The Ultimate Grocery List For A Single Shopper
Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
If you’re a single shopper and aren’t sure how to grocery shop for one person, it’s easy.
Using my prior experience as a bachelor, I’ll be sharing how I handled my grocery budget.
Even the single shopper needs a grocery list and tips to shop smart while at the supermarket to stick to a budget.
Using A Grocery List Will Save You Money
When I was single, I wasn’t a huge fan of going to the local supermarket without a grocery list.
I don’t know what it was, but if I didn’t plan my shops, I felt like I was wasting more time than I needed to.
Not many single men want to hang out at the grocery store, although ten years later, I don’t mind it that much.
Most of my single friends at the time would rather eat at a fast-food restaurant or buy already-prepared meals, which never really excited me.
I had my own house at the age of 21, which means I had a kitchen, so I had no excuse to spend money eating out all the time.
Over the years, I’ve come to learn so much about grocery shopping that leaving the house without a list is like shopping without cash or credit cards.
I’ve also learned how much I should buy and what types of foods work best for the healthy meal ideas I was creating.
During my younger years in the UK, I was an avid traveler and purchased a cookbook everywhere I visited.
I made it my mission to cook recipes from the cookbook every week if even just one.
Over time I learned how to cook for one person, but I also enjoyed leftovers.
I recently received an email from a single guy who sent me this: (Just for the record, It’s Mr.CBB, lol.
Help A Single Person With A Grocery List
Hi Mr. CBB,
I’m a single guy on my way to University, and I am renting a room in a house where I have cooking privileges.
How do I go about grocery shopping and buying food?
I feel like an idiot asking my friends because they might laugh at me, so I found your blog and thought maybe you could help.
I don’t know how to cook, but I don’t have the cash to be blowing on food out with my friends at restaurants.
I have four years of school to complete, and I want to get this under control because grocery shopping is not my favorite thing to do, if you know what I mean.
Thanks,
Craig.
A Grocery List Is For Everyone
When I read this question from Craig, I realized I hadn’t touched on grocery shopping and the single life.
I have always been frugal, especially when I was back home because I was paying down my mortgage, and I wanted to be debt-free early like we are today.
Going out for food with my buddies was few because I kept myself busy working, and if they asked, I would decline.
I did not yearn to spend money eating out; in the UK, eating at restaurants is not cheap.
Even my wife can tell you that the prices shocked her when visiting me.
Before I met my wife, I would shop about 2-3 times a week only because, in the UK, most of us have a refrigerator the size of a beer fridge.
You can’t store much inside of it, but I taught myself to shop and buy only the groceries I needed for that week.
Some of the best recipes I have ever created were when I was single.
My Single Life At The Grocery Store
Just because I was single and living on one income didn’t mean I had to shop at the local Dollar Store either exclusively.
I could eat very healthily on a limited budget because I chose to invest time into what I ate.
You couldn’t get me away from tortellini because it was cheap but nutritious.
No homemade tortellini was being made at my house, but I created beautiful pasta sauces and tortellini soup.
I was always experimenting, and that’s how my passion for food grew.
Typically I would grocery shop on a Monday to have food for a day or two and again on Wednesday and maybe Friday if needed.
I would plan my grocery list to make enough meals to last me, even if I had to put them in the freezer.
Packing my lunch always included a hot meal, and I still do today.
I’m not the sandwich-type guy and probably never will be.
Single Guy Weekly Grocery Budget
As a single guy, I aimed to spend about $40 a week on groceries, so $160 a month.
Remember I wasn’t documenting and budgeting my money back then like I do today, I was frugal on a mission to spend less.
My monthly grocery funds seemed reasonable, given that grocery prices are much higher in the UK than in Canada.
At least that’s how I left remembering it although my parents say it’s not getting any cheaper.
I was never a fan of wasting food, so it was important to plan everything.
I was also using something similar to the Canadian version of the Neilsen home scanner, which saved me more money, although we called the scanner something different.
It was pretty much the same thing, and that’s how I scored my new refrigerator just before I sold my house, which worked out great because I had just renovated my entire kitchen.
Just because you are single doesn’t mean you can’t save money as a couple or family would.
Coupons were hardly around, so I never bothered with them unless I saw one I knew I would use.
The coupon craze never happened in the UK as it did in Canada and America.
My parents sometimes wished it had, especially after seeing how much we picked up for free or near free.
Grocery Shopping For A Single Person
I will run down all the tips to help our single guy Craig get into the grocery store fast and home into his kitchen, creating meals for one.
Before I start chatting below, If I direct you to my Ultimate Grocery Shopping Guide to read some of the most popular grocery posts on Canadian Budget Binder, I think it will certainly give you a head-start.
Grocery shopping is neither scary nor difficult, but with some learning and experience, you will become a professional grocery shopper in no time.
First, you need to know How much your grocery budget should be?
If you aren’t already using a budget, you can download our budget for free, and it’s not just for your groceries.
It’s for all your expenses which I wish I had used as a student or single.
My Typical Single-Life Grocery List
I love to eat, and I am a big fan of eating lots of vegetables, grains, beans, and proteins, so stocking up on my favorites each week was easy.
Below is a typical grocery list over a month that I would put together to make some of my favorite meals along with a stocked pantry which I will discuss below.
Create your personalized grocery list by writing down all the foods you like to eat.
Keep in mind I didn’t necessarily buy in bulk either.
It would depend on expiry dates and whether I could eat the product before it went off.
