Chapter 6 4. Cut shopping time in half

Most people I know find themselves going to the supermarket at least two or three times a week, and some even more. A friend of mine is an extreme example.She goes grocery shopping every day of the week.She is a married working woman with no children. She spends nearly 1,000 yuan a month on food for her and her husband.Although she professes to hate shopping, it never occurred to her to plan her own meals and shopping. (Her reasoning is that she wants to make sure that the things she buys are fresh every day, so what is the use of the refrigerator in my opinion.) She continues to spend more time, money and energy buying things that are far away. More than she needs, and she ends up throwing away an unimaginable amount of food because she often buys a lot of things she doesn't need on impulse.

When we start working on simplifying our lives, the first thing we do is cut down on chores like grocery shopping, because I hang out at the grocery store and it's one of the least fun ways I spend my time.Therefore, I set a goal of cutting the two to three hours spent on shopping every week by at least half. I sit in front of my computer and make a list of all the food shopping items I might need.I then arrange the items on a table in order according to the aisles of the stores I frequent.I have a copy or two of this list, and these lists sit on a shelf in the kitchen so that when I need the list, I can get a new one.This table can be easily updated when we want to change the type of meal.

Now, before I do my shopping, I sit at the kitchen table and draw up a meal plan for the week.Then, I will use the computer to list and check the purchase items I need.As soon as I'm in the kitchen, I can immediately see what's running out and note it on the list. The entire process, from making the form, entering the store, and leaving with the purchases, took just over an hour and a little more, and I've rarely had the experience of forgetting an item and going back to the store.Of course, we have also simplified the eating habit (the fifth and seventh methods). With just this table, we have actually cut down the food expenses for the entire month and added more free time for us.

Another advantage of using a computer list is that if you are the main purchaser at home, once you have something to do and can't go shopping, your other half or children can easily complete the purchase work based on this list.