The dreaded shopping list

Am I the only one who creates a shopping list in hopes of a better organized grocery trip, but it turns out to be a hot mess instead? I'm not one of those parents who lets the children cry the entire time they are shopping. Instead, I do my best to entertain them and make sure they are well-behaved. This causes me to leave the store with usually only a third of my list. And let's just be honest...we are lucky if any of the ingredients I chose actually go to a whole recipe.

I was introduced to a blog, The Comp List, by another friend. This woman is a saint. She takes a lot of time collecting ads online from stores that are local to this area (KC and surrounding small towns stretching as far as Topeka to the West and at least Blue Springs/Grain Valley to the East). Essentially, with a comp list, you can take a trip to Wal-Mart (WHO PRICE MATCHES) and unfortunately they are never consistent. Some ask to see the ad, others, just take your word for it. So, make your trip to Wal-Mart with all of your ads (compiled by the 'Comp List') and enjoy your savings. Some people save hundreds of dollars monthly.

I haven't made it this far in my shopping organization because the last time I went to the Wal-Mart in Blue Springs at Adam's Dairy Landing, they did not honor my word. I had to have the ad there with me (even though they are supposed to cross check and have a book of ads there at their registers). I don't own a printer and can't imagine printing off adds weekly, but it's a great way to save money if you're dedicated.

Now, when I start creating my shopping list, I literally start listing things off the top of my head that I know we need. These are usually essentials, i.e. bread, milk, eggs..etc. Then I think, okay, none of the recipes that sound good contain these basic ingredients, so I start listing recipes by the name of the dish, and what i need for it under that title.

Right now my list has the basic essentials at the top, and then a title of Chicken Pot Pie. Under that, I have celery, and 2 frozen pie crusts. I know for SURE that once I get to the store, the kids will some how distract me from getting those staple ingredients.  SO..I am trying something new. I am going to grab everything under my recipes list first and THEN, I am going to go through to the items second where I know for sure of their locations. For example, I will run in, pick up celery, pie crusts...and then once those are in my cart, I will head over to milk, eggs, bread because I know exactly where those are at.

I have to go sometime tomorrow, so we will see how this goes.

Wish me luck!!