For as long as I can remember a shopping list has always something you just have. I had never seen life without one – my parents bought a lot of supplies and when we’d get down to the last two or three, then we’d buy more. In a family of five you couldn’t go down to the last one! Plus my mum is a Supermarket Strategist and so shopping for her is a sport!
I think it was when I started working and talking with clients back in early Home Economist days that I realised not everyone creates a list. Which side of the fence do you sit – to list or not to list??
Make Meal Planning Made Easy with a Shopping List
For me, my reliance on a list when I do grocery shopping is because my memory is dreadful and I have to map out what I need to get from where or I will completely FORGET! I tend to write two shopping lists – one for supermarket specifics (noting fruit and vege) and one for Aldi – for some great basics! I tend to write the list in sequence of where I find products in the layout of the store. It makes it so easy because I find them as I read about them when shopping – which is helpful when I am on auto pilot.
I find the best time for me to write a list is as soon as I take or open the last ‘something’ from the fridge, freezer or pantry. I find that when I forget to do this I go to the cupboard and find it bare for that item!!
And while I am being completely honest, when I’m shopping I have to resist the urge to buy things I *THINK* I have run out of. Time and time again I have proven that when I act on that impulse I go home and discover I have plenty of those items at home already. This is always worst if I shop when I am hungry and can’t think straight! I have found shopping when I am full and having a shopping list really does makes life easy when you’re busy – all the time.
So what are your shopping list habits? The good, bad and ugly?
Brilliant, Gina! That was easy to follow and makes a lot of sense. We deietfnily meal plan a lot, but since I work from home I can afford to slack off a bit. I like to be flexible.One thing we do a lot are two-fers’, where one night’s meal becomes the base for the next night. Since our boys are still young and not huge eaters, it’s easy to have leftovers to incorporate into a new meal.
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