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Shopping for groceries is a chore. Sure, it may be enjoyablesometimes—sample Saturdays are particularly fun. It can even be a type of therapy—who hasn’t spent an hour or two meandering down every aisle, letting events wash over us as we try to decide between the butternut squash soup and the corn chowder?
The holiday grocery shopper, on the other hand, has no time to waste, no additional minutes to gawk at the newest items on the shelf. Grocery shopping for the holidays is a chore, an errand, and one that may eat up a lot of your precious holiday prep time.
However, with forethought and organization, as well as a few simple holiday grocery shopping organization tricks, you can make this necessary task go by faster, easier, and even make it cheaper. Here’s how.
Shop the Sales Before You Shop the Store
With the exception of a few mom-and-pop stores, most grocery stores will post their weekly sales on their website or even in an app. Make use of such things to assist you in “shopping” before you even enter the store. Determine which sales appeal to you and which do not, which deals you should be on the lookout for and, in some cases, a store’s app may even show you which specific aisles to head to.
Then, when you’re in the store, you won’t have to stop, look, and assess whether the sale you have just seen is a good one. You will not only save time, but you will also be less likely to make an impulse purchase of something you really don’t need because the price tag makes it appear more enticing.
Map Your Route
If you’ve ever shopped a grocery store before, you’ll already know that usually produce comes first, followed by protein, dairy, and frozen items. Make a list, grouping items from the same category, aisle, or area together. This way, you’ll know exactly what you need from each section before moving on to the next, and you won’t be left crisscrossing the store to finish your shopping list.
What is the best method for making a well-organized list? You can make your list as you go through the week, then organize it right before you go shopping. Better yet, you can delegate the task to an app.
List Ease allows you to categorize categories as you add items and keep track of brands, quantities, and prices. You can even scan barcodes to ensure that you don’t buy the identical items twice. The Notes app on your phone also works effectively, despite the lack of fancy features.
List Quantities, Not Just Ingredients
You can’t recall whether you meant a quart or a pint of cream when you wrote down the stuff you’ll need to make that fancy new dish. Now you have to take a step to the side, pull out your phone (which, by the way, doesn’t have great service in the store), and find the recipe online and try to figure it out.
Save time by noting accurate quantities next to each line item on your list, so you know exactly how much you’ll need. You’re going to need limes for your tacos, right? No, “three limes” is required. Sweet potatoes are on your list, but you really meant “two giant sweet potatoes, roughly two pounds.”
Bring Your Own Tunes
Everything about grocery stores is deliberate, from the merchandise on end caps to the music that plays overhead. The jazz interpretation of ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me” makes you giggle, but it’s supposed to make you slow down and linger a little longer in the retail aisles, mainly because you won’t be able to stop yourself from singing along (and getting distracted.)
As soon as you enter the store, put your headphones in and turn on some music. A short, cheerful playlist will put a spring in your step and help you go through the aisles more swiftly.
Choose Your Checkout Wisely
When you consider the situation, the checkout lane with the overflowing cart may not be the slowest option: A cashier and a bagger are usually present in lanes with large orders. Express lanes, if purchases are smaller, may only be staffed by a cashier who must stop once all of your things have been rung up and your payment has been processed in order to pack your items. Consider how the cashier and bagger’s tag-team effect could help you get in and out of line faster.
Then there ate the ever increasing number of self-checkouts being offered in many grocery stores. These can speed things up when the store is very busy (they may even be your only choice) but to shop better you’ll need to use these checkouts in a way that is smart and organized.
First, make sure that you bag in a way that will make sense when it comes to both protecting your purchases – those big cans of veggies will squash that French bread flat if you add them to the same bag – and unpacking them once you get home. This may take a few more minutes but the effort is worth it. Also ensure you check the bagging area – twice – before leaving it, as it’s easy to leave items you have paid for behind – even a bag full of them – and getting them back is not always easy, even if you have your recipient.
Make Use of Store Pickup
The pandemic has given left us with some good things. Store pick up being offered at big grocery stores is one of them. Take advantage of these shop ahead, call-ahead services whenever you can.
Not all stores will offer an amenity like this, but for those that do, don’t let it go to waste. The idea is – if you haven’t tried this yet – that you ‘shop’ the store online, pay for your groceries, wait a few hours and then head to the store where your groceries will be bagged, ready and waiting for you. Not only does this save time, but it’ll stop you spending more than you need to as well while ensuring that you don’t forget something that is essential to your holiday menu planning.
Need help with holiday shopping organization, or holiday organization in general? Contact us here, and we’ll discuss how Just Organized by Taya can help you! Already know what needs to be done? Book an appointment right away here.
Working with Taya and her team is easy. You can book an appointment easily on her website, or contact her directly at 832-271-7608
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