Shopping Guides
Become a super shopper and enhance your buying power with extraordinary shopping tips inside our shopping guides.
Shopping is actually trickier than your think. Supermarkets use sneaky psychological tricks to make you spend more, and there are even problems that are unique to men who don’t regularly do the shopping!
So, why not swot up on these shopping guides and arm yourself with your own set of shopping tricks. These will enable you to shop smart, saving money and time.
Do you know the best way to store milk? Have you ever wondered why there are no windows in supermarkets? What can you do to help you make better decisions at the grocery store? How can you do your shopping during Halloween if you hate the holiday?
Our shopping guides will let you know what to buy and how to buy it, as well containing plenty of other interesting and helpful pieces of information.

Make Your Own Printable Grocery List Template [2025 Update]
The internet has a wealth of information about grocery shopping and how to shop better. We ourselves are contributing to that with articles revealing some of supermarkets’ , and the of making a grocery list. There are also tonnes of handy printable list templates out there. But sometimes, maybe all you want is an easy printable grocery list to lay a solid foundation for your regular shopping in 2025?
Overview
It’s great to have a ready-to-print grocery list to download straight to your computer. But the scope of such lists’ contents vary greatly and might not necessarily fit your grocery needs. So, we would like to help you create your own template. But wait? Aren’t we a grocery list app? Don’t we want you to be using our app instead?
We’d love it if you would download and use Listonic. But as shoppers ourselves, we know that everyone has their own tried, tested, and optimum way of doing the groceries. Some might prefer to use our app, whilst others might want to use a printable grocery list instead. Some will also prefer to stick to making a grocery list with good ol’ pen and paper.
That’s absolutely fine! It works for you, then that’s the best way for you to do your groceries. But we want to try and improve things for people who use a printable grocery list or write their own.
Why? Because we think the knowledge we’ve put into our grocery list app to improve and develop it, might actually help those using more traditional methods. So, let’s talk about some great ways to build your own free printable grocery list template in 2025, and how to write an even more effective list. However, you can skip straight to our free printable template.
Create Your Own Printable Grocery List Template
Organize By Aisle
Everything is very nicely sorted in supermarkets by categories. Those categories are laid out in aisles. All the bread is in one place: so are the fruit and vegetables. Baking ingredients are batched together, and tinned food nicely stacked in one particular place.
Therefore, we think your shopping list should be written like this too.
But why do this?
If anything, it saves us time. This is because if you put everything into the same categories as supermarket aisles on your list, you can pick up everything you need from that particular place in one go. This saves you from zig-zagging around the store in the order you have things on your list.
Furthermore, you’ll easily be able to see everything that you need from that section in one glance. This means you’ll be less likely to forget it, or have to run back to the section to pick it up later.
Many free printable grocery list templates use quite traditional categories: meat, produce, frozen, etc. But building your own means you can create custom categories that reflect your unique shopping experience and the specific layout of your grocery store of choice.
Put the First Aisle or Category You Come To At the Start of Your List
To make your grocery shop even quicker and more effective, be sure to make your grocery list mimic the route you take through the store. Some printable blank grocery lists have things grouped in categories, but the order they’re put in won’t necessarily match your shopping route.
There are some universal layout elements at most supermarkets, such as fresh fruit and veg being the first thing you see when you enter. But everything else is in a different place from store to store. What’s more, some might have multiple entrances. This means the first aisle you see will be different depending on whether you enter from the parking lot or the street.
Organizing your categories and aisles into the order you come across them in the store makes the list work for you. It’ll mean you can move through your grocery list and the store logically and quickly. Doing so will save you time and prevent you from buying impulse items.
But be aware! One of supermarkets’ sneaky is to change the layout every so often to make you wander around more than you usually would. This will mean you’ll also have to change your grocery list category order when this happens.
Leave Space For Item Details
The problem with writing general items on your lists is they can be a little vague. This can be made worse when you’re faced with a barrage of choice inside the grocery store.
