Build your master list once
Most of a weekly shop is the same few dozen things. Writing them down once saves you from starting with an empty page every week, and it makes the forgotten item less likely: the coffee you ran out of on Tuesday is already on the sheet, waiting for a tick.
- Stay on Master list and open each section with the items button next to it. Switch off what your household never buys and tap the gray suggestions you buy often.
- Add your own staples, named the way you would say them at home: the cheese the kids eat, the bread from the bakery counter, the cat food.
- If your store keeps something in its own area, such as a pet aisle or a pharmacy counter, switch on Your own section and give it that name.
- Download the PDF and keep the file. The page does not store your choices, so the file is your master copy for every week after this one.
Sort the sections by your route through the store
A list in the order of the aisles means one walk through the store instead of several trips back for the eggs. The next time you shop at your usual store, note the order in which you pass produce, bakery, the fridges, the frozen food and the household aisle. Then use the arrows next to each section to put them in that order before you print.
If you shop at two places, for example a supermarket and a weekly market, make one list for each, with the store name in the top corner. The Store or list name field prints there and helps when two copies lie on the counter.
Keep it on the fridge
The half-page layout puts the same narrow list twice on one sheet. Cut along the dashed line, pin one half to the fridge with a magnet and keep the other for next week. When someone uses up the last of something, they tick it right away and write the amount on the quantity line, such as 2 or a large bag. Whoever does the shopping takes the sheet along, so nobody has to remember what ran out.
Print at 100 % or actual size so the boxes and lines keep the size they have in the file, and keep a small stack of printed copies in a drawer.
Check the pantry and plan meals first
Before you leave, take the list to the fridge, the freezer and the cupboards and go through it section by section. Cross out ticks for things you still have, and look at what needs using up soon. It is easier to plan a meal around the half bag of spinach than to buy a second one.
Switch on Meals this week to print a box with a line for each day at the top. Write the dinners in first, then add what those meals need and you do not have yet. If a recipe is meant for more people than you are cooking for, change the amounts before you write the quantities down.
A simple budget habit
Switch on Budget and spent to print two lines under the title. Write the amount you plan to spend before you go, and the total from the receipt when you get home. Keep the filled sheets in one folder. At the end of the month, add up the Spent lines; that one number tells you more about your grocery costs than any guess.
If the total keeps landing above your budget, look back through the sheets for the items that were not on the list when you left the house. They show where the extra money went, and you can decide whether they belong on the master list or not.
Tools and templates for shopping and cooking
The recipe scaler takes a pasted ingredient list and the servings you have and want, and scales every amount, with kitchen fractions for cups and spoons, so you know how much to buy for a bigger or smaller batch. The discount calculator works out the sale price and your savings for a percent off, stacked discounts or a coupon, and can find the percent off from the old and new price on a shelf tag. The cups to grams converter turns cups, tablespoons and teaspoons into grams, and back, for flour, sugar, butter and other common ingredients.
For the week as a whole, the weekly meal planner prints a grid for seven days of meals with a grocery page sorted by store section. The monthly budget spreadsheet has a Groceries row with planned and actual amounts, which is the place for the monthly total from your Spent lines.
Frequently asked questions
Is the grocery list free?
Yes. Print it every week, for yourself, your family or your roommates, as often as you like. There is no signup and no watermark; the only branding is one small line with our web address at the bottom of each list.
What is the difference between the master list and the blank list?
The master list prints the things you buy again and again, each with a tick box and a short line for the quantity, plus empty lines in every section for the rest. You tick what you need during the week. The blank list prints the same store sections with empty lines only, for people who write the whole list by hand.
Can I change the items and the order of the sections?
Yes. Tap a section name to switch it on or off, and use the arrows to move it up or down until the order matches your walk through the store. The items button next to a section opens its list: switch staples off, add gray suggestions, or type up to 20 items of your own. One extra section takes a name you choose. The page does not save these choices, so keep the downloaded PDF and print it again each week.
Why does my list have two pages?
In three columns one page holds about 100 short items, in two columns or on the half-page strip about 70, and a little less with the Meals this week box. When the list gets longer, the template first tightens the rows and drops some of the fixed empty lines; if that is still not enough, it continues on a second page. To keep one page, switch to three columns, leave out the Meals this week box, or switch off items you rarely buy.
How does the half-page list work?
It prints the same narrow list twice, side by side, with a dashed line down the middle. Cut along the line and you get two lists, each half as wide as the paper, which fit in a pocket or on the fridge door. If a long master list needs more than one strip, each sheet holds two copies of one part, numbered in the footer.
Why are some characters missing from my items?
The PDF uses a standard font that covers English and most Western European letters, but no emoji and no other scripts such as Greek, Cyrillic or Chinese. Those characters are left out, a few rare accented letters print without the accent, and a note under the fields tells you when that happens. The preview shows the text as it will print.