How to Manage Grocery Shopping on 1-week TS trips

[slank]

Help! I am sure many of you have figured this out:

Will it just take practice to determine how not to over-buy groceries on time-share trips? We inevitably feel "trapped" to eat-in all meals on Thursdays and Fridays to use up the leftover food we purchased at the local grocery store on day 1 of our trip...no matter how hard I try to plan.

Do veterans just toss the extra out and enjoy the vacation?

Any advice?

 

[Transit]

We usually eat breakfast in those Items are mostly low cost and don't hurt if you have to toss them.Lunch is mostly out. If we cook dinners in the room we try to plan maybe 3 dinners for the week and just get enough groceries for that..All we usually get stuck with is snacks and leftovers ,nothing of value not hard to toss .If i'm driving everything comes home with me .

 

[geekette]

I would definitely say it takes practice.

Usually there are just 2 of us and I figure we'll have 3 dinners and figure in leftovers (usually becomes a lunch). If I fall short, no problem, go back to the store. I do not consider grocery shopping to be a big annoyance and would rather go a couple times than make a major overstock problem for ourselves. I don't want to go every day, of course, but 3 times in the course of a week is ok by me.

Also don't want to feel guilty going out for another dinner if I have a pile of food back at the unit.

On check out morning, we always have french toast in an effort to finish off bread, milk and eggs ; )

 

[MULTIZ321]

We donate the extra food to the cleaning staff.



Richard

 

[swift]

We usually eat breakfast in those Items are mostly low cost and don't hurt if you have to toss them.Lunch is mostly out. If we cook dinners in the room we try to plan maybe 3 dinners for the week and just get enough groceries for that..All we usually get stuck with is snacks and leftovers ,nothing of value not hard to toss .If i'm driving everything comes home with me .

We pretty much do the same thing. We usually have pancakes, eggs, french toast at the TS. As a family of 5 it kills me to pay a restaurant for breakfast when it can be made so cheaply at home. We go out for lunch since often you can get the same items on the dinner menus only in smaller portions and cheaper. Then we have cold cuts or spaghetti for dinner. Saying that we almost always have at least one dinner out as part of an excursion like a luau or some sort of diner show. By the time our week is up the food left over is usually the small bottles of condiments that we end up leaving behind.

 

[talkamotta]

For me, it depends on how many are going and where you are going and when you are going to reach your destination. You have to declare certain food items if you are going to Hawaii, etc.

We always take some spices, coffee, foil, laundry soap, ziplock bags with us. Some timeshares have laundry soap. If we are reaching our destination late, I will bring a box of cereal and just grab some milk along the way. That way I dont go shopping when Im hungry the next day.

My son lives in Florida, but him and a few of thier friends own condos in Salt Lake and rent them out weekly. Every so often, I have to clean one of the condos. Its amazing what I have to throw out. If its opened its garbaged.
Sometimes Im lucky and I get a free beer or 2. Most of the time there isnt much left, so they planned well. One time I had to throw out a real expensive bottle of tequilla and it was hardly touched. That made me sad.

 

[Ann-Marie]

We always buy less than we think we will need. If we run short on the last day, we either get take out, go out, or eat what ever odds and ends are left over. I always bring zip lock bags and rubber bands. If there is an open cereal, if I have room, I put it in my suitcase. I also bring some packets of coffee mate so if we run short of milk for coffee the last day, I use the coffee mate. Cookies, cheese, crackers, we bring on the plane with us. I have even carried home an unopened artichoke and spinach dip in the carry on. We had it when we got home.

 

[barndweller]

It does take some experience. I take a supply of zip locks, foil & spices & seasonings in my suitcase. Like others have mentioned, we buy mostly snacks & breakfast fixings and limit the dinner purchases to 2 or 3 simple to fix menus. We also make good use of the ready-to-go offerings at most supermarket delis. That way we only buy what we will consume & not have to do as much cooking but still save money over eating in a restaurant everyday. We always barbeque steaks once and perhaps chicken another night. We then shop again mid week or so after assessing what we have used so far. We find the condiments are what we can't use up, the things like mustard, mayo, pickles, steak sauce, syrup, jam and cooking oil that we just can't do without. We only get small containers of most perishables like milk, butter, sour cream, eggs, etc. and buy more during the week if we run out too soon. Sometimes our last meal is all snack foods and done up as a big relish dish with lunch meats, pickles, sliced up fruit, etc. I've even packed some things home if I'm not afraid it will explode in my suitcase! I brought home the tiny bottle of vanilla that my DH insisted he needed to make his fancy french toast. No way was I tossing that costly item out. It made it home safely packed in my DH's golf shoe.

