Highlight-able Master Lists for Supermarket Shopping

Roger Knights I maintain a computer-based, three-column master shopping list, with potential store-purchase items arranged under 15 headings corresponding to numbered aisles or named sections. I print them out by the dozen and then I, and others in the household, highlight the items to buy on the next store-visit. A sample list on the next page shows 12 items highlighted, four per column. Major Benefits of Composing a Highlight-able Shopping List Its reliable: it jogs the memory when constructing a weekly shopping list. (I.e., it serves as a master shopping list.) In addition, its underlined fill-in-the blanks remind the list-maker to specify the item-quantity & -type. Its low-anxiety: the list maker neednt worry about remembering what he/she wants to order, nor fret over what he/she might have forgotten. Its low-effort: only highlighting is needed to complete it. Its robust: deletions and additions the PC-based master shopping list dont degrade it, as they do to a traditional handwritten version. Major Benefits of a Highlight-able List When Shopping Its legible: bad handwriting is no longer a problem (reducing domestic strife). Even list-makers with good handwriting sometimes make illegible entries when they squeeze last-minute items into a list. Its easy to use: the shopper neednt think, but can go on autopilot, entering only the aisles whose numbers contain highlighted items. Theres no need to scan the whole list at each aisle (an error-prone operation) or to cross off each item as it is picked up, which are both major pains. It makes it hard for the shopper to overlook items, since he can easily review the portion of the list dealing with each aisle as he exits it. It gives the shopper a double-check on the list-maker, since it includes all the items the list-maker might have forgotten to highlight, which the shopper might catch in the store. Drawbacks of Highlight-able Shopping Lists Its more work at the outset: Even a handwritten master shopping list is work, which is why few shoppers do construct one, despite its major benefits. A Highlight-able Master List additionally requires: o Arranging the items in aisle-order, which takes an hour of note-taking in the store. o o Tweaking the list to remedy initial omissions & errors. Properly formatting the list, which requires employing the little-used

Column feature (and its lines between option), and then widening the center columns so that both side-columns can fold nicely under it when the shopper folds and refolds it. And it can be a tight fit: it may require contortions to squeeze all items onto one page. It requires ongoing maintenance: I.e., when the store rearranges itemlocations, or when the shopper moves and must adapt it to a new store, the list must be re-jiggered. The shopper must usually fold it thriceotherwise its awkwardly large. Sample Highlighted Master Shopping List (Abbreviated) Note: Empty lines at the end of an aisle allow the weekly list-maker to insert items not on the master list. An example is Kiwi fruit at the end of Aisle 0. (If space is tight on the master list, these empty lines can be selectively dropped.) Handwritten entries following an item mimic details a weekly listmaker might write in to add specificity (i.e., the number and type of an item).
AISLE 0 (PRODUCE) __ Avocados __ Bananas __ Carrots __ Dates __ Onions ___________ __ Yams 3 Kiwi fruit AISLE 1 (DAIRY) __ Margarine __ Milk 9 Yogurt vanilla __ _______________
AISLE 2

__ Coffee ___________ __ Ice Cream vanilla __ Tea ___________ __ _______________

AISLE 7 (DRUGS)

__ Molasses __ Olive oil __ Spice ___________ __ Sweetener / Sugar __ _______________

11 (FRUIT)

__ Batteries __AAA_____ __ Calomel Lotion __ Epsom salt __ Pain-killer ____________ __ Toothpaste __ Vitamins Multi __ _______________
BACK AISLE 1

__ __ __ __ __

__ Cheese sliced Swiss __ Cookies __________ __ Roast Turkey __ Dried Fruit ________ __ Meat_____
AISLE 4 (CLEANERS) __ Ammonia __ Bleach __ Window cleaner __ _______________

__ __ __ __

Fish ____________ Herring (bottled) Meat ____________ Turkey

AISLE 8 -SUNDRIES __ Light Bulbs __ Napkins __ Paper Towels __ Pens, etc. Highlighter AISLE 10 __ Honey __ Jello ___________

Cranberry _________ Fruit Salad Mandarin Oranges Pineapple Peaches (VEG) 8 Chick Peas __ Lima Beans __ Olives __ Peas (OTHER) __ Beef Stew __ Chili 6 Corned Beef __ Sauce _____________ __ Tuna __ _______________ CHECKOUT 5 Lotto __ Stamps __ ______________

AISLE 6 __ Cocoa