to those who stay offsite- groceries?

[SDSorority]

How do you decide what you should get for groceries when staying in a condo? I'm worried that I'm going to buy too much and it's going to go to waste!!!

 

[momofsamandeden]

We have either meal planned ahead or we buy very basics such as bread, milk, soda, coffee, water and eggs and butter and then shop quickly at night for what we are into for dinner. I found it easier to do the quick original shopping of staples since we usually end up eating out anyway because we do not want to stop what we are doing. I buy smaller trial size packs of coffee.

 

[mikehn]

Just buy the essentials, like chips, beer, and booze. Who wants to eat in their condo while on vacation? Not I. I even go out for coffee when Im on vacation.

 

[ICF]

we buy the basics for the week and enough stuff for breakfast and a few other meals.

If we need more, we can always go back out later in the week.

 

[wdwfan101]

I buy enough for breakfast and some snacks. I usually go to Publix after I check in. I stay at the Vistana and I go to the general store for some little things like the Sunday paper, some Krispy Kremes, etc.

 

[gqchicago]

All of the local grocery stores realize this, and there are mini sized portions of just about everything for sale in the local stores.

 

[mnrose]

I plan a menu for the week...figuring that we will eat all lunchtime meals in the park, and go out for dinner 1-2 times. The day or so before our trip, I check the ads for the local stores (we do Publix) and adjust the menu per the items on sale. Breakfast is toast, cereal, bananas, yogurt, juice. Dinner tends to be things like spaghetti, salad, rotisserie chicken, frozen lasagna, etc. I don't spend more than a few minutes preparing dinner. Totally possible with preplanning. It also helps that we have been vacationing with house rentals for years. I have a lot of experience. We don't waste much food, but it is inevitable that there will be some food we toss at the end of the trip. Still way cheaper, and healthier, than most restaurant meals. I shop with a VERY specific list and stick to it.

 

[dyna]

We just do breakfast in our condo but I also buy a couple bags of frozen veggies as we almost always have leftovers from resturants almost daily about every 3rd day dh an I does pot luck eating our leftovers an I heat a veggie to go with those just a small handful for each one of us sometimes for breakfast will heat me a handful of veggies with breakfast just to make sure I get the veggies I need.

In a car we can get by with 1 or 2 trips easy to grocery store but on the harley where we limited on what we can haul might make 3 or 4 trips in a week usually know what we want an can grab it quickly.

 

[SDSorority]

I plan a menu for the week...figuring that we will eat all lunchtime meals in the park, and go out for dinner 1-2 times. The day or so before our trip, I check the ads for the local stores (we do Publix) and adjust the menu per the items on sale. Breakfast is toast, cereal, bananas, yogurt, juice. Dinner tends to be things like spaghetti, salad, rotisserie chicken, frozen lasagna, etc. I don't spend more than a few minutes preparing dinner. Totally possible with preplanning. It also helps that we have been vacationing with house rentals for years. I have a lot of experience. We don't waste much food, but it is inevitable that there will be some food we toss at the end of the trip. Still way cheaper, and healthier, than most restaurant meals. I shop with a VERY specific list and stick to it.

Thanks!!!

 

[Cruz91]

...and take down a suitcase of non-perrishables as a start. We ALWAYS end up buying too much, but leave anything un-opened in the fridget hoping it will be used (probably by the cleaning crew). I wonder if there's a local charity you can donate to easily?!

 

[KayR]

I will pick up breakfast items, some items for snacks and drinks and enough stuff for a couple of lunches and dinners just in case. We don't always spend every day at the parks, and often have to go and shop again for additional supplies.

For dinners, I tend to have pasta and a sauce - something simple adn cheap. If it costs around $2-3 a dinner I really don't get upset if I have to donate some left overs to the housekeepers (they work hard in getting the homes ready!).

I also make sure I have enough snacks for the flights home too!

-Kay

 

[HdnMickeyGrl]

We tend to only eat breakfast in the condo so we'll buy breakfast foods: cereal, milk, orange juice, frozen pancakes, bagels, etc... and then we buy bottled water and snacks for the park like granola bars and snack bags of chips or fruit bits, etc..

We don't have a lot go to waste because we really don't buy a lot and tend to eat in the parks for lunch and dinner. When we don't eat dinner in the parks we usually eat chick-fil-a.

 

[Thumper_Man]

Just buy the essentials, like chips, beer, and booze. Who wants to eat in their condo while on vacation? Not I. I even go out for coffee when Im on vacation.

You forgot the pretzels.

Same here. We plan all our meals out. We're on vacation and the last thing we want to do is cook. I know not everyone can afford to do this. If we had to; I think we would be like others and buy stuff for breakfast, light snack to take with us for lunch and have dinner out.

 

[JMD]

Also, look into using a delivery service instead of shopping yourself. We use www.wegoshop.com and have had great experiences with them. The delivery costs are minimal and you don't have to waste your precious vacation time in a grocery store.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Just buy the essentials, like chips, beer, and booze. Who wants to eat in their condo while on vacation? Not I. I even go out for coffee when Im on vacation.

Love love love your idea of the essentials

 

[Cdn Gal]

Just buy the essentials, like chips, beer, and booze.

 

[Cdn Gal]

As much as I laughed at the previous post I realized that we're not that far off from it! But really we buy our breakfast stuff- bagels, fruit & granola bars. We also buy a few alcoholic beverages and frozen fruit so we can mix up some cool drinks in the room. We also buy junk foods. We go out for dinner, b/c when I'm on vacation I don't want to cook. In our suitcase I bring down spices (in case DH wants to bbq) coffee, sugar, peanut bitter, jam, miracle whip, crackers, cereal, granola bars, and other snackie type stuff. We buy fresh fruit too, creamer for the coffee, mabie some sandwich fixings, fresh buns, cheese, tomatoes. If we are eating in we buy that day. But again I am not going to cook so it is up to my DH which he doesn't mind doing! The last thing I want to do is spend my time in the kitchen. I do that enough already at home! Hope this list helps!

 

[AllesonWonderland]

I plan a menu for the week...figuring that we will eat all lunchtime meals in the park, and go out for dinner 1-2 times. The day or so before our trip, I check the ads for the local stores (we do Publix) and adjust the menu per the items on sale. Breakfast is toast, cereal, bananas, yogurt, juice. Dinner tends to be things like spaghetti, salad, rotisserie chicken, frozen lasagna, etc. I don't spend more than a few minutes preparing dinner. Totally possible with preplanning. It also helps that we have been vacationing with house rentals for years. I have a lot of experience. We don't waste much food, but it is inevitable that there will be some food we toss at the end of the trip. Still way cheaper, and healthier, than most restaurant meals. I shop with a VERY specific list and stick to it.

I planned a menu last time we went down for the week, but didn't even think to look at the ads. Thanks for the tip! Care to share any more menu ideas?

 

[Brian Noble]

We let Garden Grocer (or, at Vistana, the pre-stock service) deliver us enough to get us through the first few days. Every timeshare unit in the universe turns over on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, and so every area grocery store seems to be slammed on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings.

After that, we shore up supplies during the week sometime.