Once-a-month grocery shopping

I was recently reading "Your Grocery Budget Toolbox" by Anne Simpson and one concept really resounded with me: Once a Month Shopping (OAMS). I found it interesting because, growing up, my parents always shopped this way. They made one big trip to the grocery store each month with small trips to the local grocers for perishables. My parents did this for a couple of reasons: Money was tight and the big grocery store was more than half an hour away. My dad still shops this way. I decided to do a little research to see if it's still a common practice, and it turns out, it is. A number of the frugal blogs I frequent mention shopping once a month; so obviously, it saves money for more than just my parents. Let's take a look at how once a month shopping works, and how it could save you big bucks on your grocery budget.

Have a good plan.

To make OAMS work, you really need a good plan before stepping into the grocery store. Meal planning is a great way to start because, once you figure out what you want to eat, you'll know what you need to buy. Once the meals are planned, you'll need to create a thorough list of not only the things that you're out of, but also the things that you're running low on. You'll need to take careful stock of your refrigerator and cupboards.

Don't forget the discipline.

In addition to all that planning, you'll need a pinch of discipline, too. OK, you'll need a lot of discipline. If you try once a month shopping and buy mostly pre-packaged or convenience items, you'll have a heart attack when your cart rings up at the register. Those foods are expensive! It will be enough of a shock to have a month's worth of groceries to pay for at once. Don't add to that bill by buying processed foods. In order to get the most savings, you'll need to make a lot of your foods from scratch. My mother was great at this; she was a wonderful cook. My brothers and I seriously did not know what a canned biscuit (think Pillsbury) tasted like until I was in late elementary school or possibly even junior high. We had only eaten made-from-scratch biscuits (and many other items). Once you've had the real thing, those processed foods just don't taste as good anyway. We gave our mom a lot of grief for trying to pull that one over on us. She didn't buy many canned biscuits after that.

Why bother?

So, if it takes so much planning and discipline, is it really worth all the trouble? Can once a month shopping really save you money? Yes, and yes. Here are just a few of the ways OAMS can save you money:

• It keeps you out of the stores. I've mentioned this before, but for most people, the more trips you make the grocery store, the more you spend. Each trip in the store is a chance to make impulse purchases that you simply don't need. Fewer trips means less money spent.
• It reduces food waste. One thing to remember is that a few weeks after the shopping is done, the cupboards start to look pretty bare. Instead of items constantly being pushed to the back and expiring, you stand a much better chance of using your groceries when food starts to run low.
• It makes you more aware of how much you spend. It's not easy forking over a few hundred dollars all at once. In fact, it's quite a shock. Knowing that you have to pay a lot all at once will reduce the urge to pick up unnecessary items. After all, who'd want to add more to a bill like that?
• It makes sense to buy in bulk. I don't know about you, but when I shop weekly, there's no way I'm going to pay $15 for a bulk item when I only have a quarter of my grocery budget to spend at one time, even if it is cheaper per ounce than the smaller versions. With OAMS, you're able to get the big, cheaper version because you're working with most of your budget.

With that said, you'll need to keep a few things in mind if you decide to try once a month shopping.

• Only spend about 70 percent of your grocery budget because you'll still need to stock up on perishables at least weekly.
• You'll need plenty of room in your freezer and pantry to put all those groceries.
• Food will need to last at least four weeks. Don't underestimate what you need.

Once a month shopping works well for those who get paid once a month and those who live too far from a store to go frequently. Have you tried OAMS? Did you save money or spend more?

Produce shopping photo courtesy Charlotte90T via Flickr.

Mom shopping figure photo courtesy happyworker via Flickr.