Do you find

No, I don't make the menu that far ahead, nor do I buy groceries to fit a menu. I make the menu after buying what was on sale. Your method of your giving the family a voice in what you buy, however, and it is also probably true that fewer trips to the store each month result in less impulse buying if other people shop together with you. Of course there are a few items that go on a list of things we call staples, such as milk, mayo, etc., but even then, if the price is not right, sometimes we just use an alternate such as if sour cream is too high, we buy plain yogurt instead. We don't eat conventionally, and almost never do the 3 meals a day bit, but then we have no growing children to nurture We plan our grocery trips in a cost-saving order, stopping at the dollar stores first, and then if they don't have what we need, we check to see if it is on sale at the least expensive store first. We save the regular market until last and there we only buy absolute necessities and leader items. We learned to shop this way when we were young and poor and the habit just stuck with us.

we go grocery shopping every other week and i usually have a general idea in regards to the meals we will be having over those two weeks. i find this helps because as you say, you dont buy a whole lot of junk that you dont need. i dont know that i could do it for a whole month though. it would take some practice.

I usually make out weekly menus and stick to my grocery list. That, along with coupons saves me quite a bit.

Actually no. I save more money buying groceries weekly. As I plan the menu around what kind of deals I can get. My husband even realized this after I got him to start going grocery shopping with me alot more.

I've never been organised enough to manage to make a week's menus in advance, let alone a month's worth! I salute you for doing so! I buy a pretty much the same list of items each time I shop then top them up with stuff from the garden. I hate shopping, so I buy lots infrequently to avoid running out. I don't think we use more because I don't know what I'm cooking in advance though. I always look in the fridge for inspiration before I start, and incorporate anything that needs using up so there's not really any waste.

I try to plan menu's after I have already purchased the groceries. I tend to buy what is on sale. If I have shopped at Sam's Club recently I will make a menu from what I have purchased there. I need to really tighten up on our shopping. Recently with the 5 of us it has become quite expensive to feed all of us. When the kids were younger I made menu's frequently. I need to get back to it. I also need to use what I have on hand. I tend to want a particular meal and I will go out and purchase something that I need for it if I do not have it. Not very frugal at all!