5 Ways OAMS Saves You Money

Last week, I encouraged you to just jump in and try Once a Month {Grocery} Shopping for yourself. Was anyone brave enough to give it a try?

This week, we continue the series with a post that answers your burning question: But does it really save me money?

I do about 70% of my grocery shopping in one huge marathon grocery-shopping weekend each month, with mini-trips the rest of the month to stock up on produce, meat and any can’t-miss loss-leader sales.

Many people are curious about this method of grocery shopping, so I thought I’d devote every Friday in September to posts about this very topic!

If you missed it last week, my post was entitled “How to Make the Most of Your Grocery Budget Dollars“. It’s a quick tutorial on how to jump into the whole business of OAMS and get your feet wet, so to speak.

One question you may have is: does OAMS really save any money? And how? To be honest, I debate within myself on this topic on occasion, and I have come to the conclusion that yes, OAMS can save you money if you do it right. How to “do it right” is another post for another day; for today let’s just focus on exactly how OAMS does save you money.

  1. It keeps you out of the stores. When you do the vast majority of your shopping in one big trip, that means you’re only running to the grocery store for a few items in the remaining weeks of the month. If you shop weekly, then you spend significant time every single week walking through the grocery store aisles, and you will be tempted to spend a lot more. I know that was true for me, regardless of how good I was at sticking to a list.
  2. It makes you aware of how much you are really spending, and what you are really buying. Spending a larger amount of money all at once is a lot more jolting to the senses than throwing away smaller amounts week by week. Even if you are just going over budget by $5 a week, that’s $20-25 that you will notice right away if you do your shopping all at once. That’s a significant amount of money if you’re on a really tight budget! You will also see more clearly what exactly you are buying with that money when you buy it all at once. Ten boxes of cereal, for example, will grab your attention much more quickly than when you buy them 2 or 3 at a time.
  3. It helps you crystallize in your mind what you really need to be buying, and how much you really need to spend. The awareness that comes from a monthly shopping trip helps you determine what is really needful and what is just wasteful. The mini-trips are also eye-opening: when you only have $20, for example, to spend on food for the week, you are forced to limit yourself only to what is absolutely necessary. You will more clearly recognize what are the non-essentials that either can be forgotten about completely or put off for another week or two. When I did my grocery shopping on a weekly basis, I would get so distracted by sales that my grocery list would fill up quickly with a lot of what I now realize are non-essential items. Just because it’s a great sale doesn’t mean you need to buy it!
  4. You can take advantage of bulk pricing. When I used to shop weekly, I had a very difficult time fitting bulk and warehouse shopping into my routine, because I simply didn’t have enough room in my weekly budget to buy a $10-15 item, even if it was a great deal. OAMS is essentially bulk shopping, so you can take advantage of those great warehouse and bulk bin deals. For example, I use a LOT of extra virgin olive oil, and I used to buy a small bottle of it once or twice a month. Now, I can buy a large container for a fraction of the cost, and it will last me a couple of months at least. (Costco has at least one kind that is in a dark glass bottle, so it will keep longer, although I don’t always buy that particular one.)
  5. You can splurge mindfully. As I’ve mentioned already, in my weekly shopping trips, I would frequently buy a lot of great sales items that were good deals, but not really essential. At the same time, I would get frustrated by my inability to occasionally purchase items that I enjoyed or wanted to try but didn’t have any wiggle room in my budget. My one big monthly shopping trip now gives me that opportunity to buy something new or fun: maybe an ingredient for a recipe I want to try, or a new brand or product. Because I am working with more money at one time, I have a little more wiggle room. At the same time, the mindfulness I mentioned earlier helps me to focus my splurging only on those things that I really want, not just mindless things that hold only a passing appeal.

Find the complete series here:
How to Make the Most of Your Grocery Budget Dollars: Just Jump In to OAMS!
Five Ways OAMS Saves You Money
How the “Mini Trips” Work
How to Make Your OAMS List, Part 1
How to Make Your OAMS List, Part 2
Sample OAMS Trip

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Comments

  1. Nini says:

    Thanks for the great info. This was sort of a refresher course for me. In my early days of marriage and before youngin’s I shopped this way. It worked well for me until I started having kids. It seemed like I was running to the store twice as much for milk, dairy products and such that I stopped doing it for a long time. That and the fact that I would have to drag two squirming little rugrats with me for four hours. didn’t go over too well for them at the time!

    I have tried many different shopping strategies over the years.

    Fast forward to many years later….after reading your articles I decided that I would give this a shot again. Even if it is for just the “staples”. It might shorten my other trips and save even more money.

    Thanks

    Nini

    • Anne says:

      For me, I find it easier with 2 little ones, because I don’t have to drag them to the store for lengthy trips every week. And I split the big trip up over a couple of days between several different stores, and bribe the toddler with treats for good behavior:) Glad to have inspired you to give it another go!

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