Your Shopping List
"Using a shopping list is like adding a $50 bill into your wallet!" - Cindy
Yup, we're going to introduce a $1,040 tool to your shopping arsenal.
This tool has the power to save you at LEAST $20.00 per week ($1,040
per year) when you shop for groceries. And it doesn't cost a dime. I
know you have ALL heard of this tool, some of you even use it, but I
also know many of you avoid it at all costs. IF someone offered you
$1,040, wouldn't you be the first in line to accept it?
This simple tool is "THE SHOPPING LIST."
No, we are not talking about the "mental" shopping list – where you
think you can remember all thirty-one items the family needs for the
week. Or the "I'll figure out what we need when I get to the store"
shopping list where you wander aimlessly picking up one of these, two
of those, and a bag of what-evers, and hoping there will be enough
for the next seven days. Then you are back the next day to pick up
the thing you forgot. Been there, done that. CHA CHING CHA CHING!
The biggest impact you can make on the amount of money your family
eats does NOT happen in the grocery store or the fast food
restaurant. It happens right at home BEFORE you leave the house. It
is the ten minutes you spend looking through the fridge, freezer, and
pantry to see what you have already paid for, and the twenty minutes
you spend planning your meals and shopping list for the week. That
little hunk of paper is like slipping a $20 or $50 bill into your
pocketbook.
Spending just a little time at home will stop you from spending too
much money in the stores.
Eleven reasons to use the $1,040 Shopping List:
- A shopping list saves you money. Think of your list as a
$20.00 bill you've slipped into your pocketbook.
- A shopping list protects you from those "black out moments"
where you just can't remember what you are forgetting. You know it is
important, but the brain just can't retrieve the thought. As soon as
you roll up onto your driveway you will remember. A shopping list
keeps you feeling smart LOL.
- A shopping list protects you from those IMPULSE purchases.
The stores are waiting for you. They've set up their end caps,
displays, check out counters, and store with only one goal – to
collect as much of your cash as possible. Keep your cash in your
pocketbook and stick to your list.
- A shopping list helps you budget your foods for the week and
month. The more you shop for the foods you KNOW you want to buy, the
more you will be able to plan your spending.
- A shopping list gives your children something to DO in the
store. I always let my kids help choose some of the things on the
list (and then cross it out). It kept them busy "helping mom."
- A shopping list helps you with your healthy eating goals.
When you plan your meals in advance and know which foods you want to
eat, you will leave the nasty fattening, fake stuff in the store.
- A shopping list helps you shop faster. Many people want to
get in and out of the grocery store as quickly as possible. And the
faster you get out of their, the less you spend (I remember reading
someplace that every extra minute you spend in a grocery store can
cost you nearly $10.00 in impulse/unplanned purchases.)
- A shopping list eliminates those unplanned "I need to pick up
a couple things" trips to the grocery store. The more you use your
inventory lists, your menu plans, and shopping lists, the LESS you
will have to spend on gas to pick up a loaf or bread, a container of
sour cream, or a gallon or milk.
- A shopping list helps you plan out an "errand day." When I
have a good shopping list, I also make plans to stop at the bank, the
library, the pharmacy etc. on one trip. The errands are added to my
list so I don't forget anything.
- A shopping list minimizes wasted food. When you know what you
have in your fridge and freezer, you avoid picking up duplicates (how
many bottles of mustard do we need anyways?). As well, you have a
plan to stir fry or veggie soup those last few vegetables in the
crisper before they spoil. THEN you add the new ones to the list.
- A shopping list keeps you out of the grocery store during those
panicked, long "there's nothing for supper" lineups after work.
