Enhance your efficiency and affordability while grocery shopping
If you’re responsible for the grocery shopping and feeding your family, you may already have a system in place for meal planning. Alternatively, you might recognize the need for one but struggle to find a method that suits you, leading to feelings of guilt when resorting to takeout.
If the traditional approach to meal planning – where you select recipes for the upcoming week, compile a grocery list based on them, and shop accordingly – hasn’t been effective for you, there’s a new strategy gaining traction that could be worth trying. Chef Will Coleman, known as @chefwillco on TikTok, is advocating for his 6-to-1 grocery shopping method, which seems remarkably simple.
Here’s the essence: instead of meticulously planning your meals for the week and crafting a detailed shopping list, you simply head to the store. Once there, you’ll fill your cart with:
- Six vegetables
- Five fruits
- Four proteins
- Three starches
- Two sauces or spreads
- One ‘fun’ food you just want to have in the house
Cost-effective and swift in-and-out trips
Chef Will contends that his approach not only streamlines grocery shopping but also makes it more economical, with the hope of swift in-and-out visits. For individuals prone to overbuying, it provides a means to adhere to essentials, though occasional additions such as your child’s preferred yogurt pouches may be necessary.
If you typically lack a diverse selection of seasonings, herbs, or pantry staples, traditional meal planning might be more suitable to ensure you have all the necessary ingredients on hand.
Nevertheless, even in such cases, the 6-to-1 method proves to be a practical solution for those occasions when you need to grocery shop but haven’t had the opportunity to plan meals or create a list. If all you can manage is to make a trip to the store, you’ll still depart with everything needed for straightforward yet nutritious dinners. They need not be elaborate.
Perhaps this method is the meal planning system you’ve been seeking, or perhaps it’s simply a useful trick to keep in mind for future reference. Regardless, the 6-to-1 grocery shopping method demonstrates its practicality.
We dare you to give it a try!
The 6-to-1 strategy is aimed at simplifying meal planning and sticking to shopping lists, ultimately resulting in time and money savings. However, this principle applies to any method of grocery shopping.
Having a clear plan for your weekly meals and purchasing only necessary items reduces time spent in-store and minimizes the temptation of impulse buys that inflate your overall expenses.
The 6-to-1 method excels, particularly for families of four, in its emphasis on selecting healthy food options.
In the future, you might explore a customized version of the 6-to-1 grocery shopping approach tailored to our family’s requirements. For example, instead of restricting vegetable and fruit choices to only six and five respectively per week, you might involve each family member in selecting their own set of vegetables and fruits to initiate our shopping list, supplementing with additional ingredients as necessary.
Moreover, consider challenging yourself to limit indulgent purchases to just one item per week for the teenagers in the household. We dare you to give it a try!
Enhance your efficiency and affordability while grocery shopping conclusion
As per New York-based influencer and chef Will Coleman, the 6–1 method, also known as the 5–4–3–2–1 method, offers families a dependable strategy to realize substantial savings at their nearby grocery store.
Coleman elucidates that this method is designed to curtail costs by highlighting that during shopping, certain higher-priced items are usually prepackaged or processed. On the other hand, fruits and vegetables are often more economical and adaptable, capable of serving beyond a single meal.
This strategy fosters increased ingenuity in meal planning while advocating for healthier dietary choices.
