Cut Grocery Shopping Time in Half

Grocery shopping for a family of four takes me, on average, about two hours. Wandering through the store is a major portion of that time.

People kept telling me to use a map of the store. But I still had to look at the map and determine where each item was located. And the map included so much irrelevant stuff!

I did something simpler.

Step 1: Mark down aisle numbers as you shop.

I brought my grocery list to the store (simply jotted in my planner) and as I picked up an item, I wrote down the aisle number. 

Step 2: Make a simple table in Word or Excel of the aisles with your old, marked up grocery list.

TIP: Divide it into dry and cold food.

Step 3: Insert the items that you bought into the proper spot.

Oil is on Aisle 5, for example.

Now, when I make my grocery list, I can refer to this list.

Step 4: Set up your new grocery list (either in your planner or on a printout of this custom map) by aisle.

TIP: Write aisle number next to grocery on list, using spacing to leave room to add items.

2 - bread
2 - hot dog buns


? - raisins

11 - snacks



12 - chicken breasts



15 - eggs

Step 5: Each week, add any items that are not already on the list.

I buy some things only every now and then or monthly, but when I find them in the store, I make a note to add them to my running grocery list.

In the example above, I did that with raisins.

There is no reason to spend oodles of time shopping. A simple custom-made map of the store will be worth the time investment.

Today, grocery shopping took less than an hour!

Bonus points if you noticed that my first "COLD" food is "Hot Food." (I sometimes grab rotisserie chicken or something in the hot food area near produce.)

As an added bonus, this list makes a great reminder of what you might need at the store.

Etcetera.

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