The homie Laurie Christine King (@lauriechristineking) and I have been talking a lot about different stores to get your shop on (Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Costco and etc). Having a variety of places to shop is cool but most of us are would rather have fun with friends and family on the weekend instead of spending hours at the grocery store.
How many of you actually enjoy grocery shopping?
So before you head out to shop you’ll want to do a few things in order to make grocery shopping and subsequent meal prep less of a time-suck:
1. Use your phone’s calendar to schedule a shopping trip each week.
Block off the time you need to get to the store, shop, & come back home. This way it gets done, you won’t spend more time than you want and it shouldn’t interfere with the rest of your plans.
You can use Google Calendar or your smart phone’s calendar to set up an “appointment” to grocery shop. Make sure to set up reminders and alarms as well so you don’t overlook it.
2. make a shopping list BEFORE you go with everything you need for the week.
This is crucial. Wandering aimlessly around the store is amateur hour and there’s a good chance you’ll buy stuff you don’t need, or miss something and have to make another trip. Make a shopping list ahead of time so you’re prepared on what to purchase. You can just use the Notes app on your phone. It has a nice “checklist” feature. While you’re shopping, note what aisles your typical items are located for future trips so you can get in and get out.
3. Clean and organize the fridge before you Shop.
No one likes hauling a bunch of groceries into the house only to be met with a disorganized, cluttered fridge and then trying to tetris your recent haul in it. Clean your fridge before you go shopping. Throw out all old food and take inventory of things you’re running low on. Doing so will help with making your shopping list, prevent buildup of ‘science projects’, and make room for your new meal prep.
4. If shopping isn’t your thing at all and you can afford it, pay someone or a service to shop for you.
We use Shipt, a service that will deliver groceries to your house. There are also services like Instacart and ClickList from Kroger too. Yes these cost a little more moolah, but they can save you time and energy to do more of the things you love instead of spending time grocery shopping.
Remember our goal each week is to get to shopper level "over 9000" and any way you can be a more efficient shopper is a win. What are some ways you guys save time shopping? Leave a comment below.
Happy meal prep Sunday y'all.
Alex