I invented the ‘backwards shopping list’ method which saves me time AND cash every single week – it’s a game changer
A WOMAN has revealed the clever shopping method she uses to save herself time and money every week.
Indianna explained that the “backwards shopping list” has been an absolute game changer for her when it comes to prepping for the weekly shop.
“So this is what I call my backwards shopping list method,” she began her TikTok video.
“So each week, when it comes to food shopping, obviously you write a shopping list.
“And I hate that thing when you’re sitting there trying to rack your brain, thinking what do we need this week?
“Do we need that?
“And trying to remember everything.
“Equally, I find it quite repetitive as well because like fruit and veg wise, we buy the same fruit and veg every week.”
So, Indianna keeps a “master copy” of a shopping list on the notes on her phone, “which is a list of everything we could potentially need”.
“This is stuff that we’ve bought on the food shop more than once and it goes on to this list,” she said.
“So I don’t often edit this, it just stays the notes on my phone.
“And then what I do each week is I copy this list, I paste it on the imessage conversation between me and my husband, and before I send it I go through each item.
“If we need it that week, it stays on there and if we don’t, it gets deleted.
“So I think bananas. Do we need bananas? Yep, keep on there.
“Spinach. Don’t need that this week. Delete that.
“And, yeah, I know it’s a bit backwards way of doing it, but it saves me forgetting things, it saves me writing all out every week, and it allows me to keep on top of things.”
It also helps her remember things that they buy every few months, rather than every week, like salt granules.
When she sees them on the list, she’ll check the cupboard and note if they are running low and need to buy some more that week.
And to make things even easier, the list is in a specific order as well.
“So this is for Aldi – it’s the order of how you walk around the shop,” she grinned.
“Which also just makes life so much easier because you just literally work down the list as you’re going down the aisle.
“So, yeah, simple but very effective.”
She also noted that she and her husband take it in turns to do the shopping, which is why they text the list between each other.
People in the comments section were quick to praise Indianna, while others had suggestions on how she could make the process even easier – by removing the need to copy and paste.
“Should turn this to the tick list option in notes and just tick the ones you want,” one wrote.
“I do that but have tick list n just leave it unticked for next week,” another added.
As a third asked: “Did you know you can add tick boxes to the notes?”
“Another one who uses tick boxes on a shared note,” someone else wrote.
“If we need something and think of it, add it to the weekly list.”