Weekly Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping is a pain in the rear end. Usually my wife and I share the responsibility. But, being a little bit of a control freak I like to do the shopping as often as possible.

About a year ago I started using Franklin Covey's Shopping and Menu planner forms. On one side of the form is a weekly chart divided into days and three meals per day. Each weekend I take the chart and rummage through the refrigerator and pantry to see what kinds of meals we can make from what we have on hand. My wife tweaks it to make the meals healthy, or tasty. Then we write down the meals on the chart. If we need a meal component I add that item to the shopping list.

Using the list has helped us cut down on about 200 dollars extra spending each month. Plus, we only go grocery shopping once per week instead of making numerous trips during the week to pick up things we "need".

I went shopping last night.... late. I had originally planned to shop earlier, but "things" came up during the day, such as playing in the snow with the kids, and making lunches and dinners, and general cleanup and household maintenance. Eventually, about 7:30 PM, I hopped in the car and went grocery shopping at the local Target. Let me tell you, Sunday night is the WORST day to go shopping. The store stock is very low on just about everything.

Nonetheless, I managed to buy everything on the list... plus some extras. I bought chocolate candy to bring into the office, and a new baseball glove and baseballs for my son's upcoming baseball practices, as well as some printing paper for the office. Not a bad deal.

Two hours and one-hundred-and-eighty-eight dollars later (including coupons) I drove home to unload the goodies. Sandra helped me unpack and put away the items. Man, was I tired.