* Organization
* Housework
* In the Kitchen
* Fertility, Birth, and Babies
* Homeschooling
* Health
* Christianity
* Frugality
* Other
Making a Master Shopping List
It will save you time. If you don't have a master grocery list, you will have to do the same work all over again every time you prepare to go to the grocery store. With a master list, you do most of the work just once. It only takes a few minutes every month for me to mark off what I need on my master list. It will also help prevent your forgetting things. The only things I forget to buy are those I haven't yet added to my master list, because the list itself serves as a reminder. A master list is also (slightly!) more likely to be used by the rest of the family to help you stay on top of what's been used up.
Well, there are multiple ways you could do this. I'm going to explain how I created my own list, because it's what works for me. You can use it as a starting point if it won't suit your needs.
The first thing you'll need to do is make a list of the things you normally buy. This is the time-consuming part. You might want to start with someone else's master list (I've linked to my own farther down the page.) and/or your old grocery-store receipts. Don't worry about perfection. You'll probably want to make up the list and then refine it over the course of the next few trips to the grocery store.
Now sort your list. You can sort it by categories, if you like, but I prefer to sort by aisle in the store I usually shop in. If it's sorted by categories, I find myself going all over the store and then having to go back and look for things I missed. If it's sorted by aisle, I can go straight up and down whichever aisles I need to, and not skip over things by accident (usually). If you decide to sort your list by aisle, it will be slightly more time-consuming initially, but it should save you time in the long run. There are a couple ways to do this. The first time I made a master list, I made the list without aisle numbers, then took a trip to the store to write down all the aisle numbers. When I got home I reorganized the list. Then we moved and I had to reorganize my list again. The second time I took my digital camera to the store with me when I did my shopping. (Folks probably thought I was crazy.) I took pictures of each of the aisle signs. I still had to do some fine-tuning, but those pictures provided me with a pretty good idea of what was on each aisle.
Formatting your list is the final step. I'm going to provide a couple links to my list at the bottom of this page. One is in .pdf format in case you just want to see it. One is in .doc format. That's the file I created in Microsoft Word and should be editable if you want to use it as a starting point for your own list. The last one is a WordPerfect file. If you're interested in formatting your list like mine, but don't have Word or WordPerfect, this is what I did. My list is printed on standard 8.5x11-inch paper, sideways (landscape). The top and bottom margins are set to .25", the left and right margins at .46". The list is 4 columns. This allows me to fold the sheet of paper in half and work with only half (8.5x5.5 inches) at a time. That's much easier for me to work with in the store, especially if I have my daughter with me. I've listed each item, with a small blank beside each.
When I'm ready to go to the store, I put check marks in the blanks of the items I need, or the number of items I need, or initials of those who need the item (in the case of toiletries). In other words, I might put a check mark beside milk, 2 lbs. beside cheese, and an M and/or R beside shampoo. I also write estimated prices to the right of each item. I save my old receipts and used to have to look all of these up, but now I remember most of them. I add everything up on my calculator before I leave, and make sure I'm within my budget. If not, I can decide right then what adjustments to make, rather than having to do it at the store, which can be really stressful. I always estimate high and my bill is never as much as I anticipate it to be. Something I haven't done, but which may be useful for some of you, is to print out a copy of the list when you first get back from the grocery store, and post it on the fridge, with a highlighter nearby. When a family member uses an item up, he can highlight that item on your list so you'll know to pay special attention to it prior to the next shopping day. It leaves your blank, blank, though, so you can decide how much you need (or if you really need it).
If there are items I always buy somewhere other than my regular grocery store - for example, Sam's Club or the health food store, I list those in a separate category toward the end of my list. I don't mix them in with the main part of my shopping list. I also used to have a set of blank lines at the end of my list to write in miscellaneous items. Since I shop at Wal-Mart, these miscellaneous items could even include things like printer paper.
MY LISTS:
My Grocery List - .pdf format
My Grocery List - Microsoft Word
My Grocery List - WordPerfect
Oh, some of you are probably wondering why there are some things on my list in italics. The things in italics are things that I rarely buy, but which I always have trouble finding when I DO buy them. I listed them in italics to help me remember which aisle they're on.