When shopping for groceries and household supplies, having a well organized list is one of the best money savers (and time savers) that we've tried. I've developed my own shopping list and included prices of items, so that I know when a sale item found is REALLY a good deal. It's very surprising how great a difference in prices items are from month to month, too.
I've organized my own list for shopping at Walmart, so mine starts with pharmacy area items like vitamins that we buy on a monthly basis, then goes to canned and dry goods, then I make a sweep back to frozen and refrigerated goods so they'll be at their coldest for the trip home. We usually shop for our main groceries only once a month, then shop only for a few items weekly at other stores and mainly just stock up on their great weekly sale items.
Since my main list is mostly for items we cook a lot, it wouldn't be right for most people, but I found a web site called freeprintablegrocerylist.com that has several versions of a list most people could use and update to suit themselves. Just scroll down the page a little and you'll see the different versions and can print your own, or at least use it as an idea on how to make your own list to save and print out each month or each week.
For example, one month our water heater had to be replaced, and used up our whole monthly grocery budget plus some on buying a new one, but we had plenty of food to get us through that month so we could pay for the water heater front and not owe. If you've not tried it, try it for just two or three months and you'll probably never go back to big weekly shopping trips. It stopped us from losing so much money on impulse items, and now we actually have more money in the budget for when we need it.
Source: I thought up my own main list myself when I was in chemo and only felt like shopping maybe once a month, and really needed to watch out for prices, but the website I've given was suggested in a newsletter by S.C.Johnson, I think.
By Mary from Mtn. Pine, AR
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Thanks for the master grocery list website. It's great and lists just about everything I usually buy. It will be a great timesaver rather than writing out a list all the time and forgetting half of what I need.
I have another idea that might also work.
I read about www.mygrocerydeals.com in Reader's Digest, and used to visit fairly often. It's free to join and use, and would be easy for most people to navigate. When you first visit and/or join, just type in your Zip code. The site then presents you with the list of groceries in your general area, and you can choose the ones where you prefer to shop.
I would be lost without my master grocery list. It's a list of everything I keep on hand and I use it to check my inventory and make my shopping list.
Our grocery store recently remodeled and I asked if they had a brochure that told where everything is placed. Sure enough, they did and it's called an Aisle Directory. Now I'm going to redo my master list and set it up according to the aisles in the grocery store. With my list in order, I can fill my cart with groceries and be out of the store in a jiffy.
I made my own master shopping list using the Excel computer program. I put everything in order by Isle number from Walmart where I shop. When I'm getting ready to shop I use my list to check what I have on hand, and then use a highlighter to mark what I need to buy. To save even more money, I "price comp" items at Walmart.
Putrting down the prices you normally pay beforehand when going shopping is a great idea! Thank you.
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