Shopping Lists

I guess I'm into "tricks," as my last suggestion was a paper budget, which I consider a sort of a budgeting trick. This time, the trick I have in mind is a pre-made grocery list. What I mean by this is that I have a document saved that has a list of groceries we frequently buy. This is also a time-saving tool (and sanity-saving since I often go shopping with my two boys). In order for it to be the most helpful, I have the grocery list organized by aisle at the grocery store we shop at. By this I mean that the dairy products are under "Dairy," the cereal and granola bars are listed under "Cereal," etc. I print out this document and put it up in our kitchen. Then, when my husband or I think of something we need or I plan my menu for the week, I highlight the items we need. If it's not on the list, I do it the old-fashioned way and write it where I would find it.

When Patrick talked about shopping around for apartments, he mentioned how recurring expenses can really add up if you're not careful. One way we've found this to be true is if we don't plan ahead so that we have to make several trips to the grocery story in a week. The more trips out to the grocery store, the more likely that we end up spending money on unplanned items, and anyway it's a waste of gas. Any sort of a grocery list can help with this, but my pre-made shopping list has been a great help at our house to help us to be organized, to be fast, and to save money.

One other way it helps with saving money is that for awhile, I found myself wandering back and forth to get things (because it would be farther down on my list so I'd have to double-back when I saw it) so that grocery shopping was taking forever! Since it was already taking so long and I was so stressed--because by an hour into it, my kids were DONE-- I stopped doing a very good job of price comparisons. Now that I'm more organized, it's easier for me to take the time to buy the cheapest item. This trick has been a great help to me and I foresee it being a normal part of our lives for the rest of our family life.