When I was in my early twenties, I married and became a foster Mom to four teenagers. It was, quite literally, a trial by fire as I learned how to shop and cook for a family of six. We later joked that my husband’s method of buying (and eating!) the same items every week spurned me on and may have killed any thoughts of romance had I known his habits earlier on. As the years went by, I perfected meal planning and grocery shopping to make things more time and cost efficient, as we had a strict budget to follow. Besides, who wants to spend all her time grocery shopping?
Grocery shopping methods vary as widely as there are people. What works for one may not work for another—as it depends on how you like to shop (once a week vs every few days), and where (bulk stores or farmer’s markets). There are, however, ways to streamline your shopping that help minimize overspending and keep you more organized.
What are your staples?
In order to streamline your shopping, figure out what your household staples are. What are must-haves in your house? Take the time to come up with a list of the things you absolutely can’t do without. While you do this, keep an eye on how much of it your family consumes on a weekly basis so that you have an idea of how much you need and can adjust your buying habits accordingly. You may even want to consider buying those items in bulk, as mentioned below.
Shop with a list
Making a list will keep you on track when you are in the store and keep you from buying doubles of things that you already have. As you are making the list at home, take a look through the cupboards, freezer, and fridge to see what you have, think about what you plan to make, and go from there. I also keep sticky notes in the kitchen to write down things that I have run out of and need to buy—and then stick them to the door of the fridge so I don’t forget them.
Group things together
Some people scribble down a list on whatever paper they can find, but there are ways to make your list work for you. Group items by store if you shop at multiple places, or you can group similar items together. I tend to group products by produce, meats, dairy, household products, staples, and misc. This helps me stay organized and focused when I’m in the store. I also carry a pen with me to cross off items once I hit the cash register, and put a big circle around the things I still need to pick up so they aren’t lost in my list. Coupons are attached with a paper clip right to the list.
Consider buying in bulk
I’m relatively new to this, but once I discovered that the staples that I buy can be acquired for ½ to 1/3 less at bulk stores, I’ve changed my shopping habits. Things that can last relatively long or that you use a lot of are worth buying in bulk if the savings are considerable. Flour, peanut butter, chocolate chips, coffee, rice, sugar, and household products like laundry detergent and toilet paper are at the top of our list. Of course, whether or not you have space to store things is a huge factor here. If you aren’t sure if this option is for you, it may be an idea to find a friend who has a Costco membership and pay a visit to see how it goes. Once I did this I was completely sold on bulk buying.
Fruit and veggies are tricky
Even with all this planning, I often find judging the amount of produce a little tricky. Sometimes I end up with far too much, and don’t want to be throwing out perfectly good produce. If this happens, I make soup or spaghetti sauce to use up extra veggies, or smoothies, fruit crisp, or muffins to use up extra fruit. Things like onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, and apples last awhile so it’s okay to have a little more of those rather than things like bananas, tomatoes, lettuce, or cucumbers, which will go bad quickly—so I buy less or make sure to use them up quickly.
Feel free to play around with these ideas and see what works best for you. It takes a little time to find a way to streamline grocery shopping, but a little organization goes a long way to take it from a mind numbing chore to something fairly painless.
Printer-friendly version