I need a list to shop effectively. Not that I always have one...

I forgot it! Which is rare. I sometimes call someone at home to read me what's on my list if I accidentally leave it on the counter. I try to just write it out and stick it in my purse in the same thought.

The downside to this is I will sometimes think of something I wanted to add to the list but forget. 9 times out of 10, if it isn't on my list I will forget to buy it.

If you are buying something like ground beef which can be used in a lot of different ways then it pays to think through the things you will need to make it into a series of meals -- hamburger buns, tomato paste, chili powder, etc. If you don't have everything you need to make a meal then some of the things you DO have could expire or spoil before your next trip to the market. So while I don't always write a list out I usually have one on my head.

I would imagine that if you don't cook for yourself then you could just go into the market and buy frozen pre-cooked meals and other ready-to-eat items and making a list would not really help in any way.

At my age, I need a list. When I use the last of some item, it goes on the shopping list on my phone.

I feel so lost when I forget my list. I have a system. The night before, while reading the week's flyer, I check my print copy of my master list which I call a "cheat sheet", and write what I need for the week from that list on a magneted fridge pad of paper (which hopefully the household has added any extras that they want). My cheat sheet is set up in the order of the aisles of my store so I do less back-tracking. I buy almost all "store brands" in the middle aisles to save money.

Most of my shopping is at the outer perimeters of the store, though now I find I'm buying more of my veggies and eggs at the local year-round farmer's market on the weekend.

now whether or not I remember to bring it with me is another story entirely....

I'm getting better out of necessity, since as I get older, because my brain is fried from being in school full time at age 37, I NEED a list or I forget even basics like milk and eggs. Once upon a time I knew exactly what was in my pantry and fridge and what was needed, without a list. No longer.

My main issue is menu planning - because I don't always feel like cooking particular meals are particular days, so if it's a harried day while I'm shopping, I *may* end up with a lot of convenience foods that are more expensive. And I need to make a rule to stick to the list- I often use my list as a 'guideline' and add sale items at will - which means I'm not always saving money when I go overboard on perishable sale items.

I love google docs because I can make a list on my laptop, and read it on my cell phone. I just have the one perpetual shopping list and update each week as needed.

But the rest of my shopping is deliberately impulse, not meal based. Last week I ran into a 20 pound box of tomatoes for $2, so I grabbed it. In the other market there was a bag of about 8 avocados for $1.49. When I find deals like that I snatch them up and build the meals around that.

I do have a list if I have run out of something that is not a product I buy often, like if I run out of a spice or condiment that is not a thing I get on a regular basis. But I am so predictable, I get the same things at every trip. I always shop at the store with the most specials that week that I need, and only buy the deals, and for the staples, I shop at Aldi's once a month.

you never know what they will have and what they won't. Best plan: wander around and pick out whatever looks good.

What you sacrifice in predictability you make back in savings.

but then, I was never a checklist kind of guy.

from it and buy items that I do not need or are on sale because they are a good deal.

but i usually do my meal planning at the store based on what protein is on sale. other than that i get pretty much the same basic stuff.

Fucking Safeway.

I have two options in the nearest small town (besides Circle K), Safeway and wallyworld. I try to avoid wallyworld for all the usual reasons, but also because their meat sucks and few of their food prices are any better at least for what I buy, (with some excpetions)

Safeway has now made it a major headache to shop for sale and bargain items. Some things are automatically less with the stupid loyalty/data mining card, but other things are now "personalized" and you need to spend an hour on the computer every week to get those set up (often to find they are still on sale for everybody else anyway) and then there are the store coupons that you can cut out or add with the computer as well. OK whatever, buit THEN there are the regular weekly specials. Their computer program does not mesh both lists so you have to add things manually or just try to remember or carry the flyer around the store. then there are the $5 friday items that sometimes are good all weekend, but of course not the weekend you decide to go instead of Friday.

Once you have all the homework done and want to take a list with you , it prints out on 5 pieces of paper and you still cant tell wtf you are doing. Then when it is all over you are too fucking exhausted and brain dead to double check the receipt (don't get me started on how they don't list weights of meat anymore or how the coupons and "savings" don't show on the display till it is all totaled) I come out of there so aggravated half the time I just want to drive through he front door.
Then you get home and realize they ripped you off for 3 or 4 dollars on some thing THEY didn't have entered into their system correctly and you just want to cry because now you have to either drive back down there (not me - that is 15 miles one way) or TRY to remember to take the receipt and the goddamn print-out or flyer back when you go next time.

arrggghhhh why can't they just do the shit automatically? they know what I buy, either make the price what it is or not. I am so tired of all the extra work and hassle. it SUCKS.