Never ever shop when hungry. If I'm hungry I always over buy because I'm not thinking rationally and all the food looks good.

I have gotten into the habit of planning my meals a week ahead. Like this I can shop once a week on a relaxed afternoon, and once home I plan my dinners and stack them in my fridge according to expiration date. This way nothing is suddenly expired or gets left behind, I just work my way through them. This also prevents me from impulse buying stuff I don't need and the bill at the end of the month is considerably smaller.

Our "Emergency Dinner" is either pasta or hot dogs. I always keep pasta on hand (regular for him and GF for me) because it's really easy to grab whatever out of the fridge and make it into something more than just pasta. Last night, it was a bit of butter, a bit of sour cream, salt and pepper - and it was super tasty!

I used to meal plan every week and it really helped. Now though I just grab what's in season at the farmer's market and pick meats to match that. Works just as well.

When I'm at my most organized (ha), I plan meals around the idea of commonality - like, if I want to make something with cilantro, I add another meal that also uses cilantro so that I can use up the bunch. One might be Thai and the other Mexican, so that it doesn't get boring.

I also organize my list according to the layout of the store, so I don't overlook anything and have to go back. And like the poster above - don't shop hungry! Or in my case, thirsty. I always know I should have had something before I left for the store because I come back with a cartful of impulse juice purchases.

6. remember your wallet. I forgot mine yesterday and felt like such an idiot. 40 extra minutes later...

My favorite emergency dinner is tortellini. I buy fresh tortellini, freeze it, and it's ready for tortellini salad, tortellini primavera, or a quick soup by cooking all the odds and ends in the fridge and tossing in the tortellini. Other than that I always keep my pantry stocked with rice, beans, tomato products.

Would LOVE to hear more about readers' emergency meals. We just started down a paleo-like wormhole and while I try to be prepared for the week, inevitably we end up going out to a restaurant for a bunless burger and salad. Would love to have something quick/easy that I know I can fall back on for just such an occasion!

i love tip number 1. it took me a whole of ten adult years to realize how important it is to always have the basics. for my three person family it's eggs, milk (cows for the boys, soy for me), coffee, cheese and sourdough bread.

second to that list is a giant tub of baby spinach (or a giant bunch of kale when its available) which goes with everything, so if you're making the laziest of meals you can un-guilt it by tossing spinach under, on top or in your food and you're a rock star (kind of).

I'm OCD about grocery shopping, but it helps me to organize my list into sections of the store. So, I write down all the produce, then all the shelf-stable stuff, then meat. I organize it based on how I walk through my store. It does mean that I basically have to write out every grocery list twice, but at least I can do that from the comfort of my couch....and thus, save time when I'm AT the store.

Re: basics and emergency meals, my advice is to always have a hearty frozen vegetable on hand (spinach, kale, green beans, squash). That with beans, rice and any array of sauces is perfect in a pinch!

I actually love this! I hate trying to do a week at a time as well--it makes me feel stressed to try to plan a week's worth of meals at once and I always end up spending way more than I want to. I like the buy staples plus one awesome meal strategy! It fits better with my lifestyle and budget. I tend to hit the produce section first and get what I want there, and then I can think about the rest of what I "needed" in terms of "can I still afford it?" or "do I need it that badly?"

I also meal plan a week ahead of time. I make my list based off that plan, and then add staples that I buy every week for snacks, like apples, granola bars, yogurt etc. I then ask my SO if there's anything he wants/needs, and add it to the list (it's usually junk food that only he eats). Also I check the store ads to see if there's anything good worth stocking up on, like meats or pantry staples like pasta or chicken broth. I add those to the list. Once I'm in the store, I only buy what's on the list. This has helped both my wallet and my waistline, since I'm not buying impulse snacks that I'll gorge on later.

I go to the store either Friday after work (not my favorite time), or on Saturday mornings before noon when it's less busy. I hate having to stop in at my store on weeknights as I live in the burbs where almost everyone has kids, and let's face it, kids in a grocery store at dinner time is never pretty.

This may sound silly, but I learned everything I ever needed to know about grocery shopping from my Dad. He has always done the shopping on Friday nights and when I was little I would always go with him. He always organized the list by the store layout and informed me that "nothing in small packages is ever a good buy". These are words of wisdom I still use today!

