From what I hear, grocery shopping is an abhorred task for many people. If you operate a business, you might find it especially annoying to take time out of your busy day to buy food.

I happen to love grocery shopping, and I’ve devised a system that makes my weekly shop very efficient.

First of all, plan ahead. Take about a half hour or so of down time to go through your recipes and cookbooks to select the meals that you will make through the week. Plan for 6 nights worth of dinners and select dishes that make good leftovers (think roast chicken for Monday so you can have leftovers in a sandwich for lunch the next day and a pot pie for Tuesday’s dinner, etc.) Write down plans for lunch as well and plan leftovers as much as you possibly can.

Now you simply make a list of the items you will need to make all of your meals for one week. It’s very frustrating to be thinking for days about that chicken pot pie you’re going to make and then realize that you are out of mushrooms - the ingredient that makes it so special.

I am a dork - I make my list according to the route I take through the grocery store. This saves some time as I do my shopping. BEFORE you get to the checkout, check your list to make sure you haven’t missed anything.

If you use a system like this, you can save money and time. You will also eliminate those daily trips to the market for those last minute items that you need to prepare dinner.

Another way to make your grocery trip shorter? Definitely leave your kids at home.

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