Organized Shopping

I’ll be the first to admit that I have no business talking about cooking to ANYONE! I only started to cook when I became a stay at home mom a whole year ago. In fact a favorite story of my sister’s is the day that I called her wondering why my broiler wasn’t working. I told her that I took all the pans out of the drawer, but it just wasn’t heating up! Until I realized the broiler was just in the regular oven instead of the drawer below the oven. So as you can see… I’m NO expert, but I do know a thing or two about shopping. Here are some tips I've learned about going to the grocery store.

A good shopping trip is all about planning ahead. I know when I forget to get my list together before my shopping trip I always have to make a second trip later in the week. That second trip gets expensive, because I see other things that I want to buy.

• Keep a list – If throughout the week you keep track of the things you run out of you won’t be rushing the morning of your grocery trip figuring out what you need to get.
• Get the non-perishables in bulk once a month – This includes things like toilet paper, shortening, diapers, etc. This way you can concentrate on the fresh food the rest of the month.
• Clean your fridge the day before – This way you will know exactly what you need from the store. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve purchased ketchup only to realize I already have 2 bottles!
• Start in the middle of the store, then do the perimeter – Get fruits, vegetables and bread last so they don’t get squished by the rest of the items in your cart.
• Use Coupons! – In the words of my sister and Dane Cook “You gotta have coups man!” Seriously. Last week my sister went to the store, purchased 30 items… spent $15, SAVED $105!!!!!

Happy shopping!

Posted October 5, 2007, filed in Living Simply