last week we talked about groceries and i walked you through the way we make our meal plans, which has totally saved us tons of money (and time!), which is totally awesome. now what if i told you that just the way you write your grocery list could help you save even more? well it totally can! and as an added bonus, being intentional and methodical with your grocery list will also save you loads of time, and who doesnt like spending less time running errands?
so, are you ready? lets go!
(again i do feel the need to disclaimer that every single family and situation is different and i can not guarantee any specific results. however, i do firmly believe that these steps really can help control grocery spending)
1. start with a plan. remember last week when i told you how we make our meal plans? you can do that, or you could do whatever works for you. either way, make sure you know what you need.
2. make it detailed. whatever you do dont make a super vague list that looks like this: "bread, cheese, fish, vegetables", that list is just begging for mistakes. expensive and time wasting mistakes like buying too much of one thing or forgetting another or the wrong kind of another thing. being as specific as possible with the brands, types, and quantities of the foods you need when youre making your list goes a LONG way in making sure that youre getting exactly what you need.
3. organize it by section. ok maybe this sounds totally OCD, but hear me out: organizing your grocery list by department (meats, dairy, produce, breakfasts, etc.) not only saves you money but keeping you out of sections you dont need to go into, it also saves you time by keeping you from backtracking through the store when you realize that the random thing at the bottom of your list is clear on the other side of the store. its totally worth the ten extra seconds to keep your list organized.
4. if you use coupons/price matching, pull that out in advance. look, nobody wants to be in line behind that person with the disorganized wallet full of coupons and flyers for price matching all over the place. if thats how you want to shop, get all that stuff together with your list and only go to the store with what you need. im serious, dont even take the extra coupons to the store with you. coupons arent saving you any money if theyre making you buy things that arent on your list.
5. stick. to. your. list. look, i know that impulse purchases happen and sometimes theres just awesome stuff on that clearance rack. but at the same time, if it wasnt important enough to be part of your plan/on your list, how much did you really need it? yeah... didnt think so...
so yeah, by applying these five steps (and making them a habit), you can totally transform your grocery list from a measly scrap of paper into a magical tool for saving both time and money. how awesome is that?
how do you feel about grocery lists? do you have anything to add?
This is so awesome! When I go back to living on my own, I will definitely need to save every bit of penny I can, and this will be helpful for that.
ReplyDelete