Grocery shopping can become overwhelming very quickly, especially when you’re feeding a large family.
There are meals to think about, household essentials to remember, prices to compare and somehow you still get home and realise you’ve forgotten the one thing you actually needed!
After years of shopping for a family of nine, I’ve developed a grocery routine that helps me stay organised, save money and avoid unnecessary trips back to the supermarket.
My current routine is to do one main grocery shop each week.
The aim is simple: once that weekly shop is done, I don’t want to have to go back to the supermarket until the following week.
That doesn’t always happen perfectly, of course, but having that goal saves a huge amount of time.
Here are the grocery habits that have helped me most.
1. Write a Shopping List
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by grocery shopping, start here.
Write down what you need before you leave the house and try your best to stick to it.
Whenever something runs out during the week, add it to your list immediately. I use the notes app on my phone because if I tell myself I’ll remember something later, there is a very good chance I won’t!
If you don’t know what belongs on your shopping list, start by thinking about your meals.
What will you eat for breakfast?
What will you make for lunch?
What are your dinners for the week?
Once you know the meals, you can work backwards and list the ingredients you need.
Over time, your grocery shop becomes much more automatic because many of the products are repeated every week.
2. Try Different Supermarkets
It’s very easy to become attached to one supermarket because you know exactly where everything is.
But familiarity can cost you money.
Different supermarkets have different offers, product ranges and own-brand alternatives.
At the moment, we do most of our shopping at Aldi, then visit Farmfoods for certain deals and finish at Asda for anything we couldn’t find elsewhere.
You don’t necessarily have to do exactly the same thing.
The important point is simply to stay open-minded.
3. Don’t Be a Grocery Snob
There is absolutely nothing embarrassing about shopping somewhere because it’s cheaper.
Aldi and Lidl used to have much more of a reputation for being the “budget” supermarkets, but now people from all walks of life shop there.
And something I learnt years ago while working in a cake factory is that products aren’t always as different as we imagine.
I remember the same type of cakes and egg custards being packed for different retailers.
The packaging changed.
The product didn’t necessarily change very much at all.
So don’t automatically assume a more expensive supermarket or branded packet means you’re getting something dramatically better.
4. Shop Around — But Make Sure It’s Worth It
Different shops can be better for different things.
We might buy the bulk of our everyday groceries from Aldi, check Farmfoods for meat and frozen-food offers, and use Asda for anything we haven’t found.
We also sometimes use local butchers or South Asian grocery shops.
But there is an important balance here.
Driving all over town to save 20p probably isn’t efficient.
If several shops are close together and you already know what each one is good for, it can make sense.
Otherwise, factor in your petrol and your time.
5. Bulk Buy When the Price Is Good
If something your family uses regularly is genuinely on offer, consider buying extra.
This can work particularly well for:
rice, sugar, meat, frozen food, tins and other long-life staples.
Our chest freezer has been incredibly helpful for this.
Sometimes a butcher or supermarket will offer two large packs for considerably less than buying them separately.
If you’re definitely going to use it, you’ve got enough storage space and the dates are suitable, buying in bulk can save money over time.
But don’t bulk buy just because something says SALE.
A bargain you’re never going to use is still wasted money.
6. Take Advantage of Cheap Seasonal Vegetables
One of my favourite grocery bargains happens around Christmas and Easter in the UK.
Supermarkets often reduce basic vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, parsnips and onions to extremely low prices.
We’ve seen bags selling for pennies.
If you have the freezer space, this can be a great opportunity to prepare some of the vegetables and freeze them for later.
I’ve frozen things such as chips, grated carrots and prepared potatoes in the past.
Again, don’t buy twenty bags simply because they’re cheap.
Buy what you can realistically use or preserve.
7. Check the Reduced Section
Before paying full price, have a quick look at the reduced section.
Different supermarkets reduce products at different times, and sometimes you can find brilliant bargains.
Bread is one of my favourites.
I’ve bought heavily discounted bread and put it straight into the freezer because bread freezes incredibly well.
When you defrost it, it can be almost as good as fresh.
Reduced food is particularly useful when you can freeze it rather than feeling pressured to eat everything before it goes off.
8. Try Supermarket Own Brands
There are certain branded products people genuinely prefer, and that’s completely fine.
But plenty of everyday groceries are worth trying in the supermarket’s own range.
For us, that can include things such as:
pasta, chopped tomatoes, baked beans, oats and frozen vegetables.
Sometimes the difference is tiny.
Just don’t assume own-brand is automatically the cheapest either.
Occasionally a branded item on promotion can work out cheaper, so compare the actual price.
9. Use Loyalty Apps, Coupons and Rewards
If you regularly give a supermarket your money, you may as well take whatever rewards they’re offering!
Depending on where you shop, that could include:
Asda Rewards, Tesco Clubcard, Lidl Plus, Nectar or supermarket coupons.
I particularly like using Farmfoods vouchers. By signing up for their emails, I’ve been able to use money-off vouchers when our shop reaches certain amounts.
The important thing is not to let a reward scheme convince you to buy something you wouldn’t otherwise have bought.
A saving isn’t a saving if it makes you spend extra money.
10. Never Shop Hungry
This is an old tip because it works!
Going grocery shopping while you’re hungry makes everything suddenly look delicious.
Crisps?
Yes please.
Chocolate?
Of course.
Bakery section?
Why not buy half of it?
Eating before you shop makes it much easier to think logically and stick to your list instead of letting your stomach control the trolley.
Bonus Tip: Shop When It’s Quiet
One of the things that makes grocery shopping much easier for me is going when the supermarket isn’t packed.
Because I currently have some flexibility during the week, I prefer doing our large weekly shop on a weekday morning.
Weekends — especially busy Sunday afternoons — can be stressful.
The shops are crowded, queues are longer and some products may already have sold out.
If your schedule allows it, experiment with quieter shopping times.
You’ll probably find the whole experience faster and much more pleasant.
My Weekly Grocery Routine
For our family, weekly shopping currently works best.
I’d actually love to get to the stage where we could shop fortnightly or even monthly for more of our groceries, but feeding nine people requires a lot of storage space!
That’s one of the differences I notice when watching very large American grocery hauls.
Some homes have enormous pantries and multiple freezers.
In an average UK home, storing a month’s worth of food for a large family isn’t always realistic.
So instead, I focus on making our weekly shop as efficient as possible.
I buy enough to cover our planned meals, stock up on genuine bargains when I can, use our freezer and try not to go back to the supermarket until the following week.
That means fewer journeys, fewer impulse purchases and less time spent thinking about groceries.
The Goal Is a System, Not a Perfect Grocery Bill
You don’t have to chase every supermarket offer or spend your life comparing the price of baked beans.
The goal is to build a grocery routine that works for your household.
Start small.
Write a shopping list.
Choose a regular shopping day.
Try a cheaper own-brand product.
Download the loyalty app for the shop you already use.
Look at the reduced section.
Freeze something you’d otherwise waste.
Over time, these little habits can make your grocery shopping feel much less chaotic — and hopefully leave a little more money in your pocket too.