What can certainly help is writing the items you need a little more specifically, ie “Cheddar cheese” rather than just “cheese”. But you can go a few smaller steps further by leaving space on your printable grocery list to add additional little details.
These details don’t have to be over-complicated. They should just be a few short words to make sure you get your shopping right. These can include information like quantity, weight, or volume, or how ripe you want your avocados.
You can also use this space to let you know or remind you that there’s a coupon to use for this product. This can help you get these ready when you reach the checkout, or even to bring them shopping with you before you leave!
If you’re feeling a little arty, you can also add little pictures, much like internet sensation , or !
Stick a Price On It
Grocery lists can also be a great way to help budgeting. One of the details you can add to each product is a maximum or ideal price for items. This way you can even total up your projected spending whilst making your shopping list. Then, you can add or remove items to ensure your shop stays within your budget.
Having prices written on your grocery list can also help you whilst shopping, too. You’ll be able to instantly compare the items you’re after against what you’ve written down. This will make sure that the items you’re buying stay within budget. This quick comparison will also let you know when you’re saving money whilst at the store.
Hard-wire Your Most Essential Items
This is more for people who want to create their own grocery list template based on our ideas, rather than just print the ready-to-use grocery list template.
70% of the items that are our grocery lists are the same items as the last time, and the time before that, and even before that!
So, if you’re creating your own printable grocery list template using a computer, or making photocopies of a master list, why not put these items in permanently? This means they’re already written in when you print out/copy a new list to use. The best thing about this is it will save you time as you won’t need to write favorite items in over and over again for every new list.
Start Creating And Using Your Free Printable Grocery List Template
Below is your 2025 free printable grocery list template. You can even download a here. But we do encourage you to create your own template following the ideas we’ve set above, so it’s as unique as you and your shopping.
Here are some more templates you can print out and use for free!

5 Grocery Mistakes a Men’s Shopping List Will Solve
Why do we need a men’s shopping list? It’s because grocery shopping is still something that mainly women do.
This might seem like a very broad statement, but research shows that women still form the majority of people who look after the groceries. In fact, one survey found that a massive 76% of women.
What this means is that when men do the shopping, it’s likely that they’re not someone who regularly does it, resulting in them experiencing some significant challenges.
This is down to 2 factors:
- Lack of familiarity - if you’re not someone who regularly does the shopping then the experience if going to be quite alien. It can throw up surprises that would otherwise be familiar to those who do it regularly.
- Men and women shop differently - even if you might have a strong opinion about gender and learned behaviors, there’s still a lot of interesting research about how men and women approach grocery shopping differently. These documented habits can provide solutions to the challenges men face when shopping.
Therefore, we present to you our guide of shopping advice for men, with tips for men about how to make a men’s shopping list. This will help tackle the problems men experience when they do the grocery shopping.
Man Problem #1: You Keep Forgetting Items
Solution: Make a Grocery List
We men can be quite confident about our mental abilities. Indeed, it’s the bread and butter of our stereotype.
We don’t need a map, directions, or an instruction manual. We can put together furniture without pointers. There’s no need for a grocery list: we can remember everything.
However, sometimes our mind lets us down for whatever reason. We go out for milk, and end up coming home with everything but the cow-juice! When asked in our survey, “What are the biggest mistakes you've made when you've done the grocery shop?”, several shoppers highlighted this as a major problem.
But women don’t usually have this problem, especially as .
Even though if might not feel too macho to carry one around, they’re very effective in helping us remember things. back in 1999 pretty much concluded that shopping lists are a great memory aid.
There’s also a whole load of other psychology behind why they’re great for helping our memories. For starters, they appeal to our spatial memory and are formatted in an easy to read F-pattern. There are also many other interesting reasons why making shopping lists are .
If a pen and paper shopping list doesn’t appeal, there are plenty of shopping list apps, such as .
Man Problem #2: You Keep Buying the Wrong Item
Solution: Add Extra Details to Your Shopping List
You’ve got cheese on your shopping list. But there’s so much cheese to choose from! Not only do you have to make a choice between different types of cheese, but you also need to decide which brand to buy.
