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Far too many of us spend way too much time and a whole lot more money than necessary when we go grocery shopping. As grocery stores get bigger and bigger, selling not just groceries but clothing and hardware, all that walking up and down the aisles may be giving us a well needed workout, but the dent it's putting in our wallets and in our time isn't such a good thing.
The best way to keep your grocery budget in check, and get in and out of the store in a reasonable amount of time is to have a list. Placing a piece of paper on the fridge or any other easily accessible spot in your kitchen, along with a pen or pencil, will ensure that you'll always have a list going that you can add to when you run out of something.
Learning the layout of your store is also a good way of ensuring that you won't waste time looking for the canned tomatoes that you could have sworn were in aisle 3, when in fact they're in aisle 6! Chances are you won't even have to draw one up yourself; most grocery stores have them available for the asking at customer service. Given the size of today's new grocery store
s, I'm not surprised.
Shopping with a menu plan, or at least a general idea of what you're going to be cooking, also takes the guesswork out of grocery shopping. It's not necessary to write down every single item that you'll need, because by doing so you may miss out on seasonal or sale priced produce and products that you can easily incorporate into your meal plan.
One of the things that I actually enjoy about grocery shopping is cruising the produce aisles and looking for the freshest things available. There's something about being surrounded by all that good food that just inspires me to cook!
Another time and money saver is knowing what's in your pantry and cupboards in the way of dried, canned and other nonperishable foods. If you know what you have on hand, it's really quite easy to pick up fresh, in season produce to make an endless variety of meals.
Basically, planning to buy only what you need, and avoiding impulse purchases will, in both the short term and long term, save your bottom line and your waist line! Good luck next time you are at your local super market!
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