Do you use shopping lists? Do they save you money?

[Retired To Win]

While I was buying groceries yesterday, I again got in touch with how shopping lists help me control my spending and make better buying decisions.

This time my question was whether to buy the chuck steak that was at a slight discount.  Well, steak was not on my shopping list.  And that was because, back at home, my food inventory list showed that we had in stock 4 packages of chuck steak plus 3 packages of chuck roast.  So I passed on buying because I knew I could wait for a better price.

Come to think of it, just a few minutes before that I had walked into the liquor store to see if Chivas Regal was on sale.  If it had been, I would have bought.  But it wasn't.  So I didn't.  And that was because Chivas Regal was not on my shopping list and I knew I had 2 bottles in stock.

Lists sure work for me.  Do they work for you?  How?

[nereo]

I guess I do a hybrid approach without realizing it.
I have a shopping list for what I need to buy, but I keep it flexible and won't buy some things if the price is too high.  For example, I wanted an avocado the other day for dinner, but they were $1.99 each (!).  So we adapted and altered our plan.

At the same time, every time I go to the store I am on the look-out for sales on things I normally use.  I stock up on meat, cheese, butter etc whenever it goes on sale.

I also have the great fortune of having 3 grocery stores (and two green-grocers) within a 5 minute walk from my house.  I've been known to visit 3+ stores in a single trip just to get what I'm looking for.  I find it fun - maybe I'm weird though.

[soccerluvof4]

Most definitely. With a family of 6 (4 kids) I shop 2x's a week of which 99% is from Aldis. I usually go Tuesdays and Fridays. My wife meal plans but its on flex. In other words if she wants chicken but say beef is red tagged I buy that instead and then she adjusts that planned meal accordingly. So i go with an intended list that has some items we must get like milk or eggs and then everything else is pretty flexible. We buy fruit thats on discount fo the week same with veggies. The first goal is to stay within budget and within that get the best meals made we can that wont go to waste, creates leftovers that will get eaten as well as meals that the kids will eat (thats the most difficult part). In fact i have a list and am going shortly. Never has there been a time that I have come home without something that my wife was like now what. It just goes back on the list for the next time.

[thd7t]

It helps save money for us, because we list recipes that we plan on making.  That means that later in the week, we can look to the list to remind us what we had planned, which reduces waste.  Like others have mentioned, we try to remain flexible when in the store, but the list is a super framework.

RTW, I'm surprised that you checked if Chivas was on sale when you had two bottles in reserve, that seems a lot like "shopping for shopping's sake", but I don't know your rate of consumption!

[misschedda]

I always make a list and it saves me money by keeping me from walking down aisles that I know I don't need anything from. No impulse purchases of fruit snacks if I never pass the fruit snacks!

[Retired To Win]

... RTW, I'm surprised that you checked if Chivas was on sale when you had two bottles in reserve, that seems a lot like "shopping for shopping's sake", but I don't know your rate of consumption!

Sales on Chivas are very infrequent.  So I take advantage whenever I can.  The sales are NOT advertised, so that requires walking into the liquor store whenever I pass by to see if a sale is on or not.

(Chivas could stop being put on sale altogether; I really don't understand why it goes on sale now.  And liquor keeps forever.)

[thd7t]

... RTW, I'm surprised that you checked if Chivas was on sale when you had two bottles in reserve, that seems a lot like "shopping for shopping's sake", but I don't know your rate of consumption!

Sales on Chivas are very infrequent.  So I take advantage whenever I can.  The sales are NOT advertised, so that requires walking into the liquor store whenever I pass by to see if a sale is on or not.

(Chivas could stop being put on sale altogether; I really don't understand why it goes on sale now.  And liquor keeps forever.)

I understand.  It was just some gentle (I hope) ribbing, based on your previous shopping thread (which I agree with!). 

