Let’s face it, grocery shopping is a pain in the butt. Yeah, I said it. And I even used the word butt, although the Minions would probably prefer bottom so they could get a giggle.
If you want to have food at home that’s not from a fast food drive-thru, you have to venture to the grocery store. It’s a fact of life. When I was younger those visits seemed simpler because there were fewer brands available. Outside the cereal and candy aisles, the number of choices were small enough that your brain wouldn’t explode when choosing. Nowadays I’m assaulted by so many product variations I can’t comprehend it. I want to run and hide. Worse yet, my shopping list often references specific brands, forms, and sizes of items. I spend too much time searching for the exact thing on my list. Often it would be faster to just grab something close than search for the exact match.
Frankly, grocery shopping mentally drains me!
The array of options in the grocery store play into a uniquely modern affliction: Decision Fatigue. The concept is easy to understand…the more decisions you make in a day, the more worn out you’ll become. Apparently the importance of those decisions isn’t relevant. It’s the fact that you have to decide. Which car should I purchase ranks at the same level as what Pop Tart flavor should I get. It’s crazy, but making any decision drains your reserve. The accumulated daily decisions add up to an astronomical number. Then you go to the grocery store and your head is ready to explode!
First off, shop with a list!
Seriously, shop with a freaking list. I know, this isn’t news, but I’m not giving up on this advice. I talked about it regarding stocking your kitchen and budgeting and saving money shopping. At least you know I’m consistent! Honestly, shopping with a list is the surest way to make your trip as effective as possible. Instead of wracking your brain over what to buy when you’re standing in the grocery store with a whining toddler and all those slow people, you can create the list in the comfort of your home with your meal plan and recipes right there in front of you. Plus you can do it sitting down. Always a plus!
A list drastically reduces your decision points. You’ll have a game plan for navigating the store too. Is dog food on the list? If not, skip that aisle. No need to peruse the nifty pet toys. Don’t ponder the varieties of canned cat food. Honestly, there’s nothing to see here. Save yourself some brain drain and skip the aisle.
When you make your list, put similar items together. It takes long enough to navigate through the dangerous marketing waters of the grocery store without having to backtrack. Too many times my disorderly list caused me to return to the produce department time after time. It’s a waste of energy and time, not to mention it’s annoying to have to maneuver around all those people. Avoid the frustration and collect the fruits and vegetables into one group on your list. Sure, it takes longer to make your list…but the time savings are well worth it. Match your list’s organization to the layout of the store. If you’re really persnickety about it, order the list exactly like your supermarket. I’ll admit that when our grocery store remodeled they handed out maps of the aisles. I rushed home with one of those maps and reorganized my grocery list template to match. Weird? Yes. But the time savings I gain every week as I smoothly pilot through the store was well worth the looks of disdain from my family. Sometimes you just have to withstand the scorn!
What else could make grocery shopping better?
While making your own personalized list is a great way to ensure efficiency in the store, crafting it takes time. There are a couple of ways you can speed its creation.
One way is to make a shopping checklist. For years at Hectic Manor we printed out a checklist and posted it in the kitchen. As various family members realized they needed an item, they checked it off on the list. If somebody used the last of the Rice Krispies, they were supposed to check it off. That didn’t work all the time, but it worked often enough.
I’d make my meal plan for the week and collect the recipes. Then I’d grab the checklist and mark the items on the list. Next I was off to the store with my checklist in hand. Because it was organized to match the topography of the grocery store I’d be in and out in no time!
Over time we evolved our checklist into an electronic solution. We use the app OurGroceries. I’ll write more about it in a future post. The general idea is the same though. Everybody in the Hectic Family uses a single login. As they discover things they need from the store they add it to the app. Then when it comes time to shop I just open the app and get to shopping.
The best part of using the shared checklist or OurGroceries app is distributing the burden of making the list from just me to the entire family. That responsibility no longer falls entirely on my shoulders. The rule at Hectic Manor is “if you use the last of something…put it on the list”. It’s supported by the corollary “if it’s not on the list, I won’t buy it”.
Another way to speed your list creation is to build a standardized set of ingredients for each of the recipes you commonly use. Once again, I use OurGroceries for this, but there are tons of other ways to do this. Lets walk through how to do it. First, go grab your favorite recipe. Around here that would be our potato casserole. Now figure out where you want to keep the standard set of ingredients. I use OurGroceres for a lot of these, but I’m a spreadsheet guy, so sometimes I use Google Sheets, Excel, or Numbers. But there’s no magic to those locations. You can just as easily use Notes on your smartphone. Type the ingredients from the recipe into your repository. If you include the quantity and measure that’ll make this even more useful. So you could put onions or 1/2 large Onion. Save the ingredient list with a name that make senses to you. For instance, I have Those Potatoes in my list. The actual recipe name is Roasted Red Potatoes with Bacon & Cheese, but I’m never going to remember that.
When it comes time to create your shopping list, open your saved note and enter the ingredients. If you can copy/paste, do that! In OurGroceries you scroll to the Recipes section, pick your recipe, and then touch Add recipe to shopping list. It’s actually pretty nifty! If you’re using a checklist, simply mark off the items on your checklist. 💥Boom💥, done!
The last tip is a shameless plug. If you don’t want to have to mess with finding your recipes, crafting them into a workable meal plan, and then building your shopping list…consider subscribing to our Hectic-Meals Dinner Plans. You get the recipes, meal plan, and a fully-organized shopping list for exactly the ingredients that you need. If you’re intrigued, we’re offering a 14-Day Free Trial. Check it out if you’re interested!
Wrap-Up
I’ve shared some tips and tricks towards creating your shopping list. In the future I’ll be writing more about the OurGroceries app and how I use it. I’ll also be writing more about collecting your recipes and keeping them organized. Finally, I’m going to dig a lot deeper into making your shopping experience faster and more effective. So check back on the blog and get a little better with each trip. While we all have to do grocery shopping, it doesn’t have to be the quagmire that it’s been.
If you’ve got any other dandy ways to make list creation better, I’d love to hear about them. Let me know in the comments. If you’ve got questions or want me to write about something…I’m always looking for topics for the blog. Just add a comment and I’ll get right on it!
Now get started on that list and make it a great day in the kitchen (and at the store)!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/our-groceries-shopping-list/id325851015?mt=8
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