Now that I am married, we love buying larger packages because it’s cheaper for our grocery budget.
Learning How To Cook When You’re Single
If you want to learn cooking skills, the best place is to make mistakes in the kitchen, but taking a cooking class won’t hurt either.
Many Loblaws stores with a kitchen upstairs often hold cooking classes you can get involved in for a minimal cost.
Each store has a monthly calendar you can search to see what classes are available, so contact your local store for more details.
Also, look online to see if there are any local free cooking classes at the community college or other companies you may be able to get involved in.
Another way you can build up your cooking skills is by watching YouTube videos, or what helps us is by watching The Food Network.
You can learn many cooking tips simply by watching and documenting what you see and then putting yourself to work in the kitchen.
Get in the kitchen and see what healthy meals you can create independently.
You won’t ever learn to cook if you don’t first make mistakes, so don’t be shy.
Cookbooks and Recipes
Another great way to learn about cooking is by reading a cookbook, although with the internet so readily available, you can get into more detail with online videos.
The cookbook seems like ancient history to most people since the boom of the internet and food blogs, but chefs continue to write them.
Don’t dismiss reading a cookbook, though, because there is lots of great info inside them, many with photos. I have a lovely cookbook stash at home.
Even Pinterest is taking the world by storm and is a great way to source recipes with photos.
If you don’t have any recipes, you want to learn about cooking, start thinking about food and do a recipe search.
I’m betting you will find all sorts of easy recipes you would like to eat and create yourself.
Cooking for one doesn’t have to be difficult as long as you know what you want to eat.
I think too many people complicate cooking when basic cooking skills are all needed.
Purchasing The Right Cooking Tools
Once you have your recipes, you must have the proper cooking tools.
If you need a crock pot, instant pot, air-fryer, frying pans, spatulas, forks, knives, pots, strainers, a grater, etc., buy them.
Don’t buy all this new stuff because you might not want your cooking space filled with expensive, unnecessary tools.
Look at Value Village for second-hand items or even online at Kijiji or garage sales this summer.
Inspect what you are buying, as you don’t want frying pans that are all scratched.
You’ll also be amazed by what people sell for cheap or give away for free.
When you discover the tools you love and use consistently, you can replace them with quality items that will last you a long time.
The last thing you want to do is spend $800 on a pot and pan set if you don’t need to.
Your tools are your kitchen weapons; without them, creating your meals is hard.
Meal Planning Using A Grocery List
I wouldn’t have survived in my kitchen when I was single without using a grocery list and meal planning.
It may not sound like a manly thing to do, but more men are cooking these days, and women find men who cook sexy.
You might think it’s corny for a man to create a grocery list, meal plan, and prep meals, but it’s not uncommon.
Strangely enough, the woman of your dreams might be excited to watch you do your thing and create a romantic dinner.
Until then, you are still single, so once you’ve sorted out your favorite recipes, pick a few that will get you by for the week.
This will ensure variety, but you aren’t cooking more than you need to.
If you plan to go out with the boys for wings on Saturday night, there’s one meal or an entire day’s meals gone if you don’t eat them.
Plan for that the best you can so you don’t over-shop.
Stocking A Pantry For The Single Shopper
If your pantry is bare, you must stock it with grocery staples.
Once you start to buy the essentials, it will make creating your grocery list easier.
You will also want to keep your pantry organized because this will help you create your grocery list for future shops.
Most people dread filling the pantry, but this can quickly be done if you keep your eyes open for sales.
Besides, all you need to do is write what your recipes call for and any other products you want and buy them as you go along each week.
A stocked pantry may include pasta, spices, condiments, beans, oils, peanut butter, jelly, cooking spray, chicken cubes, etc.
Creating A Single Person Grocery List
We like to print our free grocery list and fill it in before heading to the grocery store.
Once we know the meals we will cook, we look in the flyers to see if any of the products are on sale.
Some people like to look at the flyers first and then create their meal plan around what is on sale to fit their budget, which is what we do.
When I shop, I would often see if there are any reduced products I could use in my meals and replace something on my list.
If I did find something, it was great because it meant more savings for me.
Sometimes I would even find the exact foods on my grocery list reduced, which worked out great.
Please keep your eyes open for products the grocery store wants to move out fast as they are near expiry.
By now you should know how much you can spend so the rest should be a piece of cake.
Remember the store’s perimeter is your friend when you are in the grocery store.
Once you head down the aisles, it can get very tempting, so stick to your grocery list as best you can.
Don’t get overwhelmed if you mess up; we all do.
No one is perfect, but we try harder the next time, or we make up the overspending the following month, so the expenses even out in our budget at the end of the year.
Where Can The Frugal Single-Person Grocery Shop?
I never had any grocery shops near me when I lived in the UK, so I had to make a trip into the city to shop at the grocery stores that weren’t so pricey.
We have shops comparable to Metro and Sobeys back home, which can run your grocery bill pretty high if you’re not careful.
Don’t be afraid to price match if the store allows it or even get rain checks if they are out of stock on a product on sale.
Money is money, so be smart when you shop to reap the rewards, even for a future grocery shop.
When you cook meals, you are eating for life.
It’s not about shoving unhealthy food down your mouth. It’s about healthy living and preparing meals that motivate you to cook.
If you aren’t pushing yourself to care for your health, you will never become a savvy shopper.
Discussion
What other tips can you share for Craig and the single grocery shopper?
Are there other pantry staples you would add to the list?
Leave your comments below, and I’ll be sure to respond.
