Put This in Your Shopping Cart First

Put This in Your Shopping Cart First

When I embark on a large shopping trip, by large I mean I have up to 60% of my weekly budget in my right front pocket. I have a tendency to shop only a certain way. I create my grocery list a certain way. My list dictates what will enter the cart first.

To stay within budget you need to have a list of everything you need from the store and the coupons that you might possibly use. When I first started using a list it was all over the place. I ended up crossing all over the grocery store several times becoming frustrated and usually having to go back because I always missed something.

Today my grocery list is written in sections.

I have my produce section all together. My meat section is all together, my dairy section is all together, other items such as pasta fixings are grouped together. Cleaning supplies are always at the bottom and paid for separately. Grouping your grocery items into sections will do a couple things for you. First it will shorten the time you take to find all the items you are looking for. If there are items that you can not find without help make a note of where there are when you do find them with help for next time.

This concept has come from the frustration that would develop of having to go back down another isle that I had already been through. This happened because my list was not written properly. Grouping my items reduces the chance of this happening which saves me a ton of time. It also allows me to focus on what I need. In previous articles I have written about how smart your grocery store is. They want you to travel up and down the isles of their stores so you can be tempted to purchase more food. Being organized reduces these chances of picking up extra items.

The first section I always hit on big trips is the produce section. I like to take my time picking up what I need from here. I also like to look at my cart before I continue on with my shopping. It is colorful and full of healthy vegetables. Depending on your store layout will dictate where you go next but stay on the outside of the store isles where all the wholesome good foods are. I leave going up and down the isles until the very last. I tend to leave my cart at the bottom of an isle. This way I can walk down it and pick up the items I need and head back to the cart verses pushing the cart and accidentally throwing stuff in that is not on my list.

Then off to the checkout with most of my budget and list goals obtained.