Monday, September 19, 2011

Grocery List Time Saver

So I am a list person.  I like having a list at the grocery store so I don't forget anything.  I like making a menu so I know what I need to buy and don't throw food away.  I like listing what I need to get done, and I love the feeling of accomplishment when I get to cross things off my list.  Unfortunately this uses a lot of paper and I never keep the lists in the same place.  So I made myself a master grocery list on excel.  I wrote in all the groceries we buy on a fairly regular basis, listed by area of the store/type of food.  One column for frozen food, one for produce, etc.  I then laminated it and hung it on the fridge with a dry erase marker.  When I realize I need something I just circle or highlight it, with a special note if needed, and when it is time to go shopping I just grab it off the fridge, and as I put an item in the cart at the store I wipe off the mark.  Easy and saves me lots of time and hassle, as I find I forget things less often now.  Plus I am saving a ton of paper.  It is all good!  I am finding it really helpful to stick to what I put on my list too.  What other time/money savers do you have for grocery shopping?

3 comments:

  1. Wow.. that is so super organized... I am in awe... :) The best I can add is that I generally try to reuse paper for my shopping lists... i.e. if I get something in the mail or have something printed out that is only on one side, I rip the paper in half and stick it on my fridge!

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  2. That is what I used to do, since I really hate wasting paper. Problem was I kept having more than one list, and I would forget one, hence forget items and have to make a second trip. It sounds way more organized than I really am, but it seems to be helping. It took me a couple of weeks to make the master list. I had the laptop with me when I cleaned out the kitchen closet and fridge, and also our cleaning stuff.

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  3. I keep a spiral notebook that is just for grocery shopping. Every week I move to the next page and write my list of items with a corresponding list of meals. This has worked really well because I try to shop 2 weeks in advance (with the occasional run for a vegetable). It also helps because I have a running list of meals from the previous weeks that I can look back on for ideas. I really like the laminated list idea, I think I will print one myself. I like that all the items that you buy on a regualar basis are permanantly listed. Great idea!

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