Do you just go to a groceries store, without planning your groceries? This article would teach how to plan before going to the store. So, let’s go!
Grocery planning can be fun and yet quite challenging. Because, there are a lot of things you need to consider before planning and filling up your grocery list, such as; health conditions, finances, food duration…among other things.
You might want to stand up from your couch, pick up your keys, and go for grocery shopping. Though, this might work for others who wouldn’t mind extravagant spending. It might take a huge toll on some of us, who like hitting hard on our budget for the month or year and making us buy what we don’t need at a particular point in time or not need at all. This is why planning your groceries before shopping is very important, thus the reason for this blog post.
Now, let’s look at the reasons why grocery planning is crucial.
Why Should You Plan Your Groceries?
Grocery planning has several advantages which include:
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You Save Time
Yes! Planning your groceries saves you time. You might wonder how, but this is it;
Going to a store without making a list, you would probably forget things you want to buy and end up buying a few, get home, and remember you forgot to buy something important. Which, means you need to make more trips to the store and this is a total waste of time. But, you wouldn’t have to go through this if you plan first and make a grocery list. Also, having a grocery list and knowing what you are going to buy even before you get to the store, you will spend less time in the store thereby, saving your time.
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You Save Money
Many of us spend a lot of money just going for grocery shopping, this could be because of all the temptations which hit your face at the store.
“I need this!”, ‘I might love this!”, “Why don’t I get this?”
You end up probably cutting through your budget when these thoughts run through your mind. I would say this is one of the most crucial reasons why you should plan your groceries. Look at it this way;
When you have a list after considering your budget and what you need, and you get into a store, you can resist the temptation of buying anything you see on those beautiful piles of groceries and spend less because, “Hey, you have a list to follow!”.
The best way to save money is by planning shopping, based on seasonality and sales of products.
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You Avoid Waste
Food going to waste is common in a lot of families and homes; but why is this so?… This is because it is easy to forget you even bought a particular grocery when you don’t know what you are going to do with it and therefore, it goes to waste.
For instance, you need to buy just an onion for something specific, then you get into a store and see a lot of ‘shiny looking’ onions; you buy a whole basket of these onions and go home. Don’t you think these number of onions would probably go to waste because you don’t need that much?… You might end up putting them in the fridge after using the much you need and your ‘dear’ onions would be forgotten and probably be remembered when they have all gone bad and smelly’.
But, if you plan before grocery shopping, your list would tell you what you need and in the right quantity, therefore, reducing wastage.
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You Reduce Stress
You would have to go through a meal planning stress every single day when you go to a grocery store without a plan and buying a bunch of stuff without ideas of what you are going to do with them.
Life would be much simpler and less stressful if you have a plan on what you are having on a Wednesday and the rest of the other days.
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You Recognize Your Lifestyle
We all have different lifestyles and schedules. Your lifestyle or schedule may or may not allow you to cook a full meal each evening.
Now, making a plan for your groceries would change your lifestyle. The meal that would be best to prepare on any given night, should be put into consideration. You can plan to cook double the food on a Tuesday evening if you are probably going to be busy with activity on Wednesday night, so that, you could still eat healthily and on budget on that Wednesday night.
Lastly,
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You Stay Healthy
While planning your grocery, you put your health conditions like allergies if any, into consideration and this would prevent you from buying what you don’t need if you stick to your list.
How To Plan Your Groceries Without Going Overboard
Below are steps you can take in planning your groceries, so you can buy groceries without going overboard:
- Add some structure to your eating habits and plan meals to save money. You can go grocery shopping once a week based on your meal plan.
- Use cash when you shop for groceries to avoid the temptation to pick up extras because it would be easier to overspend if you are swiping a credit or debit card instead.
- Give yourself a cash limit to avoid going over your budget.
- If you are planning your meal weekly, redirect your shopping list to what’s on sales. You can use an app that can help you search for the deals. Browse these apps to see what is up on sales and then plan your meal for the week around those items.
- You can take advantage of coupons after you have paid for your groceries online by searching apps that allow you to do this.
- Sample all market prices before you for a particular grocery and go for the cheaper one or the one you can comfortably afford.
- Lastly; Buy what you need; cut off luxurious spendings.
Tip
After planning your groceries and making a list for groceries’ shopping, you should also plan to eat something before you go, so that you wouldn’t end up deviating from your list probably due to hunger as you would find almost everything edible.
Planning helps you succeed in anything whether it’s sticking to a healthy lifestyle or eating a budget-friendly diet; a plan always helps and gives you more of a chance to balance your life and succeed.
You should probably consider planning your groceries and make a list before your next visit to a grocery store.
I hope this information helps you; feel free to leave a comment…