Do you dread meal planning and grocery shopping? Does it feel like it takes forever just to get your grocery list together, let alone the time it takes to wander around the grocery store looking for everything on your list? That's how I was for years. Then one day I came up with the idea to create a grocery list based on the way my supermarket is laid out. A list that would not only save me time roaming around the store and spending more money on things I'd see that weren't on my list, but would also help me not forget things I needed when making my shopping list.
As a busy mom, wife, and entrepreneur, I love being able to figure out a way to save time and make things easier. Especially on a task that I loathe! Can you relate? I'm betting you can. If so, I thought I'd share with you 3 ways that I make meal planning & grocery shopping easier.
First, the grocery list. This may seem a little strange and maybe over the top for a grocery list, but I promise you you're going to love it after you get it set up. I created a template of everything I buy at the store. I did this by taking a little notebook to the grocery store with me, going up and down each aisle and writing down the aisle number along with everything in that aisle that I would possibly shop for. So for example aisle 18 might have chips, pretzels, wheat thins, cheese its, crackers, goldfish, PB crackers and graham crackers. Obviously there are a lot more items in aisle 18 than these things, but these are the items that I typically might be looking for. I went through the entire store and wrote everything down like this. Then I went home and created a document on my computer that laid out each aisle and the items in each aisle that I might possibly need to purchase.
This helps in two ways. One, when I'm making my list to go shopping I don't need to have a list in my mind of everything I should be checking my pantry for. I can just go down this list that I've printed out and remember to check to see if we need soap, for example, when I'm making my list. Before this, I was all the time forgetting things that we had run out of when I was making my list. Second, this list saves TONS of time when I'm in the grocery store. I don't have to wander aimlessly through the aisles looking for the things I need, and then backtracking 3 aisles when I get to the next item on the list. With this list in hand, I can get in and out of the grocery store in 30 to 45 minutes with two weeks worth of groceries. Maybe longer if Walmart doesn't have enough cashiers. ;(
Here is a picture of the list I use.