Often, if you’re not the one who regularly does the shopping, you’re probably going to buy the “wrong” type of something. This often leads to disappointment, or even arguments, with those who usually look after the groceries.
In our survey, when asked what is the hardest thing about grocery shopping, one shopper responded saying, “Choosing the right [item], because there's too many and I don't always know the difference between them.”
Adding some details to each item will give you crucial information about what you should be buying. Indian IT specialist, Era Golwalkar, went viral after she shared the she made for her husband, chock-full of precise details about the products she needed him to buy.
Whilst you don’t need to go to such lengths as Golwalkar, it’s still a good idea to flesh out the details of certain items, especially if they’re particularly specific. This will also help to save time at the supermarket as it means you won't stand there trying to make decisions.
Solution: Collaborate
If someone else in the household does the shopping more regularly than you, you should definitely collaborate with them in creating your men’s shopping list. It’ll give you both the opportunity to:
- Query items
- Get the extra information you need to get the “correct” type
- Make joint decisions that you’re both happy with
However, we know this can be tricky: who has the time to sit down and make a grocery list together these days?
Thankfully, this is where technology can help. As well as providing a better alternative to carrying around bits of paper, they also make it easier to collaborate.
For example, Listonic’s means that you can make changes such as adding items and details to a grocery list remotely. Whoever you’ve shared the list with will instantly see what’s been made or receive timely notification about it.
This means you can collaborate and build your grocery list anywhere and at any time. You don’t even need to be in the same room, let alone find the time to make one simultaneously.
Man Problem #3: You Keep Buying Unnecessary Items
Solution: Make and Stick to Your Grocery List
Oscar Wilde once said, “I can resist everything except temptation”. We think he was definitely onto something.
One of the biggest criticisms men face when doing grocery shopping is buying unnecessary items: stereotypically, beer.
But buying unnecessary items really isn’t a man-only problem. In the book What Women Want: The Science of Female Shopping, environmental psychologist, Paco Underhill, states that 50% of shopping carts are made up of unplanned purchases.
Why is this such a problem?
It’s because supermarkets use an arsenal of psychological tricks to make us spend more. These range from placing certain items at eye levels, to special offers that aren’t that special. If you want to know more about these underhanded mind-games that supermarkets play, check out our with solutions on how to combat these.
But one of your best weapons is the humble grocery list. This is because it can help you keep your focus and buy only what you need, not what you’re coerced by. Is it on the shopping list? No? Then don’t buy it!
Of course, it’s not always as straightforward as that, but it can certainly help. An Italian study showed that shoppers who use grocery lists are .
Man Problem #4: You Don’t Buy the Cheapest/Best Value Items
Solution: Add Ideal Prices To Your Grocery List
Men like to get in and out as quickly as possible: particularly when it comes to shopping.
One piece of research shows that men spend, on average, compared to women who take 14 minutes. That’s 40% longer than men!
Why?
It is argued that men approach shopping in a more . There’s a need that needs filling and it should be done as quickly as possible. Women are much more price-aware when it comes to shopping. They will take more time in trying to discern which is the better value option.
Indeed, Marti Barletta, in Just Ask a Woman: Cracking the Code of What Women Want and How They Buy, explains that men just want to find a working solution asap. Women aim to find the “perfect” solution.
This is further illustrated in a study that showed men are more prone to buying something because of red pricing on products, making a snap assumption that they must be cheaper. Decision made! Women are warier and will question the value before making a decision.
Besides trying to get into the habit of pawing over different products and prices, an easier thing to do is to set a price/budget for certain items. This can help ensure that your quicker, less comprehensive decision making doesn’t mean spending too much. This can strike a balance between not spending too much time trying to discern what the best possible option is, whilst ensuring alacrity.
Man Problem #5: You Forget to Use Coupons
Solution: Write Reminders About Them In Your Grocery List
Men also don’t like to use coupons.
