How To Create A Grocery Shopping List You'll Actually Stick To

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Grocery prices have changed the way we shop, but many consumers have started making grocery lists (with the best intentions) only to have their plans thwarted amidst the store's aisles. Between forgotten items, items we already had, and impulse buys, grocery lists wind up being a cute attempt at defense in a world pitted against them. There are a few things you can do to reinforce the power of the grocery list. Start by planning out your week. Grocery shopping just once per week can save you money and help you have a solid mental image of what you need from the store. Make note of what you have currently in your fridge, freezer, and pantry, then take a look at your schedule for the week. If you're home more, you'll likely need to plan more meals.

Choose several recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (don't forget to include some snacks in your list, either), then add the ingredients to your shopping list. You can do this all in one go or as the meal ideas come to you throughout the week. The Sweetzer & Orange meal planner notepad is a great tool for planning your meals and shopping list. If you make your list all at once, download the apps for your go-to stores to check what items are on sale. If you plan your meals around sale items, this will not only help you enter the store with a focused mind, but will save money too. If you're still struggling with impulse buys at the store, try using curbside pick-up or grocery delivery and only order the items on your list.

You can help yourself stick to grocery lists by familiarizing yourself with dietary needs and pantry staples. When you consistently shop for the five food groups (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and dairy or non-dairy alternatives), you break down any potential overwhelm from the abundance of brands and options. One Redditor's suggestion is to highlight items based on their location in the store, such as highlighting produce green or grains yellow. When you keep your list organized this way, or simply keep in mind the layout of the store, you can avoid wandering into unnecessary sections where you may find items that tempt you to veer off the list.

Another way to simplify your list is to keep pantry staples in bulk. These staples include foods like rice, beans, pasta, stocks and broths, cooking oils, oats, canned tomatoes, and canned fish. When making a meal plan, you'll find there are a lot of simple ways to upgrade your morning oatmeal, and recipes that call for pantry staples are easy to come by. Keeping these on hand will limit the items on your list to mostly fresh ingredients each week. Maybe the most important tip of all for sticking to your grocery list is not to grocery shop when you're hungry. No matter how good your list is, no matter how planned your meals are, grocery shopping when hungry can cause you to impulse buy whatever sounds good at the time to appease your appetite.