Shopping lists

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JustJoel

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Why does my auto-correct always change “list” to “lust,” I wonder.

Anyway, how do you make your shopping lists? Are they sorted by categories? By store layout? Or just randomly jotted down? Do you keep a running list that you sort and categorize before you go to the store? Do you use a shopping list at all?

This is just a random question that popped into my head while I was planning the day’s shopping. Maybe a silly Sunday conversation will ensue...
 
I use the NOTES app on my iPhone and Mac. I have a checklist-style list of staples we buy at least once a month. The list is arranged in the order of the aisles in the store and along the back. The lists on the phone and the computer are synched so changing one changes both. I could also synch the lists across SO's devices as well if that was important to our process.

SO and I go through the list and the sale flyer to update it. If we don't need an item that week, I check off the item on the list. I add items to the list during the week as a need is identified and based on what the flyer has for sale that we want.

As we walk the aisles in the store I check off the items going into the cart.

After shopping is completed, I clear the checks off the checklist, delete odd items and Im ready for the next week.
 
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I list, DH shops.
I list things by their department.
Almond paste is in the canned fruit aisle bottom rack in the back.
Spices are in produce (because I don't want the expensive spices in containers, I have containers, I want them packed in cellophane to put into my containers.)
Corn meal / flour is in the baking aisle usually top shelf.
Fruits are always in produce not the canned fruit aisle. Except canned apricots, those are better canned.
Vegetables are always in produce unless I want spinach which is in the frozen food aisle.
Most things are listed by loss leaders from the store that advertised them to be loss leaders.
Chicken 99 cents a lb, aldi's, fresh (not frozen).
Ground beef on sale ##% lean to fat, usually in the frozen aisle.
Candy and nuts, farm & fleet.
(sand paper, wood working, art supplies, button batteries--almost half price at Amazon compared to Walmart/Home depot/lowes)
#10 cans of tomatoes, in the institutional aisle.
Dried beans are in two places, the ethnic food area, and in or near the soup aisle cost compare/lb.
Do I sound demanding? :LOL: Go ahead and ask someone that works at the store and they have no advice and bad advice on where to find things. And no I've never worked in a grocery store.
 
I have a shop from home app. I add items then I copy list into excel then add aisles (for my specific store location) and prices.

shopping_list_aisles.JPG

Adding aisles helps me. AND sometimes hub goes shopping and makes it so easy (he can't say "I couldn't find it") for him.
 
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I use the NOTES app on my iPhone and Mac. I have a checklist-style list of staples we buy at least once a month. The list is arranged in the order of the aisles in the store and along the back. The lists on the phone and the computer are synched so changing one changes both. I could also synch the lists across SO's devices as well if that was important to our process.

SO and I go through the list and the sale flyer to update it. If we don't need an item that week, I check off the item on the list. I add items to the list during the week as a need is identified and based on what the flyer has for sale that we want.

As we walk the aisles in the store I check off the items going into the cart.

After shopping is completed, I clear the checks off the checklist, delete odd items and Im ready for the next week.
My process is basically the same, although I’m not nearly as meticulous! I use the “reminders” app because it makes really nice checklists that are easily editable. I have two lists, actually, much to Siri’s dismay. The regular shopping list and the the Asian shopping list.

I recently switched grocery stores, and I’m still getting familiarized with the aisle layout, so my lists are tending toward product type sorting lately.
 
I mainly shop at Vons, and am a member of the 'Just for U" program. Once a week I get an e-mail from them listing the week's bargains, broken down by category.
When you click on the item, it automatically adds it to your shopping list. You also have the ability to add other things to the list.
In the weekly sale flyer, there are other things on sale that were not in the e-mail. Vons has some interesting programs such as "$5 Friday", where the items are $5. An example would be pistachios. where a one pound bag is usually $8, but it is $5 on that Friday.
Another program is a "Mix and Match", where if you buy 4 items on the page in the ad, you save a dollar on each one.
But, there is also incentive to walk down the aisles and look for unadvertised specials. As an example, I was walking past the meat department, and there was a sign featuring country style pork ribs for $1 a pound!! I called Kayelle, and told her about it. Bless her heart, she also suggested picking up packages for 2 of our neighbors.
When i went to check out, I had spent $32 and saved $36!
I have attached a typical list that I print out for shopping.
http://www.vons.com/ShopStores/MyList.page#/My-List
 

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I use an old envelope.

I keep a running list of the pantry items that I use up during the week. When the weekly flyers arrive I add the specials by store, clip any coupons that I can use and tuck them inside of the envelope. I use the list as a guide if I see an unadvertised special I change my plans or if the coupon deal is not a significant saving over a comparable product I leave the coupon for someone else to use.

I find that if I have a list and a loose menu planned around the specials for the week I eat healthier and save money even when I don't actually follow the plan.:ermm::ohmy::LOL:
 
I depends on where I am shopping. If the store does not send out paper ads in the newspaper, I get an email with a link to the new ad the first day the ad is in effect. I'll write up a list in the same order I walk through the store.

