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I would like some discussion as to the shopping strategies used by rural singles, who could well have significantly different shopping strategies than urban families for two reasons:
1. As a single you buy smaller quantities (saving 20% of a $50 grocery bill is $10, while saving 20% of a $150 grocery bill is $30).
2. Few shopping alternatives locally, and significant costs for travel for lower cost alternatives (for example I have a small higher priced grocery 9 miles away, a Walmart 30 miles away, a small metropolitan shopping area 50 miles away, a larger metropolitan area 70 miles away).
I would like some discussion as to the shopping strategies used by rural singles, who could well have significantly different shopping strategies than urban families for two reasons:
1. As a single you buy smaller quantities (saving 20% of a $50 grocery bill is $10, while saving 20% of a $150 grocery bill is $30).
2. Few shopping alternatives locally, and significant costs for travel for lower cost alternatives (for example I have a small higher priced grocery 9 miles away, a Walmart 30 miles away, a small metropolitan shopping area 50 miles away, a larger metropolitan area 70 miles away).
Thanks.
Geez, you are rural. Can you see Russia from your back yard?
Put an ice chest in your car and go to the shopping areas that are further away. Stay over the weekend, do all your shopping at that time, and buy the perishables last.
We use a cooler in the van all the time. Shopping for a single person should yield even more savings than shopping for two or more, since there is no guesswork involved . Our shopping is at least 20 miles away, in four different directions. The big saver is a freezer. We still have a 40 cent per pound turkey in it from Thanksgiving, and some fish that was on sale for about $1.20/ lb. and hamburger for $1.40/lb.. We're trying to clear space for greens from the garden and broccoli when it comes up.
If you are going really far, buy the frozen items and get a bag of ICE to put in with them in the cooler. You might have it left when you get home... the little it costs to ensure safe food is worth it.
Yes, bring a cooler (I do now in the suburbs...old habit). We'd freeze a 1/2 jug or a 2L bottle for ice, and it stayed frozen a lot longer than a bag of cubes. Less mess too. And freee/reusable.
Also try not to make a special trip to town, but rather, get things when you are there.
I grew up in a tiny town of 400. Our grocer was more like a convience mart. We used it for the "oops, out of milk" The next big city was 80 miles away. That was also where the dr office, dentist, etc... were too. We'd find ourselves in the city at least 2-3 times a month for some odd thing. So we'd get groceries while already in town. Gas too. I don't recall ever making a special trip.
At home we'd keep an ongoing list on the fridge of what we were running low on, so it didn't take much thought... just grab the list on the way to town.
My dad in his old age has got smart. Instead of a cooler, he keeps a chest freezer on a pallet. When he leaves for groceries he lifts it in his truck with his forklift. When he comes home, he brings it out of the truck with the forklift and plugs it back into the wall in the shed. No need to unload
It's called "stocking up." What do you eat for $40 a week? I'm single, and do a big shopping once a month. I cook, and very rarely eat out. I always use coupons when I shop, from the Sunday paper and printed out from the internet coupon sites.
Yes, bring a cooler (I do now in the suburbs...old habit). We'd freeze a 1/2 jug or a 2L bottle for ice, and it stayed frozen a lot longer than a bag of cubes. Less mess too. And freee/reusable.
Also try not to make a special trip to town, but rather, get things when you are there.
I grew up in a tiny town of 400. Our grocer was more like a convience mart. We used it for the "oops, out of milk" The next big city was 80 miles away. That was also where the dr office, dentist, etc... were too. We'd find ourselves in the city at least 2-3 times a month for some odd thing. So we'd get groceries while already in town. Gas too. I don't recall ever making a special trip.
At home we'd keep an ongoing list on the fridge of what we were running low on, so it didn't take much thought... just grab the list on the way to town.
My dad in his old age has got smart. Instead of a cooler, he keeps a chest freezer on a pallet. When he leaves for groceries he lifts it in his truck with his forklift. When he comes home, he brings it out of the truck with the forklift and plugs it back into the wall in the shed. No need to unload
Not everyone has a forklift, but that's about the best idea I've ever heard.
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