Page 30 - Book5E

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Become a Shopping Pro
An excellent way to ensure that your grocery-shopping list is efficient and complete is to do your meal planning ahead of time. Meal planning is best done in seven-day cycles. Plan for all meals and snacks for the week. You can use the lists on the following pages for ideas.
This will seem a daunting task when you first begin, but meal planning is an effective way to save time and money in the future. Once you have your first one-week menu created, things will get much easier. Add one new meal each week for variety and start rotating it into your menu. Before long, you will have a month’s worth of meals to choose from. By planning your meals, you can ensure that you have all the ingredients you need, which helps you avoid having to run to the store—or the fast-food restaurant—at the last minute. You can plan for tasty ways to use leftovers, which will reduce the amount of food you waste.
Along with each meal, include a list of ingredients needed to make the meal. Use this list to create your grocery-shopping list.
Tips for creating an efficient grocery list:
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Prepare your shopping list by writing down the ingredients necessary for each menu item.
Check the kitchen to see which ingredients you already have on hand.
Cross out the items on your shopping list that you already have. The remaining items constitute your shopping list. This will become easier and easier as time goes by.
Look at the weekly shopping circulars for your favorite grocery stores and decide where you are going to shop. It is better to pick one store if possible, rather than trying to save by going to many stores. Larger grocery stores often provide lower prices than convenience stores or small local groceries.
Shop those stores who will match their competitors’ prices. This way you can shop in one location saving time, money, and fuel.