Grocery Shopping for a Large Family

Sometimes people don't grasp the reality of what grocery shopping means to a woman who shops for a family of ten. I might throw in there that of those ten family members, three of them are teenage boys. I do my bulk grocery shopping once a month and stock up on things that can be stored on the shelf, frozen, or purchased for cheaper when I buy in bulk. Things I purchase monthly include:

8lbs of ground beef

10lbs of assorted pork chops, ribs, and roasts

20lbs of chicken breasts and a few fryers

10 dozen eggs

4-6lbs of bacon or sausage

16lbs of cheddar cheese

8-10 packages of assorted lunch meats

25 packages of assorted frozen vegetables

200 diapers

Throughout the month, I make a bi-monthly trip to the produce market in town in order to stock up on fresh vegetables and fruit that my family eats a ton of. My neighbor works next to an Alpine bread store in town and  he brings me home day old bread that sells for $.50 -$1 per loaf for both families. I store my bread in my deep freezer. I have an extra fridge in the garage where I store our milk, cheese, and eggs for the month, but between the bread store, the produce market and my neighborhood grocery store, I usually purchase:

8 gallons of milk

15 loaves of bread

30 boxes of cold cereal

20 each of apples, oranges, plums, and/or peaches

25lbs onions, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, and assorted vegetables

Once a year, with my tax refund, we stock up on sundries like toilet paper, razors, shampoo, soap, medicines, etc. That is  a fun trip and we get a lot of funny looks and teasing from our friends, but I’m tough, I can take it. This is the funnest trip as it usually requires two flat carts at Costco and 2 grocery carts at WalMart:

250 rolls of toilet paper

48 bottles each of shampoo and conditioner

36 bottles of liquid shower soap

54 rolls of paper towels

I think you get the picture, and this is just the big stuff; anyone want to go shopping with me? It will make you look at your grocery bill in a whole other light. Don’t get me started on the cost of gas to fill up my 15 passenger van every week just to do my shopping trips...