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Raising Arrows
Aug. 13, 2008
The Master Grocery List
Part 3 of Once-A-Month Shopping ~
To get started with your grocery list, think about the various sections of a grocery store. You have dairy, fresh fruits & veggies, breads, etc. My grocery list is based off of this as well as how my pantry and cupboards are lined out. Come up with a way that works for you.
Here are my categories:
Baking Needs
Condiments/Spices
Pasta/Rice
Canned Fruit
Fresh Fruits & Veggies
Dairy
Meats
Snacks/Breads
Canned Goods
Frozen
Cereal
Miscellaneous
Some day I will probably revamp these because honestly, canned fruit does not need a seperate section, but for now this is how my list is set up.
Now, take a look at your meals. What items do you need to make those specific meals? What items do you use on a regular basis that are not covered by what is needed for you meals? What is currently in your pantry? The way I started was by taking my friend's list and then taking off what our family never uses that her family does and adding what I needed for my meal list. This is one case where cheating is allowed! (I'll post the link to my grocery list at the end of the post, so you can do this if you would like.)
The Miscellaneous section is where I put things like trash bags, ziplock bags, laundry detergent, etc. I also have room here to jot down anything extra I may need that month that falls outside the norm like shoes for the children or a storage container or printer ink.
My list is full of items that I do not buy every single month. I keep them on the list because we do need them often to justify allowing them to have a permanent place. This is where a Master List differs from a regular ole grocery list. I'll demonstrate in a moment how this works. But first, you need to take a hard look at just how many of each item on your list you go through in a month. Along with this, consider how many of each item you wish to "have on hand." For instance, I like to have 2 boxes of spaghetti on hand. Very rarely do we go through a full 2 boxes, but it is good to have that option. Trash sacks are the same way. We don't go through a full 2 boxes of trash sacks in a month's time, but we will go through more than 1, so I need to have 2 on hand. Make sense?
In order to reflect this on your list, you need to have this set up:
_____ Trash Sacks 2
_____ Spaghetti 2
The number following the item is how many you would like to have on hand. The line in front of the item is for you to write in how many you need in order to attain this magic number. This is where you have the luxury of simply not putting anything on the line for those items that you do not need every single month.
Once you have done this for all the items on your list and saved it to a word document or some such thing, you can now send your big kids a runnin'! Every month before shopping day, I send my oldest to inventory what is left. I know some people keep a running inventory posted beside each refrigerator/freezer, but I am just not this organized. I did try this once, but it was a disaster because inevitably someone took something out and forgot to mark that they took that particular item out. Pretty much defeats the purpose of an inventory check-list.
The easiest way I've found to do this particular step is to use my master grocery list and rattle off an item and ask him to find out how many we have of that item. Of course, if you do not have big kids or you are worried that your big kids won't count correctly, then you are welcome to do this step yourself...I've just found it a wonderful asset to have a helper who can do this alongside me. We go through the entire list, pen in hand, and mark exactly how many of each item we need to be fully stocked. It is also at this point that I add all the little extra items I need to my list. I keep a running list of these random items on our dry erase board.
Now, a quick note to remember...whenever you change menus, you will be changing your master grocery list as well. DO NOT FORGET to do this!
Also keep in mind that your list will be LONG. My list is 4 pages! But, this will not be the only thing that will make you an oddity in the grocery store...more on that in the next post entitled Shopping Day.
Here is my
Master Grocery List
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Posted by
Posted by
Liss 
Aug. 14, 2008 - Thank you!