I hate grocery shopping, but I love to cook. One of the things I hate most about grocery shopping is creating the list and then rewriting it so that it is in order by aisle. It takes forever, but if I don’t do it, I’ll wander back and forth 157 times and spend all day at the grocery store.

After years of procrastinating and whining about grocery shopping, I found this idea on Pinterest-hello brilliance! Why did I not think of this myself? The template they provided wasn’t exactly adaptable, so I created my own Master Inventory List in Excel to make it easier to manipulate. Feel free to use mine, but it’s easy to create your own. This might sound daunting, but it’s so worth it because it also helps make sure you don’t forget anything.

This will take awhile to set up, but ONLY ONCE. All you do is write down everything you typically buy and keep on hand. If it helps, look in your pantry, fridge, laundry room, etc. to make sure you don’t miss anything. Think about the recipes you make the most and make sure you include all of those ingredients. Organize your list by aisles and play around with the data in Excel until you can squish it onto a page or two. Make sure you leave a little room to write in odd things you might need less frequently.

Any time you need to go to the store, print out the list, highlight anything you need to buy and look over anything not highlighted to make sure you aren’t out of anything you might need. Then shop! The list will already be in order, making it easy to zip in and out of the grocery store.

Another trick is to keep a few copies on your fridge. As you notice items that run out, highlight them so it’s ready to go. You’re welcome, World. Now if only I could do something about those people who take up an entire aisle as they contemplate the differences between various brands of diced tomatoes for 45 minutes…