How to better plan for your grocery shopping

Grocery shopping is an essential task, needed in every household. We buy foodstuff, detergents, toiletries, personal care products, and so much more, to cater for daily family needs. At the same time, we juggle among office time, family time and time for ourself.

Do you ask yourself how to better plan for your grocery shopping? If so, do read on…

I work from home doing 3 different things, including blogging, and also take the responsibility for grocery shopping at home. You may instead be working in an office, running your own business, blogging from home as well, or more.

However, we could all make the most of our weekly / biweekly / or as and when required visits to the hypermarket / store, by carefully planning for our shopping in advance.

I will share with you some helpful ideas that I’ve been using for some time already…

1) Prioritize

Use traditional pen and paper, an excel sheet, or if on the move a lot, your mobile phone calendar or download free budgeting or note-taking apps.

List your priorities and know your weekly / monthly requirement. Write down product name, price, quantity needed for the period, if in stock already or how many units you need to purchase on your next visit.

2) Stock

Prefer a small buffer stock. Better not overstock if expiry dates apply to the products.

If you’re tempted to go for discounted products, use coupons or buy one get one free offers, make sure to check if expiry dates are reasonable for the time you have to use them all.

Ask yourself if you really do need any products on special offer at all. Would they be of use or a waste instead? Do you benefit from a return policy?

3) Save

Determine your budget and keep track of expenses made. To save time and money, compare different store distances, for travelling purposes.

Compare the general product price levels at different stores (if different product prices may apply to the country you are in). You could do that by calculating the total price of your most frequently used products (or maybe find the average total price, if you prefer), across all the stores (same products, same quantity and sizes).

4) Safety

Better opt for safe and free parking spaces. Attacks and thefts are more likely to occur in poor-light and isolated parking spaces at night, compared to well-light and busy ones.

5) Convenience

You may also wish to consider other activities at the malls to decide the best for you.

For example my friend, who has 2 children, both under 10 years of age, prefers a particular mall, which has a playing ground.

I prefer another mall, where I can window shop for the latest trends, and also sometimes have my facial done, on the same visit for my grocery shopping.

6) Options

Strike a reasonable balance for yourself, taking into consideration your preferred key criteria for comparing and choosing where to shop.

A weighted calculation, in the form of a table could help. Please see the example below (which you may adapt to your own personal needs):

After considering, calculating the qualitative and quantitative benefits and then comparing different options, I’m sure you’ll also be better placed to select your best plan for grocery shopping.

Please note that as there are likely to be changes from time to time, so reviewing your choice maybe required after a period of time.

Would you like to share your ideas and tips for grocery shopping? Please do so. Thank you!

Featured photo: Photo by Ella Olsson on Pexels.com