Problem: I felt harried in the grocery store, I would forget items on my list and sometimes lose my car…
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Grocery shopping. Can’t live without it — at least not in a family with 3 kids. You need to make friends, and get into a zone where it works for you. I must admit that moving to Arizona and taking on Walmart price matching was a LOT. You have to fail a few times with price matching to get it right, and that can cause anxiety in people with feelings. Here are a few systems I have in place that might show you how to plan a grocery shopping trip, a little bit better.
1. I made my grocery list by the store I shopped at most frequently’s layout. Does that make sense? They have crackers, etc up front, so that’s #1. Then I just followed each isle back, making each isle a part of my list and WHAMO, I stopped forgetting stuff as frequently. I just made it in word, nothing fancy. You can find it here.
2. I park in the same isle every time. No more walking out to the car and wondering where I parked. I’m often mulling over my list when I walk into the store, so I sometimes forget my surroundings. Anyone remember that Seinfeld episode where they walked around forever trying to find their car?
3. I put the things I am price matching on the right side of the cart, and stuff I’m not price matching on the left side of the cart. That way, when I go to check out it’s easier for me to separate the two.
Anyway, that’s 3 things I do to make grocery shopping a little easier. I REALLY want to get to a point that I’m only doing it every 2 weeks, but I haven’t gotten that far yet. Fingers crossed.
Do you have any grocery shopping tips?
Lindsay H says
Andrew and I like the AnyList app for syncing our grocery list. I still do most of the shopping, but he can add stuff to the list of we run out/low.
Hilary says
Ooo, that does sound handy!
Lori says
Hi ,
I love your idea on the pantry list, but I can’t seam to print it without the writing on the front,Please help!!
Thanks Lori
Hilary says
Are you meaning my pantry excel file? You can find it on this link: http://www.pullingcurls.com/2014/03/pantry-excel-file.html — click on “voila” or there is another link to box.com on the bottom if the first one doesn’t work. 🙂
Carolyn Allen Russell says
My husband and I use the OurGroceries app – we can both access it and it instantly updates (so I can add items to the list AS he is shopping and he’ll see them, or we can split up at the store and instantly see who has already grabbed what) but my FAVORITE part is that you can set it up to categorize items by where they are in the store, and it remembers those categories for the future (so every time I type in “frozen waffles” it lists it under “freezer section” or if I ask for black beans it puts that under “canned goods”). I used to go back and forth in the store when I would forget about an item on the list until after I’d passed that area and the back tracking was annoying. I think that app is the best thing that’s ever happened to my grocery shopping 🙂
Hilary says
Man, I can see that an app would be REALLY helpful if it was just us. Someday it will be. 😉 I bet it really helps!
Nikki @ The King's Table says
I have to park in the same area, too! It’s too easy to get distracted and forget where I parked.
I love the idea of putting price match items in a different part of the cart. It’s one of those things where i’m thinking “why don’t I already do that??”
On my list are “must have” items, but I also have a running “look for” list…those things I look out for just in case I find them at great prices.
Hilary says
That’s smart to have a “look for” section!
Havok says
I am SO GLAD I’m not the only one who parks in the same space all the time! Seriously, I call it “mine” and I get very sad when there’s another car there, ha! But parking in the same spot means I can go in auto-pilot after I check out (and don’t have to worry about fighting my way out of the parking lot, as I tend to park far away, ha!).
I don’t organize my cart, other than like-with-like as best I can, and then load it all onto the register belt like-with-like, to make putting everything away that much easier.
So far as actually maneuvering in the store? That I haven’t mastered yet. I almost always go to the same place, and can get around almost on auto-pilot, but sometimes I have to go to a different one (for the gas station) and I get all backwards. Still learning that part!
Hilary says
Oh man, a new store always throws me off! 🙂
Brittany says
If you’re shopping at Walmart, do you really need to price match anymore? I thought their app and scanning the receipts into the savings catcher does the price matching for you. You get money back in an account that will go onto a merchandise card similar to a rebate. I always wonder if there are better prices I could have saved on, but I just don’t have time right now to check ads and shop that way! That’s next on my list, but right now I’m just improving on my meal planning, which I just started last month. It’s really helping our grocery bills.
Hilary says
I have not heard good thing about that app. I prefer to do it myself, and I worry that they will convert entirely to that app. It also won’t price match store brands for other store’s brands (which I often do). I wish….
Brittany says
I hadn’t realized they would price match the great value brand to another store brand! That’s awesome! I figured that was why I wasn’t saving much because I’ve been buying the cheapest available brand. I will have to try to start doing the price matching so we can save more money. I Judy had a big Sam’s trip and it was much higher than usual with some big ticket items :/
Hilary says
True story. 🙂 Give it a try!
Rachel says
I made a “Monthly Walmart Shopping List” that I print out at the end of each month. It lists all the items we normally purchase– everything from peanut butter and sour cream to diapers and toilet paper. If we are already stocked up for that item, I cross it off the list for that month. This system has worked splendidly– not only do I make sure I have everything I need (and don’t have to rack my brain making a list from scratch), but all the items are arranged by aisle to make my shopping much easier! (And with shopping with two toddlers, time efficiency is top priority!) I stop by a local grocery store (during the winter) or local farmer’s market (during spring and summer) weekly for fresh produce.. A few other perishable or Walmart-doesn’t-carry-that items come from other sources as well (raw milk from a dairy, grassfed meat from another store, bulk baking supplies from a co-op.) Most of our Walmart groceries easily make it through a month without spoiling.
Hilary says
I think that is SUCH a smart idea! I have a laminated Costo list that I run through every time I head there (I only go once a month because I swear that store pulls money out of my checking account).