[CommonCents]

I plan my meals around the circular sales.  I'll add in other meals if we have most of the fixings already on hand.  And, sometimes I'll add in a meal not on sale just because we want it (haven't had it in a while, it's a cheaper meal - I'm certainly not buying meat when it's not on sale, we are having guests and want to serve them something specific particularly if they have dietary constraints).  ETA: So yes, I create a shopping list before walking in a store.

I don't have an explicit list of what I have on hand at home, although it might be easier so I don't forget.  Usually I try to check beforehand or rely on my memory, although neither is perfect.  I'm just not sure the investment of time in keeping up the list is worth it to me.  Similarly, I haven't created a price book list although I've considered it.  I try to be a savvy shopper, but I also value my time too. 

ETA: And yes, shopping sales saves me a considerable amount of money.

[Jersey Brett]

I use lists because I always forget the very important things I came to the store to get in the first place.
I eat the same stuff mostly so i have a basic list on my phone. It saves me aggravation but not money really.

[AmbitiousCanuck]

I don't use a shopping list to save money, I use it to save time.  I don't have to wander the isles asking "do I need this, or this, or this?", because I already know, its on the list in front of me.

As far as inventory management, that is all done in my head, I don't keep a specific list.  I know if we are running low on a specific item, or we already have 5 of it.

[otter]

(Chivas could stop being put on sale altogether; I really don't understand why it goes on sale now.  And liquor keeps forever.)

..keeps forever, and if you keep it right, it gets better! :) I've got a bottle of good port from the mid-70s, a bottle of Corwn Royal with an unbroken 1962 tax stamp (it's just Crown Royal, but come on, 1962!) and a bottle of really good Venezuelan rum that moved with us in the early 80s and still hasn't been opened. And from having drunk from the other such bottle in my mom's house, I know that it will be fantastic!

[otter]

Yes, I use lists, though flexibly. When I run out of something, or am about to run out, I write it on a whiteboard I have in my kitchen. When I want particular ingredients or items for some dish I want to cook, it also goes on the whiteboard. This list gets transferred to a yellow sticky note in my wallet (I know, it's old-school, but I keep the yellow-sticky-note industry alive; I'm used to it) and I shop from that. At the same time, sometimes my food shopping is based on what I see - I go in knowing that I want to, say, get stuff for a couple of dinners or whatever, and I purchase based on what strikes my mood, what's available, what's on sale. This is particularly true in the late spring through fall when I do a lot of shopping at my local farmer's markets. Also, if I see something I use that is on sale for a ganga price I might get some even if I don't need it, as long as it will keep until I do need it.

[Eric]

I use lists because I always forget the very important things I came to the store to get in the first place.

Me too.  I don't use lists to save money as much as I use lists to keep me from making a 2nd trip to the store within 24 hours.

[FiguringItOut]

Grocery shopping lists is the only thing that is keeping me from overspending on food.

Before I started religiously making lists before heading out to do food shopping the monthly grocery budget was anywhere between $800 and $1100 per month.  With shopping list I try to keep it to $600 per month, but sometimes it goes up as high as $750.  Still a huge improvement.

I plan to optimize it even more very soon.

[Random Internet Stranger]

I use lists because I always forget the very important things I came to the store to get in the first place.

Me too.  I don't use lists to save money as much as I use lists to keep me from making a 2nd trip to the store within 24 hours.

QFT!!!!

I feel the same way....I love Google Keep. I would be a mess without them list-wise. Although, I do tend to forget that ONE item. But luckily, my husband drives past the store on his way home so its not a big deal to have him stop for me and pick it up. Of course, I have to be on the phone with him and describe EXACTLY what it is I am wanting...so that in itself is an incentive to try to get it right the first time.

[Le Poisson]

SWMBO and I were talking about how we use lists the other day, and I was surprised to see the difference in how we use them.

I make up a grocery list, then use the FLIPP app on my phone to find all the best prices. After that I make a revised list. This list is sorted by stores, with the store having the most best deals at the top, then descending. I use the list as a starting point for my prices, and aim to beat the prices on the list for everything. If store #1 will pricematch, I use the FLIPP app at the checkout to get as much shopping done at store 1 before continuing on to the other stores. Wash, rinse, repeat. My goal at the checkout is to have a total cost that is less than it was when I made the list.

