Planning - Make a good shopping list

     Now that you've planned your meals for a week ahead of time, let's talk about how to make your shopping trip cost you as little as possible.  Believe it or not, I'm not talking about sale shopping, though that will be a topic in a future week.  What I'm talking about is sticking to your list.  Part of sticking to your list is making a list that takes care of everything you'll need for the period of time for which you are shopping.  The other part of sticking to your list is making sure you don't go places in your local store that don't have what you need.  Almost every time I've bought some weird little item it's been because I went somewhere in the store that I didn't need to go.
     Unfortunately, just having a shopping list will not stop you from impulse buys.  Only your willpower and conviction that you don't need anything extra will.  I have found that having someone with you while shopping will make you question your list faster than anything, so if at all possible, go alone.  That means, if you can go shopping while the kids are at school or at a friends house, do it.  I know that's not always possible, but it will reduce the whining and begging for things that will eat up your budget like Chef Boyardee and other convenience foods.  If you have to take the kids with you, well, you're going to learn how to say no.
    Let's make our shopping list again.  Make it like you did last week by going through your recipes and writing down what you need.  Now, check your regular necessities like eggs and milk not so regular necessities such as that sugar you ran out of last week.  Put everything together on one list along with quantities you'll need in one column.

      That looks exactly what we did last week, but now we're going to step it up.  To the right of each item write what section or aisle it is in your store.

      Don't know what's on each aisle of your grocery stores?  Two solutions:  First, go up to the customer service desk of each store you shop at and ask them if they have a store layout of which you can have a copy.  You'd be surprised about how many of them do.  If they don't, either take a notebook into the store and manually write down the sign above each aisle.  That means you'll have a page labeled with the grocery store (and cross streets, if like me, you have multiple stores of one type near you) and what's on each aisle in that store.  If you don't want to do it manually, take your phone with you and take pictures of each of the aisle signs then go home and organize them however you want.
     Now that you have everything sorted into where you can get it in your store.  Make a second shopping list that's categorized into the sections of your store.

     Notice that I have shrimp in two different places on this list.  That's because I want to look at the price of both of those sections before I decide which section I'll buy from.  Start at the front of your store and work around the side first.  Most grocery stores have their produce, meat, and dairy along the sides of the store.  Once you finish the side, you'll be at the back of the store, or farthest away from the cashier.  Look at the aisle to which you're the closest and see if it's an aisle on your list.  If it isn't, don't go down it!  Find the aisles on your sheet and get just the item or items from that aisle and leave it immediately.  Cross off the item when you get it so you don't forget anything.

     If something catches your eye while you're in an aisle, don't just pick it up.  Stop and think about what it is and why you need it.  It's completely possible that you just remembered you were supposed to put Ranch dressing on your list when you ran out of it on Tuesday.  That's fine.  But if it's something like Oatmeal Creme pies, you probably just want them.  Look at them and their price and decide if they're worth that little luxury item at the end of the month.  They usually aren't because they won't last as long (Oatmeal Creme pies are always lucky to make it home with me).  Leave it.

What do you impulse buy and why? Questions? Comments? Tweet to @cookingcheap