This is not my favorite thing to do. I think part of it may be because I often have to bring my kids with me, but even if I’m alone there are some circumstances that just make shopping for groceries, well, suck. Here are some strategies to make it more bearable.

1. Don’t shop with your kids. This may be the most obvious suggestion.

2. Don’t go at dinnertime. It’s crowded and full of tired, overworked individuals. I am probably one of them, and I’m not very nice under these conditions.

3. Use a shopper card, but not coupons, unless the coupon is really good. You don’t have room to store 300 rolls of toilet paper anyway.

4. Along those lines, watch out for “coupon queens” so you don’t end up stuck behind one at a register. Their check out takes for-e-ver.

Side note: one time I got stuck behind one of these people at Target. The checker scanned all the coupons, she was ALMOST done, and the power went out. Everything was wiped out, and she had to start all over. Oh, and my kid had the stomach flu. That was a fun day.

Anyway…

5. Eat the samples. If you want to step this up a notch, act really interested in an ordinary product. “What do you call this? Yogurt? Interesting!”

6. Try to go to the same store every time so you know where stuff is, saving time. If you want to be really neurotic, organize your list by department so you don’t end up going back and forth across the store repeatedly.

7. Don’t go to Wal-Mart. The produce sucks and they only have two registers open.

and finally…

8. Go through a real check-out line, as opposed to one of those self-check out things. You might have to talk to someone (gasp!), but you will save time because the employees are skilled at doing the whole process quickly. Plus, you’ll be supporting their employment, and that’s always a good thing.

Have more suggestions? Leave them in the comments!