 

[lprstn]

We have 4 kids and have this down to a science. We buy breakfast products, and dinner meals that come with all the fixings (ie: pizza, Quick prep frozen meals) we only purchase 3 dinner meals, and do sandwiches (grilled cheese/hotdogs/P&B (already preped) for lunch. We purchase fruits/water/and carryon drinks. If have extra left over (which is not common) we just toss out the perishables and bring the rest on the ride home.

 

[Lisa P]

We buy just enough food for 3 days for our family.

Usually, that suffices for our whole timeshare week, except perhaps for a little fresh produce and milk later in the week. Since we expect to get that later anyway, buying an extra meal's ingredients or an extra box of cereal at the same time is fine.

We enjoy having dinner out at a nice local restaurant on our last evening of the trip. On check-out morning, it's just bagels or cereal and coffee or juice, since DH usually likes to break up the (sometimes downer of a) long drive home with a stop at a sitdown restaurant. So by midday of our last full day of vacation, we want to have cleared out almost all the food. We have a use-up-the-leftovers hodgepodge for lunch that day or for dinner the night before.

With kids, you never really know if they're entering a ravenous growth spurt or if they're starting a pickier phase. Now that our three are all in their late teens, we don't always know if they'll be doing everything with us or taking off for more of their own activities and eating more out. So food planning is just as hard. By only buying enough for 3 days at the outset, we can be flexible with changes in plans, weather, etc.... and we don't waste as much food or money.

 

[Ann-Marie]

As far as condiments, I save the ones in little packets throughout the year, and take them along with us. I can use them as chicken marinades and salad dressings as well in a pinch. I usually pack a small container of Mrs. Dash granualted seasoning to add to the condiment packages.

 

[ownsmany]

great thread. I always tend to overbuy the groceries.

We always eat in the ts - as the kids are picky.

Even though we overbuy - we still save tons of money instead of having dinners out.

I should say I don't cook much at home (work schedule). so on vk I cook, and enjoy it.

 

[Andar]

Just curious, when you say leave the extra food, are you saying in the fridge or cupboards or are you saying you toss unopened?
I have wondered if I leave something unopened will housekeeping staff get to keep it if they want; or do they have to toss it?

 

[JudyS]

Where I've run into problems is where I don't have a car and have to rely on a service (like www.wegoshop.com) to buy food for me. Since there is a fee for the service, I try to get everything I need in one trip. And, since I have a lot of strict dietary needs, I don't want to run short. I have had times when I felt bad leaving stuff unused. I've gotten better at it with practice. Soon, I will have a Disney trip where I will only have a car for the first few days. We'll see how well I do!

I also plan to buy a lot of small stuff from www.minimus.com I think I'll just have them mail it to the resort.

Just curious, when you say leave the extra food, are you saying in the fridge or cupboards or are you saying you toss unopened?
I have wondered if I leave something unopened will housekeeping staff get to keep it if they want; or do they have to toss it?

I've wondered that, too.

 

[djs]

Although it's a shame to have to waste food, its also a shame to waste money. If one can save $100 by buying food instead of eating out every meal, but at the same time wind up "wasting" $25 because there was food left over, I don't see it as being the end of the world.

I do belive that the staff will take anything unopened and don't lose sleep over that. It's very difficult to plan/manage so that there is nothing left over...though for the life of me I can't quite grasp why booze would left over

 

[swift]

Soon, I will have a Disney trip where I will only have a car for the first few days. We'll see how well I do!

The picture in my signature shows me wearing a backpack cooler at Walt Disney World. I made reservations for our lunches and brought snacks and sandwiches for later in the night. Worked out great! We all took turns carrying it. It wasn't that bad. I also froze water bottles that defrosted through the day to help keep things cold.

 

[JudyS]

The picture in my signature shows me wearing a backpack cooler at Walt Disney World. I made reservations for our lunches and brought snacks and sandwiches for later in the night. Worked out great! We all took turns carrying it. It wasn't that bad. I also froze water bottles that defrosted through the day to help keep things cold.

I though coolers were only allowed at the Disney water parks, not the main Disney theme parks. I have never tried to bring a cooler into the main Disney parks, although I do just about always bring in some small snacks, because it's hard for me to find food in the parks that I can eat. I'm lucky that coolers can be brought to the water parks; they really have just about nothing there I can eat.

It used to be that Disney was pretty strict about not allowing food into the main parks. However, I think they decided to loosen the food restrictions so they could focus on searching for items that might pose a security risk. If they had lots of people trying to find ways of sneaking food past the security guards, it would cause a lot of problems, and make it harder to search for real contraband.

 

[UWSurfer]

I'm sort of laughing to myself as I read this. We're now on day 1 @ HHV after hopping over from the Big Island staying six days. We had a heck of a time getting here with the local traffic and it seemed like we kept having one thing after another keep us from getting here.

We made out a menu before we left and planned to BBQ a number of things this week, that is until we asked where the BBQ grills are at this resort. THERE AREN'T ANY!

