Grocery shopping is therapeutic for me. I like going through the lanes, picking up stuff we need and putting them in my cart. Yes, it makes me feel good. It makes me feel even better when I see that my refrigerator and pantry is well-stocked. My husband and I has even coined a phrase ‘grocery with a vengeance' which means ‘grocerying' to your heart's content. A splurge in the supermarket. For others, it's a grueling task especially if you still don't have a shopper-friendly supermarket or if you don't have the budget for the things you need *wink*.grocery cart

I would like to think that I am organized. I have a list for everything. So I have a list for when I go to the supermarket.

How do you buy things which will just be enough? How do you know what ingredients to buy?

I would like to share with you some tips on how to be a smart shopper:

* Determine your consumption rate.

If you are a new wife, you might have to take note of your consumptions on a weekly or monthly basis. Example, a kilo of laundry powder would take up how many washings? Or how many liters of fresh milk do you consume in a week? Take note of these things.

* Make as list as soon as you can.

Treat your grocery list like an ongoing project and not something you accomplish just before you head out for the store. Put your pad and paper where you can easily see it. Write down immediately the things that you would purchase in your next trip to the grocery. Sometimes you forget if you're in a hurry to go or got busy days before grocery shopping.

* Make a weeklong or two-week menu.

I see a lot of women in the groceries apparently still mulling about what vegetables to buy or putting every vegetable they see into their carts. To avoid buying ingredients you will not yet use till the next month, make a list of dishes you plan to prepare this week or what is called a menu plan. From this menu plan, list into your grocery list the ingredients you don't have in your pantry that you would need for your recipes. For things that you have to buy, yet cannot consume in one use but needs to be consumed right away (get it?) like little cans of evaporated milk or cream for cream dishes. What you do is plan one dessert or maybe another dish that would use up the leftover. However, for must-haves like flour, oyster sauce or butter, since they can be stored for a longer time, better to always have a cupful or so at home.

Two other things:

If your work allows, go as soon as the store opens. Believe me, it's so quiet and relaxing to buy things at those hours.

Don't go to the meat section first. If you intend to buy other things that don't need refrigeration, buy those first. This is to minimize the time the meats are out of ‘danger zone' temperatures.

Lastly, if you plan to tag the kids along, ask them if they want to use the toilet first and make sure they have had a nap and a good meal.

Enjoy ‘grocerying'!