apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Not very green. I've got scrap paper in the kitchen and keep my own list on the refrigerator.

i have a pad of paper on a magnet on my fridge that i love. as great as the check list is, i don't want to read cookies or ice cream at all when i'm at the store, whether the box is checked or not. and while there's a box for beans it doesn't stipulate what kind. if i gave my husband this list to shop from i probably wouldn't end up with what i wanted. it's not specific enough. i'll give it points for being really cute though...

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"The miracle of checking off depleted items as you go."

It's just as easy to write things down as you run out of them! Write down a word instead of checking off a box.

I've seen these at Target.

When I go food shopping I group what I need in categories, produce, dairy, frozen, shelf (beans, bread, etc), and meat. That way I'm not running all around the store getting things I forgot.

i have this and it makes me crazy trying to find the thing i need on the list. also the pad was heavy and came off from the magnet.

if you have a mac there is a grocery list in there when you open word. also i have seen customers at tj's who make up their own list like this one in the order of items as you make the circle around the store. then you print them out and use them like this pad but it's in the right order as you need them and you don't have to criss cross the store.

i like the old fashioned -- and reusable -- versions of this. one friend has a long piece of linen printed with pictures and names (in german) of common groceries. you're supposed to put a clothespin next to each item that you need. i'm thinking that making my own would be fun.

my gf's grandmother has a (40's?) tiny peg board (like a cribbage board) with a list -- you put a peg by what you need. the peg board has a little place to keep small scrap paper and a pencil if you need to make a list to take to the store.

I also keep a pad of paper on a magnet on our fridge. My husband finally started adding items himself.... sigh.

But I have to categorize my lists by what stores I have to get those items at (dictated by store type, pricing, availability, etc.).

So I have:

Trader Joe/TJ (things for pantry, produce, meats for special occasion, some frozen fish)

CostCo (stocking up on meat and fish for freezer, to have handy, plus some pantry essentials -- chicken broth, etc.)

Safeway (milk, OJ, some produce)

Food Co. (this budget supermarket like Food 4 Less or Pak and Save -- for cheaper things like frozen waffles, cereal).

Rainbow Co-op Grocery (local SF whole and health foods store where you can buy staples and lots of beauty/health products in bulk, this is also where I get my earth-friendly cleaning products)

Target (household essentials and now I discovered *cheap* cereal)

Local hardware store (light bulbs, compost/biodegradable kitchen bags, other things that inevitably come up).

If I didn't organize my list this way, I would be spending forever shopping.

Once in a while I hit Whole Foods for the splurge on Acme bread or honey crisp apples.

I have the Real Simple version of this. It's great!! It even has a magnet so you can keep it right on the fridge. If only it had a way to attach a pen... (I usually wedge one between the top of the pad and a thick magnet)

Yeah, I agree with the "not green" sentiment. If I need a list, I usually just grab something out of the recycling bin to write mine on. Plus, our household uses maybe 10% of the items on that list, and most of the items we buy aren't listed. It really doesn't save any time over just writing what we want.