Grocery Shopping Beyond the Spare

Did you notice that yesterday I said that Spare Shopping is a super simple first step to changing the way you shop for groceries? It is. There are immediate benefits, because you do not run out nor do without. It will start you on a process that makes shopping overall a breeze.

The Steps to Simple Grocery Shopping

The Starter List. One of the other benefits of spare shopping is that it introduces you gently to making grocery lists. You can start making the list by only including the things you really need – the spares. This is just a starter list. You take the starter list and then do the rest of the shopping as usual. You do not have to overwhelm yourself scouring the whole house to make a complete list, just get in the habit of making sure there are some things you will not forget.

Turn The Grocery List into a Habit. By using a starter list often, you could develop the habit of regularly using a grocery list. It could become a natural thing you just do without any real thought. You could just start adding more to your list as it comes to mind as time goes by. There will be fewer and fewer times you get home and realize there is something missing you meant to get. You will want to use the list more often.

Change The Size of Your Haul. Once you get use to regularly making and using a list, you could get use to making more frequent, smaller grocery runs. It is SO much easier to carry, put away and store smaller batches of stuff. Grocery shopping suddenly does not seem so bad. Most people who do huge shopping trips tend to really over buy. Somewhere along the way survival/scavenger instincts kick in. Everything looks good. There are possibilities everywhere. So in the cart it all goes. People who make bigger grocery trips are more likely to have more waste due to spoilage and more likely to have a bunch of food, but only able to turn that food into a few if any real meals. The grocery bill stays huge and the person/family feels they have periods of time when they are doing without.

Watch Out for Marketing and Start Saving Money. Once you get use to making smaller grocery runs, you could start being more watchful of  adding those impulse extras. The smaller your list is, the easier it is to be more conscious of the add on items. When a person starts watching their impulse buys they start saving money. It starts to get exciting to watch how your grocery budget is shrinking. You could start avoiding impulse buys in more places than just the grocery store.

Menu Planning. Once you start avoiding impulses, saving money and saving time, you will want to get into planning menus out in advance to further reduce time, trouble, and start saving even more.

Stop In Shopping. Once you get all of this down, regardless of the order, you could start planning very quick dashes into the store when you are going to be nearby. You can plan your grocery shopping around your day instead of planning other things around your grocery shopping. You will not feel the need to wander the store lost. You will confidently know all of the things you need to buy and that those items will cover your family’s needs. You have so many other things you could be doing than walking around the grocery store.

The Result – Simplicity Grocery Shopping. Doing all of these things saves me tons of time and effort overall. I go for groceries a few times a week with a short list and focused purpose. I go straight for the few items I need and am out in about five minutes if I get the right time of day. If there are perishables on my list, and I will not be going straight home, I skip them and start a new list including them when I do get home. Since I keep spares, most of the time there is seldom an urgency to getting anything. We have full dinners, our grocery budget is very reasonable, and I spend very little time and effort on any of it. {I told you I was lazy!}

My Simple Life Pitch for The Day

You could, if you wanted to, take the simplicity grocery shopping game even further to REALLY change your life. There are things going on through the process that  are so much bigger if you realize they are there.

• You could become more aware of needs vs. wants.
• You could get use to living with a little less stuff overall.
• You could learn to appreciate the extras you do have more than you did before.
• You could learn to become more creative with how to add luxuries and fun times into your life without always costing you a fortune.
• You could learn to be more wise on where you splurge and where you restrain.
• You could learn to feel contentment instead of deprived.
• You could start noticing that the truly important things around you are not things at all, but moments and people.
• You could realize just how very rich you truly are and have always been.