How I Write My Weekly Shopping List To Save Money
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Spending as little as possible on groceries is something I feel I’ve got down to a fine, art, so I thought it might be helpful to show how I go about creating my weekly shopping list each week incorporating offers and deals and meal planning to save as much money as I can.
How I Write My Weekly Shopping List
1. Weekly Shopping List
One thing I always do is have a shopping list on the go in the kitchen.
While I know we’ll always need more bread, milk and butter I use it to add the things we don’t buy often such as herbs and spices as and when they run out!
As these aren’t things we buy every week unless I write them down I tend to forget we need them!
2. Start By Meal Planning
The next step in creating my weekly shopping list is to create a meal plan. As well as helping save money, I also find meal planning helps with mental load and they daily wondering about what to cook for dinner.
While I don’t stick rigidly to my plan for each day of the week, I do try to choose meals around what we’re doing each day.
For example, if we’re going to be out all day I’ll choose something like a slow cooker stew. Whereas if we’re at home I can choose something that’s more fiddly like homemade KFC style chicken.
As I create my meal plan, I have a really good rummage through my fridge, freezer and cupboards to make use of what we already have in.
I’ll then make meals around what we have, adding any extra ingredients needed to complete the meal as I go. I also check if we need any staples like pasta and frozen vegetables.
3. Check For Special Offers
The next step is to check for any special offers. We do our main weekly shop at Lidl so I use their app to see if there are any particularly good deals that I might want to pick up.
Lidl has recently launched a new app which has lots of vouchers which need activating before they can be used. I’ll check these too and make a note of any I plan to use.
Do you shop at Lidl? If so you may find the following posts useful:
4. Adding Essentials To My Weekly Shopping List
Finally, I add all the weekly essentials to my shop such as bread, milk, cheese, yoghurts etc. I also check non-food items like toilet roll and black bags. I’ll also grab carrier bags to avoid having to buy them in-store.
This may sound like a long process but I find it really does help me save money and also ensures the food we already have in to rotated and used up before it expires (not that I have a problem eating out-of-date food!) but it’s still good practice.
5. Coupons & Apps
Another way I save money on shopping is by using coupon apps such as CheckoutSmart and Shopmium.
Typically I’ll do a separate shop during the week to advantage of the offer on these apps and try to pick up some yellow sticker items at the same time too.
Lidl isn’t included as one of the shops you can claim offers for on these apps so I can’t pick up items with our weekly shop.
Also if I’m doing a coupon shop I find it easier to keep it separate from our ‘big shop’. I actually have an entire post talking about how I do a specific coupon shop.
Why This Works For Me
I find this method of writing and planning my weekly shopping list really helps me save me money.
The meal planning beforehand helps ensure I use up everything we already have in (so no spending money on duplicate items we don’t need!) and also means I don’t end up buying lots of random things that don’t make whole meals.
When I don’t meal plan I find I do top up shops more because we don’t have all the ingredients needed for a particular dish.
Looking at offers before I go to the supermarket helps with impulse buying. It gives me time to really consider whether or not I need something rather than being on the spot when I’m there.
Supermarket Savings & Grocery Shopping
The cost of groceries continues to skyrocket, with items seemingly increasing in price week on week. These guides cover lots of tips for reducing costs.
- Save Money On Groceries: 40 Frugal Food Hacks
- Spend Less on Groceries For Vegans
- How To Spend Less On Groceries
- How To Start Meal Planning And Save Money
- 9 Grocery Delivery Hacks To Save Money
- Saving Money On Your Online Food Shop
- Beat Rising Food Costs: 10 Awesome Tips
- How I Find Cheap Food Every Week
- How To Reduce the Cost of Your Weekly Shop
- 11 Easy Ways to Save Money on Food
Saving money is what I do best! You’ll find all of my favourite tips, tricks and money-saving hacks in my Money Saving Hub.
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Fiona Hawkes
