5 Simple Hacks for Running Errands Like a Pro

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5 Simple Hacks for Running Errands Like a Pro | Duluth Moms Blog

Please tell me I’m not the only one who sometimes finds herself standing in the middle of a store aisle staring at everything and wondering what the hell it is that I thought I needed when I started running my errands. 

Roaming aimlessly without any idea what I’m actually doing besides wasting my precious time. 

I repeatedly have to strategically take the things my toddler pilfered from the shelves back out of the cart and place them in random store sections (sorry, Target!).

Oh yeah! We need milk… back to the beginning I go as I peel myself away from the housewares aisle that I was somehow drawn too like a moth to a flame. 

As I’m walking to get the milk I realize that somehow I’ve managed to fill half of my cart with the things I don’t need. Their layout plan is working! Believe me when I say they strategically place things in certain locations for a reason. It’s a true science. I used to work retail; I should know better! 

5 Simple Hacks for Running Errands Like a Pro | Duluth Moms Blog

I’ve got one word for you: LIST. Don’t ever go to the store without one. You will regret it and it will cost you a lot of money.

I find it absolutely hilarious as a mother of two that on the days I bring my kids with me while running errands with a good, thought-out list, I stay more focused than when I’m by myself shopping with no list at all. It’s like I enter a twilight zone and I lose my sense of time and place and I’m just in a zombie-like state roaming the aisles. Only to get back home and realize I didn’t get the one thing I went for in the first place!

Here are few of my planning and list hacks for running errands:

1- I will repeat it: never, under any circumstance, leave the house without a list. EVER. 

A list will keep you on track and hopefully you will only get the things you truly need (and a few clearance steals, maybe, because clearance never hurt anyone!). Make your list according to the store layout. This will save you so much time so you’re not running across the store and then back again and again. 

2- If you have the kids, keep them entertained.

We play I Spy to keep them occupied. I let my son, who is older, pick the item I need off the shelf and place it into the cart. My daughter, who is younger and is usually in the cart, organizes the items in “her store” until we get to the check out and they can both load the items onto the belt. This helps so much. Keep them entertained and things will go so much smoother! 

3- Plan ahead with any extra savings coupons and/or app coupons.

Save them to your phone or place them in your wallet for easy access the day/night before your shopping trip. Also, if you have gift cards, place them in your wallet or you will forget them every. single. time.

Check out/download these cool money-saving apps: 

  • Checkout 51
  • Ebates
  • Retail Me Not
  • Krazy Coupon Lady
  • Ibotta 

4- Park close to the carts in the parking lot so you can grab one on the way in.

That way the kids are in and settled before they start seeing any of the thousands of distractions they may want to run up to or “buy.” It also helps when you’re ready to pack up the car and leave; you’re not running across the parking lot trying to return a cart while your kids squabble in the car.

5- Load up with snacks and beverages before going into the store. 

If the kids are with you, this will help them be in a better mood and will hopefully avoid the desperate starving cries for any and all food you pass and put into your cart. 

Bribe them! It works 90% of the time. May the odds be forever in your favor. Let them know that if they make it through this shopping trip they can look forward to another snack in the car on the way home. 

Even if you are by yourself, eat a snack before going in. No one likes to be hangry. This way you can avoid those shakes and dizzy spells that often catch up to us when we are shopping under those florescent lights and realize all we had this morning was a cup of coffee before leaving the house. 

So there you have it, my top five tips on how to successfully run errands–with or without your sweet babes in tow. Hopefully they will save you some time, energy, and money!