We're trying to, if we can afford it, get away from the grocery store. It's hellish in so many ways. I somewhat disagree with shop when it's quiet, because in our store at least during quiet days they have exactly one register open. When it's busy I get out of there much faster because they're fully staffed.

We've experienced spoiled milk, our favorite products pulled and bad attitudes at our store and they used to give a discount for reusable bags, now they've killed that program.

We're going to try again to container grow food this spring and shop at the health food market even though it's expensive. We buy some basics at the grocery store but it's hard to stomach when they're so irresponsible and don't seem to care about quality.

For the user who spoke of starting paleo: a staple for me are roastable things (butternut squash, turnips, carrots, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, onions... etc). A little olive oil and pepper or other seasonings and some oven time and they're ready for breakfast with a fried egg, or other meals with almost anything. Cauliflower rice goes with almost anything as well. I usually keep a pound or two of ground meat around and then can season it with a lot of different things depending on what I want or what veggies are available.

As an addition to the shop "off hours" you should also try to avoid shopping immediately after peak hours... the fruit and veggie section can be picked over or entirely absent of some of the more popular things requiring a second trip.

@KT, shopping with my Dad is quite a different experience. He doesn't enjoy it, so he does it as quickly as possible. And I mean, if it were socially acceptable to RUN up and down the aisles, he would. My daughter told me he "I can't keep up with Grandpa in a store. He just whips stuff off the shelf and keeps moving! He doesn't even look." I actually like to meander through the market, but for those times when you're not into it, it really does help to treat it like making a raid.

@foxeslovelemons - I do this, too! It seems a bit OCD, but it seriously cuts down on forgetting an item that is buried at the bottom of a disorganized list, which saves me the time and frustration of having to go back to the store later.

I grew up with big family dinners and it's impossible for me scale down and cook just enough for my family of 3. So I often make double batches of sauces and stews (even quiche!) and freeze some. This makes emergency dinners easy and variable! I also did a lot of canning of sauces (like marinara, mole, chile verde) this last summer, which have come in handy.

My list has three sections: food, produce, and non-food, which helps with getting in and out faster and not forgetting things. I don't plan meals because I like to cook what I'm in the mood for, so I keep a lot of staples around and meat in the freezer; that stuff keeps a long time, so it pays to buy it ahead. Then I buy the veg that I use all the time, plus a bunch of whatever's on sale, and plan around that.

My emergency meal tends to be whole wheat spaghetti with tomato and meat sauce from the freezer. I've also got some single servings of casseroles and things in the freezer that I can pull out if I need to.

Plan your meals around what's on sale! It's so easy and it always bums me out to see people buying chicken breasts for $7/lb because "that's what they planned to cook," when they could have easily planned their dinner around the pork loin that happens to be on sale that week. For me, reading the supermarket ads is a sort of ritual: Every week, I see what protein and produce is on sale and I determine what to cook based on that. I end up saving a ton of money that way, and I'm never stuck in a rut eating the same thing week after week. Even "fancy" grocery stores like Whole Foods have sales!

I just figured out how to make an interactive document over the weekend, using Acrobat Pro and it's reader companion on my smartphone.

Essentially, it is a check box that I can click, or tap on when I go through my pantry etc and then can uncheck when at the store and I pick up said checked item and place it in my cart.

This is good for stuff I buy all the time, such as the staples like pasta, grains, beans, bread, milk etc. There will be a section where I can add ingredients for a dish that I don't have on hand and of course I will have spontaneous lists for stuff I run out of unexpectedly before shopping day.

This, I hope will help reduce the grocery bill(s), and help keep my kitchen better stocked with stuff so I can always cobble dinner together without having to hit the store every day for things outside of say, veggies.

Yes, exactly, emily! I can't fathom what people pay for chicken breasts. Living in NYC, I learned quickly that I'd only be able to survive if I shopped the sales, and, if i'm being honest, was willing to shop at more than one store (yes, it's a luxury to have several stores in a few-block radius). When boneless skinless breasts go on sale for $1.99/lb, I buy tons and store them. Not on sale yet and we're out? Looks like we may have to wait... I buy what's on sale and then at the beginning of the week, look in my freezer and see what's available. Then, during the week, I'll pick up fresh vegetables to supplement.

