Grocery Shopping 101

So I recently stumbled upon this website that gave very unorganized and poor, misspelled directions on how to grocery shop and menu plan.  And of course the whole time I reading this, I'm cringing and silently screaming- the word is spelled DOES, not dose.  I made it about halfway through the post before giving up and saying- I can do better.  I can help the average housewife excel at grocery shopping.

So here goes-

Find the weekly sale fliers in the
store or your mailbox.

1. Determine your Budget.  If you don't have a budget yet- now is the time to figure one out!  I try to stick to $200 per week for all food (eating out is included!), toiletries AND gas in my car.  Some weeks I will have less to spend at the store then others.  Starting with a pre determined dollar amount will help you stay in your budget.
2. Look at the sale fliers for the stores you usually shop or download a store app- if they have one, for your smart phone.  I like to get a red Sharpie and circle the items I know I will buy.  Do this step BEFORE you plan your weekly menu- this way you will be buying items that are on sale for your meals that week.
3. Plan your Menu.  Not too worry, I'll probably write another post dedicated to menu planning.  But for now, I'm going to assume you know how to do this.  Don't forget to include breakfast, lunch & snacks in your meal planning.  So many folks just plan dinner- but that will leave you spending over your budget if you don't factor in all meals and snacks.
4. Make your List.  One list for each store.  Since I'm a little OCD, I like to write the items down in order of location in the store.  Sometimes, if my budget is super tight, I will also write the price down next to the item on my list.  This way, I can easily make substitutions to my menu plan if needed while I'm still at home and not at the store.  And for goodness sake- try your best to stick to your list!  Resist the impulse buys that will take you over budget.
5. Add your items from your running list.  Your what?  Here's a tip ladies- you should always keep a running grocery list on your fridge.  When you run out or are getting low, simply add it to the running grocery list.  When you add it to your actual grocery list, make sure you cross it off the running list.
6. Gather your Coupons.  I keep all my coupons in a little plastic file folder in my purse.  When I'm prepping for my grocery shopping, I will pull out the items that I know I'm buying and set those

   

   Keep your coupons organized!

   coupons to the front of my coupon organizer.  Then as I walk the store- if I buy something that was not on my list, I can simply search the category and pull out my coupon to add to the others.  Here's another tip- while in the store- pull your coupons as soon as you put the item into your cart.  Otherwise, you'll be standing at the checkout counter forever!

Now- I have several stores that I shop at but I don't shop at all 4 stores every time I need to do some grocery shopping.  I'm guessing you probably don't either- whew! Talk about exhausting!  You should have one main store that you do the majority of your grocery shopping at either weekly or bi-weekly.  For me, this is my local Safeway.  

The other stores should be on a monthly rotation or even every other month rotation.  What this means is that once per month I shop at Costco.  This is where I stock up on organic eggs, organic bread, organic milk and organic butter.  When I take my monthly trip here, I know that I'm only going here once each month so I buy enough to last throughout the month.  I also shop at Trader Joe's every other month.  I buy a specific salad dressing that my husband loves and I can't get it anywhere else and my son loves of few of their snack items.  I occasionally buy bacon here too.  So clearly this is not a store I need to visit often.  Grocery Outlet is one that I visit either once per month or every other month- it just depends.  I buy all my organic canned beans here and organic frozen fruit and veggies.  So if they didn't have my items in stock, I may have to take a trip back here sooner then anticipated.  If you shop at a Grocery Outlet- you know what I'm talking about!  

One last tip, not exactly related to grocery shopping but it does fall within this category.

Every six months or so, my family does a "No Grocery Shopping Challenge".  What exactly is this?  Well- we basically skip the regular visit to the grocery store and instead try to use up what we have in our fridge, freezer and pantry for that week.  The benefit is that you can add that week's grocery budget to your savings and have fun doing it!

Hopefully this list will help get  you started on the path to saving money at the grocery store.  If you haven't figured it out by now- a little prep work and planning is the key here.  Good luck!