When I do my main supermarket shop:
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I use google keep as Iām very forgetful and they have the option of ticking things off as you go along
Lockdown and restricted shopping has meant Iāve been writing shopping lists for the first time in years (paper)
I get the same outcome from āa penā.
Time was, Iād just wing it, but now I go weekly thereās this whole rigmarole where @Gnometorious and I try to maintain focus long enough to write a list, which i have to do in shop order or else Iāll definitely forget stuff. Fuck me itās teadious.
My current system is to write the list (after a lengthy discussion about the weekās meals) in any order, then go through and write the number of the aisle each item is in next to it in the margin.
Paper list AND I write down the total spend as I go round then get in a right huff about their total being 30p higher than mine. I know I could just do a self-scanning thing or use a calculator but oh god the effort.
The list is steadily compiled over the previous week, in sections (like all the dairy stuff together, toiletries, etc). Work of art tbh.
Even that would mess me up, too much going from line to line.
Big shop (especially if weāre hosting) = paper list
Otherwise largely wing it. See what veggies and that look good.
Currently banned from doing the big shop because it costs 3 times as much when I do it and I end up with all sides and no mains or all mains and no sides
I plan my meals for the week on a spreadsheet diary then work out what I need when I go shopping.
Do you take a printout of the spreadsheet to the shops?
Phone is only way to go. No pen related annoyance, much easier to see what is left and can easily rearrange and not have to scribble things in with arrows when you remember you want another item of, say, fruit but donāt have any space left in between oranges and sugar snap peas.
Plus if you use the same list you donāt have to write everything out in full each time.
Honestly really weird that some people want to punish themselves by doing it any other way.
Spent Ā£15 on ingredients for Mushroom soup once.
can only imagine using these if you absolutely have to stick to a budget or if you are trying to entertain a toddler
Think of the trees funky, though I do enjoy when someone leaves their list by accident on the waitrose trolleys with clipboards because Iām very nosy
Every time I go Big Shop, I see someone doing it, packing as they go round, then not having to queue and think āthat sure looks like it saves timeā. But never ever ever do anything about it 
Pre-covid Iād make a list on my phone. Now we get everything delivered. At the start of lockdown when we couldnāt get deliveries I was making a paper list so I wasnāt cross-contaminating everything from my phone. Iām gradually trying to encourage my tv to plan meals so that we end up with the right amount of food but it doesnāt come naturally to him.
Phone list, deleting as I go
Handy cause itās just my notes app so can add to it whenever. So if I fancy a choc ice Iāll add choc ice and then when Iām in the shop Iāll buy the choc ice and itās removed from the list. If I enjoy it I can even add it back on for the next time
Went to get some milk the other day.
Came back with 8 cans, 2 bath bombs, some brylcream, a tub of bebeto sweets, 3 boxes of dolce gusto pods because they were on offer.
Best part of Ā£30 and I forgot the milk