These can certainly be a great way to save money, but it takes a lot of time and effort. 57% of women will plan their shopping around a store’s offers and will also .
Unfortunately, there’s no trick for getting into the habit of looking for and using coupons. Certainly, some apps can make it easier to electronically sift through the catalogs that get pushed through your letterbox.
But there’s nothing more frustrating than finding an offer, cutting out the coupon, and then forgetting to actually use it in the store.
Therefore, one of the details you could and should add to the items on your shopping list is whether a coupon is available or not. This means you can be prepared to take the coupons with you when shopping, and even remind you to have them ready when you approach the checkout.
Go Forth And Make A Men’s Shopping List
Making a shopping list doesn’t have to be girly. In fact, a men's shopping list can make you a much better grocery shopper regardless of your gender.
But it shouldn’t just be your everyday shopping list. Your men’s shopping list should tackle the issues men usually face when doing the shopping. So, be sure to make your men's shopping list using these shopping tips for men.
- Make a grocery list - this will help you ensure you remember everything
- Add item details - this will help you get the right kind of what you what
- Collaborate - use a shopping list app to help conveniently build a list with the person who regularly does the grocery shopping
- Stick to your grocery list - this will help you avoid buying unnecessary items
- Add ideal prices to items - this will help you budget better and chose better value items rather than just picking up the first thing that fits the bill
- Write reminders about coupons - putting coupon reminders on your grocery list will help remind you to use them

How to Save Money on Groceries with These 12 Easy Tips
Grocery shopping can be expensive, and that’s why any tips that can help us know how to save money on groceries are always welcome. Of course, there is no magic formula. But using one or all of the following tips will help keep the cost of your groceries down.
12 Tips on How to Save Money on Groceries
#1 Hunt Down the "Reduced" Section
All stores offer promotions to sell the last few items of stock, especially if they're close to their use/sell by date. So, stay alert and hunt special offers as they can help you save on groceries. Find out where they get sold (the location might change from time to time) and what time stock gets placed there. Remember to check the products closely, especially for expiry dates, before putting them in your basket. Otherwise, what seems like a quick saving can actually be an extra expense if it ends up in the garbage unused.
#2 Compare the Cost per Unit
While shopping, you can easily find product labels on the shelves with the item’s cost per 100g, 1kg, 1ltr, or any other relevant unit of measurement. It's called "price per unit of measure". That’s how you can compare different brands of similar or same products, without doing complicated math in your head, or reaching for your smartphone's calculator app.
#3 Visit Fewer Aisles
The more shopping aisles you go down, the more likely you are to fill your basket with things you don’t really need to buy. Research found that consumers who visited fewer aisles buy almost 20% less unplanned items compared to buyers who visited all lanes.
#4 Avoid Aisles Filled with Temptations and Promotions
Cookies, chocolate, candy, and cake are the Achille's heel of many shoppers. By avoiding aisles with these alluring products in them, you don't have to face the temptation of these goodies. This means you'll save more money by not buying them.
Also, nowadays supermarkets and grocery stores tend to sell and promote non-grocery products such as clothing, and home and garden products that you don't necessarily need. Do you really need to buy a pair of sandals when you came in just for tomatoes and ? If you give in, these items will quickly push the bill up.
#5 Use a Smaller Cart or Basket
The bigger cart you get, the more you'll want to fill it. In fact, one study showed that doubling the size of a person's grocery shopping cart meant that they spent 40% more than those using a smaller cart or basket. Don’t be scared that you won't fit all your shopping into a smaller cart or basket. The size of all of these has significantly increased over the years.
#6 Use a Shopping List or Shopping List App
Using a shopping list is one of the best tools you can use to help you curtail your spending. If you have your shopping list with you, it will help you stick to precisely what's on it and not buy anything extra. This means less unplanned purchases and less unexpected costs. It has also been scientifically proved that those who make preparations before shopping, such as making and using a shopping list, buy less unplanned items.
