Photograph Credit: Flickr (Emily Connell)

This past week was a slim grocery shopping week for our family. Factoring in my messy coupon binders with the slower sales this week, I opted to grab Fabuloso, yogurt, and tea bags on my way home Tuesday night.

Other than hamburger buns, strawberries, and milk picked up from Aldi earlier this week, my grocery shopping has been minimal.

Even with a small grocery shopping trip, I still follow the same process to continue using time wisely.

In the Giving Your Groceries a Home series, we have unloaded our savings, organized our cold items, and organized our grocery items.

After putting away the groceries, I have reusable bags, plastic bags, and boxes cluttering my kitchen as well as debris on the counters from the packaging materials and any cleaners or hygiene items. With the food items in their designated locations, I focus on preparing for future savings.

Preparing for Future Savings

1. Put away the grocery holders. I use the word “holders” to include bags and boxes. By the end of this process, the bags are on the floor and the counters. If they have not been used as train cars, then the boxes are also on the floor. 🙂

• Reusable bags. I fold them up and place them on top of my diaper bag.

• Plastic bags. Gathering these bags together, I place them in an oblong sleeve that my mom made especially for me. My sunflower-patterned sleeve is kept inside my pantry door and clipped to my upper spice rack.

• Boxes. When my children finish playing with the boxes, I stack them together by the garage door.

On my next trip out to the garage, I take my boxes to the recycling container and the reusable bags to the trunk of my vehicle.

2. Remove items from counters. Taking the remaining items from the shopping trip, I divide them into the upstairs and the downstairs placement.

• Downstairs Placement. At this time, I will leave the kitchen to put these items away.

• Upstairs Placement. The products that belong upstairs, I add to the “to go upstairs” pile of items.

3. Wipe counters. With the counters clear, I take a clean cloth or sponge and wipe down my kitchen counters. When I enter my kitchen to prepare the next meal, I will start with clean counters.

Though this organizational system works for me, it may or may not work at your home. Using a system continues to save me money, energy, and time while using time wisely.

Consider your process. Does it work? If so, then continue. If not, try another option. You might be surprised to find one trick (not leaving the room until all is cleaned and organized) that maximizes your time and prevents distractions. Happy organizing!

Question: What do you do with your plastic grocery bags? Please add your answer to the comments.