So our menu goes out the window, we're starving and went to Costco with an hour before closing. To save time we grab some pizza slices outside & sodas intending to eat and shop where we're told there's no food or drink allowed brought in. Not that we make a habit of this, just trying to save time and sanity. So we wolf down our slices, dump our cups and race through the store still a little hunger crazed, somewhat ticked at the day and improvising our menu all at the same time. I will say now there are four of us...$250 worth of food later we left. I'll also add that none of it was alcohol either.

We are going to have LOTS and lots of meals "in" this week!

Last week at the Bay Club because of the limited week we had due to flight delays coupled with easter, we actually bought less than we consummed and left very little there. It should be an interesting week.

 

[DeniseM]

e I will only have a car for the first few days. We'll see how well I do!

I also plan to buy a lot of small stuff from www.minimus.com I think I'll just have them mail it to the resort.

This link takes me to a picture of a mouse with the caption, "Minimus, the mouse who made Latin cool!" Just how much Latin do you really need on vacation?

 

[pcgirl54]

We buy food for 2-3 days at a time and now there are two of us. I would still do this even if we had our children with us. Normally eat breakfast in but always eat breakfast at the beach on Day 1. We eat lunch out the most as it is at least 1/3 less than dinner. Depending on the market some make fresh subs there or have decent ready meals that come out less than buying the seperate items and cooking.

In our suitcase we take in plastic bags -sample size laundry detergent,coffee filters,tea bags,wet ones,sugar packets,
disposable S & P,ziploc baggies 2 sizes and some folded saran wrap or foil (BBQ)to cover any leftovers. Pam spray would be a nice addition for cooking. I know someone mentioned that in a past thread.

We also take a collapsable cooler that fits in the suitcase and a couple of those small packs that freeze for the beach for our excursions.

 

[barndweller]

Ah, yes. No barbeques! I hate that. Some of the nicer branded resorts don't have any. I think they expect the clientele to always eat out in their fancy on-site restaurants.

We just returned from Pono Kai in Kauai and they have a big box in the lobby with a sign for donations to the local food bank. We had some un-opened items & some fresh veggies & fruits we put in the box. Our neighbor came over & offered us their ice cream & some eggs, butter & such because they were checking out. We would have taken it but it was our check-out morning, too.

We also have a collapsable cooler. We use it to transport cold & frozen items during the hours between check-out at one resort & check-in at the next place on multi-week trips. We always go for at least 2 weeks and often have to change resorts.

 

[slank]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

I appreciate the advice! http://www.minimus.biz looks like it will be a great option for our family, especially with the free shipping for orders over $20.

 

[geekette]

...I should say I don't cook much at home (work schedule). so on vk I cook, and enjoy it.

Glad to know I'm not the only one! Thru the years I've seen many post that they refuse to cook on vacation. That's cool, but it's nice to have the time to do it as I also enjoy it.

Plus, my home kitchen is tiny. I like having the spacious kitchen in most ts units. And not having to do a lot of digging to make it to the cookware...

 

[pjrose]

Just curious, when you say leave the extra food, are you saying in the fridge or cupboards or are you saying you toss unopened?
I have wondered if I leave something unopened will housekeeping staff get to keep it if they want; or do they have to toss it?

Our TS suggests leaving food for the housekeeping staff - they definitely keep it. We toss leftovers, but leave unopened food as well as whatever seems still usable. That's usually a few pieces of fruit, some canned sodas, maybe a half loaf of bread, a bag of chips, box of cookies, some dishwashing detergent, half-roll of plastic wrap.....

 

[pjrose]

We keep a list on the computer, including what we didn't use as well as what we did and what would helpful to have next time.

We bring zip-top plastic bags, plastic leftover containers that we can leave behind (like the ones sliced lunchmeat come in), DH's preferred type of coffee, granola bars, and favorite spices that we've transfered to small plastic containers (e.g. pill bottles).

We buy cereals, cookies, milk, sodas, juice, chips, fruit, onions, cheese, bread, butter, ketchup, rice, maybe instant mashed potatoes and a can of gravy, canned beans, canned corn, and soups. All is available at a good-sized mini-market at our TS. They sell butter by the stick, small bags of sugar, and so forth. It's a bit more expensive than at a grocery store, but going to a grocery store would take a half-day of vacation.

We get meats and salads from a great take-out at our TS, relying on their rotisserie chicken, BBQ ribs, pizza, and caesar salads - all reasonably priced and good-sized portions.

Breakfast = cereal, fruit, toast....the usual

Lunch = grilled cheese, soup, leftovers, chips, cookies

dinner = the take-out augmented with light cooking to heat up the veggies, make the rice or mashed potatoes, maybe saute some onion along with shredded rotisserie chicken and dump some gravy on it.....

The last night = a smorgasbord of whatever is left over.