Sound familiar?
Does the store still think you’re feeding four?
- By Saturday the loaf has gone green and the 2 L of milk has turned.
- The family pack of chicken was a bargain, until half of it went in the garbage.
- You know what CPP and OAS pay you, and the grocery bill doesn’t fit it anymore.
- Single people have a far harder time, and every flyer is priced for a family.
- Every deal wants an app, PC Optimum points or a code on your phone.
It isn’t you. You were buying for two, and nobody showed you how to buy for one.
What you’ve been told, and what I do instead
The big pack is always better value.
Only if you eat it. The chart shows what to buy big and freeze small, food by food, and what to buy small. p. 21
Find the one cheapest store and stick to it.
There isn’t one. I give you a basket for each of ten chains, what one person always buys there. p. 47
You need the app to get the deals.
I shop with the paper flyer and a pencil. The price notebook page tells you a fair price without any app. p. 236
Throw it out when the date comes.
A best before date is about freshness, not safety. I explain the dates the way the CFIA does. p. 125
Cooking for one isn’t worth the bother.
One 1.8 kg roast chicken, about $17.80, carries me through the week, day by day. p. 189
What it costs now
Three everyday buys, two ways
Buying the family size
- Half of a 675 g loaf ($3.74) goes stale every week$97.24
- 2 L of milk ($5.28) a week when only 1 L gets drunk$114.92
- Half of a 1 kg pack of ground beef ($17.10) lost every month$102.60
Buying for one
- Freeze half the loaf the day you buy it$0.00
- Buy 1 L of milk ($3.07) instead$0.00
- Freeze the beef flat in four 250 g bags$0.00
What the right size keeps
$314.76 a year
That’s about $315 a year from three small habits, and the book is CA$37, once.
Both columns use Statistics Canada average prices for Saskatchewan, September 2026, from the Store Baskets on page 47. They assume those halves were going in the garbage. Your shelf prices and your own week will differ.
Look inside
Four real pages from the book
Swipe to see all 4 pages →
What’s inside A Cart for One
A Cart for One is the store-by-store way to shop for one, with 84 cards that say what to buy, what to freeze and what to leave.
| # | Chapter | Page |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Start Here: The 10-Minute Cupboard Check. Ten minutes with a pencil: know what to use first, then fill in one page. | 14 |
| 2 | Buy What Keeps. Know which everyday foods to buy small, which to buy big and freeze. | 19 |
| 3 | The Store Cards. Walk into ten chains, No Frills to Costco Canada, knowing what to buy there. | 45 |
| 4 | The Store Cupboard for One. Tins, pasta and rice for one: the sizes that keep and get used up. | 71 |
| 5 | The Freezer for One. Portion, label and log the freezer, so nothing gets lost at the back. | 97 |
| 6 | Best Before, Expiry, and the 50% Rack. Know what the dates really mean, and what’s worth taking off the 50% rack. | 123 |
| 7 | Winter Cart. Warm food that keeps from November to March, and which month to stock up. | 144 |
| 8 | Once a Month. One big shop a month for what keeps, and a small top-up list. | 166 |
| 9 | One Roast Chicken, One Week. One 1.8 kg roast chicken, about $17.80, carried through a whole week of meals. | 187 |
| 10 | Shopping When Carrying Is Hard. Light sizes, a 3 kg basket for the week, and plain delivery and pickup basics. | 201 |
| 11 | Christmas for One. A Christmas basket for one: nine items, $49.68, each bought in the right week. | 215 |
| 12 | Lorna’s Cards. Print the pocket card, freezer log, price notebook page and store checklist. | 230 |
A few things you’ll find out
- Costco Canada for one: only with a friend to split it, and what to splitp. 69
- The three things I never take from the 50% rackp. 127
- When the 2 L of milk is the better buy, and when it isn’tp. 51
- Why the best before date isn’t a safety linep. 125
- One roast chicken, five flat bags, seven days of mealsp. 189
- A light week’s basket that weighs about 3 kgp. 203
- Christmas dinner for one, the whole basket for $49.68p. 217
At the back: one quick-reference page of dates, temperatures and keeping times, and a Before You Go checklist. Every price is the Statistics Canada average for its province, September 2026. No store paid to be in this book.
