Revisiting the Shopping List

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It's raining today! Weeeeee!!!

Thank you all so much for the comments on the gardening post! I love your ideas - especially about growing the herbs in pots! I'm glad you're all here to keep me accountable! :)


In the past I've shared how I menu plan and handle grocery shopping. Over the past year we've really gotten away from, well, being super responsible and had a year of.... Let's just say it was a "generous" year when it came to buying things, including groceries.

As we try to focus on paying off our house and achieving some other financial goals, I have been revisting and reorganizing my systems and not only trying to get back in the swing of things, but seeing if there is any way I can improve and make it a bit easier. I've also been feeling the need to stock our pantry to last a few months, in the case of any emergency events. (I just have a weird feeling we're due for a good sized earthquake, since that's the part of the country we live in. Not to mention the drought I talked about in the last post that will surely be causing prices to rise.)

I was thinking of this the other day when I was listening to a new podcast I have found that I have been enjoying (The Busy Mom's Survival Guide - she makes soap too!). A few days after I had thought of redoing my methods, I heard her talking on a past episode of how she handles her pantry and food shopping, meal planning etc. I really liked how she explained it, and thought I would incorporate some of her ideas into my own system.

My previous system involved a pre-written grocery list of items that we typically buy, sorted by category, and a blank calender. I would print out each, fill in the calender with our meals for the next two weeks (my typical shopping schedule) then check off items I needed for those meals on the list. I would try to make those meals use what was on sale in the grocery fliers, and add anything that we might be getting low on but weren't specific to the menus.

Over the last year I've let that method slip, I wind up making the same boring things from week to week because I can't think of anything else, and my pantry has gotten more bare. I also have lost track of what's the best price for items because I've ignored my price book for so long. Add to all that the dynamics of a new business and a schedule shift, it's definitely time for a change!

I'll be going into more detail on my new ideas and methods in a bit, but until then I'd love to know what methods you use, how you stock up, your favorite recipes, etc. I love hearing how differently people get the same things accomplished.

Happy Thursday,
Meg