Do you make a list before going grocery shopping?

Always a list and always open to inspiration.

Usually start on one side and work around, picking up the refrigerated stuff last.

I don't graze. Sounds like shoplifting.

Usually aim for a weeks supply unless it's perishable. If there is a really good sale on something I know I'm going to buy later, and it has a long shelf life, I'll trot out the plastic and stock up for a month or longer.

I saw this list this morning while browsing the net and thought it was cool....mine are done just the regular way.

There's the matter of "I used to" re shopping, and what I do now.

Back in the Eureka we both know in different years, BBB, I stopped at the Co-op after work or on a break a couple of times a week, and picked out what looked good in the produce and the fish or meat cases - you may remember they had a good butcher crew and excellent fish and grass fed beef, etc. Checked out the cheese counter, if I was up to affording it - the fine cheesemaker, Cypress Grove, was very local, and we'd talked with the owner/cheesemaker at one point. I never bought a lot at once, so things stayed fresh. I'd hit other sources for some paper products and drive to Wildberries once every few weeks just because it was a wonderful store. Too bad I'm not a beer drinker, as they had the best selection I'd ever seen. They had a terrific selection of local soaps and jams... and good wines at not too much money. I never bought all that much at once there either, but always got a latte and something from the bakery, and if it was a saturday, listened to the acoustic guitarist or other musician while I relaxed before the beautiful, always beautiful, drive home passing the bay. Once in a blue moon, I'd shop at the little deli attached to a local italian restaurant. Wonderful stuff there, that I couldn't get anywhere else.

As fate would have it, I got that Co-op newspaper in today's mail. They're hard to contact from here without making a long distance phone call. Time for me to send them a letter.


Alternately, in Albuquerque, I shop every ten or more days. I like some stores more than others, and none of them are complaint worthy, really. Except for Brooks, they're pretty far away. As luck would have it, Brooks is improving in goods available and I like the people there.

My buying has changed; with an eye to the dollar, I buy little meat or fish, although some, which I make go further than I used to. If I did go for serious meat or fish, I'd be going to Keller's, which I like a lot.

So, in Abq, I do make a list, which I tweak a bit in the store. For example, today at Albertson's they had good fresh eggplant in a 'center bin' for a dollar each, so I grabbed one. But, I succumbed to buying some good blue cheese. Way it goes...


Edit, if I buy olives, which I do mostly at Smith's, I'll try one, since the people who distribute the olives and the people who put the signs over them fail to communicate, and I can't always tell by looking. If I do buy a carton or two, that's serious money.

very clever..

We often make a list, rarely remember to bring it to the store.

We have a spreadsheet with items roughly laid out as they are in the store and use it as a checklist during the week.

Oooh, very spatial.

Sometimes people will let you use their list after they are done with it. It often works out real well.

rarely a full list

I review the flyer's Friday night - figure things out - plan the driving plan

usually veggies first then - middle of the store - then the edges - then the refrigerator/freezer stuff

no sampling - unless it's official store-sanctioned sampling stations

usually a minor shop each week, with a big shop every 3 or 4 weeks

We keep an ongoing list on the refrigerator door. When the page gets full, someone takes the list and goes shopping. If it's me, I start at one side of the store (produce) and work my way to the other (frozen food.)

Hubby shops for groceries as often as I do. When I go, I try to time my return so at least one of the guys will be home to help carry things in and put them away. They are very good about this.

Not much of a list, I know the things we'll need every week.

Will jot down items don't get often, and would forget.

The only non-sanctioned item I try in the store would be a solitary grape.

I'm not going to buy a bunch, only to bring them home and find them not to our liking.

I usually have a list. I'll list out the week's worth of dinners I plan to make and get the basics for those. I get veggies and side dishes almost daily. I put down "lunch stuff" on the list and then kind of hunt and peck for the things that sound good to snack on. I try to never go to the store hungry. I don't graze, it seems like shop lifting to me.

We have an ongoing short list of items that we need to replenish, mostly produce. Otherwise, no list.

Most of the aisles, depends on the store. Safeway, no. I.e., we don't buy cleaning products or paper products from Safeway, so don't go down those aisles. We shop at several different stores either weekly or bi-weekly, for different things: Costco; Safeway (nearby, for convenience); Superstore (good prices, but never for meat); and Sobeys (good meat, higher prices); a local fish market that has an excellent selection of fresh fish; also various ethnic markets around the city every once in a while.

Never sample, unless there's a tasting station set up. That smacks of shoplifting to me.

With two deep freezers in the basement and two fridges, one up and one down, we buy some things in bulk that last months, and other things, like produce, we buy weekly, or even daily.

If I need a few things, I'll list them mentally and then remember how many items I need. This approach has never failed me. I go to the market and head for the aisles that have what I want. Then I get the hell out.

If I need a lot of stuff, I don't make a list. I trudge up and down each aisle until I see what I need. This system isn't nearly as foolproof as the first one. I usually get everything I need. Sometimes I miss a thing or two. The problem with this approach is that I often get things I don't need. Going from aisle to aisle can be very stimulating.

I have never sampled anything in a supermarket that wasn't presented as a free sample.

Funny thing happened while at the Family Dollar today. This is the only store I buy cat litter from. One dollar a bag. Tell the kids it Fresh Step, they believe me. Anyway, I tried to help an old guy who had been sent for No Drip Windex. Couldn't sell him on the idea that No Streak Windex was just as good, but it did remind me I needed Windex.

See what I mean about using other people's lists?

No- but I'm not a list maker. I'm pretty good about keeping stuff organized in my head.


Yes, to the point that I get all discombobulated and WILL forget stuff if I go to a different store with a different set-up. I always start in the produce section and end in the dairy section.
I can only safely skip the chips and cookies aisles and the alcohol aisles - because I don't buy those things on a regular basis.
Otherwise, I use the spatial organization of the store and each aisle to trigger recall about what exactly I need or decided I wanted.

No, never. It doesn't even occur to me. I like to wash my fruit before I eat it.


A week

I make a list of things we need.
I go shopping every day, first of all I like to get out of the house and I often have to go to the postoffice anyway and I like to buy things fresh for daily use.
I only - as a rule - shop in one store.
I do as roger, use other people´s shoppinglist. When the person(s) ahead of me put their things up I look at them, and see if there is anything I would have liked/forgotten and if yes, I say excuse me, leave my basket and go and get it.

I never taste anything which is not displayed for being tasted and often I don´t bother about that either.

Do you make a list before going grocery shopping or do you just hunt and pick?

I write the list in the order that I traverse the store ( I am the spreadsheet but if they move items about I'll usually wreak havoc).

Do you start at one side of the store and end at the other end?

Not only that but I backtrack to the start in order to maximise the social occasion.

Do you eat at least one sample in the fruit department?

I prefer a fruit entree then for main course try two types of prawns before declining any purchase and usually finish with the most expensive cheese I can garner.

Do you buy a month's supply, a week's supply, or a day's supply?

I don't actually buy anything but I don't go hungry and remain focussed on my mission, the freebie marketing.