LifeHacking Your Grocery List
©2005 J Wynia This article may be distributed online and in print with no royalties, provided that the author attribution at the end is retained.
Related posts: What is a Lifehack, Lifehack Category
"The cupboards are full and there's 'nothing' to eat". Has that phrase ever echoed through your kitchen? Do you have stacks of food items that don't really go together taking up space? Do you throw away food items in your refrigerator because you didn't get around to making the item you bought it for or just plain forgot about it? Do you have 3 jars of peanut butter or 5 bottles of ketchup because you forgot you already bought some? Have you ever made a special trip to the store to get the items for a specific meal only to get home and realize you missed a critical ingredient?
While these kinds of things are annoying, they're also wasteful of your grocery money (a big portion of most family budgets), your time and of the food itself.
Taking control of your grocery process can result in lower stress at mealtime, less wasted food and money, more space in your cupboard, more variety in your eating and it all can be done with very little effort, starting with dinner tonight. We'll use the gap time during the cooking (waiting for water to boil, onions to sweat, etc.) instead of dedicated blocks of time to make the system easy to integrate into your busy schedule.
The reason that we often have lots of food, but nothing that goes together is that most of us buy our groceries either with an arbitrary list of things we usually get or worse, just wander the store, filling the cart with things that appeal to us. As a result, rather than buying to feed our families, we're buying to feed our imagination. When we start taking control of this impulse, our grocery bill will shrink, meals will be easy to prepare and you may actually find yourself enjoying cooking again.
What you'll need:
- a stack of 3×5 index cards and a pen.
- A box, rubber band, binder clip or some other way to keep your meal cards together.
Start by making a card for each meal you make. Name the meals the same way you refer to them in your house. So, for instance, we have a card labeled: "Spaghetti and Garlic Bread". In addition to the meal title, note down the time you start making the meal. Leave space next to it for another time to be written down. Write this "summary" information on one side of the card. I usually use the non-ruled side if there's a difference on your cards. We'll use the other side for our data.
On that card, we're not going to put the recipe. Instead, we're going to list the actual physical grocery items we open and use while making it. So, in this case, we'd write down the half a box of dried pasta, the jar of sauce, the half a loaf of french bread and the butter. Dried spices, etc. that are always on hand (like garlic powder) are assumed. If a recipe is needed, note down which book, website or other reference contains the recipe and where it's typically stored. Write this information on the other side of the card (the data side). However, any rare, seasonal or expensive ingredients should be noted specifically on the front. This will help you avoid making a meal that requires fresh corn on the cob in January when there's either none around or it's 4 times too expensive.
Anything you take out of the refrigerator, freezer, a box, a jar, a can, etc. goes on the card. Write down not the amount that goes into the pot or the recipe, but how much you will use or waste. Note down brand names, preferences for flavors, etc. It will help down the road to know that a particular brand of pasta sauce makes you want to gag when you're staring at the aisle full of jars. Also note down for which times of day this meal is "acceptable" in your house. I make this distinction because I grew up in a household where pancakes (American buttermilk flapjacks) were a fairly normal evening meal. My wife considers them only valid for breakfast. Write this on the data side.
When the food is ready to be eaten (not necessarily when you actually eat), note that time down next to the start time. The difference between them is the real preparation time for your family. I don't care if the recipe book says "30 minutes", if it takes an hour from going into the kitchen to being able to eat, that's the time that matters. This preparation time number can help you avoid meals that take longer than you tend to think they do and may reveal some suprisingly quick meals that you don't consider often enough in the midst of a time crunch. Write these time bits on the summary side.
When the meal is over, if there are leftovers, note that on the card, along with how many servings and their typical purpose are left. For instance, if the spaghetti meal results in lunch for one of the parents, write that down. When you make this in the future, you can either plan for this outcome or eliminate it by adjusting the amounts.
