Grocery Shopping Tips

If you don't already have one, a master shopping list is an incredible savings of time and frustration. Surely I'm not the only one who has come home from an exhausting shopping trip only to find I forgot the most important item!

To make a master shopping list, walk through your house and write down everything you commonly buy at the grocery store. Don't forget to check the freezer, refrigerator, bathrooms and cleaning supplies.

Before going shopping, take your list and walk through your house checking off anything that is gone or soon will be empty. Now you can go grocery shopping knowing that you won't come home to find that you forgot to get toilet paper or the ketchup bottle was almost empty!

I further increased my grocery shopping efficiency by setting up my list according to the aisle arrangement of my favorite grocery store. When I return home from shopping, I put a fresh list on my refrigerator with a highlighter. If I use up an product, I can quickly make note to purchase it on my next trip.

I can not tell you how many trips this simple method has saved me! My preferred method of shopping is, every month or six weeks, make a mammoth trip to the store buying all the nonperishable products that we will need for about a month. We make it a family event and Ed usually takes a cart and half the list and half the children.

In between big shopping trips, if needed, I can make quick runs, picking up more produce, something we ran out of unexpectedly or maybe something special if we are entertaining. I don't buy milk, eggs, or bread at the grocery store so this works well for us.

I can think of a few reasons why monthly shopping wouldn't work for others. Not having a much storage, or husband's help or having a bigger family that consumes more food. But for me the fewer times I'm in the store, the less money and time I spend. I really admire those that look at a weekly store flier and plan their menus for the week by the best deals. But I like to have a well stocked pantry of the basics and just do without something that I may not have at the moment. It is what works for me!

However you shop, a master shopping list will be a time saver. Give it a try!