Reusable Grocery Lists

Once a week I have to deal with the dreaded job of grocery shopping. I guess in some ways I don't dislike grocery shopping, just sometimes the preparation can seemingly take forever. You know what I'm talking about if you're a couponer like me - find the deals, plan your meals, make the list, clip the coupons, etc., etc., etc. The time invested is worth it to save a ton of money, but I love anything that allows me to spend less time on the prep work.

To try to streamline my grocery shopping "experience", I made a list of the major items in each aisle at the grocery store. This way, I don't have to write everything down. I can just circle or highlight most of the items I need to buy.

This may sound silly to you, but it bugs me that I am wasting two sheets of paper each week just for my grocery list. The only problem is that if it's not written down, I won't remember it. I think I might have a solution. Here's hoping that it works!

I'm going to pick up some notecards - maybe I'll color-code them - in addition to a metal ring clip and something to help me sort of laminate them. I'm going to have one card per area / aisle, leaving space to write in extra items not on the list. Then I'll laminate them, or possibly just cover them with clear packaging tape. After that, I'm going to clip them all together using the metal ring. Before each shopping trip I'll mark my needed items on the note cards using a dry-erase marker.

The only potential problem I see is the items being wiped off by accident when the dry-erase marker rubs against something else. On the plus side, though as I buy each item, I can simply wipe it off the list. With the metal ring, I'll be able to attach my shopping list / cards to the cart so I won't lose it. I may see if I can attach a pouch of some type to keep the coupons that I'm using that shopping trip together so I won't lose them. (I'll still take my regular coupon pouch with me.)

Alright! I'm ready to get started! Unfortunately I need to wait until I go to the grocery store again to make sure I have all of the items listed in the correct order. Phooey! I'll let you know how it goes and will post a photo once I have it all made.

Do you have other ideas? Please share!