Grocery Shopping: 7 Tips to Help Keep Your Sanity

Posted by Lesli

It's funny, although I enjoy cooking and eating food, I really don't like going to the grocery store. Wandering each aisle, searching out the best prices and selecting the freshest produce takes up more time than I would like.

Why don't I shop online then? Well, because, I like to touch the food I buy. I want to poke the meat I am interested in and squeeze the tomatoes on the vine. I want the opportunity to compare brands and prices, I want to see the colour of the fruits and vegetables and really, I want to see what's being sampled in-store.

One time a certain health food store was sampling Dagoba dark chocolate. I went back three times for samples. The third time the demonstrator gave me a dirty look, but I didn't care - I was in my "chocolate zone". That's a good place to be...

There's a few things that I do to help make my shopping trips more enjoyable and as efficient as possible:

1. Take your coffee in with you. Some grocery stores have cup holders on the shopping carts. (Now that's thinking!)

2. Shop the perimeter of the store. Usually the fresh foods are placed around the edge of the store - dairy, meats, fruits & vegetables and deli.

3. Take a list with you. This way you'll have a purpose and won't be tempted pick up stuff you don't really need.

4. Before you go into the store look at your watch and decide how much time you are going to spend inside. Stick to the amount of time you set for yourself.

5. When you're in the produce area, grab a bunch of bags for your fruits and vegetables. When you make your selections you'll have bags handy.

6. Hit the meat and frozen foods sections last, if possible. (Even if you pick up your chocolate caramel swirl ice cream last you still might have to stand in line for 10 minutes...)(Talk about grocery store rage...)

7. If at all possible, avoid going to the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon - Eeeeeeeek! Every time I do this I wonder what I was thinking...!!!

Of course, I wish grocery shopping was some sort of virtual Farmer's market, where I could smell and touch the grocery selections from the comfort of my deck (complete with a margarita in hand) on a hot summer day...

TAGS: Aisle, Dagoba, Dairy, Dark Chocolate, Demonstrator, Grocery Shopping, Margarita, Meats, Online, Perimeter, Produce, Shopping Trip, Tips, Virtual Farmers Market
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