Deciding How to Shop

Importance of smart shopping

I have always had a hard time with grocery shopping. The moment I walk into a grocery store my mind begins an epic battle: sensory overload vs genetic instinct to be cheap. There are billions of dollars spent on marketing and research to create the most irresistible packaging, displays, and store layouts. The sensory overload is intentional, and planned. They want us to be confused, to be overwhelmed. We are literally herded, like cows, toward the items that have the most financial influence. The items we NEED, are definitely not the items we “need”. Most of the time they aren’t even items we want. We leave the store and soon feel the onset of buyer’s remorse; and then vow to never impulse buy again. Only to find ourselves doing the very same thing; day after day, forever. It’s a trap. And marketing companies are only getting better, and smarter, and more convincing. They’re taking more and more of our money, keeping us overweight, unhealthy, addicted, and broke. We have to wake up. Break the cycle. Save ourselves.

Keeping a list

It’s taken me many years to finally figure out a system that works (mostly) for me. It’s not fool proof, but it’s the best I’ve got, and I’m quite pleased. I’ve always been a list maker. In fact I would go as far as to say I am a compulsive-list-maker, or even a list “addict”. I have a list for everything that comes into my head. In my world, if it’s not written down it doesn’t exist. But, I suppose that is neither here nor there. The point here is that I keep a constant grocery list.  A few years ago it was an accumulation of several bits and scraps of paper, stacked together, and then compiled into one list at the time of shopping. As soon as I noticed I was low on something it would go on the list. Any time I decided I needed to buy something, or a request was made, I would grab a paper and write it down. It is impossible, and ridiculous, to try and pull a list straight out of your head just as your heading to the store. With technology my lists are even better now. I don’t have those little scraps of paper all over my house anymore. I got myself a smart phone with an electronic notepad. I also have a dumb little purse—I call it a phone pocket—that I made for my phone, so I can have it on me all the time (I also call it my brain pocket, because my phone is now the external hard drive for my brain). Every time I go to the grocery store I don’t even have to think about what I need to buy. I don’t have to remember, and I don’t have to forget! It’s great. With my electronic grocery list I even have the ability to organize my list by the route in which I move through the store. But, even if you don’t have a smart phone, you can still manage with a notebook, a day planner, a pad of paper stuck to the fridge, a folded sheet in your pocket, or even little piles of scraps as I used to do.

What to put on your list

The first place to start is in your pantry. Take a good look at everything you have. Throw out anything that is expired, gone bad, or that you know you just won’t use. Then, look at the things you think you may someday use, and actually find a use for them; at that point you will know if you really are going to use it or not and may need to just throw it out. I always felt bad throwing stuff out, so I made up a justification in my head that it’s going to end up in a land fill one way or another, whether it goes through me first or straight into the trash; and I’d rather avoid having it stick to my hips. That may not be the vivid image you want to have, but it worked for me. Or, you can donate to a local food bank, or just give it away to your neighbors. However you go about it, start to whittle away at what’s there, until you get it down to unexpired items that you use regularly. Then decide if there is anything you would use regularly but don’t already have. Put those on your list. Any time you open the last bag or box of something you use regularly, put it on the list. Anytime you realize you are out of something you need or use, or when you are trying a new recipe and find ingredients you don’t have. Anytime your honey makes a reasonable request. If you see a commercial or a sign for something you think you might like to try; put it on the list, and allow yourself to really decide before you impulse buy.

