8 Awesome Grocery Shopping Tips to make trips to the store a BREEZE!

The Bold Abode is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com as well as other affiliate networks.

Oh, the dreaded grocery shopping day.  It can loom over you like a bad hair weave from the 90’s.

But it really doesn’t have to be that way, ya’ll.  I’ve gotten my grocery shopping down to a reasonable amount of pain these days, and I thought I’d share my tips with you!

1.  Make a weekly menu.

When I was in college and visited my older, married sister, I noticed that she had a weekly menu scratched out on notebook paper.

LIGHTBULB MOMENT.

You can use your store’s weekly flyer for fantastic savings by planning your menu around what’s on special.  Sometimes, I do that.  But sometimes, I just make the menu based on what I have left, or what I feel like making at the time.  I like saving money, but mostly, I just want the shopping to go smoothly.

Bonus?  When the kids ask “What’s for dinner, mom?”, you can just point the to the menu on the fridge!

2.  MAKE A FREAKING LIST

Now, if you are a list maker, this makes obvious sense. But if you are a free-spirit like I am, then it’s revolutionary!  I have a Grocery List and Menu Planner you can use. It’s organized by store category and it’s a life-saver!

It’s so much easier to shop if you organize your list by the way your store is laid out.  I have a pattern that I use everytime I go to the store. It basically automates my trip and saves me loads of time as well!  Even if I have a MONDO list, I can get in and out in about 45 minutes flat. NO LIE.

3. Go to the store first thing in the morning if you can.

Seriously… no one is there at 8AM.  It’s like having it all to yourself!

But be careful, if I try to go at 6AM, then only the self-checkout is open.  That’s not cool if you have a basket filled to the rim and have to check and bag everything yourself.  If you have a lot of groceries, it’s just so much easier to have someone else scan and bag them!

I only go to self-checkout if I have just one or two items.  I’ve tested it.  If I have a load and try to check myself out, the person in the line where I would have been always gets done before I do…even if they were a person back.  Maybe I’m just a slow checker/bagger, but going to the full service always saves me time.

4.  Bring your own bags.

Why on earth would you bring your own bags when they’ll give you a zillion plastic bags for free?  Because then you  won’t have a zillion plastic bags hanging out in your mud-room. It can totally get out of hand where they spill out onto the floor,  and the cat tries to make a nest in them.

Bringing your own bags is also good because, since they are sturdier, they can put more in each bag. This makes it easier and faster to unload when I get home.  I can usually get it in two trips instead of five. {time-saver!}

Oh, and then there’s that whole “good for the environment” thing.

5. Eat before you go.

NEVER go to the store hungry.  You’ll buy everything in sight! Especially that tub of Chunky Monkey that you would never, ever buy on a full stomach.

The brain is just so much more rational if it’s been fed.

6. Go alone.

I learned this the hard way.  Yes, it might take some co-ordination, especially if you are like me and have always lived 15 hours away from family.  Find a friend to swap days with… go when the kids are in preschool… go when your partner is at home and can take over child-watch.  You’ll avoid having to say “no” five-hundred times to all the junky-junk that they put right at kid-eye-level.

Hire someone if you have to.  Your trip will be SO much more pleasant if you can go it solo.  I don’t even like to take Morgan because we end up spending twice as much on stuff we really don’t need!

Sometimes, I even rock out to some pumped-up tunes on Pandora {with earphones, of course}.  It’s amazing at how much better music can make even the most mundane of tasks!

7. Avoid high traffic times.

At our store, Sunday after church is a war zone.  I avoid it at all costs. Tuesdays are senior-citizen days… NO GO ON TUESDAYS.  {Unless, you are in that age bracket… then by all means go and save that extra 5%. }

The afternoons are crazy, too.  From the time school lets out until about 7PM are off-limits for me.  If you HAVE to go in the afternoon, try out a few different times to see when the store is less busy. After 8PM is generally ok here.  I’m just tired by then which is why I’d rather go first thing in the morning.

8.  When you get home, only bring in what you can carry and put that away before you grab more.

This helps keep me from feeling overwhelmed if I have a ton of groceries in the car.  I bring in a few bags… the stuff I need to put in the refrigerator, if possible, and then put all of that away.  Then I head back out to the car to get more.  That way, when I come back in after the second trip, the kitchen isn’t covered in groceries.

So, there are my 8 best grocery shopping tips to keep you sane!

Do you have any sparkly gems to add?