SWMBO makes her grocery list, then goes to the store and tries to score as many manager's special as she can, regardless of whether it is on the list or not. Her goal is to get everything on the list plus at the best price per pound possible. She will often load a trolley with discounted meat and bread, then sort and freeze when she gets home.

What is interesting is that while my per trip cost may come out lower than hers, her total food cost will often beat mine, since I miss all the managers' specials by holding so closely to the advertised prices and not allowing myself to buy extras not on the list. Also, since I have all loss-leaders as a point of reference for prices, she has a better handle on 'real' prices when something isn't on sale.

[TheRedHead]

I make a shopping list for the weeks menu and for anything we run out of or are close to running out of. I use the app Buy Me A Pie which is lovely because it's on my iPad, phone and my husband's phone so either one of us can see or add to the list at any given time. I don't stick to the list strictly. Today, for instance, halibut was on sale at my WF so I picked up some for dinner tomorrow. It wasn't on the menu but it was a good price and we are trying to eat more fish so a grilled fish dinner is what we are having.
If I had to rely on my brain for shopping we would be doomed.

[Le Poisson]

A little off topic, but I just thought of this...

I was raised in a Mormon house - which meant we had a room in the basement stocked with food. Enough to last a year in case there was a plague of locusts or whatnot (incidentally, I always wondered how long it would take the house to be raided if a disaster actually happened, but that's another story).

My parents kept a clipboard in the food room with an inventory control list on it. Every can of peas and pound of wheat in the room was counted along with the date of purchase. If you took a mason jar of peaches out for dessert, you were supposed to check off the item on the list and then when inventory was done, the stock would match the tally. Anything that was getting low on the list would be added to the shopping list and then Mom would run out and buy a flat of strawberries and we'd find ourselves making jam or canning or what have you (fruit) or a carload of canned tuna would show up, etc.

It helped that Dad worked for Nabisco, and was good friends with a number of shopkeepers who would sell him stuff wholesale or for pennies if it wouldn't sell in the store.

Anyway, inventory time was fearful in our eyes as kids. We'd lose a whole weekend (usually late summer - right before harvest time) to go in the basement and count cans. The week following inventory, we'd have to use Dad's word-processing typewriter to re-type the whole inventory.

But by the time we were in grade school, we had it figured out though. We would count accurately on things we hated, but mess up on the stuff we loved. If we over-counted, it meant we could sneak in and eat the good stuff (chips, pop, baking chocolate, cookies, etc.) if we under-counted on enough related categories, the parents would rush out to restock, then force a flurry of  eating when the already full cookie shelf was overflowing.  We also became very adept at picking the lock on the freezer and food room door, and figured out that we could shimmy between the rafters and come into the food room through the drop-ceiling when the parents changed the lock.

Ahhh shopping lists. Even they can be manipulated for good and evil.

[Zikoris]

We use one, hard to say if it saves money since we've been using one for as long as we've been tracking.

That said, we definitely don't miss out on deals, because our list is created from three things: 1. Our weekly meal plans 2. The weekly sales, which we check before we go to the store, and 3. Our inventory of basic goods

[Bob W]

Yes, yes.  I always look in the fridge before the weeks shopping and make a sun to Fri menu using what is on hand.  I take the grocery list and menu along.   Works like a charm.          By the way,   you can save big on CR simply by pouring Sea grams into the bottle.   It is smoother and tastier but most people can't tell the difference on the rocks.   Blind taste test 4 people to confirm.  We did and 4 out of 4 preferred the Sea grams even when they could tell the difference.

[Marus]

I love shopping lists!  Otherwise I'd always be forgetting stuff.  Sometimes I'll put questions marks next to items though cause I like to check the nutrition and price/pound before I buy.  Lists also help me save money because I always put my list together while I'm looking at the flyers.  I don't have many brand preferences which helps.