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I skip the flagging step altogether and just add it to a list I keep in the kitchen on a pad of paper. Each time I use something up, or it's almost out, I just add it to the shopping list. My husband will add to it too, and whoever goes shopping can just grab the list and know it's at least the bare bones of what we need.

I completely agree with home body. We have a pad of paper stuck to the fridge and everyone is trained to write down items as they are used up. Now the trick is to remember to take the paper to the store!

We also have the pad of sticky notes with a magnetic strip that hangs on the side of the fridge (hate a messy fridge). Before going to the store we reorganize the list so according the where items are located in the store. Then we group like items at checkout, so the bags are organized pretty much to where they will be put away when we get home.

Makes shopping (and putting away) quick, easy, and efficient.

I have a stack of used paper from work. The back sides are blank and make a great reusable pile to utilize for all lists. I have it at the computer desk, which is where I do most of my remembering.

I would enjoy seeing AT release the penchant for promoting the buying of more stuff that no one needed til it got invented by some corporation.

Maybe do a series of blogs on alternatives to the ubiquitous "stuff" we keep being told we can't really function without.

I worked for a nonprofit for years and everyone used pads made out of used copy paper. You just cut the paper in half, staple the corner and you have a perfectly usable piece of note paper. Notes got stapled or paper clipped to things when needed. Post its were a useless waste of money. And still are.

I do the same thing as home body and aaakid. That way, you don't have to mark what you need at the store twice (by flagging an item, then creating a shopping list later). I buy little pads of paper from the dollar store and stick a big magnet on the back of them, then clip a pen onto the pad. Cheap and easy.

Put it right in my PDA list, always with me. Been doing it for years.

We have a large whiteboard on a wall of the kitchen. I used the kind of markers that don't erase to divide the board into sections for different stores - office supplies, grocery store, liquor store, drugstore etc. Everyone is trained to write on the board (with the kind of marker that _does_ erase) when we are getting low on something. Things are erased as they are bought. It works great.

I also have a corkboard right next to it for a calendar, coupons, notes, receipts etc. The refrigerator doors are, thus, mess free.

I agree with the others. I really fail to see how this is less labour-intensive than simply writing the item on a pad when you notice it's running low.

This is the sort of thing you would do if your hobby were thinking of new ways to give the appearance of organisation. It's not actually very efficient, but if you get a buzz from implementing a system, I'm sure you'd love it.

Got the pad of paper on the fridge door too. Except the husband too often forgets to use it.

This isn't a tip to make shopping lists easier. This is an advertisement for 3M products. Every product mentioned or depicted is from 3M. I agree with the above posters, this isn't any easier than just writing things down as you use them up on whatever old scrap of paper you have around.

Quiltmaster - When are you available to do my grocery shopping? (And the putting away of said groceries...)

I email myself the list to my cell phone-groceries, errands, books I want to remember to get. The list is always with me and it's not crumpled up at the bottom of my purse!

"I would enjoy seeing AT release the penchant for promoting the buying of more stuff that no one needed til it got invented by some corporation."

Seconded!!

I'm another "write it on the list on the fridge door" person

Count me out. This is just wasteful and makes EXTRA steps. Whiteboard here, and then everything's transferred onto the back of a used envelope for the weekly trip to the grocery store.

My desk sits in our living room - I just have a small notepad there. I just write down things that we have almost used up during the week. Every Friday I go through the kitchen to check all expiration dates and to make sure I haven't overlooked anything - then make my actual list. It would drive me insane to have my entire kitchen "flagged" - it would tempt me into eating out more - LOL.

I made a spreadsheet of everything we might get from the grocery store - and since it's digital it was easy to organize the list similarly to the store's layout so that it's like a map for shopping. We print out a copy of the sheet and you can circle something when we run out. Before I head to the store, I check through the pantry and cross out things we're fully stocked on or that are out of season. Works like a dream!

I created a form that has headers such as "dairy," "meat," "canned," "pharmacy," etc. with lines underneath. I printed out a bunch and keep them on the refrigerator using a magnetic clip. When we run out of something, we just jot it down under the appropriate category. It makes grocery shopping faster.

We have a small magnetic white board on the fridge, and we take it to the store, and erase with our thumbs as we put items in the cart. Anything we can't find is still on the list for next time...

Not all of us use enough paper to generate enough scrap to make notepads. My office is virtually paperless (I go months at a time without using the printer), as is all my billing. The only paper I have for writing notes is the odd envelope and paper I purchase for that purpose. Sometimes post-its fit the bill. But I definitely agree that flagging and THEN listing is a waste of time and resources.

Why do things twice? Why have tiny bits of gummed paper stuck all over your house? Chalk board, white board, notebook, whatever.

Considering the whole site is geared toward smaller/cooler and thus single adults or couples or very small families, how much do you really need to jot down?

What I've done is get a decorative chalkboard onto which I write the groceries I always need, plus a few treats I enjoy. Then all I have to do on the weekend is copy down the ones I actually need that week (I use a little notepad, costs 1 euro for 120 small sheets). I'd like to go entirely paperless but whenever I've tried that, I inevitably forget something... With the chalkboard list, it's so much easier -- I never forget necessities any more, and it's a relief to be organized in advance.

I also immediately put it in my PDA. I have a section in my Notes that has aisle numbers in it already since I primarily shop at the co-op and just plug in the item under the right aisle number, or at the top to be distributed into the list later (on the subway, en route to shopping) if I'm in a hurry.

I like having things listed by aisles when I'm in the store because I don't like to have to scan the same list each aisle a few times to make sure I didn't forget anything. I just put an X in front of the stuff I already picked up as I go.

I just make a note in my phone. Before my husband go shopping, we take a few minutes to sit and make notes in my phone. I also store a few recipes in my phone - sometimes when we're in the store not really knowing what to cook for dinner, we'll refer to one of the recipes in my phone, then buy the necessary ingredients.

This way, I don't have to waste paper & pens get lost.

We had a little white board by the fridge, but then it was a hassle b/c everything we put on the whiteboard had to then be transferred to something else so that we can have the list with us in the store. It was making the same list twice.

I meant "Before my husband & I go shopping". I wouldn't want to send him out food shopping alone ALL the time!

I put lists in my PDA by store - Home Depot, etc. I buy groceries online. Although there is supposed to be a charge for delivery Vons sends coupons for free delivery all the time. The website shows what you bought last time so you can use that as a starting point. It is very easy to compare prices and take advantage of 2 for 1s, special prices, etc. This is not a promo for Vons, I wish Ralphs had this service but I would never go back to wasting time in the grocery store. I also do Costco for bulk items like paper towels and toilet paper (every other month is often enough) and the weekly farmer's market for seasonal fruit. Linda from Yorba Linda, CA

tiny mighty magnet on the side of the fridge; keeps the larger sized binder clip with the recycled, cut to size envelopes & printer paper - along with pencil - in place.