If you're not keen on making a shopping list on pen and paper, why not go one step further and download a shopping list app, like ? These apps can help you with your grocery shopping even more, with functions such as list sharing, and even the ability to add prices to calculate the total cost of your groceries. It's a great tool to help you budget better and save money.
#7 Don't be Taken In by Conveniently Placed "Paired" Products
Supermarkets use a plethora of to make you spend more. One of them is putting products in places that to seem super convenient for you. But, they are actually put there to make you spend more than you need to.
Think about it. Why are pie crusts placed next to apples? Why is sushi rice next to the fish? These complementary, or "paired", products are set strategically next to the food in order to make you spend more as they're usually the more expensive version of the same product.
If you planned to make sushi or apple pie, don't pick up the "paired" products, no matter how convenient they seem. Take the time to visit the rice or bakery aisle and buy the cheaper product instead.
#8 Don’t Buy Anything Placed Near Checkouts
Imagine that you're in a long checkout queue. The magazines look interesting, and the chocolate looks delicious. You start to think that maybe you need some chewing gum or a bottle of cold water. Everything there is there to tempt you at the checkout. But resist the urge to buy anything in this area. You really don't need it, and you really don't need to spend extra on them.
#9 Don’t Buy What's at Eye Level
Grocery stores are a marketing battlefield and you are the target of greedy CEOs. When you realize this, you might start to wonder why is it that the most colorful, flashy, and more expensive items are displayed at the height of your eyes. Well, because it makes you more likely to buy them.
So, don’t be afraid to stoop a little or stretch that little bit higher for items that are better for you and your budget. The best prices are hidden there.
#10 Take a Picture of the Inside of Your Fridge
If you're not using a shopping list or shopping list app, why not take a picture of what's inside your refrigerator? This is another way to help you stay on track and buy only the necessities. If you're not sure whether you're low or out of mayonnaise or yogurt, for example, all you have to do is glance at the picture to find out. This will help you avoid buying things you don’t need.
#11 Check Your Basket Before Going to the Checkout
Take a good look at your cart before going to check out. Ask yourself if you are really going to eat 5 packs of cheese, or if you really need that bag of chips.
There's often too much pressure in the queue to not question your choices, and keep them in your basket. So, it is better to take a few seconds before heading to the checkout to think carefully about what you've put in your cart. Remember, you always have the right to hand things over to the cashier if you do not want to buy them.
#12 Stick to Seasonal Products
Having shopping habits that follow the seasonal availability of products actually helps lower your spending. Out of season fruit and vegetables are usually more expensive. This is because they're grown in other countries and then shipped to the store. When produce is in season where you are, there is more of it locally. This means they are cheaper because they don't have to travel as far. Not only will these be tastier, but wallet-friendlier, too.
Make A Magnificent Save
As you can see, there are many ways to answer the question “how to save on groceries”. We encourage you to test each of these tips and start enjoying the extra money saved on your grocery shopping.

Try Our Super Simple Shopping List Template
Grocery shopping is complicated stuff. Whilst making a shopping list can make things easier, creating one can be daunting if you don’t know where to start or how to organize things. Searching the internet brings up hundreds of shopping list templates from the basic to the incredibly complex. So, we'll share you our secret to creating a super simple shopping list, as well as provide you with a handy simple grocery list template you can use.
Keep It Simple, Shopper
Grocery shopping can be a bit of an ordeal. There are decisions to make, items to find, and temptations to avoid. Not to mention running a gauntlet of that supermarkets employ to prise your hard-earned cash from you.
One of the best ways to make grocery shopping easier is making and using a shopping list. We'd recommend using a to build a great, easy to use shopping list with lots of smart functions.
However, we understand that many still like to have something tangible. Even in a digital age, many people still prefer to put pen to paper when making a grocery list. But if you don't know how to start writing one, you can potentially overwhelm yourself researching too many different ways and approaches to making one.
So, how do you pare things right back to being as simple as possible without sacrificing effectivity?
