I don't know about you, but going grocery shopping is one of my least favorite things to do. I love it when I get home and have everything put away, but just getting to the store and doing it seems like such a big pain.
I have come up with a few things that seem to work for us and make grocery shopping a little less painful for our family.
The first thing we always do is to make a list. Whether you need 5 items or 50 I highly recommend having a list. This way you can plan a budget, plan your meals, snacks, school lunches and never forget those household items that would always slip your mind if you did not write it down.
Second, I look for coupons. Now, I am not a big coupon person. We like to have certain brands and there are some that I have never seen a coupon for in my life. But I am not willing to get some other brand, so I deal with it! We do most of our shopping at HEB or Central Market. HEB always has great deals and when we want a change of pace we head to a Central Market. HEB does sell some Central Market brands and we do purchase these often. Anyway, I clip coupons when I really see something I want or I just get lucky and find the brand I want. I have a little coupon organizer I use to keep the coupons and I keep this in my purse.
Thirdly, we use reusable bags to put our groceries into. I highly recommend keeping some in your car and some in your home. I keep mine hanging on the kitchen door. I haven't yet put some in my van, but I have talked about doing it forever! Remember, I am a procrastinator!
When at the store, we move from left to right. When we have made it all the way right, we are at the produce. Next comes deli and meats, back of store is dairy. Lastly we hit the frozen food which is at the front. However your store is set up, have a plan of moving through it. I like that we go back through the store for dairy that way if we forgot something on an aisle we get to pass it one more time. This method really does save time and planning ahead always saves time!
When we are ready to check out, we place everything on the belt into groups. Makes bagging for us or whoever is working there so much easier and faster.
Well there you go! Hope some of these ideas will help make your grocery shopping easier and quicker. I forgot to mention, having the kids help out in any way makes for a happier shopping experience as well!
1. List
2. Coupons
3. Re-usable Bags
4. Plan for going through store
5. Group items at check out
6. Happy Dance!
So get out there and have fun shopping!
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