Every week, you may find yourself visiting your local grocer to pick some items missing in your kitchen. It might be a joyous experience because you know you will have enough supply for the week ahead, but the joy could be short-lived once you get home only to realize there are some missing items.
Table of Contents
Master grocery list helps eliminate your return journeys to your local grocer just because some of the forgotten items were priority ingredients for the day’s recipe.
Master Grocery Lists
There is an easier way to overcome negative experiences of having to make another trip to your grocer or having to make a call minutes after your home delivery and repeat the sentence; “I forgot a few items”.
The master grocery list helps you prepare your grocery shopping by writing down everything you need to buy in a list form. You break it down into segments that include recipe ingredients, fruits, dairy, baking ingredients, breakfast cereals, baked foods, spices, and so on.
Whenever it’s time to add to your grocery stock, you use the list for reference and prepare your list for the day. In other words, it becomes your ultimate grocery list to your grocery needs anytime you need to go shopping and that way, you will never miss an item.
Importance Of A Master Grocery List
Going through your fridge, freezer, or kitchen shelves to check what’s running out is tedious and exhausting. Sometimes you may buy some items, place on the shelves or fridge, and forget about them only to surprisingly notice when they are already expired.
You may find that you keep forgetting what was included in your grocery shopping list the last time you went shopping. The master grocery list helps eliminate such disappointments because all that you need to do is refer back to it.
With the list in your hand, open your store, fridge, or pantry and let the master grocery list act as a guide into checking what is running out, what’s expiring, what needs replacement, and so on. It saves you time and energy.
Ultimate Grocery Lists
How Do I Make A Perfect Shopping List?
Sometimes you may want to pass by your local grocery from work and pick a few items but get into the challenge of spending too much time on the way thinking about what you need to buy, or calling someone home to confirm what’s needed.
Having a printable grocery list will save the problem because all you need to do is zoom it in your zone and refer or print. The following are the steps towards preparing your master grocery list.
- Write a random list
You may sit in your kitchen with pen and paper and draft a random list starting with items that are consumed most. In the random list, note the main items like dairy products, meat products, detergents, vegetable list, cooking oils, cleaning items, toiletry needs, flavoring needs, and so on without following any systematic way.
Making your ultimate grocery list randomly will help you brainstorm to see how far you can remember all the items in your kitchen and toilet or bedroom. It will also make the process joyous because you will have a generalized overview. - Fill in the gaps
When you are through with your random list, stand up, and begin a detailed search out journey. Under the main item, open your freezer and write down every item that falls under it. For example, under the main list titled meat, fill in with beef, bacon, chicken, goat, pork, frozen fish, eggs, and so on. Another example could be the spices list where under it you include all the spices like ginger, garlic, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, cumin, and so on.
Next, visit the fridge, shelves, and fill in the gaps in your random list. After your thorough search in the kitchen, move to the bathroom and fill in the gaps and note all soaps, detergents, shampoos among others. Move on to the bedrooms, laundry, and fill in all the gaps and you will be amazed how populated the list will be. - Rearrange your list in a smart way
Now that you have captured every item in the rough grocery list, take time, and rearrange the list to follow a priority flow. Priority flow means you list the most commonly consumed items first and the least consumed last. Ensure your list is as detailed as possible and nothing is left out.
For example, dairy products are consumed daily and dairy should top the list followed by let’s say…vegetables, meat, and spices could take the last column. Under dairy, let the first item be milk because that’s probably the most consumed followed by other items in a priority style.
Other groceries consumed daily include flour, bread, rice, macaroni, breakfast cereals, cooking oil, fruits, and many more. Each household has their unique recipes. - Type in your list
When you are through with all the rearranging, type your list into a printable grocery list ready for use. Alternatively, you may download a master grocery list template and type in the details following the details in your handwritten copy. Once you are through, print a copy and mount it on a board and your master grocery list is ready. You may print other copies for redistribution.
Grocery Shopping Lists
What Is A Basic Grocery List?
Under your master grocery list, you can zoom out the most commonly used items in your kitchen and list them in a separate list which you can always carry with you in a hard copy on in soft copy on your phone. The bottom line is having a list to refer to anytime a grocery shopping need arises.
The basic grocery list should only include items that are likely to be consumed daily or several times a week. It could include items like:
• Dairy: milk, butter, eggs
• Garden; potatoes, onions, kales, carrots
• Meat: beef, fish, chicken, fillet, and so on
These are items that are likely to be included in your meals daily.
How Do You Categorize Your Grocery List?
There are several ways to organize your grocery to make your shopping a good experience. Here are ways to organize your grocery list.
- Learn from your grocery store
Grocery stores arrange their goods in aisles with each displaying a specific category of groceries. The dairy shelves contain all dairy products, the flour shelves contain all floors for baking, porridge, maize, and so on.
If you categorize your grocery list this way, it will be easy for you when you go shopping because you will be picking items without having to go back for another item that you would have picked on that shelve. - Think seasons
Each season has its grocery needs. Some groceries are consumed more during winter as compared to summer and vice versa. Other items are consumed more during holidays compared to other seasons.
Categorize your list according to each season: Holidays, summer, winter, etc. - Consider demographics
Each age bracket may have its own grocery needs. Some items work better with children while others work better with the elderly. Categorize your grocery list according to sex and list items for females and for males separately and those that come in between listing them together. - Food and non-food items
list your foods in one list and another list soaps, detergents, shampoos among others. This way, it will be easy to pick the items you need. - Special cases
There are certain grocery needs that you may only apply when you have visitors in your house. others could be suitable for persons with special needs. When you create a special needs list, you will make sure they never lack in their needs. - Cost
Although the cost may not play a very important role in terms of categorizing your list, it may help you know which items will require more money to purchase, and thus you will be effective in budgeting.
Printable Grocery Lists
How To Use Your Master Grocery List
With your list ready and fully categorized, you are now ready to use your ultimate grocery list. Here are tips on how to use your grocery shopping list
- Have some free space
At the bottom of your list, leave some space where you can add more items. Your list is dynamic and you can keep adding or removing from it. - Cooperate with your shopper
Involve your shopper and let them know where to find your grocery list so that anytime you need them to go shopping, it will be easy for them - Have few hard copies with you
You may print some copies and distribute them to those you involve in your grocery purchase - Save soft copies
Save copies in your phone, your email among others so that you can refer it to it anytime a need arises. - Make referral your habit
Make it a habit to always refer to your master grocery shopping list whenever you plan to go shopping. It will help you get organized and never forget an item on your list. It will also help you save time so that you don’t have to keep preparing new lists all the time.
