u/TraditionalBelt5854

Been trying to fix my grocery shop after realising I was wasting time and money every week. Two things were killing me: wandering the aisles forgetting what I came for, and impulse buys because I didn't have a proper plan.

So I got a bit obsessive and mapped out the actual walkthrough order of my local Coles. A few things that genuinely helped:

Shop the perimeter first. Fresh produce, meat, dairy are almost always around the edges. Do those last-minute-fresh items in one loop instead of criss-crossing.

Order your list by aisle, not by meal. Writing "onions, pasta, milk" in the order they appear in your kitchen means you zigzag the whole store. Reordering by store section cut my time massively.

Plan meals before you write the list. Sounds obvious but deciding "what's for dinner" while standing in the store is where the impulse spend happens.

Check the unit price, not the sticker price. The little per-100g number on the shelf label is where the real savings hide.

Curious how others here do it. Does anyone else order their list by aisle, or is that overkill? And do you plan meals first or just shop from specials?

Hey everyone, curious how people here actually plan their weekly grocery shop.

I’ve been trying to get better at this, but I feel like grocery shopping breaks down into a few annoying parts:

1. deciding what meals to cook
2. checking what’s cheaper at Coles/Woolies/Aldi
3. making a list that doesn’t lead to random impulse buys
4. finding everything in store without walking back and forth
5. avoiding buying ingredients that end up going bad

For people who are good at keeping grocery costs low, what’s your system?

Do you plan meals first, check specials first, use the Coles/Woolies app, write a notes list, use spreadsheets, or just shop from memory?

Also, does anyone here actually organise their shopping list by aisle/store section, or is that overkill?