starter
    • Drawer #1 – cold cuts and bread dough
    • Shelf #3 – yogurt, sour cream, and cream cheese
    • Shelf #4 – leftovers
    • Drawer #2 – fruits (apples, oranges), vegetables (potatoes, carrots), and spice (garlic)
    • Drawer #3 – all cheeses

As I put the cold items away, I will stack new items on the bottom or in the back of existing products. By doing so, the older item gets used prior to the new container being opened. Though this is the goal, I currently have two opened jars of apple sauce on the fourth shelf in my refrigerator. 🙂

Organizing the Freezer

If I will be using the frozen item in the next week, then I place it in the freezer side of my side-by-side refrigerator in the house. All the other frozen items are place in our chest freezer housed in the garage. Again, having an organized system helps the “putting away” to go quickly. I have our chest freezer organized as follows:

Left side

    • Packaged meats (ham, turkey, bacon, chicken, hot dogs, sausage)
    • Boxed meals

Center basket

    • Hamburger
    • Roasts
    • Steaks

Center bottom

    • Pizzas
    • Breads
    • Desserts
    • Double batch cooking (For some meals, I make multiple portions to save for busy nights.)

Right side

    • Vegetables
    • Pork chops
    • Breakfast foods

When I put these items away, I place the newer items on the bottom or in back of other existing product. Any meats that need to be cut up or packaged together (i.e., chicken, pork chops, etc.), I put in the refrigerator until after all the groceries are put away. Then during meal preparations, I will divide up the hamburger, pork chops, etc., wrap, and place them in the chest freezer.

With all the cold items placed in the refrigerator or freezer, I can then concentrate on meeting my children’s needs. After addressing their starving situation and refilling their drinks, I then continue giving the other groceries a home which will be covered next week. In using time wisely, I have a designated spot for each type of item. This system works for me. Hope it works for you as well. Happy organizing!

Question: Do you designate shelves and drawers for specific items in your refrigerator and freezer? Please add your answer to the comments.

Grocery Shopping: Giving Groceries a Home – Part 1 of 3

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Jerry Whiting)

Are you seeing any increase in your savings? Have you implemented any changes to your typical grocery shopping trips? Though saving 40-60% each week is my goal, be thrilled with saving 10-20% as you implement a new savings strategy. Saving little by little will add up as you continue to find tricks that work for you.

As we near the end of this series on my food cycle, here is a quick overview up to STEP SIX out of seven total steps:

My Menu Planning Process

Step One: Choosing a menu plan.

Step Two: Adding meals to your plan from the food you have on hand.

Step Three: Continuing to add meals.

My Grocery Shopping Process

Step Four: Creating grocery lists.

Step Five:  Gathering your savings.

Step Six: Giving your groceries a home.

    • Part 1: Unloading your savings.
    • Part 2: Organizing your savings (future post).
    • Part 3: Preparing for future savings (another future post).

Surviving the grocery store process with three active children and lots of savings, I return to give my savings a home. Before relaxing on the couch with a little one on each side, there is still work to be done. Having accomplished deep savings, I do not want these groceries to spoil. Therefore, I begin unloading all these savings.

Unloading the car

With my children occupied either inside or outside, I begin by bringing in the bags and boxes. My long kitchen counter holds most of the bags. If I need additional space, I will either moved to the counter by the refrigerator or place my non-food savings on the floor. Once my vehicle is unloaded, I close the trunk, car doors, and garage door before returning to the kitchen.

Unpacking the groceries

With the bags on the counter, I start at the beginning of my counter as I walk into my kitchen by taking all the items out of the bag and placing them on the counter. The bag is then either folded (reusable) or tossed on the floor (plastic) for later. When one bag is done, I then proceed to the next until all the groceries are on the counter and all the bags are off.

Unloading the car and unpacking the groceries on my counter allows me to see where I need to concentrate. The next post in this series will explain how I organize my savings from this point. Though this process seems to take quite a bit of time, the more it is repeated, the quicker I become.

This process works for me. If you have a small space in which to work, then find a system that helps you be efficient. Willing to try a new way of doing things helped me save 40-60% off my grocery bill. You can do the same. Just be willing to try. Happy experimenting!

Question: What odd-to-you idea have you tried that really worked beyond your expectations? For me, making a menu with what I had on-hand and then shopping only the sales was a “weird” idea that really works! Now I cannot go back to paying full price for items that will soon be on sale. Keep your comments coming! Love to hear your answers.

Grocery Shopping: Taking a Break

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Fabián Luque)

Even with the whirlwind of activity of sick children, bills to be paid, laundry to tackle, and meals to make, I have kept up with grocery shopping each week. By snagging all these great buy one get one free deals, our pantry, freezer, and refrigerator are well-stocked.

Since I do not like to shop without my coupons being organized, my husband has graciously taken on the responsibility of cutting the coupons. I only need to purge my coupons at the beginning of each month and file the coupons each week. This process gets the task complete while using time wisely.

With all my coupons in place and the grocery store sales reviewed, I realized that there are no great sales this week. Therefore, I’m taking a break. This break has many benefits:

Money Saving Benefits

  • No gas spent driving to 2 stores
  • Stashing away this week’s grocery budget allotment for another week when there are fantastic savings to be had

Energy Saving Benefits

  • No working on the deals with grocery lists and coupon match-ups
  • No pushing the cart around the store and gathering my savings
  • No unloading at checkout or at home
  • No calculating my savings results

Time Saving Benefits

  • No gathering my coupons
  • No grocery lists
  • No driving to 2 different stores
  • No searching for the deals
  • No checking out
  • No unloading
  • No restocking my refrigerator, freezer, and pantry
  • No recording of my spending and savings

Wow! I love all these money, energy, and time saving benefits. Can I take a break from grocery shopping next week, too? Though I like the break, I guess the store sales cycles will determine my level of shopping. But during this season of repeat sales and shallow discounts, I will enjoy using time wisely by taking a break.

When you are in a week of pure busyness, turn to your stockpile and take a break from grocery shopping. As you get back on track, you will be better ready to seize those sales. Happy relaxing! You do remember how to relax. Don’t you? 🙂

Question: How often do you take a break from grocery shopping? Please add your answer to the comments.