Well, we think a simple grocery list should have no more than 4 categories on it. But these can't just be any random categories. They should be:
- Fresh fruit & Vegetables
- Fridge
- Freezer
- Countertop & cupboards/pantry
So, let's take you through 3 reasons why you should have only these 4 categories on your simple grocery list. However, you can skip straight to our pre-made free printable shopping list template if you wish.
3 Reason Why You Should Use Only 4 Categories On Your Super Simple Shopping List Template
#1 It Makes It Easier To Find Items In Store
A more complex grocery list might organize categories to . It's handy but is a lot of effort. Also, supermarkets like to move things around every so often, so you'll need to change your categories when they happen.
So, it's best to keep it to these 4. This is because, although the categories may seem broad, items in the supermarket are still sold in these same general sections regardless of what gets shifted around and the variations in layout between different stores.
Fruit and vegetables are always sold in one single area. The refrigerated section of the store is always where you'll find all the milk, cheese, meat, and yogurt. Freezers selling frozen fruit, vegetables, and ice cream are always close together. Other items, like and olive oil, are everywhere else.
Therefore, organizing your list this way ensures simplicity, but makes sure what you need to find is still grouped in the general areas that they can be found in, speeding up your shop.
#2 It Matches How You Store Things At Home, Making It Easier to Check What You Have
If you're making a shopping list, you might want to check what items, or how much of a particular item, you may already have. Where will you look to check this? Where they're stored, of course.
By arranging your grocery list into the categories that match where you store items in your kitchen, you can quickly and easily jot down what you need to by when you look in that specific area because it's the same as your shopping list categories.
"Fresh Fruit and Vegetables" is the only section that takes a bit of work. This is because, depending on the type of fruit or veg you have, and its ripeness, they can be found on either the countertop, in the freezer, or in the fridge. But it's easy enough to pop them into the correct shopping list section as you find them.
To find out more about how to store fruit and vegetables to get the best out of their shelf life, you can visit our "" section.
#3 It's Easy To Look At
Having too many categories on your shopping list might lead to information overload. Keeping it at a nice simple 4 means your list is not going to look complicated or overcrowded.
Having this information presented in a clear manner means you're going to be able to process the information better. This means you're less likely to overlook an item and forget about it when at the supermarket.
Your Super Simple Grocery List Template
Now we've gone through the reasoning behind how to make a super simple shopping list, we present to you the template itself. You're more than welcome to use it as a basis to make your own more complex version. Eventually, you can gradually build it up to make it brilliantly bespoke to your shopping needs with extra handy details.

7 Steps To Make Your Own Perfect Wedding Preparation Checklist
You're getting married! You have the perfect financé and you want your wedding day to be just perfect. But in order for that to happen, the less than perfect truth is that you have to do a lot of planning and preparation. The sheer mass of advice, tips, and testimonies online for making sure getting hitched goes without a hitch can be staggering and overwhelming. But we're here to take you through 7 steps to help you create your own perfect wedding preparation checklist so that preparing for your big day isn't too big a headache.
The Course Of True Love (And Weddings) Never Did Run Smooth
Wedding dresses. Cakes. Catering. Tuxedos. Rings. Bridesmaids. Shoes. Guests. Venue. Band. Drunk dancing Uncle. Flowers. Photographers. And much, much more.
Good grief!
Since when did coming together involve running the risk of mentally falling apart?
But don't panic!
Proper planning can really help and we're hoping to help you out with part of that wedding planning process.
A cornerstone of good wedding planning is having a wedding preparation checklist that is as comprehensive as possible. With so much going on with wedding preparation, it's easy to forget something that's small at the time, which then grows into a big headache later down the line.
But rather than offer our version of what should be on a checklist, we'd rather help you make your own unique checklist. Therefore we've narrowed the process down to 7 easy steps and will take you through each step 1 by 1.
7-Step Wedding Preparation Checklist
Step 1: Start As Early As Possible
Early wedding planning really is key to pulling off a successful wedding. Some wedding checklists even suggest starting 16 months prior to the big day.
Obviously, this depends on how long an engagement period you've decided upon. You might have more, or even less, time to get your wedding sorted, including creating any wedding shopping lists, etc.
