What Does Your Cart Look Like?

Roman sits in the seat, the rest is filled to the brim. Bread, fruits, and veggies go on the bottom closet to me, cases of water and huge bags of dog food on the bottom facing away. It gets heavy and overflowing REAL quick. The ladies at my grocery store joke all the time that I have a family of 10, and 8 are grown men... because we go through so much food! I do get a lot of compliments though on the amount of fresh produce I buy... especially when there's a mom behind me with nothing but cookies, chips, and other junk in her cart ;) LOVE some fresh produce!! :)

I try to keep it organized. Grouped by items: Cold stuff together, produce, canned goods, large stuff on the bottom rack.

Weird how the produce is first in the store them the gallons of milk need to be crammed somewhere last!

I'm a little OCD about putting my items on the belt in a specific way. I've gotta unload like with like so the right stuff is packaged together. So it's bagged the right way. Frozen stuff, produce, cans, boxes, cold, etc.

Well, it depends. My 17 month old doesn't like a regular cart, a rocket ship cart, OR the funky carts they have at Target. Right now, what she likes is the cart with the "infant seat" attached...who knows why. So we usually take that, and my six year old takes one of the mini kiddie carts.

It usually gets filled to the overflow point. And it's funny...the people at one grocery store must think we are the HEALTHIEST eaters in the world, and the people at WalMart must think we're a bunch of couch potatoes, because that's how our groceries split up...health food, fresh meats/fruits/veggies/organics/gluten free at one store, and at WalMart? Snacks, canned goods, pop, and freezer stuff, because it's cheaper there. :)

I am like Denise as well. You can't put frozen peas in a bag with mac n cheese!!

I don't take my kids to the store for the exact reasons you stated. It is too much! Plus, I am a label reader. I don't just pick up any old thing and throw it in my cart. So, shopping for me takes hours.

My husband hates going to the store as a family, but he will go alone. So, my trick - send him with a list. He gets what we need and ONLY what we need. We have saved $150 per month on grocery because he goes instead of me. I am more of an impulse grocery buyer than he is. Works beautifully!

Hubby also goes once every two weeks. We get enough food to stock up for that long, sometimes longer. It really is worth it to do it that way, and I think you save money by not going into the store multiples times in a week. We do have to make a trip during the week sometimes for fresh produce and milk, but we make those trips short and to the point!

I let the kids or grandkids choose the cart.

I used my trips into the world as a chance to bond and teach my kids. My trips to the grocery store or Walmart and K-mart were part of my kids educational experience.

I had 8 kids and took my kids with me so I could teach them how to shop AND to give my wife a break. To me, wise shopping is a valuable skill and I wanted to pass that on to my kids. My mom not only took me shopping, but she wouldn't just tell me yes or no, she would tell me why. The "why" was the most important part. I learned from the why.

I chose to pass that on to my kids. Some learned well and practice it. Some did not.

My cart is not organized. I stop by the discount bins first, then the discount section in the meat department and produce department. Then I get what's on sale that I came in for. The cold and frozen stuff goes in last and gets checked out and bagged first. Most of the "box boys" put the cold with the cold, frozen with the frozen, eggs, bread and tomatoes are on top.

I seldom spend $25 now. I seldom spent more than $75 when I had 8 kids at home.

Good luck to you and yours.

I hit the frozen food, dairy and produce section last - even though produce is usually the first section in a store...

I do NOT like to have my eggs and produce buried under cans or jars...no thank you.

I'm anal about my cart - since my kids don't sit in the cart anymore - bread and eggs go in the seat and are last on the belt.

Frozen items are together - veggies stacked on top of each other and if I buy frozen pizzas or anything like that - they go next to them. My milk is then next to that to keep all the cold stuff together....like the Sunny D or Limeade they go next to the milk.

Pastas (spaghetti, noodles, etc.) and rice go by the cereal boxes and oatmeal.

since I usually shop at the same store - the bagger knows that I keep my stuff together...things that go upstairs in one bag and things that go downstairs in another...