Then, file the card. For the extra geeky among us, the contents can also be entered into the computer using database software or something like WikidPad. However, an entirely card-based setup will work fine. Do this recording of meals for a few weeks and otherwise go about your normal routine. If you need groceries before you are ready for the next stage, just do it the way you normally would and don't worry about it.
When you reach a point where you're not creating a card for most of your meals because you already have one, it's time to move on to the next phase. By doing the recording of meals as they happen, you avoid the typical problems with a system like this. Instead of taking an entire evening trying to "organize our kitchen", we're just noting a few things down while making dinner for a few weeks. The work is minimal at each meal and is spread out over time.
What you essentially have is a menu of choices for the meals your family eats. From this deck of cards, plan out your next week's meals. In our house, we eat dinner together Sun-Fri, go out to eat for dinner on Sat, eat breakfast and lunch at home on the weekends and that's our "home" list. Our weekday breakfasts and lunches are taken care of at work. Your list will likely be different. All that matters is that you end up with a count: 6 dinners, 2 lunches and 2 breakfasts. Consider snacks as well, given that we will be restricting the shopping to our list of meals.
Take your meal cards and pull out meals to fill each slot. This smaller stack of cards is your meal plan for the week (or 2 weeks or month as the case may be). File the rest away for next time. Grab an empty card to serve as your grocery list.
Take your meal plan and go through your kitchen and food storage to see if you already have the items. For those you don't, write the item on your grocery list.
When in the grocery store, only buy the items on your list. Nothing else. Bring the groceries home, unpack and file the receipt with your cards. Keep the current cards out (a good place is the side of the refrigerator) as a reference for what meals are available for the week. This can let you and your family shuffle a bit on the fly. When it's time to make a meal, pull out the receipt and mark down the actual cost of the grocery items already on the card. Total them up and divide by the number of people who eat it. This gives you a total meal cost and a per person cost regardless of what the serving sizes are on any packaging. Write both numbers down near the title. If you're also concerned with nutritional information like calories, fat grams, carb grams, etc. include this as well. Write this information on the summary side.
Once a meal has been made, return its card to the main stack.
You've now completed a full cycle. From here on out, any meal that hasn't made it to this point goes through the process described above. This works for new recipes from cookbooks, TV shows, etc. Once a meal has gone through the complete process, you have a card that has a quick name, preparation time, cost per person information and possibly nutrition information on one side and detailed shopping list information on the other.
After a few cycles, you should have removed any extra, stored food from your cupboards and freezer and anything that hasn't been used is unlikely to get used and should be given away (support your local foodshelf) or a meal planned that specifically uses it.
If you want to extend the system, making up cards that have defined week-long meal lists or bundles of cards in week-long groups will let you just grab an entire plan for the week with absolutely no effort. Add a copy of the grocery list for that bundle and you can go to the grocery store at a moment's notice. These further enhancements result in an eventual system that's nearly maintenance free in the long run. Only new recipes or variations on your normal routine require any new work.
–J Wynia is a web consultant, writer and geek who lives in Minneapolis, MN with his wife and 2 basset hounds. His personal site is at http://www.wynia.org.