Quick/easy meals: omelets or frittatas chock full of spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. Salmon cooks up in a pinch. Also, white fish such as tilapia defrosts pretty quickly and cooks even quicker. As a paleo option, can dip it in egg and then in almond flour (or crushed nuts).

Agree with so many of these! I have the luxury of being a stay at home mom, but that also means making the most of our food budget. So, weekly sales are a must. Especially the BOGO meat sales (whole chickens, chicken breasts, pork butt, pork chops and chuck roasts) that our market runs about twice a month. Extras go in the freezer. I shop about three stores to get the best deals at each store (two of them weekly, Trader Joes about once a month). And we use our CSA share and farmer's market in the summers (not a luxury we have available in the winter). I keep the pantry stocked with canned tomato products, pasta, and beans. Oh, and BROTH. Soup is cheap and easy!

Always take a list. Never shop hungry. Ever.

Buy room temperature stuff first, then cold produce, then dairy, then freezer stuff.

In hot climates, take your cooler along in the cart and plop the cold stuff right in. Put the frozen stuff on top to let the cool air drift down over everything. Remember to pack a wet towel to keep your cooler cool for the 20 minute drive home.

It may take more time to make the list, but I completely agree with sorting your grocery list by section--produce, meat/fish, dry goods. I can't shop off-hours. This trick saves me as much time as possible in the crowded store.

My emergency meals are macaroni & cheese "especialle" - Annie's mac & cheese with a can of rotel tomatoes OR tartines (sounds fancy to me, but it's just an open-face sandwich). I can grab bread next door, smear it with greek yogurt, a little honey, smoked salmon, and green onions. Good stuff.

The freezer is your friend if you're doing paleo, since your dry goods pantry will shrink. Shopping for meat sales and having root vegetables and eggs on hand are great tips. Nomnompaleo keeps a defrost bowl in her fridge, which is great for planning – just take your protein for the next day out of the freezer and put it in the bowl before you go to bed.

My biggest budget and time saver has been to shop on my lunch break. The grocery store by my job is MUCH nicer than the one nearest my home. I build a list over time of things we run out of, and the night before I shop I think hard about 3-5 meals I want to make and add those ingredients. My list is mostly very detailed, with the only wiggle room being for sale items and produce (I try to buy the cheapest, in-season stuff), and I put it in the same order as the store. When I go on my lunch break there are fewer people, and I have a very specific time allotment (get to the store, shop, check-out, get back to work, and shove my perishables in the work fridge in under an hour). Once every few months I will go to a specialty store and take a long time to browse and think about all of the possibilities, but the regular shopping is quick.

Now my biggest problem is that I have been trying to incorporate coupons I find more into my shopping, but often the coupons require me to waste extra time searching for the specific product. It has brought the bill down a little more, and introduced a little more variety in our lives, but I haven't gotten it to be FAST like before.

Having a super-organized system when it comes to groceries should be a no-brainer. Seriously, it saves so much time and money. Having a weekly meal plan means you're not wasting time every night trying to decide what to make, and you're not going to the store every night. And having a super organized list means you're not back-tracking in the store, you're not forgetting things, and you're less likely to impulse shop (expensive!!)
Obviously people should come up with a system that works for them, but here's mine:
-make a list of things I already have that should be used up
-go online and look at the specials for the two grocery stores I visit, usually one will have better specials, and I'll shop there that week.
-make a list of interesting things on special (produce/meat especially)
-meal plan based on what I have, what's on special, and what I'm hungry for (and how poor I am that particular week) for a whole week, work lunches included. I use my pinterest food boards a lot for this.
-make a grocery list in order of the store (for real, it's worth the effort)

I'll probably spend 30 minutes to an hour meal planning and making a list, and then an hour shopping for the week and that's it. The thought of going to the store at 5:05 every day during the week makes me want to vom.

Another tip: don't shop when you're hungry (duh), but definitely DO the meal planning hungry. It's easier to come up with ideas!

We use Grocery IQ (app on our idevices, although you can also use it online) and it's helped in so many ways. It lets us keep "favorites" which I scan every week and can easily add to the list by checking them off. Both my husband and I can add to the list whenever we want, so less need to coordinate on shopping day. We can create lists for different stores and the app automatically assigns items to aisles so they are already organized. For the really OCD types, you can also organize each stores aisles so that they are ordered the way you shop them.

