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We spend less when I go more frequently. We tend to waste food if I don't go often enough -- even going twice a week is better for me because I can really wait to see what we need or meal plan more precisely.

@Bao: we go weekly that way we can buy smaller quantities of fresh things like veggies that might go bad

I do a large shop of things that keep or can be frozen every other week (i.e. Costco) and buy small fresh things weekly (milk and bananas).

I do kind of a combo of weekly/ biweekly. I meal plan for biweekly and buy meat in bulk at CostCo plus anything else that will last or can be stored (for example, a huge block of cheddar, a double pack of bread and freeze one loaf, frozen fruit). I make a second smaller grocery trip on the other week to get fresh produce and milk and stuff we have run out of. I try to spend around $200/ paycheck for groceries but I don't really care which week I spend it. I also meal plan so that the more perishable stuff gets eaten early in the week and other stuff gets saved... We have berries for breakfast and salad for dinner right after I go to the store and save oranges and broccoli for later.

I think I have food waste pretty well under control. I've given up the dream of fresh foods and have turned to frozen for a lot of things, including the cherries and pineapple for my morning smoothies.

My "problem" is that no matter where I shop, food is not inexpensive. I tried going to an ethnic market for bananas, they were more expensive than the regular chain grocery store. And it's not going to get better any time soon.

I don't think i could only go shopping every other week. Lately we will do one Costco run 1x a month, a main grocery run 1x a week and a smaller run 1x a week if we forgot something during our regular weekend run. So far it's been working great and we haven't had to throw out any produce (our biggest concern).

I think we spend more when we have to go to the grocery store every couple of days. Mainly due to the little extras you buy with each trip.

I usually do a Costco run once a month and then go to a local grocer once a week for more fresh ingredients.

I find I spend less going every other week instead of weekly. Less opportunity for impulse items.

We go every week for our day to day and fresh stuff. We go to Costco about once a month for meat that we freeze and non-perishables. I can't imagine shopping every other week - we go through fruit and produce like crazy!

We go 1x a week for fresh produce. I would not be able to stretch it.

Costco is every 4-8 weeks. The less I go the more I spend.

I go weekly or sometimes more to get produce. My biggest help is meal plan at least a week at a time (better two to try to make best reuse of ingredients) and then stick to the list. I buy all the non perishable at once from the meal plan, plus usual staples, and then will write in my planner a reminder to go buy produce needed for that weekend, etc. Anything off plan always gets me. I try to go with my kids as that motivates me not to linger! Also I've learned some places like trader joe's are just trouble for me.

I think more often would be a money saver for me. There's a lot of produce stores where I live, and I often see things I need at a good price in the middle of the week, but I'm rushing somewhere and don't stop to get them. So then I get them at a higher price when doing weekly shopping for everything all at once.

But that just goes for fresh produce. For supermarket stuff, less often and in bulk is better! There are just too many opportunities for impulse shopping.

I go to a really big store every 3-4 weeks for pantry items etc. Once a week I go to a local smaller shop for some fresh produce and I go to a green grocers/butchers for really fresh produce. I'd sadly say I think I spend more because I keep my eyes open for promotions and always end up buying more then what I originally needed. That said I hardly waste any food! I also know that I'm still getting used to cooking for a toddler too, as opposed to him having a separate meal.

I have to go weekly. Otherwise I feel like fresh stuff gets bad if it goes unused for two weeks and I end up wasting money.

Switching to Aldi's has saved us money. We go to Aldi's at least once a week and then another grocery store less often.

We have staples that we buy every week, do a larger trip for things that we are out of every couple weeks to month. I think we save money doing several smaller trips and buying things when they are on sale rather than waiting for when we desperately need something. It is just harder for us with 3 including a baby so we go when we have the chance and if we are kid free then we will do a big trip.

Frequent shopping and a shopping list makes us spend less.