July 25th, 2005 at 9:12 pm
Index card images are available:
Grocery LifeHack Index Cards
August 1st, 2005 at 2:43 pm
LifeHacking Your Grocery List [J Wynia] [IMG]
August 1st, 2005 at 3:04 pm
A better way to go Grocery Shopping
August 1st, 2005 at 7:13 pm
# Take control of your grocery list [via] Also helps save me from the "what to have for dinner" conversation that must happen every single night
August 1st, 2005 at 7:55 pm
J Wynia hat ein Index-Karten basiertes Framework konzipiert, das mit den Ineffizienzen beim Einkaufen, mit im Kühlschrank vergammelnden Lebensmittlen oder mit der Entscheidungsnot, was man wann wo wie am besten kochen soll, endgültig Schluß macht: LifeHacking Your Grocery List
August 1st, 2005 at 9:16 pm
(55) J Wynia » LifeHacking Your Grocery List
August 1st, 2005 at 11:27 pm
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August 2nd, 2005 at 2:48 am
J Wynia » LifeHacking Your Grocery List
August 2nd, 2005 at 4:19 am
J Wynia » LifeHacking Your Grocery List
August 2nd, 2005 at 1:53 pm
RSS del.icio.us Gaming Router / Firewall Gmail Invitation - GMail Skinning Quick Guide! Apple to add Trusted Computing to the new kernel? J Wynia » LifeHacking Your Grocery List Software Carpentry Good Stuff for Rails Newbies | Sparklines Graph Library for Ruby Hierarchy vs. Facets vs.Tags Videogame Music Archive - 16,000 Game Music MIDI files bpcatalog: AJAX Auto-Completion Custom JSF Component: Design Details
August 2nd, 2005 at 4:37 pm
This is a brilliant suggestion, and I cannot wait to put it into practice. I don't know about cooking six days a week, but this is a solid plan even for those of us who only cook a couple times a week, and grocery shop every two to three weeks.
Thanks!
August 2nd, 2005 at 6:27 pm
What is LifeHacking? I found the article, LifeHacking Your Grocery List via stumbleupon. But what is LifeHacking? Lifehacking and enhancing productivity has some links, but not a definition. Lifehacker is a blog. As testified by caff in her LIFEHACKING - take control of your life!
August 2nd, 2005 at 11:43 pm
Resources for better living: about one third of the way down this very informative page is a chart listing common composting materials (tea bags, hair and dryer lint — who knew?), a zester I covet, and a neat hack for keeping your grocery bills in tune with meals you actually prepare. I particularly like how the startup is simple and doesn't involve a massive immediate organizing binge to get going. Kudos to a couple of my writing heros.
August 3rd, 2005 at 9:38 am
Daily Click 08.03.05
A huge Daily Click today, guys. I FINALLY am caught up on reading all my feeds after my busy streak at work and being out of town. Lots of good stuff for you. Apple presents: The Mighty Mouse. Elevator hack!…
August 3rd, 2005 at 11:39 am
[...] nja Hacking your grocery shopping J Wynia has a great article on hacking your grocery shopping list. It's basically what Chris and I are trying to do with our online [...]
August 4th, 2005 at 3:53 am
Lifehacking Your Grocery List .
August 4th, 2005 at 5:20 am
too. If they come back in November for another vote, they're idiots. Maybe a new mayor would help their image. Meal of Links Wisconsin wants to raise the speed limit to 75. Florida chimes in and says, "We don't need no stinkin' limit." How to shop for groceries . I think I have the pen and paper steps down pat. After that…chaos. Especially with the changing of that local Giant Eagle floor plan. I looked for toothpaste for 10 minutes in there the other day. The week before, 10 minutes for chicken broth. I'm
August 5th, 2005 at 1:28 am
Has that phrase ever echoed through your kitchen? J Wynia has the answer to your problem. It's called LifeHacking Your Grocery List . Be sure to read the full article for the details, but the basic idea is to use available bits of time over a period of a few weeks or longer to painlessly produce a set of meal cards that will enable you to buy only what you need and use what you buy.
August 5th, 2005 at 1:28 am
Has that phrase ever echoed through your kitchen? J Wynia has the answer to your problem. It's called LifeHacking Your Grocery List . Be sure to read the full article for the details, but the basic idea is to use available bits of time over a period of a few weeks or longer to painlessly produce a set of meal cards that will enable you to buy only what you need and use what you buy.
August 5th, 2005 at 1:28 am
Has that phrase ever echoed through your kitchen? J Wynia has the answer to your problem. It's called LifeHacking Your Grocery List . Be sure to read the full article for the details, but the basic idea is to use available bits of time over a period of a few weeks or longer to painlessly produce a set of meal cards that will enable you to buy only what you need and use what you buy.
