Simplify grocery shopping
One of my least favorite things to do is grocery shop. I’m pretty sure that I signed up for Hello Fresh simply because it would cut back on my grocery shopping excursions. My friends told me to order groceries online. I tried that too. Honestly after spending forever picking out stuff online and then fielding 5 phone calls from the employee picking out my groceries, I might as well just go do it myself. Plus, I feel like picking out fruits and vegetables is kind of a personal thing. In the end, it became my mission to find a way to simplify the grocery shopping trip.
Know what you already have
An organized refrigerator and pantry are key to this step. Before you even think about going grocery shopping you need to take inventory of what you don’t need. If you have an organized refrigerator and pantry this should be quick and simple because everything should be visible. Outside of ingredients involved in your week of meal planning, there should not be a ton of stock piled food. Backups for condiments, baking ingredients, and general oil and vinegar are fine, but you do not need to be storing 20 cans of peas, and numerous bags of opened chips. Check out my blogs on refrigerator and pantry organizing to learn more.
Plan your meals
Meal planning is essential to simplifying grocery shopping and quite frankly to simplifying your life. There are a million methods out there and you have to find one that works for you! Below I have a link to a blog I have used and recommend. There are tons of recipe ideas and even some free print outs to use (I’m always a sucker for those). Meal planning will not only save you a ton of money but it will also alleviate all those multiple trips to the grocery store. As empty nesters, this step has become super simple but I remember the days of trying to feed boys and have us all sit down to dinner together. I had a notebook with rotating dinners that I planned from with a list of ingredients ready to go. It was a simple as choosing which meals went into which nights. I highly suggest having a “leftover” night and a “breakfast for dinner” night just to give yourself a break.
Create a master grocery list
Every family has basic staples that they eat every week. So why reinvent the wheel and create a list from scratch? I created mine on excel because I love printing it out, but you could even do this on your phone. The list includes the things I always want to have in stock like milk, eggs, tea, yogurt, etc. It also covers things that are in our normal rotation like ground turkey, lettuce, and coffee creamer. Each week I print it out and circle what items need to be replenished. After several years of use, I have also added cleaning products and paper products. It serves as a checklist which helps me not forget anything. I also leave space for additional items to be added.
Map out your route
This is a big one! Remember the goal is to remove as much decision making from the equation as possible. If you do this step, your grocery store experience really does go to autopilot. Your grocery store might already have a map available of the aisle layout which makes this step even easier. If they don’t, no worries. Just take a quick pic of each aisle sign during your next trip and it’s just as good. Once you have your aisle map, just adjust your master list accordingly. So now all your items are in order of how you travel through the grocery store. You will find that the days of forgetting items or having to back track are over! Another bonus is you now know which aisles you can skip altogether!
Schedule your grocery trip
The less trips you make to the grocery store, the better! I schedule grocery shopping ONCE a week. There are a bunch of reasons for that. I don’t like buying huge bulks of anything except toilet paper and paper towels. Most fruits and vegetables don’t last more than a week. If something has been forgotten, we can make due until next time. You will learn quickly when the crowds are out and when your store restocks. The amateur grocery shoppers are out on the weekend and after work. I avoid those times at all costs. If you are lucky enough to have a flexible schedule, I find Monday morning to be a prime time. Of course, to really optimize this, I also recommend shopping the same one or two stores each time.
A few more helpful tips
- Sort as you go- while shopping keep like with like in your cart (vegetables with vegetables, frozen with frozen , etc.). Hopefully that’s how they will get unloaded and how they get packed.
- Use reusable bags or paper bags- SO much more can fit into these bags versus plastic bags, not to mention how much easier unloading is.
- Pack your own bags- not all grocery stores let this happen, but if I can help pack I do! That way I can pack the way that I will unpack.
- Don’t be a coupon junkie- I’ve been down this road and bought a whole bunch of things I didn’t need. If the coupon does not match to something on your master list, throw it away!
- Never shop hungry- I cannot even tell you what random items end up in my cart if I’m hungry. Let’s just say I don’t stick to my master list!
Pingback: Organize the kitchen pantry - The Downsized Life