The bigger and grander the wedding ceremony, the more planning will be needed, and the earlier you might need to start. But even if your wedding errs more on the side of humble and low-key, getting things sorted early will mean less stress the closer to W-Day you get.
Step 2: One Master List or Several Specific Lists?
Before you even start to put together your checklist or marriage shopping list, you need to decide exactly how you want to go about organizing and maintaining things.
Some people might want one huge master list with everything on it. This means everything can be viewed in one place in one go. But this can be quite daunting if there's a lot of items on it.
Therefore, you might want to consider making checklists for specific parts of the wedding such as:
- Rehearsal
- Ceremony
- Reception
- Wedding party
- Honeymoon
This compartmentalizes everything and makes it more digestible. It's also great if you're delegating people to look after certain aspects of your wedding, or you want nuanced control over more complex areas.
However, try not to do both. Having both a master and a specific lists means you'll have to make sure both are updated when things get done. Fail to do this effectively and you could end up with duplicates, or even end up leaving something unfinished because of miscommunication or omission.
Step 3: Gather Checklist Inspiration
We certainly admit the sheer tsunami of information and readily available checklists on the internet is overwhelming. However, dipping your toe into the water of it all isn't a bad idea.
As copious as checklists and wedding shopping lists are online, they do contain knowledge and experience that could prove useful.
Because there's so much to think about your wedding, it's implausible for you to remember and cover every tiny detail. Therefore, checking others' lists might illuminate you to things that might have been left by the wayside.
However, don't go overboard, or you risk becoming bedazzled and bamboozled. Try looking at some of the most popular results from your search. They're top results for a reason and should serve you well.
Step 4: Make It Your Own
Whilst checklist inspiration is a good thing, you still need to bear in mind that your wedding is utterly unique. Whilst it might share many qualities and aspects with other weddings, meaning the preparation might be similar in some areas, your wedding really is like no other. So why should your checklist be like every other?
This is why we think it's best to build your own checklist rather than just use one found on the internet. Whilst someone else's printable wedding checklist might be good overall, we guarantee you'll be scribbling extra things that you need to do, or editing out things that are irrelevant. This is especially so if your wedding has specific cultural or religious considerations or practices that need to be incorporated into your plans.
It's also important if you're incorporating some unusual elements to an otherwise traditional wedding, or doing something completely different. Doing a surprise dance routine for the procession? You'll need to factor in rehearsal time for those involved. Getting married on a rollercoaster or underwater in scuba gear? Then your checklist is going to be very different from the norm.
It's your wedding. Therefore it should be your wedding checklist and yours alone.
Step 5: Decide on Your Checklist's Timeframes
Now that you've decided on how to organize your checklist or checklists, and know what you'll be putting on them, it's not time to decide on the timeframes for getting them done.
What timeframes you want to put onto your checklist depends entirely on how you want to organize yourself and what control you desire over each area of your wedding.
Many checklist timeframes divide things into monthly timeframes the further away from your wedding day you are. Then, they break things down into weekly ones one or two months before the wedding. Lastly, they go into days for the final furlong/week.
But you might want to start organizing things by weeks or days a lot earlier, depending on how best you work when organizing things. Whatever you decide, so it in a way that makes you feel comfortable and in control of planning wedding necessities.
Step 6: Prepare to Delegate
Weddings are big undertakings. So, why not get a little help from your friends and family? Many hands make light work, after all.
You might want them to help plan specific aspects of your upcoming wedding. Maybe task a close friend with doing some preliminary research for your wedding dress? Or ask a family member to scout out some potential wedding venues?
Or not. It's entirely up to you. Too many cooks also spoil the broth, after all. Delegate as much or as little as your comfortable and in control of.
If you are going to delegate, you might want to consider making your wedding preparation checklist or wedding shopping list on a shopping list app. Chose one that has a sharing function, meaning those you've delegated a task to can edit and check things off themselves. You might also be able to instantly see the changes or receive a timely notification about them, depending on the app.
