I know I seem organized, I probably look it, but I have a little secret. I cannot get myself together when it comes to grocery shopping. I just ‘wing’ it, go with the flow, duck in and out of the supermarket every couple of days and never write lists.

I had had enough of this! I was getting fed up with not knowing what we were eating from day to day. I had no idea of how much money we were spending (I am not rich by any means and knew I had to be over-spending), I was frustrated at the thought of going shopping and I HATED taking the kids with me.

What made me start thinking about this is the British television show Perfect Housewife. I felt so inadequate watching this show! She is perfect in every way. I beat myself up about it and thought about my ridiculous shopping habits for days. I enlisted the advice of one of my best friends.

I asked her what she thought about the whole thing (because she has always been a master at food shopping). After about an hour discussion (yes I really have no life!) I decided it was time to get my butt into gear and sort this frustration out. The task ahead was daunting, but not out of my reach…

List Of Weekly Staples

My friend suggested I write a ‘STAPLE’ list of all the things I would buy weekly like fruit, bread, and milk. This took me a few days to get sorted because I would think of things randomly. My friend even text me a message late one night to remind me not to forget to write how many of each item I would need weekly – like 12 kids yogurts, 6 bananas etc.

I thought this was hilarious but I did it anyway because this idea was better than what I had been doing. As Dr Phil would say “..and how’s that workin’ for you?”

List Of Items Bought Bi-Weekly

Then I wrote a separate list containing the things I would buy every couple of weeks like garbage bags, soap, and toothpaste. I had scribbled bits of paper everywhere. My husband thought I was losing it (and I probably was!). I even wrote the prices next to each item. Gee, wouldn’t people laugh if they saw my perfect little list? Talk about neurotic.

List Of Groceries For Meal Planning

Then came my biggest task – meal planning. Whoa this was scary. I know you probably all do this already, but to me it was foreign. I hate cooking at the best of times, but I know I needed to write a list of all the meals I could confidently make.

So at the end of all this I had 3 lists – staple list, things I buy every so often and a meals list.

Finally I wrote my list for the week and headed off to the shops and bought only the things I needed and now I won’t need to go back for days! Boy that feels good. I told the kids that if they chose to eat everything in the house in 2 days, then they will have to starve cause Mummy ain’t going back near the supermarket! The shop will not be getting any more money out of me this week.

I announced my new found confidence to my girlfriend who threw a spanner in the works by suggesting that when I write my weekly list I should categorise items according to frozen, cold, toiletries etc., and have little headings for them. A smile came over my face (and secretly I rolled my eyes). One step at a time girlfriend… one step at a time…

Maybe I should invest in one of these?

Photo
from: www.adaptivetechnology.co.za