by Laura Everage

In the past year or so, I have carefully honed my grocery shopping to an art form. With the majority of our shopping being done at Whole Foods, our weekly shopping bill was getting out of hand. I was spending too much to not make a change. I must admit that the cost of shopping at Whole Foods wasn’t only because of the price of the food there, a big part of the problem was that I didn’t plan. I would walk into the store, wander through the aisles and pick up what might be good to have for the week: several different vegetables and fruits for the week, some yogurt, and so on. I occasionally came with a small piece of paper noting staple items I was running low on, but more often than not, I stood in front of the ketchup, flour or coffee wondering if I was out or not. As a result, I was buying items I didn’t necessarily need, and even worse, buying items that would eventually spoil because they weren’t used.

Today, my shopping is more carefully planned. Each week, I spend about 45 minutes preparing a menu for the coming week, noting items needed to make the meals. I then spend the time perusing the cupboards and refrigerator noting items that need to be purchased.  Not only does this list save me money, but it cuts down on excessive wandering around the store and trips back for forgotten items. It also cuts down on the anxiety I used to feel when it came time to prepare dinner. The way I used to tackle dinner was to make the decision of what I was to prepare at 4 p.m. and hope that I had all the ingredients on hand.

Compared to my old shopping days, I’m more efficient, much calmer, and I have a few more dollars in my pocket. I’m comfortable with where I’m at, but I’m about to shatter all of that.