Grocery shopping in 30 minutes (or less!)

What would you give to get your weekly grocery shopping done in 30 minutes or less? I’m going to show you just how easy it can be and give you bite size pieces to get your grocery shopping done in thirty minutes or less.

Grocery Shopping in 30 Minutes or Less

I know what you’re all thinking, there is no way this girl seriously thinks that grocery shopping can be done in 30 minutes or less.   Truth time. Not only do I think it, I know it because I do it every week.

Jenny Melrose is visiting today to tell us just how to do it.  She is the mom of two young girls, 2.5 and 6 years old and she gets her grocery shopping with her girls for an entire week done in 30 minutes or less. It’s all about your meal plan and how you attack it!
Take it away, Jenny… 

Meal plan your week. I dragged my feet on this for years. I’d go to the store and grab our go-to proteins, pasta, canned foods and fresh vegetables. I didn’t have any meals in mind. It was crazy and I usually had to head to the store with two kids after an hour and a half commute and working all day to pick up an ingredient that I didn’t have. Knowing what I was going to make each day in the week ahead made my next step super easy.

Write your list according to the design of your grocery store. I learned how important this was after I had my first daughter. My mom offered to go to my grocery store for me when I first came home from the hospital with my newborn and I wrote out my list exactly where she would find everything. She couldn’t believe how simple it made it.

Timing. Your timing is key for a multitude of reasons, but most importantly it is tied to your ability to resist the snack food aisle. If you walk into the grocery store at 11:30 am on a Saturday, it’s very likely that by the time you get to the snack aisle, full of delicious but definitely not good for you snacks, you’re going to throw an extra bag or two of chips into your cart. Plus, you’re going to waste time perusing those tasty snacks.

Keep those in tow occupied. Whether I’m grocery shopping with my girls or have my husband with us, I know that I need to have a plan for them. I keep my girls occupied with games like I spy or vocabulary building activities about the items at the grocery store. When my husband is with us it’s a whole different ball game. He gets distracted by the snack aisle and meat display. He also has no idea where anything is in the store so when I forget something on the list and try to send him back for it, it’s like sending someone into the woods without a compass. My best bet is try to get him to chat it up with the girls and keep them distracted, while I stick to the list.

For the rest of our grocery shopping tips with kids in tow grab our complete guide to meal planning with resources and tips, The Meal Planning Game Plan. You’ll find everything you need to get you organized as well as save you money and your sanity in the process.