Grocery Boot Camp - Phase 2: The List

Ok, So now you know what you have in the house, what you need and what you tend to waste. You also have an idea of how much money you are wasting on spoiled or stale food. Moving forward, your next act is to make a list of your essentials. This should be divided into two categories: 1. Weekly Essentials and 2. As Needed Essentials.

WEEKLY ESSENTIALS are items that you use daily and need to replenish weekly. These items tend to be perishable. For example: bread, cold cuts, eggs, meat, vegetables, fruit, cereal, snack foods etc. However, please note which perishable items you threw away in your purge. Do you tend to buy oranges and then never eat them? Do you buy too many fresh vegetables and then not have the chance to cook them all before they spoil? Note what you need to buy less of or not at all. Also, note which items you might benefit from buying in bulk?

AS NEEDED ESSENTIALS are items that you may use on a daily basis, but it takes you longer to use them up. These items may include olive oil, salad dressing, condiments, crackers, nuts, sugar, flour, snacks, etc Again, note what you tend to leave on your self until it spoils. Do you have maple syrup for 1999 in your pantry? Also, take note of which items you tend to use pretty frequently and go through quickly, these are items you may want to consider buying in bulk.

After doing the purge and the list you should have a good idea of what you need and what you don't need. Next lesson will be about where to get what you need.