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By John MacKenzie
One of my greatest struggle with sticking to a budget, is that
I always overspend what I budget on food. Here are some of my
tips to help an Adult with ADD when going Grocery Shopping:
1. Write a menu of what you want to eat for the week. Make
sure
to include breakfast, lunch, and snacks. There are software
products available to help adults with ADD who are more visual
thinkers.
2. Based on the menu create a list of what you will need to
prepare the items on your menu.
3. Look in your cabinets and refrigerator, for items that are
on your list, remove those items from your list. If you go the
supermarkets to buy cleaning products or toiletries, you will
need to check your bathroom, closets, and if you are like me
anywhere else in the house where you put these items. Add
items
that you are running low on, on to the list.
4. Can you afford the items that are on your list? This will
be
difficult to determine if this is the first time that you have
set a limit for yourself, or if grocery shopping is new to
you.
Once you have shopped a couple of times with a set limit, you
will understand whether your food budget is realistic, or if
you will have to make changes to your limit or what you buy. A
lot of adults with ADD like to use online services that will
deliver the groceries to you. This can be helpful for several
reasons; it will total up all you purchases before you make
them, it reduce the time of a mundane task, and it helps to
control impulse buying.
5. If you are planning to go out shopping, make sure you eat a
proper meal before hand. This helps you keep a clear head and
reduce impulse buying, by not buying things that you are
craving because you are hungry.
6. Have you checked circulars, newspapers or the Internet for
coupons for the products that are on your list? This can be
dangerous because you might also be tempted to buy additional
items that you do not really need.
7. Before you head out decide if you want to go to one store
or
more than one store. While you can save money by going to
additional stores, I would not recommend it. First the
additional money and time that you spend traveling could
negate
any savings that you get. Second it adds a lot of complexity
to
a task that should be done as simply as possible.
About The Author: John MacKenzie is the assistant director of
ADD Classes www.addclasses.com. He also writes a blog
titled Adult ADD and Money addfinances.blogs.com
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