Choosing where to shop

Gradually you have to figure out which stores have the best overall prices for your personal needs. Start at your favorite store and notice the prices of some things you might want to buy. Or save your receipt for comparing later. The next time you go shopping try a new store, or one that seems like they might have good deals. Compare those few items you remember, or the ones you actually bought. Even if they aren’t on your list to buy, still walk by and check out the prices. Do this a few different times and you will start to get a general idea of which places have the best prices on your items. You don’t have to compare every single item, and definitely not every time, that would be too exhausting. Just get a general feel for what’s in each store, a few different times, until you feel comfortable making a decision. A lot of times stores will have better deals on some things, and be more expensive on others, and it will be opposite in different store. So, even after finding the best overall store, it’s also good to find a few other stores that have generally better deals on other items. For me, I decided that overall Costco has the best deals on items in bulk. And buying in bulk is usually going to be the best deal all around.  But, Costco sells a lot of name brand items. So, if you buy name brand than Costco is almost always the best. But some things don’t have to be name brand, like brown sugar for example. Brown sugar is much cheaper in a generic brand, and so I buy it from Winco. Winco is my second choice, after Costco, for bulk items, because they sell more bulk items than any other local place I have found so far. Macey’s also has really good deals on bulk items, and they often have good sales on other things. I don’t have the patience to shop sales, so I couldn’t really say what deals are good at Macey’s. They do have a lot of food storage items, so they would be next on my list for buying in bulk. They also do annual case lot sales, and if you know what’s a good deal then that is the best time to stock up. Walmart actually charges more for their bulk items than Macey’s does, but anything I don’t want to buy in bulk I buy from Walmart; they have the best overall prices, a large selection for convenience, and I am very comfortable with the layout of the store. Having a few main stores narrowed down is a huge relief. I don’t have to wonder or stress about who has the best prices, or the best sales, and I don’t have to waste my time searching adds, clipping coupons, or running all over town looking to save a few pennies. My time (and what’s left of my sanity) is more important to me than squeezing every cent out of every store.

How to shop

Pick a day that works best for you to set aside as grocery day. For me, it is every other Thursday. The reason for that is I have one child in preschool. I have to commute quite a ways to get to my chosen stores, and the trip takes longer than the length of time he is in school. So, I have to take my two youngest with me and go on a day that there is no preschool. Also, every other Thursday happens to be payday; and my grocery budget is refilled. It works very well for me. In each of my stores I have a designated route that I follow. I have already ordered my list to coordinate with my route, so I can move smoothly through the store, erasing each item as I put it in my cart. I also have my whole trip planned out, based on the location of each store, and their hours of operation, so I can get it all done at once.  On Thursday, though, I usually just go to Winco and then Costco. That’s my bulk buying day. I usually do my little trips to Walmart as needed, but try to limit it to just once a week.

What to buy

I try to buy everything on my list first (unless I run out of room in my cart), because those are my “needs”, and then if I see a sale on something that I keep in my food storage and use regularly I allow myself to buy several of that (even if I don’t need it). That way I can slowly add to my food storage, by only buying things on sale. Everything that’s on my list is only what I am running low on; I don’t put food storage on my list. I also know that there are a whole lot of things that I see at the store, that I am temporarily hypnotized into believing in NEED at that very moment. For those things, I simply add them to the bottom of my list, under a sub-list titled: to buy next time. That way, I don’t feel like I’m going to miss out on it, I’m giving myself permission to buy it, but I’m also making myself go home and in the peaceful sanity of my own home make a rational decision about whether or not I really “need” it. Do NOT buy anything that isn’t on your list; it is an impulse buy, you don’t need it. And if you get home and realize you’ve forgotten something you can run to Walmart and pick it up. That’s the whole beauty of keeping a constant list. It is almost impossible to forget something. Another thing I sometimes do, that helps me not feel so rigid and stressed is to actually add an item to my list that is: one item not on my list. That way, if I absolutely have to have it right now I can, and then when I see something else I need as well I can decide between the two. I actually used to do that quite often; I would pick up an item and put it down a few aisles later, constantly throughout my trip. I would laugh about how I was a nightmare to the employees for rearranging the store every time.

In Summary

So, keep these few thoughts in mind:

Clean out your pantry: Use it, or lose it.

Make a list, keep it updated.

Choose the best overall stores for your personal needs.

Pick a regular shopping day.

Create a route through the store, and order you list to the route.

Do not buy anything that isn’t on your list. Keep a sub-list for “next time”, and if necessary add 1 “freebie” impulse item to your list.

Allow stocking up on food storage items, only when they are on sale.