The two stores I frequent most do send out paper ads. In that case, I go through the ads when they show up, seeing which store is offering the best deals on items I might need. I circle the items I plan on buying in marker. I also add any item(s) I might want to buy that isn't in the ad, writing it in at the top of the page that displays items from the same department. Rather than walk the store in the order of the ad pages, I shop the store from the produce side (which takes at least half of my shopping trip time) through the store aisles to the other side. Once I've reached the end of the store, I then go over the ad thoroughly to make sure I picked up every item listed. Working off a paper ad must sound very old-school, but I have found it immensely useful when I'm unable to find something in the store. Rather than try and explain to a sometimes clueless stock clerk what it is I'm looking for, all I have to do is show them the picture. Pictures seem to work better than words - like showing them an icon on a tablet. :D

When it comes to Aldi or Targ-Mart, I keep track on a post-it-note for each store. The notes are inside the door of my bathroom wall cabinet. It seems I remember that I need to buy something while brushing teeth or washing my face. If the note is right there, I can add the item to the list as soon as my hands are free. If I waited until I got down to the kitchen, I would forget half the time. :( When I know I'm headed to Aldi or Wal-get, I grab the note off of the door and stick it to my wallet as soon as I get downstairs. Works for me.
 
I keep one list on the frig and add to another that's on a spread sheet. Before going to the store, I rearrange the list according to the aisles in which- ever store I am going to shop. I put a "C" in front of an item if I'm supposed to remember a coupon. Mostly coupons seldom match with stuff I buy, but still....

It is Dangerous for me to wander around a store without a list in hand.
 
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I have an app on my phone (Android) called Simple Shopping List. It doesn't sort, but you can create lists for different stores, or even for different departments if you have that much stuff to buy. I have a standing list for groceries, one for Home Depot, one for general stuff. Then I can check each item off the list as I put it in the basket.

When I need to put something on a list, I try to do it immediately, which is easy since the phone is always handy. Back when the list was a piece of paper by the fridge, that wasn't the case if something came up when I wasn't at home. By the time I got home, it was usually forgotten.
 
I have a lot to learn. Whent to store today today to buy stuff for fried rice. Bought everything but what I came for. :(
 
DH and I use the My Groceries app, which works on both our Android and Apple devices. It comes with a list of grocery items and you can add as many as you want, with as much detail as you want. I've set up categories by aisle or section, pretty much. DH often stops by the store on his way home from work, or sometimes I go during the day. So we have synchronized lists that update immediately.
 
I'm in grocery stores at least 5 times a week, so my lists are never too big..i just have a note pad that I keep on the kitchen island or on my clip board at work and add to it whenever I think of something...I also have a lot of items that I repeat buying so when I get to the stores I usually get more than I set out to get..If I don't need something right away, I'll end up using it eventually..
 
I keep a written running list, then I create another written list with like items together. I then leave the list on the table and go shopping. I usually remember the list when I am 20 miles down the road. No, I do not go back for it.
 
I keep a written running list, then I create another written list with like items together. I then leave the list on the table and go shopping. I usually remember the list when I am 20 miles down the road. No, I do not go back for it.

I never used to be all that organized.... my wife is the one with a plan. Since we moved here, 20 miles from the nearest grocery store, I can't let myself be quite so sloppy, so when we got our first smart phones 4 years ago, Simple shopping List was one of the first apps I ever got for it and far and away the most used and useful one I've found, and it's free, so it's win-win all the way.
 
I never used to be all that organized.... my wife is the one with a plan. Since we moved here, 20 miles from the nearest grocery store, I can't let myself be quite so sloppy, so when we got our first smart phones 4 years ago, Simple shopping List was one of the first apps I ever got for it and far and away the most used and useful one I've found, and it's free, so it's win-win all the way.

I wonder if there is something on my dumb phone that would help, but I would probably just leave the phone at home, like I did today.:ermm:
 
I do a list based on the stores lay out otherwise I miss stuff I need.
And before I go shopping I check , fridge , freezer, pantry, husband and then the flyers , do my list then goes.
 
I use an old envelope.

I keep a running list of the pantry items that I use up during the week. When the weekly flyers arrive I add the specials by store, clip any coupons that I can use and tuck them inside of the envelope. I use the list as a guide if I see an unadvertised special I change my plans or if the coupon deal is not a significant saving over a comparable product I leave the coupon for someone else to use.

I find that if I have a list and a loose menu planned around the specials for the week I eat healthier and save money even when I don't actually follow the plan.:ermm::ohmy::LOL:


My mom used to do that, with the list on the envelope and the coupins inside.

I use a notepad app on my phone, typing in items as DW tells them to me. I try to add them to the list in the order by which the store I'm going to is laid out. Then I add the things I want to buy, and do a final rearranging by store layout again.

Twice last year the store I visit the most moved everything around after being bought out by another company. It's taken me a while to memorize where everything is again. I guess old habits die hard.

I sure hope they don't do it again.
 
We keep a note pad on the fridge to write down needed items..

Each week we make a menu (don't always follow it) and check what we need for each meal..

No TJ's here so, we make an Aldi list and a chain store list.. Haven't been here long enough to choose a chain store so, we usually pick up what Adli doesn't carry @ Walmart, at this point..

Ross
 
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