August 5th, 2005 at 1:28 am
Has that phrase ever echoed through your kitchen? J Wynia has the answer to your problem. It's called LifeHacking Your Grocery List . Be sure to read the full article for the details, but the basic idea is to use available bits of time over a period of a few weeks or longer to painlessly produce a set of meal cards that will enable you to buy only what you need and use what you buy.
August 5th, 2005 at 1:28 am
Has that phrase ever echoed through your kitchen? J Wynia has the answer to your problem. It's called LifeHacking Your Grocery List . Be sure to read the full article for the details, but the basic idea is to use available bits of time over a period of a few weeks or longer to painlessly produce a set of meal cards that will enable you to buy only what you need and use what you buy.
August 5th, 2005 at 1:28 am
Has that phrase ever echoed through your kitchen? J Wynia has the answer to your problem. It's called LifeHacking Your Grocery List . Be sure to read the full article for the details, but the basic idea is to use available bits of time over a period of a few weeks or longer to painlessly produce a set of meal cards that will enable you to buy only what you need and use what you buy.
August 5th, 2005 at 10:45 am
[IMG ] Lifehacking your grocery list è sicuramente un post molto "americano", ma qualche spunto interessante lo fornisce, soprattutto ai single ed a quanti non abbiano come priorità mentale il contenuto del proprio frigo (salvo poi trovarsi senza nulla da
August 5th, 2005 at 6:20 pm
del.icio.us links »FourDocs // Anyone can create and upload a 4-min documentary for all to see. UK Channel4 »How to create a vodcast // Steps for offering video on demand »Lifehacking your Grocery List // Taking control of your grocery process »Temptation Blocker - WebJillion // block certain programs from myself for a set amount of time »Google Maps Pedometer // Map your route point-by-point, and get exact distance. Built-in TinyURL creator for
August 5th, 2005 at 8:17 pm
been pretty good for that, in that it's easy for me to add things whenever I think of them. However, planning for meals and buying everything I would need to cook, say, 4 nights a week (let's not be too optimistic) is still troubling for me. I found this article
August 7th, 2005 at 6:08 am
t seen this, this looks like a great way to make your grocery list and meal prep streamlined. best of all, you don’t have to do it all at once - just as you’re going along with regular meals. Can’t wait to implement this! Life Hack Your Grocery List
August 8th, 2005 at 3:05 pm
* If you only ever pay off the minimum monthly payment on your credit card, you’re nuts. Prove it with this calculator. * Flickr’s interesting photos of the last day. * Organizing your grocery list in a really anal fashion. * Print your own CD case. * Adidas buys Reebok.
August 8th, 2005 at 11:17 pm
This intensive projects looks to help homes battle this challenge, to save money and always have tasty things for dinner! If you try the project, let us know how it goes. I'm curious about it and might try it. Life Hacking Your Grocery List ~~~~
August 9th, 2005 at 2:52 pm
out how to change his headlines with many of the web's best examples. Lifehacker - Lifehacker, I hardly know her. Bad jokes aside, this site is useful for hacking yourself in real life and living a more productive life, which brings us to…….. Lifehacking your Grocery List makes making a grocery list easy and concise. In simplicity, it merely says to preplan meals and buy only what you need, but read it anyway. Paper Mac and Yamaha Paper Crafts are 2 examples of Origami gone right. They contain fun things you can make
August 9th, 2005 at 5:39 pm
Exchange 2003: Auto Accept Agent del.icio.us/doc/feeds/js dmiessler.com - grep understanding knowledge » Productivity: Reading News The GTD Way Life Lessons From Blackjack Joan Nesbit Mabe's Blog - Aren't we all. LifeHacking Your Grocery List mailr - Trac Cheat Sheets - ILoveJackDaniels.com Steve’s Tech Journal » Blog Archive » New Asterisk-based personal communication approach
August 13th, 2005 at 6:55 pm
binds the cards with loose-leaf rings, [IMG] Doug Giuliana binds the cards and protects them with pieces of sailcloth, and J Wynia gives a step by step tutorial for piercing and punching HPDAs here. He also created a full fledged index cards based grocery process . [IMG] Tammy Cravit developed a Portable Workspace based on post-its, [IMG] and David Meadows' Duckster PDA is a DIY reinterpretation for teachers. Javier Cabrera has many more Hipster PDA models
August 22nd, 2005 at 5:14 pm
when I got off the bus I stopped by the local "office superstore," a Staples. I have been experimenting with the Hipster PDA on and off, and one of the things I noticed is that it doesn't really work for me. It's too damned big. I use 3×5 cards for my Kitchster Organizer , which is a nifty tool, but I wouldn't want to carry it around with me. I needed something better. I tried using MindBendertm cards, which are little study flashcards, which have been just perfect for organizing stories and things. Each one has an
August 30th, 2005 at 2:27 pm
Might help too.
