There are two kinds of shopping. Shopping for fun, which, for me, is a new purse or pair of shoes. Then there is the mandatory shopping for household products, groceries, and the like. This kind of shopping can be a chore. I have gotten to the age where I MUST write down a shopping list before heading for the store. No matter how obvious it is at home that we need [fill in anything here], by the time I get to the store, it has completely slipped my mind. I have put two dry erase boards on my refrigerator door. One is labeled "Regular Items" and I have a list of the items I buy regularly like bread, milk, eggs, juice, cereal, etc. To show that I need one of these regular items, I draw a circle beside it. The other board is for unusual items that I don't buy regularly like bug spray, cleaning products, special desserts, etc. My husband has gotten very good at circling items or writing them down and does this of his own initiative. Probably because he has learned if he doesn't write it down, he doesn't get it. On a day I expect to go to the store, I copy down all of the items to an index card and put it in my purse. I go shopping, then when I get home, I get to erase all of the marks of the products I remembered to buy or was able to find in the store. I feel very satisfied when I am able to remove all of the marks.

Unfortunately, the break-down in this system is actually remembering to take the shopping list with me. There have been many days when I call home and have my husband read me the list over the phone. I'm happy then because I have my list and he is happy because he "helped" with the shopping and he'll get his ice cream.