Efficient Grocery Shopping Tips

VEGAN NUTRITION

How many of you are like I once was and hate grocery shopping? How many of you would rather order take out, go through a drive-through, or eat at a restaurant just so you don’t have to cook? Many people resort to eating processed garbage simply because they A. Don’t like dealing with the hassle of the grocery store, or B. Hate cooking the food that they buy at the store. The “easy” way out is going through a drive-through, right? After years and years of eating like this, your body will pay a price though. I’ve learned the hard way. Even healthy fast food places still have higher caloric meals without you even realizing it, so unless you’re tracking your macros intensely, you can still fall into the trap of weight gain. In my opinion, the best way to maintain a healthy lifestyle when it comes to food is making sure you know what exactly you’re putting into your body, and the best way to do this is to make your own meals 85- 90% of the time (or use a cool meal prep company like Fit Choice Foods). I recommend that my clients eat at home during the week and have more fun with their calories on the weekends by going places or eating out.

In order to know what you’re putting into your body from the foods you’re eating, you have to first go to the grocery store. When I say I used to hate going grocery shopping, I mean I would literally just try to go once a month, and spend over $1000+ (for 2) just so I wouldn’t have to go again that month. This method did not help lead us to success because 1. I was wasting so much money, 2. these foods were highly processed so they would last longer (think TV dinners), and 3. we ran out of healthy foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables, within a week; for one week of the month we ate “healthy”, but the other three weeks we ate terribly.

Since becoming certified in Fitness Nutrition, being an avid Dave Ramsey follower, and becoming vegan last year, I have had to drastically change the way I grocery shop, for money reasons and because the food goes bad too quickly.

Budget

The first changes we made were looking over our budget. I was spending WAY too much money at the store, buying unnecessary items, and throwing away foods because they went bad before we could eat them. We sat down and went over what we thought would be a reasonable amount (for us) to spend each month at the store. Based on our family size, personal budget, and being vegan, we agreed on $600 a month to spend; that’s $300 for each of us for the entire month. From there, we follow Dave Ramsey and Chris Hogan’s advice and go grocery shopping every single week, allotting us $150 CASH to spend on groceries each time. This was an entire shift in the way I went about shopping, because I no longer could just swipe my magical debit card and be shocked at the astronomical total that pops up on the screen after all my groceries are bagged. I now have to be conscious about every single item I’m placing in my cart, and this does take some serious planning before I go to the store. I also am now forced to go to the store every week, which I never in a million years thought I would enjoy doing.

Planning & Consistency

Like I said, I now have a cash limit on what I am able to spend at the store, so my shopping experience is completely different. Before I even think about heading to the grocery store, I make an on-going list of what we need for the upcoming shopping trip. All week I write down things we’re out of and other household items we may need. Whereas before I would go and buy anything and everything, now I am going with a written plan of what we actually need. I have found that by writing out a physical list, I am not buying repeat items, expensive “wants”, or things we will never use. This plan has saved us some serious cash in the 6 months we’ve been doing this.

Sequence:

When I used to go grocery shopping, I would wonder aimlessly down every single isle feeling overwhelmed and annoyed. I would throw whatever I wanted into the cart, not looking at nutrition labels, not looking for sales, and wasting a whole lot of time… Now, that type of shopping makes me want to pull my hair out just thinking about it. What I do now: Right before I go to the store, I look at my written “plan” AKA grocery list that I’ve conducted all week, and I write out a newer version that is sequenced the way I would walk through the store based on the different departments. Yes, I am planning the way I literally walk through the store. This saves me time and energy! I shop at my nearest Fry’s Store most of the time because they actually have an amazing selection for being vegan. I start in the produce section, because the outside aisles of the store are usually the healthiest! From there, I walk to the organic section, then the frozen aisle, then the canned aisle. If I need anything else, I go there immediately and do NOT wander! After each department I visit, I quickly total up what my estimated spending is for my budgeting purposes. If I’ve grabbed anything unnecessary (like my new favorite Ben & Jerry’s vegan ice cream) and I am over our total, I will put items back.

Example Grocery List:

I figured I would provide an example grocery list for those who are more curious. (Super quick examples, we eat way more produce but I don’t want to list them all ;))

Grocery List, Week ___ / Date _____
“PRODUCE”
__ Kale ————- $
__ Spinach ——– $
__ Carrots ——— $
__ Apples ———-$
__ Bananas ——- $
__ Berries ——— $
__ Avocados —– $

Total $ spent for this department: $

“ORGANIC”
__ Hummus————- $
__ Van’s Waffles——- $
__ Silk Yogurt ———- $
__ Tofu ——————–$
__ Tempeh ————- $
__ Daiya Cheese——- $
__ Peanut Butter—— $
Total $ spent for this department: $

“FROZEN/CANNED”
__ Boca Patties————- $
__ Mealtess Meatballs—- $
__ Frozen Fruit ————- $
__ Black Beans ————$
__ Garbanzo Beans—— $

Total $ spent for this department:

$ “MISCELLANEOUS”
__ ———- $
__ ———- $
__ ———- $

Total $ spent for this department: $

Closure

All in all, grocery shopping the way I do now has completely changed the way I feel about going. I used to hate this task, and now I completely enjoy taking the hour a week to go and do so. We are saving money, I am saving time, and we are eating better at home than we ever have. I would say we have saved a couple thousand dollars already in the 6 months of shopping this way, leaving us with more money to budget elsewhere. I am also more efficient at shopping every week I go, as I know where each item usually is placed in the store. Please let me know if you have any tips/tricks to the way you grocery shop, I would love to hear more ideas! If anything I have said has sparked some interest for how you will shop next time, please let me know as well!

Best of luck!
— Jess Hutchens

I'M JESS HUTCHENS!