September 4th, 2005 at 8:04 am
LifeHacking Your Grocery List - How to save money
LifeHacking Your Grocery List– The Glass is Too Big - J Wynia: Technorati Tags: GTD
October 11th, 2005 at 10:59 pm
I stumbled upon this interesting article yesterday - Lifehacking your grocery list . The reason this article caught my eye was because I have been thinking about better ways to do groceries and prepare dinners. Well, it is afterall part of the DDA division of jobs. After going through the article, I am not absolutely convinced that
November 22nd, 2005 at 8:26 am
[...] wynia.org' sgrocery list lifehack. You use index cards with meals on the unruled side, and ingredients on the back. As you pick your meals for the week, you have a prebuilt grocery list. I am going to modify this a little bit. I want to also have general stock cards, for things that I always need to stock, i.e. cereal, fruit, juice, milk. Not neccesary for the meals I create, but if I have oranges around, my kids don't always beg for chocolate. This way, when I collect the cards, I will be able to shop 98% from the cards. [...]
January 30th, 2006 at 10:46 pm
I tried a database for meal suggestions for my mother a while back but she didn't like it. I liked the geek level of it though
June 16th, 2006 at 10:13 am
Esli Vy chitaete eto soobshenie znachit vasha gostevaya, forum ili blog popali v spamerskii spisok rassylok. Chtoby udalit' svoi resurs iz etogo spiska prishlite ego url na email: antyspam@bk.ru Eto v vashih zhe interesah. Vse eshe mozhno popravit'. Nam nuzhny tol'ko zabroshennye resursy. Esli vash eshe razvivaetsya - my ostavim ego v pokoe.
August 3rd, 2006 at 5:12 pm
Hi there,
Nice tips. I saw your post on LifeHacker and thought you might appreciate a simple/free one page application I put together to make you more productive while grocery shopping.
Basically, the tool allows you to sort your local grocery store's items by aisle thereby you only need to walk from one end to the other instead of wondering constantly if you have forgotten anything and where things are kept.
The Post:
http://www.davecheong.com/2006/07/17/grocery-shopping-for-smart-people/
The Application:
http://www.davecheong.com/wp-content/simpletools/groceries/index.jsp
dave
dave
August 30th, 2006 at 7:21 am
great article. thanks for sharing
May 15th, 2007 at 10:13 am
You may be intereseted in trying GrocerySurf by Eksendia. The URL is:
http://www.eksendia.com/
It has a shopping list generator and auto-reminder for items you are low on, recipe to shopping list automatic transfer and it is available on mobile phone. Has multiple store support, you can print it by aisle with automatic aisle detection when known.
January 19th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
You can do something similar as the notecards online by creating individual shopping lists for each meal. Or, you can just make shopping lists like you normally would. It's easy and free is you use http://www.shopgetwhat.com You can save all of your lists, and it auto-fills in the items as you type.
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:41 pm
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