Your Grocery Store Plan of Attack

Have you ever heard the phrase “failing to plan is planning to fail”? We often think about it when we are in school, at work, or planning bigger personal projects, but this idea can be applied to even a simple trip to the grocery store!

Grocery shopping with a plan saves time, money, and, oftentimes, calories.

Always have a list

One of the most overlooked (and easiest) ways to come out with the right items is knowing exactly what you’ll need before going into the store. It may seem obvious, but many of us write down a few items and then use our memory and what’s available in each aisle to dictate the rest of our purchases.

Writing a grocery list doesn’t take more than 10 or 15 minutes, and that 10 or 15 minutes of preparation can save you potentially hundreds of dollars every month.

Always have your grocery list ready before leaving for the store. It’s easy to store it as a note in your phone (don’t be afraid to use voice dictation!), and it will stop you from wandering aimlessly, missing a key item, or getting more than you need.

There are several ways to organize your list, but grouping items by type or section in the store seem to be the most effective time-wise. That way, you’re not either jumping around on the list or darting around the store because you realized you need something you’ve already passed.

Don’t forget to check the website or app of your favorite store or use Grocery IQ to take advantage of coupons! Oftentimes, there will be sales on items that can easily replace products or brands of products on your list, and appropriately choosing discounted items can create more savings over time.

Hit Outer Aisles and Produce Before Inner Aisles

Do you have a regular grocery store that you visit? If you don’t, keep in mind that finding a store (or two) at which you can regularly shop will help with the process as you learn the store layout.

The outside aisles and produce sections are where you will find the most nutrient-dense foods and where you should spend 85% of your time at the store. If it’s fresh and on the outside aisles, it’s probably healthier and cheaper than what’s found in the inside aisles.

Typically it is best to leave the inside aisles for last because they have more packaged and processed foods. They also can be very tempting with their placement of expertly marketed items!

Leaving grains, sauces, packaged shelf products, and frozen vegetables until the end will allow most of our time to be spent on the quality fresh staples of our meal plan.

Don’t Go in Hungry

The last pro-tip we have for you is to not shop when you’re hungry. This may seem like another obvious tip, but we often forego a healthy snack before hitting the grocery store. Many of us are also guilty of procrastinating and shopping when there’s very little food left or when we’re due soon for a meal and need to get ingredients.

When we shop hungry, we lose our objectivity and let those little ghrelin gremlins in our stomach dictate some of the food we buy.

Ghrelin is a peptide hormone that increases appetite, and it is also ramped up when it’s around what it wants — food!

Going in hungry is a surefire way to end up with items in your cart that are not on your list. This can lead to waste, overeating, buying and eating foods you didn’t really want, or spending more on a brand or type of a product that looks more appetizing but doesn’t fit our budget or plan.

Lucky for us, we are prepared to go on our next grocery trip. We have our list (and possibly coupons), we know how to navigate the store, and we are in the right frame of mind to be around lots of delicious ingredients!

Eating well doesn’t mean we have to break the bank. And it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the food we eat or buy organic and sustainable options. It means we know what we are consuming and are fueling ourselves appropriately.

If you are going shopping this weekend and need some inspiration, check out MacroRecipes — you can search over 375,000 recipes by your specific macros! We also post recipe inspiration on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!