Over the years, I have always liked to sit back and watch people. It did not matter if it was a the mall, fair, or in the local grocery store. When I take time to observe people I learn quite a lot, especially in the local grocery store.

I observe individuals shopping for one or two items. I observe couples buying for their weekly groceries. I observe families as they stock up on food and other household items.

What I rarely see is anyone with a detailed grocery list. I have only seen one or two people who are like me that takes a clipboard with them as they shop. Then there are only a few who have any kind of grocery list.

I do see some who have a little 3 by 5 inch of scratch paper with their grocery list on it. Then there others who are wondering around in a daze picking items off the  shelf and putting them in their shopping cart.

What amazes me is the lack of planning for most families. They go into a grocery store to stock up after they get their pay check. You can tell their intention is to stock up until their next pay check. They are not carrying any written shopping list.

Without having a hard copy that clearly states what is your intention to buy, will you at the mercy of marketing specialists, advertisers with a masters degree in psychology.

A grocery list is not something you quickly write on a scratch piece of paper before heading out the door to the grocery store. It involves thought, planning, and a good amount of research.

Now let us at what is involve before I go shopping:

1. Three or four days before shopping day, I look at our budget. I take note of what family budget says we can spend on that day we plan to go shopping. I note much is to be spent on food. Then a list made for other items that need to be purchased. What is budgeted for them is noted.
2. The list of what is needed is then started. Items that are purchased regularly are carried over to the new list. I use GroceryWiz.com to help me. They help me put together our grocery list, then saves it. That way we just have to edit the list from the last time we went shopping.
3. Over the next couple of days, things are added. We also add wish items.
4. We start to look at coming sales. We note the places with the best prices for specific items. It does not hurt to keep this information in a notebook, or like us we have a data base on one of your computer with where the best deal is for what product. We also do quick random price checks and updates.
5. The night before we discuss what stores were going to be visited. What items were going to be purchased at those stores.
6. A budget is set for each location. We don’t set so strict a budget that it does not allow for price increases. In fact we make sure the budget has a little extra for a treats after leaving the check out stand. Then if we are really under budget, we split the savings. Put half of it in the bank and the other half we use as a treat for the whole family. You might want to call it a bonus for a job well done.

Tags: Grocery list, Grocery Wiz, Planning, Shopping