#6
Go han-SOLO,
no spose,
no kids,
ergo, no random things tossed into the carriage.
(works for me, anyway)

spouse

@jmirabel: So true!

Lol @ foxeslovelemons. I hear ya but there's no need to write that list twice, work smarter not harder! Mentally divide your list into sections depending our your store's layout, before you add the first item. For ex: the top left of my list is produce, the top right is meat, you get the pic. And btw, I'm not laughin at you, I'm laughing with you;)

My emergency meal is Japanese buckwheat noodle. It comes in bundles (15 or so bundles per box). One bundle is good for a meal for one. Cooking is just like pasta but much faster (it's a thin noodle). It can be eaten hot or cold. Buckwheat noodle is typically eaten cold by Japenese and Korean.

To flavor I just add a dash of soy sauce (or ponzu sauce), vinegar (white, apple, balsamic, salad, flavored, don't matter), sesame oil, and a pinch of salt. If you crave spicy, a dash of sriracha.

It is so simple, fast, healthy, and tasty that I can eat it every day and every meal. :-)

Mexian quesidillas are my emergency meal also. The only item I do not always have on hand are avacodos as they seem to have a short shelf. Although I do try and keep them in the fridge and set one out at a time for the fruit basket as needed. My market trips are around once a week.

I've found that the biggest hurdle (for me) on the weekly planning front is weather. If I don't look at the weather when I plan, I'll end up with warm weather food on stew days...and then I get take out. Instead, I weatherplan.

Also, get an extra freezer. Always make double of your recipes, and freeze the rest in portions. Then, when you get a good stock in there, assume that at least one night a week is a freezer week. Hectic night DONE!

I meal plan with a strict budget. I buy in bulk whenever possible, both bulk bins and at Costco. I shop the perimeter as much as possible and only go to the interior aisles if I need something like vinegar. I always have eggs on hand because they make a quick meal in case if emergencies. I used to coupon but found I was buying too much crap. Now I go to the more expensive local grocer and find that I'm spending less. And the produce is worlds better. I shop weekday mornings and keep my list in Evernote, so my husband can update it.

My husband and I have it down pat.

Weekly meal planning using what is available in the house, followed by what's on sale at our store, sometimes preempted by what we're craving.

Then we use Grocery IQ (they have a site, plus iOS apps) with a single log in for both of us. That way we have the exact same list at all times. It lets you store different stores, organize the list by aisles, store your favorites, etc.

Once our plan is made, we check what we need against what we have and make the list. Then one of us goes to the store early on Sunday morning to get all we need through Wednesday lunch, and the other goes Wednesday after work to get what we need through Saturday night.

We prep everything for storage as soon as we get home. Doing that cuts down on waste. We're definitely improving what we're throwing out.

Emergency meals for us tend to be Whataburger. So we're not doing it perfectly 100% of the time :)

I have a system that is different for keeping a grocery list. I have an iPhone5 that has SIRI. On the phone in the "Reminders" app I have a list named "Grocery". I have my phone on me all the time, like an arm or leg. When I run out or get low on a food item, I just raise my phone to my head and SIRI comes on, I speak into the phone and say "Add ITEM to my Grocery list" confirm item and I continue at what I was doing. At the store I bring up my grocery list. It is very fast and no pen and paper needed.

i have a note in evernote (it's an nice app) which is pretty much a checklist.

i divide the checklist into sections like produce, spices, bakery, etc. under each, i put items w/ a check box next to them.

now, here is the trick. if i buy an item, i never take it off the list. so, now i have a running list of pretty much everything i ever need. so, as the days go buy, i check off what i need. as i buy it, i remove the check.

took awhile to get right, but now it's just so simple. no re-writing lists.

When I'm meal planning for the week, I focus on using up what's already in the fridge, freezer and pantry, so I'm buying just one or two additional ingredients for each meal, and working against my tendency to hoard and overbuy. Really helps. And I also have "emergency meal" stuff on hand all the time (in our case that's usually mac n cheese or fried rice), as well as planning at least one of my meals that week to be super quick and easy to prepare.