How to not miss an item from your shopping list

You just came back from the grocery trip and while you are unloading the items…and you realize oh! I forgot to purchase sugar for the week. You must have been in such scenarios n number of times and would be able to relate how it feels to miss an item when you are just back from shopping. 

Well even I have faced this situation and it just leads to making another trip for an item that can’t wait until the next monthly/weekly trip. After going through this trouble, I tried looking for some solution. And the thing which helped me fix this was a Master Shopping List. 

A Master shopping list is a list of all the items you can think of to buy from your regular store. These are the items you have bought home regularly or irregularly. Items included in the list should be written aisle wise to make your shopping experience more convenient. 

The advantages are … 

1) When you want to go shopping; you don’t need to sit and think about what you need from each section of your grocery, from milk to lentils category wise. All you have to do is to pick up this Master list and start writing the items you feel you need, thus helping you save time. 

2) By referring to the Master Shopping list, you don’t leave any scope to forget writing any item in your temporary shopping list. So there won’t be any items missing in your temporary shopping list. 

3) As the Master list is written aisle wise, it’s obvious you will prepare the temporary list aisle wise also. So while shopping, you won’t waste your time going from one corner of the store to another corner. You begin from one point and pick your items on the way and end near the billing counter. 

4) The last thing is if by any chance you forget carrying your temporary shopping list with you, all you can do is refer to the master list(For this you can store it in your mobile or keep a hard copy in your car). You will be able to quickly make a list breezing through the master list. Also, it will be easy to remember the items clearly as you had made the last few minutes back.

Here is a template for the Master Shopping List

Master Shopping List

Remember to laminate your Master Shopping List and keep it in a folder to avoid wear and tear and losing it in other papers.
                                  Happy Shopping!