How effective are the grocery shoping lists you make? Over the years I think I have perfected mine as best I can. I organize the items on my list by department, and by the place they go in my home. I first pick out the meals I want to make during the period of which my shopping is going to last (it is usually food for 2 weeks right now). I am not a huge coupone user, but I do pull a few coupons for things that I can find and get a deal on. While at the grocery store, I try hard to stick to my list as best I can.
I usually plan a couple weeks in advance with my grocery lists. Usually, I'll plan to spend anywhere from $80-$100 on my list and then leave some extra money for anything I buy as an "impulse" buy. Planning my impulse buys into my budget as helped immensely with my grocery budget as I don't all of a sudden have an extra $50-$100 at the end of the month in food I didn't plan for. I'm not a big coupon user either, but I'll keep an eye out in the paper for anything really good to use.
I don't actually write down lists, I've been pretty much buying the same things for nearly 20 years now, so it's more or less stuck in my head and roughly how much it should cost. I just make a mental note of how much above and beyond that I am going with non-typical items that I am buying in addition to my standard list, like perhaps some fresh sushi, or some Saffron, or some specialty cheeses, or whatever. Sometimes I may keep all the non-standard ingredients in the top basket of my buggy and put those on the checkout line last, so I can see how much my standard list amounted to, before the cashier starts ringing up the additional stuff.
I try to always add up the prices (roughly) as I place things in the cart. I round up to include for tax. Even with a full basket, I'm usually within a few cents, slightly high or low, on the total. As for the list, it depends on the amount of shopping I'm doing. If I'm trying to stock up for a longer period of time, instead of trying to buy for the week, I will list meals and then list everything I need to make each one. The standard things I always buy, like milk, don't always make it to the list. Still, in my head, I add it to my expected total.
When it comes to making grocery lists, I'm always full of good intentions and say that as soon as I run out of something I'll write it down, so I'll know what I need. Then I'll write down things that I want. Then in theory the shopping shouldn't be that big of a task. In reality though I either forget to write things down or i just forget the list anyway and end up having to wing it anyway. Luckily for me I don't live too far away from the nearest supermarket so its not that big of a deal.
I do try to make lists. Unfortunately in our town, one stop shopping is not an option unless I want to spend double the money. This means that I have to make a list for each store and think about the order of the stores as well. If I am going to stock up, I usually get about one week of fresh type groceries. We are only two in our house and I like to eat as fresh as possible. Of course, I will buy a month's worth of paper towels, toilet paper, toothpaste, etc. The list keeps me from impulse buying somewhat. I do best when my fiance is with me and he is focused on completely the list as quickly as possible! =)
One thing that as been recommended to me is to use an app on your phone. There loads of shopping list apps across most platforms of phones that are supposed to help tou when it comes to organising a shopping list. A lot of the main supermarkets have their own apps but there's also a lot of independent ones as well. I've not tried any yet but its definitely something that I'm going to try out, see if they do help.
I'm not that effective or efficient with my lists at all. I usually try and take notes each day as I remember each individual item I'd have to pick up but usually I still forget some items and end up regretting not buying them while I was already at the grocery store. Also I usually tend to pick up a lot of extra things like chips and other junk food because I can't help myself lol.
