Grocery shopping used to be my least favorite part of the week. I hated how long it took, that I almost always forgot something, and that I felt like I was spending more money than necessary. While grocery shopping still isn’t my most favorite way to spend my time, I feel much more confident now that I can get in and out of the store quickly, buy exactly what I need, and stay within my budget. 

Let’s explore my three favorite tips to make grocery shopping an efficient, effective, and enjoyable experience. 

My first favorite tip for grocery shopping is to create a detailed shopping list before heading out to the store. When I forget to make a list, I always end up spending more money because I either overbuy during that trip or have to make another trip back to the store. 

Planning out meals for the week ahead of time and adding all of the ingredients you need to your list is a great way to ensure you purchase everything you need. I like to make my list in the reminders app on my phone so I always have it with me and can add to it throughout the week as I run out of items.

Making a list is a great first step, but it doesn’t solve the whole problem. It’s easy to get sucked into buying items that we either don’t need, or won’t help us reach our goals. Thankfully, most grocery stores have similar layouts, which can help us create a flow to buy the most important food items that are healthy for us. 

You’ve probably noticed that most of the time, you enter the grocery store in the produce section. If you follow the outside of the store, you’ll find fruits and vegetables, meats, the deli, fish, cheese, eggs, dairy, and other refrigerated and frozen foods. 

The middle isles always look the same too. Closest to the produce section is the aisle with gluten-free foods, organic foods, and other allergy-friendly, processed food options. Closest to the freezers and dairy is the refrigerated and frozen aisle with gluten-free, dairy-free foods, and other allergy-friendly and organic foods. 

The majority of the middle food aisles contain highly processed foods that it’s very easy to buy too much of. With this in mind, the second tip is to stick to the outside aisles of the store. 

The outside aisles contain whole foods, or foods from plants and animals that come from the Earth. Whole foods are food sources that are not processed or stripped of nutrients. This will not only help you only buy what is necessary because these foods will spoil more quickly, but will increase your intake of fruits, vegetables, and protein sources. 

Aim to limit the number of foods you buy from the middle aisles to foods like cooking oils, nut butter, beans, or anything else already on your list, and be aware of how many highly processed foods you add to your cart. 

Lastly, be sure to eat before you go! All formal strategy aside, if I go into the store while I’m hungry, I end up buying double the amount of snacks and anything that sounds good at the moment. 

We aren’t able to make decisions well when we’re hungry and this often leads to buying foods that don’t translate well into meals at home. If nothing else, eat before you go!