Shopping lists... How do I organize my shopping lists and thereby my shopping trip?
The way that has worked best for me is to organize what I want to buy by category. The two ways I've liked doing lists--1. by category and then by store or 2. by store & then by category. And if I don't use a table, but a simple written list, I organize by store and then within the store list I try to put like items together--like all the produce, all the frozen, etc.
By organizing my lists I find that I don't forget anything-or at least rarely do as long as it is written down on my list. When I haven't done it this way, even when I had something written down, I have still forgotten something--this happens the most to me when I simply have a list with no organization as to stores or categories. This also wastes time sometimes going back and forth throughout the store, rather than hitting each area once.
So here is a sample of a shopping list organized by category. The items listed below are just to give a sample, and except for Sam's club items, are those that are on sale this week at the respective stores (Kroger and Bi-Lo). Both of these are the same list, the second one is simply color coded by store. Whether color coded or not, it helps to put all of one store's items within the category together.
Here is another method--to organize by store and then by category--again very effective to be sure everything gets-gotten and not for-gotten. Again, these are just sample items using two stores sales from this week, plus some sample items from Sam's club.
These list tables were created using a spreadsheet. I've used both excel (windows) and numbers (mac), they will both work great for creating shopping lists like those shown above. I copy the tables over into a word (windows) or pages (mac) document, use text boxes for the "week of"/"store" lines.
This is just the current shopping list table I have in use. In the past I've had more categories--in addition to the ones shown I also had baking, canned goods, paper goods categories--but to fit everything into the table size I wanted I had to condense & combine my category names. I now put baking & canned goods items in with packaged, paper products (like trash bags) goes in the non-food/other category.
Possible categories: meat, dairy, produce, frozen, breads, cereals, hygiene, paper products, canned goods, baking/seasonings, condiments, deli/bakery, non-food, snacks. Use whatever works best for you.
I highly suggest using a list when shopping--even if it isn't grocery shopping. If shopping for other items, it is good to have a list so you can have sizes, colors, etc. written down--as well as prices that you've already researched at other stores or on-line. I even use a list when garage sale-ing--I can write down new price information for the items I am looking for and thereby determine if the used price is a worth while price or not--also if even stopping at certain garage sales is worth it or not.
By having a list, my grocery shopping goes much faster and better. Because I know exactly what I am looking for I can directly to it. If I see something on sale that isn't on my list, sometimes I will get it and sometimes not--I first think if the sale price is a good one or not--and is it within my budget, will I need the item and actually use it, could I possibly find it at a better price later, do I have a spot for it once it is home, will I regret not getting it--will I wish I had gotten it tomorrow or next week or next month... After thinking through these and possibly other questions, you can better determine if you want to get the item or not.
Now, what about grocery shopping phone apps? If you prefer to use these, find one with the features you like and would actually use.
Some features to look for: ability to organize lists according to store, according to category; inventory features (some actually call it inventory, others may use the term pantry); ability to calculate tax, to calculate per unit prices.
Other features that some apps have--some may have all, one or two additional features or none, determine what you would like to have and would use: ability to scan barcodes, to access coupons, to access store ads, lowest price records (records the lowest price input by user), recipe & menu storage (some can even create a grocery list based on these), store expiration dates of items and give alerts when they are going to expire.
For me, I prefer the old fashion paper method as shown above. But, whatever works for you and what you will use is what is best--whatever will help you save money by having to only go to the store once, and by not going back and forth throughout the store multiple times (the longer a person stays in a store, in general also means more money spent).
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