Grocery Shopping Tips

I remember when I was a kid, I used to enjoy and love doing grocery shopping. There's something about those aisles and aisles of goodies that made me so excited. I know I wouldn't have anything I want that's not on my mom's shopping list, but still... There came a time when going to the grocery suddenly transitioned from a fun trip to a complete chaotic turbulence of confusion, stress, and pressure with a touch of agony. I guess that was when I was slowly easing into adulthood. And it's tough. If you don't start making a gameplan for your grocery, you will end up always getting frustrated. Frustrated that you may have missed that one ingredient you need for that recipe you want to make. That's assuming you won't end up just eating out because you're tok lazy and tired and confused to even cook.

When I became a mom - a full time stay at home mom - I suddenly felt the pressure that I have to make sure everything runs smoothly around the house. There should be food on the table during mealtime, there should be enough tissue papers, there should be an endless supplg of alcohol and hand sanitizer - my husband is semi-germophobic). Semi just because he met me and I made him realize that dirt isn't always bad. LOL. Then I started an online job. And I love what I am doing. My husband allowed me to continue working with one condition. Our daughter is my priority. Pssssh! Like he needed to ask me that! Pfffft! But I know there was an underlying condition in there. That I should still be able to do my mom/wife tasks and that my health should not be compromised.

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The grocery store was just a few blocks away from our place so I don't really mind doing my grocery trips daily or every other day. But I realized that the tine is indeed the most precious commodity. I can't afford to waste that much time on several grocery trips in a week. So my first tip would be to set a once a week grocery trip. Primary reason being saving a lot of precious time. If you go out to buy your groceries on a weekly basis, you can allocate your extra time doing other things you love like gardening, crocheting, reading, and so much more. Not only does it save you time, it will also help with your budget planning. You can automatically set an amount that you can spend for the groceries. It gives you more control over how much you spend giving you flexibility with your budget. Another benefit of having a once-a-week grocery shopping schedule is that it allows you to make a one week menu. I used to have trouble with asking my husband what he wants to eat the following day. Most of the time, he would just ask me back what I want. Each day is a struggle of "What's for lunch tomorrow?" Setting a weekly grocery schedule helped me a lot on that aspect.

Make a list. Like a real list of what you are going to buy in the grocery. I used to forego this part. I rely on my mental list before. But then, I got tired of going home finding out that I forgot to buy onions. Or milk. Or some major ingredient for my menu. My husband would end up having to buy the ingredients for me before he goes home from work. He's fine with it but I'm not. I used to write down the list on a piece of paper but when my notepad got used up, I started using Google Keep. There's so much you can do with this app. It's a notepad where you can basically just jot down anything, make a list with all those tick boxes you can check once you've placed the item on your cart, you can even categorize and color code them. It helped me make sure that I have everything that I need before I leave the grocery store. A remeinder though, make sure that you are monitoring the prices of the items you plan to buy. Your shopping needs to follow your budget.

Follow your list. What's on the list is final and sacred. Do not go aboutt from aisle to aisle and tell yourself you need another box of dark chocolates or another set of glassware just because they're on sale. Do not give in to temptations. The list is there not only to remind you of the items you need for the week, it is also there to guide you and help you follow your budget. Of course, that is under the assumption that the list you created is within your budget plan. Of course, there is always an exeption to the rule. You can have some random, one-off, once-in-a-while kinds of cravings that you may give in to. That's why it is important that your budget always comes with a 10%-20% contingency plan. For special cases.

Monitor your cart. When our cashflow was a bit more flexible, I didn't really mind what or how much is already on my cart. I just mentally calculate and give myself a rough estimate of how much I will need to pay at the cash register. But when things are tight in the financial department, you'll need to be a bit more stingy and controlling when it comes to your spending. Otherwise, you'll get questions like "How did we get over our budget?" or "Where did the money go?" So aside from Google Keep, I also use the excel sheet on WPS office on my mobile phone to monitor the prices. I also heard rumors about supermarkets showing discrepancies on the display price versus the price shown on their cash registers. Some say it's because the pricing may not have been updated yet in the system and so on and so forth. I don't want to take any chances. I'd like to make sure that what I expect is what I will pay. Nothing more, nothing less. A discount would be very much appreciated though. :D

Bring your eco bag This is simply just so you get to be environment friendly. And besides, it's much easier to carry your grocery with an eco bag compared to having to carry them using a lot of plastic bags. I never had to experience losing blood from my fingers when I carry heavy grocery items. :D

Play your tunes. As soon as I enter the grocery, I put on my headset, set it to the maximum volume so that I can have a peaceful shopping experience. I don't really like being pulled by those salespeople that seem to harrass buyers into checking out whatever item they are offering. Being a stay at home mom, I consider my grocery time as my me time. It's just me, my music, my list and the grocery cart. The headset helps ward off any unwanted conversation from randoms. (Antisocial alert!)

Do not shop on a weekend. If you're like me, I choose going to the groceries on a Monday. As soon as the grocery opens on a Monday morning, I'm there. It's much easier. There aren't too many people to avoid getting a cart collision with and the lines aren't too long. There's enough space for you to have a peaceful grocery time. And there aren't that much sales persons trying to promote items. I don't have anything against them, it's just that they are a big temptation, and I might give in to their offer. I can't afford that.

Memorize your aisles When you're doing your grocery shopping weekly, chances are you already have a set of items that you buy regularly. Take note of their placements and create an efficient system so that you are not going back and forth from one aisle to another. Saves you time. And energy. Also, make a system so that you go for the dry goods first, then the meat and veggies last. I'm not sure if that does matter, but I really don't want to roam around the grocery with some frozen meat or fish thawing in my cart, leaving a trail of liquid along the way. Also, take note that there are times that for some reason, the grocery management just wants to shake things up a bit. They might change the placements every now and then. You have the right to get angry, but just breathe in, and breathe out. Ask for directions. Or look for the items yourselves, and make sure to update your mental archive so that the following week, you know where the new placements are. It's actually a sign of adulting when a sudden change of aisle placement makes you angry. So if you did get flustered, congratulations, you're finally an adult.

I may be becoming an adult that this kind of topic has come to my mind. But it really did help me with my groceries. I think I have come back to that happy feeling about grocery shopping when I was a kid.