Am I alone or has grocery shopping become a dreadful task?  I don't look forward to going grocery shopping at all, even though there is chocolate there.  But even chocolate isn't working to get me pumped for shopping.  Maybe I'm doing it wrong... is that possible?

There's a great feeling of satisfaction that comes with a full fridge and pantry, I admit that.  But have you ever thought about how often you handle your items?  You put the item in the cart, then out of the cart onto the register counter, then back in the cart, then out of the cart and into the car, then out of the car and into the house, onto the counter/floor, then the final destination when you put them away.  Tired yet?  Wait!  We skipped over the whole shopping part.

I do try to go prepared with a list, but I always seem to forget something or it's on the other side of the store and I just say, "forget it!"  I've managed to get my store time down to an hour, including shopping, checking out, and loading the car.  I think that's pretty good.  Anyway, here are some helpful tips to make your next trip to the grocery store a little easier:

  1. Always go with a list.  It really makes it easier.  I even go as far as listing the items in the order they are found in the store.
  2. Don't go hungry.  You'll end up buying a lot of snacks and munchies that weren't on the list.
  3. Do buy some chocolate.  After all, you deserve a special treat for doing the shopping.
  4. Plan a menu.  Having your weekly menu planned is a real time and money saver.  You can take the pizza joint off of speed dial.
  5. Use coupons.  Take a few minutes to clip those coupons.  Not only do you save a little money, it's also fun watching your grocery total go down with each one.

There you have it.  Nothing too complex. I mean,  it's not rocket science.  I'm still not looking forward to grocery shopping today, but I am smiling about getting chocolate.

Do you have any grocery shopping tips you'd like to share? Please do!

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