Time Saving Tip: Sort your grocery list in aisle order!
Today’s tip is one that has saved me countless hours wandering from one end of the grocery store to the other (and back again.) Before I started grouping my grocery list in aisle order, I was notorious for getting all the way to the frozen foods section (far end of the grocery store) only to notice I had a lemon not checked off my list! (Grrr!) And so I’d head back to the produce aisle at the front of the store! This doesn’t even include all the extra minutes I’d spend in each aisle scanning my list to be sure I hadn’t missed something in that aisle.
To sort your list in aisle order, simply create a shopping list template. (Here’s a copy of my grocery list template for inspiration…or to use if you’d like.) To create a list customized to your grocery store layout, first, check with your grocery store to see if they have a print-out of their aisle layout. Or simply jot down what’s in each aisle next time you shop. Then, create your template using your word processor. Viola! No more running from one end of the store to the other! Time (and frustration!) saved. (Love that!)
And to feel extra organized, snap your grocery list onto a clipboard. 🙂
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I love your clipboard! I use a clipboard for my grocery list as well but it certainly isn’t this pretty.
I divide my paper into fifths. One area for fruits + veggies, one for frozen items, one for dairy, one for bulk food and finally everything in the middle of the store.
I also clip the coupons I’m using to my list and put an asteric by any item ahead of time that I have a coupon for.
Since we’re on the topic of grocery shopping… making the list in aisle order was a huge ‘aha’ for me (and made it possible for me to send my husband to the store, since he used to go and call me the whole time, asking where things were!) When I get the store ads during the week, I circle things that I have coupons for or will want to stock up on. This helps me pull together a list much quicker and also plan out meals for the week– and save money, too.
The most time saving and cost effective tip that works for my family is to let my husband do all of the grocery shopping!!! I am terrible about sticking to a list or budget so by letting him do the shopping, I can do some other chore and hopefully get things accomplished so we can relax (hmmm, even w/hubby doing the shopping, we never seem to get to the “relaxing” part).
I save tons of time by using a shopping list on my smart phone. Over the past few years, I’ve input just about anything I could ever shop for and now all I have to do is type in a few letters and items beginning with those letters pop up. I just mark the ones I need and I’m done! So speedy, so convenient and it’s always with me.
What a great idea! I save time with planning grocery shopping with coupons by looking online instead of in the paper flyer. I have my coupons sorted by the departments listed online so I’m not always going back and forth to see what I have!
Hmmm…this may be more of a money saving tip but we have recently decided to grocery shop weekly instead of bi-weekly. This is because when we shop bi-weekly we get such a huge amount of groceries that we often “forget” we have certain items and do not use them in time before they go bad OR we use them at the wrong time (kids eat the strawberries that were supposed to be for a special dessert later in the week).
To save time, we have everybody write down things as they start to run out so we don’t have to make a second dash to the store because we just ran out of hand soap or dryer sheets.
When using the oven for my evening meal, I sometimes make a batch of muffins or similar, to pop in to bake after my main meal has cooked. I then pop the muffins in the freezer for use in lunchboxes etc. Saves fuel too!
I always clean out the fridge the night before Trash Day. As I’m dumping out rotten food, I make notes of what to buy less of or better menu planning, so that I don’t keep repeating overbuying. I also make my shopping list that night, knowing what I need to restock.
I used to never make lists, but now I make a list and have all my coupons ready to go.
My mom used to do this. She remembered where everything was in the store 🙂 She hated when they rearranged!!
We meal plan and I have quickly leart that a few minutes checking every.single.ingredient in a meal saves times in the long run. I don’t just assume we have all the spices necessary or that tehre is enough garlic for the dish. Check everything! It saves a trip to the shops, which saves time and money!
My grocery-shopping is pretty similar – I have a clipboard and I group things together – for the store I visit most often, I put things on the list in the order I will walk through the store (supermarkets are much smaller in Austria, so the aisle-concept isn’t necessary). For the others, I just have colums for each store, I get just a few things at each stop.
Anyhow, here’s my tip: never walk through your house empty-handed! There’s always something that needs to go from this room to that, or from that to this. So: ALWAYS have something travelling with you! Our apartment is just two-bedrooms, but even here I save a ton of time!
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