No one wants to go to the grocery store…

It’s the weekend again.  We love our time off right?  But with that time off comes some responsibility too.  The week-end is my time to recharge and to organize for the week.  Among other things that includes going to the grocery store.  Not my favorite chore however I know how key it is to a smoother week ahead.

Because I don’t like to go to the grocery store, I prefer to keep my trip to once a week.  If I actually pull that off, it does help keep costs down and saves me time.

I thought I would share some of my tips on how to pull off the once a week grocery trip.  The following is what I will do pre-grocery store:

1. First I gather my supplies:  a used blank back envelope, pen, a dry erase board with dry erase pen, and recipes (insert picture)
2. Next I will add items I know we are out of or items we always need such as lettuce, bananas, apples, cat food, milk to my blank envelope.
3. What’s for dinner?  Now I will spend time reviewing our evening schedules to try to nail down which nights will be easy to make dinner, which nights will be a challenge and which nights we definitely need to eat out or leftovers.  This is how I determine what’s for dinner each night, will it be a quick crock-pot meal or will I have time to prep and cook?  Depending on the timing I will find an appropriate recipe.  I also ask my husband and son if they have any requests or suggestions for dinners. Or look for what’s on sale or in season to help guide these choices.
4. Next I will review the recipe for each dinner and then place all of the ingredients that I don’t have in the house on my grocery list.
5. To complete my grocery list I will think about breakfasts, lunches and snacks and add those needed items on the envelope.
6. Grab the coupons and it’s off to the store.

Pre-planning in my kitchen looks like this…

If I go through these steps I find, my time at the grocery store is very quick and efficient.  That makes that trip to the grocery store that I don’t want to do become something bearable.  I hope you find that too!