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I aim for once a week but it usually ends up being twice per week. Although, less in the summer time...when my garden is brimming with produce.

I go to the farmer's market twice a week and also to the store twice a week. Once fall sets in, my family is much busier and I will only go once a week and stock up. I love to shop for food so that is one of my favorite things to do in the summer.

I'm moving back to the city and giving up my car. I have no idea how to grocery shop without a car. I have a feeling I'll just go out everyday for what I need. tips are needed for urban food procurment.

I tend to hit the farmer's market once a week and the grocery store for pantry items every 10 days.

I get groceries just about every day, a side effect of having had a very small fridge for many years and having no car. I can cook to suit my mood, items on special at the store, or based on the day's food blog reading.

It might take up a lot of time, but stocking up has never worked for me. I'd end up missing things, strange leftover quantities of ingredients, or lots of produce going bad in the fridge.

Almost every day. I live in Holland & don't have a car, so the groceries are either walked or biked home. I'm from Texas, so it used to be every 1-2 weeks with a pile full of stuff in the car. I like smaller, more frequent trips... I like being able to think about what I want for dinner in the morning & then go get exactly what I'm in the mood for. I also go to the farmer's market every Friday where I can get fresh fruits & veggies, special cheeses, fish, etc.

we do a run to the local awesome grocery (berkeley bowl) and one to TJ's every weekend, and on Tuesdays I hit the farmer's market. We usually only go out if we're too tired/starving to cook when we get home. Sometimes you just have to have a burrito!

Mally - get two reusable shopping bags that fit comfortably over your shoulder (I like the GreenBags with the hard insert for the bottom). Make a serious list and stick to it, using a hand-basket only to shop! A bag slung over each shoulder is surprisingly easy to manage, though I did used to feel like a pack animal. I could pretty much manage on 2 trips per week. I almost miss on-foot grocery shopping...

I go to Polk St. Produce in San Francisco every Sunday - the owner has the best little store with mostly an array of fresh produce he gets every two days and then a really solid dairy/drinks case and dry goods selection. Plus he knows his stuff - he sees me picking up a pluot and tells me to put it down and get the white peaches because they're the best this week. I still go to the farmer's market sometimes but I like him better. And he's cheap if you're buying in-season items.

So I do that every Sunday, then to a regular grocery every couple of weeks or so for big stock-up items like seasonings/salt/meats/frozen goods/booze/canned goods - don't have to do this often. I usually can make great lunches and dinners each week this way.

I live in teh city so a Scooter is the best way to go. If you dont have that - also keep a couple grocery bags on you at all times. Safeway was selling these ones that fold into wallet size. Very handy.

I wish we could shop every day and by just what we need and cook what we want. Buying groceries once a week may save on gas but it requires too much meal planning and tracking of what we have/need. At least once a week my wife tosses out something that went bad before we could use it all up.

Mally, I second what akostalas said and add "Skip the soda!" I'm trying to kick my habit because I'd like to bike to the grocery store and 24 packs are too much of a pain to handle.

I go to TJ's, Peet's and the Farmer's market on the same day.

I also second the comment about using the basket to carry around. Even though I have a car, I still need to get the bag up the stairs from my garage. I use the "If I can't carry it, I don't take it" rule that I use on travel as well. When I lived in NYC and walked, I didn't get delivered food, etc. because I didn't have a doorman and I didn't want my perishables getting perish-y waiting for the guy to get to my place. Before I moved to NY, I wondered how people got salmonella poisoning, then I saw eggs sitting on the sidewalk in cases, waiting to get stored into the Food Emporium and said, "now I get it."

I have a grocery just a few blocks from my apartment, conveniently beside the subway. Since I live alone, I don't like to buy too much produce at once as it tends to go bad before I get to it - it's just much easier to stop in for a couple things every few days.

We don't have a car, and I make a point of patronizing local businesses. The easy farmer's markets run Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. The university butcher shop is only open on Fridays. Everything else (the Korean grocery, the Chinese grocery, Trader Joe's and the university dairy) is open every day.

I do most of my grocery shopping on my bike, and it usually works out to 2-3 trips per week. One luxury is cinnamon rolls from a baker at the Saturday market (tho about half the time that's the *only* item on the list for Saturday). Then the other two trips will let me pick up what I need for the week's planned meals. I don't usually run out to grab something I hadn't planned... if I forgot it, I revise the plan to use more pantry staples.

Some weeks will be more than 3 trips. I get rice, beans, flour and sugar in bulk, so if they've run out, I might not be able to carry everything on my bike in one trip.