Who says so
A dollar that walks to town and back
For thirty-eight years I kept the books on our farm in Saskatchewan. Groceries for a family of four and a harvest crew. Ed used to say I could make a dollar walk to town and back.
Ed died in 2018. In 2020 I moved into a one-bedroom apartment in the city. On my first real shop I bought a family pack of chicken, 4 litres of milk, a big bag of salad and a loaf. By Sunday half of it was in the garbage.
I’m a bookkeeper, so I wrote it down. What I bought, what size, what I ate, what I threw out. Over six years on CPP and OAS I worked out what one person should buy, at which store, and what to leave on the shelf.
Then the ladies at church started asking me. I wrote the answers on the backs of envelopes. This book is all those envelopes, put in order, for you.
Lorna Hryniuk
Is this book for you?
It’s for you if
- You live on your own and shop for one.
- You’re on CPP and OAS or a small income and count every cent.
- You’re tired of throwing food away.
- You’d rather have a card in your purse than an app on your phone.
- You shop No Frills, Superstore or the other Canadian chains and want to know what each is good for.
It’s not for you if
- You want a cookbook; this book is the shop, with only a few plain suppers.
- You want diet or health advice.
- You shop for a big family every week.
What still needs someone else
Diet and health questions go to your family doctor or a dietitian. CPP, OAS and benefit questions go to Service Canada.
What this book won’t do
It won’t give you this week’s shelf prices. Each price is a dated Statistics Canada average, your yardstick. Write the shelf price beside it.
Get A Cart for One
A Cart for One
- 84 cards, each with the size to buy, how long it keeps and its price line
- 10 store cards, No Frills to Costco Canada, so you know what each store is for
- The 10-Minute Cupboard Check and the one-page plan, so you use what you have first
- The Buy-Big-Freeze-Small Chart, so the family pack stops going off
- The 50% rack rules, so half price is a real bargain and not a waste
- The roast chicken week, the winter cart and the Christmas basket for one
- The pocket card, freezer log, price notebook page and store checklist, to fill in with a pen
- PDF and EPUB, every page printable at home on plain paper
Secure checkout. One payment. You keep the book even if you ask for your money back.
Right after you pay, the download page opens and the link comes by email. Start on page 16: ten minutes with a pencil, and you’ll know what to use first.
Coming next: A Pot for One, suppers for one made from what the store cards say to buy.
The Egg-Money Promise
My mother ran her farmhouse on the egg money and never wasted a cent of it. So here’s my promise. If my book doesn’t help you waste less on your groceries within 30 days, write to me and you’ll get every cent back. No questions, and you keep the book.
Questions people ask me
Do I need an app or PC Optimum points to use it?
No. Everything in it works with the paper flyer and a pencil. If you like your points, keep them; you won’t need them for this book.
Is this Costco Canada, or the US one?
Costco Canada, and every other store in it is Canadian too. Every price is a Statistics Canada average for Saskatchewan or Ontario, September 2026.
I’m not good with computers. Can I print it?
Yes. It comes as a PDF you can print at home on plain paper. The cards in Chapter 12 are made to fill in with a pen.
Prices change every week. Won’t it be out of date?
Prices move, but what each store is good for changes slowly. Each price is a dated average, a yardstick to hold the shelf price against.
My nearest store isn’t one of yours.
The cupboard, freezer, dates and 50% rack chapters work anywhere. The food cards tell you the size to look for on any shelf.
Is this a cookbook?
No. It’s the shop: what to buy when it’s just you, what to freeze and what to leave. There’s one roast chicken week and a few plain suppers.
Why is there a timer on the price?
The launch price of CA$37 is yours for 30 minutes from your first visit. After that the book is CA$51.
Buy for one, and stop throwing food away
Open the cupboard tonight with a pencil. By your next shop you’ll have 84 cards that tell you what to buy, freeze and leave.
There’s no app for common sense. Lorna
P.S. P.S. If you only read one page tonight, make it the Cupboard Check on page 16. It’s CA$37, and if it doesn’t help within 30 days, every cent comes back.