By
eHow Home & Garden Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Step1
Take advantage of cost-saving tips. Buy meat from the day-old section-- unless you plan on using it the day you buy it, it'll be day-old anyway. Clip coupons in advance, and if you find an item on sale, buy it in bulk.
Step2
Carry recipes with you for meal ideas. To avoid having to copy lists of ingredients, clip recipes you'd like to try from magazines or photocopy from books. Keep these and other tried-and-true recipes in a small, easy-to-carry photo album.
Step3
Make your grocery list according to the items' locations throughout the store you shop most frequently. This way, you'll grab the items you need in one sweep rather than zigzagging back and forth across the store.
Step4
Make using coupons manageable. Use a filing system so coupons are easy to find based on categories that make sense to you. Arrange coupons just as you do your grocery list--in the order of the stores aisles.
Step5
Shop alone. Dragging along kids and others on your trips to the grocery store makes a trip extra-lengthy. Avoid unnecessary stress by planning grocery store trips when you have an hour or so to yourself. You'll be focused and more able to move swiftly throughout the store.
Step6
Shop at non-peak hours, such as early morning, late afternoon and later at night. Avoid weekends.
Comments
stayvocal said
on 2/7/2008 Another way to make your life easier is by using reusable shopping bags. They can hold a lot more than paper or plastic bags, not to mention they're better for the environment and for future generations. If you don't have one already, please visit stayvocal.com
desmom said
on 9/10/2007 Ohmygoodness....I just found the greatest help in grocery shopping and meal planning!! I took your advice KarenP, and visited www.lilyonthefly.com. Lily is the answer to my hectic day. The system is so simple, I can hand the card-holder to my teenager, send him the grocery store, and he actually comes home with ALL the groceries needed to make dinner. Then, I can hand them to the other teenager and say 'please make dinner'. Viola! Dinner made easy....now, if I could only get them to do the dishes..... :(.
KarenP said
on 9/6/2007 There is a great new product that can help with steps 2 & 3 -- plus give you wonderful ideas for feeding your family (which we all have to do EVERY DAY! :) ) -- visit www.lilyonthefly.com to check it out!