(I will do emergency runs for coffee or tea... being out of one or the other is a dire fate that leads to much gnashing of teeth, wailing and pouring ashes on the head. Very stressful. And I'm so desperate to get the caffeine that it's all I can think of, so anything else is liable to fall out of my head.)

Farmer's market once a week, regular store once a week (sometimes I can stretch to once every two weeks). I did not include the occasional run to the great bakery for French bread. I am a busy grad student, so I cook in big batches once or twice a week. Keeps the house cooler too.

If you have someplace to store it, a trike with a huge basket in front or behind can hold a weeks worth of food easily.

Like some other posters, I have a small refrigerator and can't stock up as much as I'd like. I also have to shop on a bicycle so I can't carry all that much (I don't have a car). I try to do one big trip once a week, but often have to go a second time plus little trips to a small shop for milk every other day. Milk is only sold by the liter in Japan and I can't store more than 3 liters.

We make one trip a week to stock up on essentials... But I work at a grocery store, so I'm constantly grabbing what's on special, or markdown, or whatever we've run out of the night before.

During the summer, I go weekly and buy almost everything from the farmer's market. I'm also lucky to have a year-round market so I will go in the winter but have to supplement from the grocery store.

I love seeing all these people without cars! I ditched my car when i moved downtown in philly and sometimes i miss it (like when i buy groceries lol), but mostly i've learned to be more picky about what im buying.
like others said, i get a basket and fill it up with the things i actually will need for the week or near future. I realize now that when i had my car i would stock up on items just because they were on sale, and end up with a bunch of food i didn't really need. So now i go with my 2 large reusable bags, and just buy the essentials. I think overall i spend a lot less on groceries now than i ever did before.

I get a CSA basket every three weeks, and it's a lot of food, so we really only pop into the grocery store occasionally for ice cream or something like that. I do hit the farmer's market almost every Saturday though...

I buy most things for the week at once, but then end up making trips every few days to get more bananas and bagels.

In Baltimore, we have this huge, awesome farmers' market on Sundays, so I'm getting in the habit of going there for produce, jams, honey, flowers, and seafood. Then Food Hole (WFM) or the nearby grocery for other stuff like grains, special items, etc.

Regular grocery (drive) - once a week (usually Saturday)

neighborhood smaller market - once a week (usually mid-week, like Wednesday or Thursday. Only for >5 things for that nights supper)

Whole Foods - about 1x a month

I go to the Star Market once a week with my sweetie; we go on foot and bring re-useable bags.

We've also had groceries delivered in Boston. Pea and the Pod charged an 8 dollar service fee, but the food and household items were all cheaper than what I pay in the store. Plus, we ended up with a full freezer of Hagan Daaz (2 for 4!). The number of plastic bags they used was outrageous, but it saved us a hike in snow and ice, and a walk up 5 flights of stairs.

I get my Cliff bars delivered every month through Amazon Grocery; they offer free shipping, and a price way below local retail if you enroll in their subscription service. I highly recommend it for harder to find items that you use every day.

Big backpacks also do the trick when carrying groceries home on foot or subway. Put the heavy stuff in the backpack and lighter stuff in a couple reusable bags.

We don't have a car, so I buy as much as I can carry comfortably (max two light bags), and every once in a while we borrow a car and head to Safeway to stock up on things like organic meats and canned stuff and soda and the like.

But I go every other day, sometimes less, sometimes every day, depending on our eating plans (eating at home or eating out..)

Rambling!

I also am going to try the backpack-thing, it would seem like the ergonomic way. Or buy one of those grandma-trollies...

I go every day, for fruit that I hadn't noticed or didn't want squished packed among bulkier items; for milk or eggs or butter since my partner is always baking something; for meat for dinner or a roasted chicken if we want to spoil ourselves; or for a spice that has captured my imagination. It helps that we live within a few blocks of four grocery stores and an excellent farmers market. Shopping for groceries fascinates me, and it's part of my day's routine--to say hello to neighbors or friends, to get out of the house and think about that day's food, or just to take a walk.

I go once a week. Luckily, I'm one block away from a large Stop & Shop supermarket and take my shopping cart.

Once a week, usually at the Whole Foods that is near the pick-up for our CSA; depending on what's in the share, usually just need to get eggs, orange juice, grains, etc. Once a month or so, there's a trip to Costco for meat, whatever produce looks good and can be consumed/stored quickly (ie, those big bags of red bell peppers), cleaning products and toiletries, etc. Occasionally, go to the co-op that has an excellent selection of bulk items, for dried fruit, whole grains, flours, spices. I am very lucky to have use of a car for getting my groceries, but I make an effort to combine those trips with other errands.