Organize your Kitchen for Easy Meal Planning - Grocery List Edition

One of the perks of having an organized meal planning system is that you always have the ingredients for the planned recipes when you need them.  Unless you have a supermarket fairy who stocks your shelves while you’re sleeping, you’re going to need a system for keeping up with your grocery list.

Grocery lists come in all shapes & sizes from complex ones sorted by the layout of the aisles in the store all the way down to those scribbled on the back of junk mail envelopes.  As long as the designated shopper can read the list and use it effectively, it doesn’t matter what it looks like.  But in order to make sure you catch all of the necessary ingredients and family requests (and avoid last-minute trips to the supermarket), it’s important to store the on-going list in a consistent place.

Having a designated home for your grocery list allows you to record items as you run out of them (or realize you need them).  By sharing the location and expectations with other members of your household, you can hold those old enough accountable for recording items as they use them up.  Not on the list?  Not picked up from the store.  

Some ideas of where you could store your list include:

• Front of the refrigerator
• On a shelf inside the pantry
• In your family’s command center
• On the back of a cabinet door

Once you determine the appropriate home for your list, make sure to keep it stocked with paper and something to write with.  You want it to be as easy as possible for others to contribute to the list.

This centralized running grocery list is helpful even if you prefer to shop from a list on your phone or other electronic device.  Encourage your family to write their items on the list throughout the week and then you can transfer that list to your phone before you go to the store.  (A wipe off board could be great in this situation!)  Just don’t forget to hold up your end of the bargain and check their list.  You know how upsetting it is to be without your favorite breakfast cereal.

Do you keep a running grocery list?  How do you keep up with what you need?