WFMW - Grocery Shopping Simplified

Grocery shopping is something that has always been "the bane of my existance". Boy, I hate it. Boy, do I get stressed over it. Meal planning, budgeting, list making, shopping, checking out, loading the car, unloading the car, putting things away... every inch of it, I dislike... extremely.

However, being the mother and wife in a family of 7, it is something I have to do. Because of my strong negative emotions toward it, I've come up with a few things that have made the whole process decidedly less stressful and a bit more simplified. Necessity is the mother of invention! Here's what I've done!

• My goal was to only do the main shopping twice a month, since we get paid twice a month. I do have mini-trips to stock up on the staples (fresh fruit, etc), but even then, I'm only going to the store about once a week or once every ten days or so, and only doing a huge trip twice a month.
  

• First, I made several "two week" menus - sets of 14-day meal lists. Some meals we have every week. Every Sunday we have Spaghetti. Its easy and quick to make, a nice way to get ready for the week ahead without too much work or cleaning up afterwards. We have homemade pizza once a week, as well, because its super yummy and fun. Fridays tend to be a soup night, because I make challah for our Sabbath meal, which goes perfectly with some soup. Since we also use Friday for errands, library runs, and a deeper house cleaning, soups are also easy and quick to prepare. The other days I filled in with other meals that have been tested, tried, and approved by all. So in general, each "two week menu" list has about 10 different meals.
  

• Then, I made corresponding grocery lists that contain every. single. ingredient. I need for each meal - spices included! This took some time, but the end result is sooo worth it. I also created a "master grocery list" of the general day-to-day things we always need, such as bread, milk, eggs, fruits, veggies, etc. All of the lists are in excel spreadsheets, so I don't have to rewrite them.
  

• When payday rolls around, I get ready for shopping. I choose which two week menu plan I'm going to use, and print out the grocery list that goes with it. Then I go through the house and cross off the list anything I already have here. I combine what's left into my master grocery list, and I'm ready to go! I also organize the final shopping list by aisle in the store, so there's no more running back across the store because I accidentally listed flour at the bottom of the list and missed it while in the baking aisle. The whole process of meal planning, menu planning, and grocery list making only takes about 10 minutes every two weeks. That's a HUGE reduction in time, and mental energy for me! I literally used to spend days stressing over the whole ordeal. Sad, huh?
  

• Then I make sure me and the kids are well fed, well rested, and ready to go! The big shopping trip twice a month takes several hours (including drive time, as well as loading/unloading the groceries), so its still a bit exhausting, but the satisfaction of knowing I don't have to endure it again for another half of a month is priceless! Before I started this system, I was doing 1+ hour trips to the store twice a week if not more. Yikes!
  

The end results are:

• I no longer stress about menu planning, or the "what are we having for dinner tonight" panic

• Little things like random spices or miscellaneous ingredients aren't forgotten anymore, because I've made sure they're on the meal grocery list. No more sinking-in-the-pit of my stomach feeling realizing that I have to go back to the store for just one silly little ingredient

• I am shopping much less frequently. Oh, the bliss of knowing I don't have to dash out for errands every other day! The freedom in knowing I have everything I need to feed and sustain my family for two whole weeks! It is incredible, I tell you! It saves money and gas, too!

• More time, less stress = happy mama. Happy mama = happy family. Good food fixed on time = happy everyone. Awesome!

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, be sure to check out We are THAT Family!