I did go to BJs the day after my milk discovery.  Prior to the summer I had been going every 10-14 days.  But, this milk revelation got me thinking that maybe I could go only once a month, thereby cutting back on the driving.  So, that’s what I tried this week.

It had been almost a month since my previous trip.  That wasn’t on purpose as much as all the time in between was eaten up with the back to school schedule.  Below is my first attempt at once a month BJs shopping.

6 gallons 1% milk
6 gallons whole milk
2 packages (44) Babybel cheeses
4 lbs butter
3 dozen XL eggs
2 lbs frozen shrimp
2 packages (really 6 since they come in 3pks) chicken cutlets
8 lbs boneless/skinless chicken thighs
5 lbs thin sliced chicken
4 lbs ground turkey
4.5 lbs ground beef
3 lbs bacon
1 package (4) green peppers
10 lbs carrots
3 lbs (6) sweet potatoes
2 lbs (6) lemons
2 cases (16 cans) mandarin oranges
1 package (2 loaves) whole wheat bread
1 package (36) flour tortillas
1 package (16) hot dog buns
1 container chili powder
2 bottles BBQ sauce
1 package of 2 salsa/1 queso
2 bottles grape juice
2 flats (48 cans) pineapple juice
3 flats (96 cans) Coke

Note that I’m only discussing food here.  The big thing I learned from this attempt is that my cart fills up fast only shopping once a month.  I’ll need to plan better next time and maybe do all the non-perishables first plus paper goods, etc; put them in the car; and then go through again.  This would still be better than driving there and back twice.  And, it is manageable with just the little one in the cart. It won’t work nearly as well when school is out and I have to take the older ones, but they can push the second cart for me.

I plan to do a fridge/freezer/pantry audit before my next trip.  I probably should have done a more thorough job of this before this trip, but I didn’t and I’m not digging everything I just put away back out.  So, I’ll check back in on this subject in a month and we’ll see how much of this we actually used.

I knew I would need to do a lot of grocery shopping when we returned from our summer travels.  This would primarily be at BJs and Stop & Shop.  I made lists for both and, after a long debate, decided Stop & Shop would be the priority and get done first.  This was a harder decision that it might seem because we drink about a gallon of milk a day and milk at BJs had been enough cheaper than Stop & Shop that I went there whenever possible to buy it.  But, Stop & Shop had more of the things I really needed coming back to a rather empty fridge so it seemed better to go their first and eat the extra cost of a few gallons of milk.

I was thrilled to discover when I got there that milk had been reduced from $2.89 to $2.49 per gallon through Christmas.  That matches BJs price so I won’t have to drive the extra distance to BJs.  But, since I was going to BJs the next day anyway, I only bought 2 gallons (1% for most of us and whole for the little ones).

The math shows that if I do go to BJs I should buy all my milk there.  I get gas points at Stop & Shop.  So, for every $100 I spend, I get $0.10 off my gas purchase.  My minivan takes 18 gallons of gas, so $0.10/gallon * 18 gallons = $1.80 off for every $100 I spend on milk.  But, I get 2% back or $2.00 per $100 at BJs so that puts me slightly ahead.  If my car took 20 gallons, I’d come out even.  But, since BJs is roughly 20 miles further from my house, I’ll be buying most of my milk at the grocery store for a while, at least.