Building a Pantry, Step 3: Food Shopping for 2 weeks

Now that you have your list, you are just about ready to go! Some things to think about before you head out to the store:

Budget make sure you have a realistic sense of how much money you actually have to spend at the store. It may make sense to take your total, than literally make a mini budget for each area of the store (for example if you have $100 maybe you decide to spend 25 on meat, 25 on produce and 50 on general groceries). Keeping close tabs on how much you spend every single time you shop will give you a better idea of how to work within your budget. For years I would literally use a calculator with my available amount punched in and then subtract the amount of every item i put in my cart. Now that I stick closely to a list that I have shopped repeatedly it is a little easier for me to keep track with some mental math.
Money savers things like sales and coupons take the extra moment when you are choosing your item to evaluate what the most economical option is
Communication within your household Before you go to the store it is important to have very transparent conversations with the people you live in your home about food supplies. This way you can limit how many people actually go to the store and avoid having multiples of the same items if more than one person typically shops. It might also be necessary to create some sort of understanding around what you are trying to build up as pantry staples and what needs to be eaten more quickly (like produce items or leftovers)