Technology, as well as close relatives and acquaintances, can certainly help out.
Step 7: Plan Beyond the Wedding
When making your checklist, be sure to make sure it doesn't stop at the wedding itself. There's still plenty of things to do afterwards.
Have you thought about returning any suit hires? What about "thank you" cards? Have your planned a honeymoon? Any official documents you need to fill out if you're changing your last name? Any wedding presents that need to be returned (hopefully not)?
The fallout from the wedding won't be as magnitudinous as what you needed to do before it. But the post-wedding humdrum is still something that needs to be prepared for least if spiral out of control or make you encounter unexpected snags.
Love and Marriage
Now that you're prepped with 7 steps to making a brilliant wedding preparation checklist, the only thing left for you to do is to make it. If you ever need reminding of how to make this checklist, you can also download and print off this free summary to help you.

Do you have these essential items on your Newborn Baby Shopping List?
What could be more glorious than having a new addition to the family? Having a child is a labor of love and care. But with all the doctor’s visits, baby-showers, and dealing with the changes pregnancy has on you and your family, have you even started to think about a newborn baby shopping list for all those newborn essentials you need?
Baby Boom
It really goes without saying that looking after the physical and medical side of pregnancy is most important. But at the same time, thinking about what you need to be buying and preparing for your baby’s arrival shouldn’t be left by the wayside. Not only will you be experiencing a lot of physical, mental, and emotional changes leading up to labor, there are still many extra challenges after the birth. This means you might find putting together lists of things you need a little difficult either side of your baby’s birth.
So, let us help take some of the pressure of pregnancy and early parenthood by providing you with a newborn baby shopping list. We’ll also go through some handy dos and don’ts. But, you're more than welcome to skip straight to the newborn baby products list.
Newborn Baby Shopping List Dos & Don’ts
Dos
Get others to help - if you’re the baby-carrying parent, you’re going to be going through a lot. So don’t feel bad about delegating things and getting some help on board. Even if you’re the parent providing support, you’ll also face some challenges and might need an extra pair of hands. But remember, too many cooks spoil the broth. You don’t want the people who are supposed to be helping you ironically cause you more stress.
Prepare as early as possible - there are so many things to sort out when having a baby that makes this point much easier said than done. But, if you can get everything together as soon as possible, should any sudden events or unexpected things happen, you’ll have everything primed and ready to go.
Check your local laws - did you know that some hospitals won’t let the baby come home with you until you have an approved baby car seat properly fitted in your vehicle? Is the name you want to give your new baby acceptable? In some countries, you can only choose from an official baby registry of names. Laws and rules like this are really worth checking. Finding you’re not ready for such things can be a real unexpected bugbear.
Prepare for a long hospital stay - it might turn out that you won’t need to be spending extra time at the hospital. But if you do, there’s nothing worse than not being prepared for it. Making sure you’re equipped for any extra nights there certainly doesn't hurt. You needn’t bring it all with you when you get admitted into hospital either. Your supporting partner, family member, or friend, can bring the extra provisions when needed, meaning you won’t have to worry about bringing too much with you straight away.
Share your newborn baby shopping list - using a with a sharing function can really help get people on board to help you prepare. Those who you’ve shared it with might even have some of the items you need and might lend, give or sell items cheaply to you. You can also make a wishlist for your baby shower using one and share it with your friends. This is another great and popular way to get some of the items that you need without duplication.
Don’ts
Buy everything new - if you’re not careful, the costs of having a baby can mount up even before they’re born. You can save a lot by looking to see if you can get hand-me-downs from friends and family.
You can even buy some items second hand from thrift stores and charity shops. You can also look for online support groups that might have members that are able to sell unneeded items or even give them away from free in your area.
Newborn Baby Products List
We know you’re pressed for time, so we’ll get straight to providing you with your list for the hospital and for when your baby comes home.
Bouncing Baby Joy!
We hope that this shopping list will help you better usher in a new baby boy or baby girl into your family.