I don't think I've ever filled two carts for a family of 4. wow!! I usually spend about $200 every 2 weeks...this does not include beer and wine.

We go every Fri after dinner and swimming lessons. Always try to have dinner first cause there is nothing worse than going shopping when you are hungry.
:-) Its only my dd and me so we usually only fill half or 3 quarters of the cart. I am bad though as we don't usually buy a lot of naughty treats but if we do I hide them under all the fresh produce in case we bump into someone we know. hee hee. My dd has never noticed me doing this though. I'm surprised thats she has never asked why I am shoving the Ben & Jerry;s Phish Food to the bottom of the cart!!! lol

I go to the store every other day or sometimes daily and buy what I need that way. I am a single mom with 3 kids so our schedule is busy and always changing and I can never figure out where we will be during dinner time so this works best for us. I find doing it this way for our family is best because we don't waste so much food and it's easier for me because I can make a quick 10 minute trip to the store after work before I pick the kids up.

The rocketship cart doesn't hold as much as a regular cart! (At least not the ones at Giant -- which is where we shop when we are in Alexandria, VA). I learned that the hard way on our last trip in June. Hear your weather is not so great these days - hope it improves soon! C.

PS We are a family of four, two boys, ages 5 and 1 plus an 11 year old cat. I fill a cart weekly - regular size:)

I make a list as the week goes on. Its a large notecard in a place on the kitchen counter that hubby and teen daughter know where its at. I am constantly telling them to write what they want or need on it. I will plan some meals and seek the items in my very full cabinets and write what I actually need to the list as well. I actually write things in a certain spot on it. They have yet to determine any system to it, so it needs redoing before I acutally go shopping (It HAS to be right or I go bonkers...OCD behaviors? maybe? I think I just like what I like!). I am prepared when I go (but am not really a couponer).

I go to Sams Club, then Cub Foods every single Sunday Afternoon. If I need to make a run to Target, I do that first (maybe once a month). My Sams Club cart will have laundry supplies, paper towels and TP, cereal, crackers, canned things like diced tomatoes and some veggies, Splenda in the 1000 packet box, seasonings, gum for hubby, 90% ground beef, other beef, shredded cheese, yogurt, lots of fresh fruit/salad fixings and the light bread I like. Sometimes other stuff, but those are my staples I always buy there when I am about 2 weeks from running out. I ahve been spolied by a Saturday morning Farmers Market option for fresh veggies (mostly...sometimes fruits and other things) all summer but I think this might be the last weekend?)

Then to Cub to get the rest of my fresh produce, meat, some canned goods and smaller specific recipe items not available at Sams club.

I am a stock up person on many things so some weeks my carts are plum full at both places, and other weeks maybe half full. I always have to go shopping tho, as I always need bread and milk and fresh fruit. I do have enough stock, however, that if I am sick, etc, I can send hubby to just get milk, eggs and list a few fruit items specifically and he can get those and we can wing our way thru at least week.

When I bag the stuff, I have my own bags (altho I take their bags cuz I use them around my house for trash and recycle bags!). I put my cold stuff together, etc. Occasionally hubby comes with (like now as I have an injury) and he is like a ninja packer! He has it down to even more of a science than me (and can pack the bags heavier as he is stronger than I).

I do home childcare for 6 kids, plus my family of 3.

My cart is not organized. We start at one end of the store and work our way to the other. So bread usually ends up on the bottom and squished. We shop once or twice a month (lately) so our cart is pretty full. we spend about $100 if we haven't gone in a month and have a very full cart

Wow only once every 2 weeks! We have a grocery store in town and we go at least 2x per week. I prefer it so that I do not have so much to carry and getting forgotten about in the fridge. We used to not have a grocery store in our own town and I had to drive about 30 minutes to the nearest one, and then shop for an hour, and drive back, so at that time I would get huge loads. I so much prefer going more often to get the meat and milk and fresh bread when I need it. If I went once every 2 weeks, I would need 2 carts I think!