I’ve written shopping lists on everything from the back of an old envelope to a scrap of notebook paper. However, what they all lack is organization and categorization. I used to use a free software program called Shopping List. So, I downloaded it again to this computer and started using it again. It’s great!Using this little program, you can work on your shopping list as you find you need things and save it each time. When you’re ready to actually go shopping, you just print it out.

So what’s so great about that? I’ll tell you. This list program lets you input the prices of items and keeps a running total for you. All that gets printed, too. Since it prints in categories, you can find things in the store much easier instead of remembering something and having to go back to the other side of the store to get it.

Shopping List is a very fast download. I got it here in just a couple of minutes, and I’m on a slow dial-up connection. What are it’s capabilities? Here’s what it says on the website:

  • Saves and maintains lists of grocery items
  • Point & click or drag and drop items to quickly form shopping lists
  • Edit, add, and delete items and categories
  • Print shopping lists sorted by category or item
  • Save lists for re-use

Using this little program can help you maintain your grocery budget. When I used it before, I’d even cut it apart and let the kids take a category with them and pick up the items listed. You can make it pretty detailed so kids will know exactly what you want.

Although it will allow you to save and reuse a shopping list, if you want a good record of what you shopped for the last time, you can name the file to be saved. For instance, the file I used yesterday was started on May 23, so I named it 5_23_07.

Since you can input the prices of items, it’s fairly simple to edit them if you were off in your estimates. You can edit them to reflect what you actually paid for items. I use my receipt for this information and if I buy anything that wasn’t on the list (not really a good idea), I can add that to the program along with the price.

It’s a great tool!

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