While one way to be more efficient when grocery shopping is to pick up what you need every day, it’s tough to find the time or patience to do that. Another way to simplify your routine is to go the opposite direction, minimizing trips to the store with careful planning.

Yoga.Eat.Run. offers some tips to help you cut the time and money you spend at the store:

* Shop and cook just once a week. If you plan out all your meals ahead of time, you can haul in everything you need at the beginning of the week, then come home and cook it all, giving you ready-to-reheat meals when you come home each day, hungry and exhausted.

* Keep your fruit and veggies visible. Burying your produce behind other stuff makes it easy to forget about it, letting your food spoil before you eat it. Also, making healthier, natural snacks more accessible than chips and pretzels helps you eat better.

Further tips include taking an inventory of your food and getting rid of the space-wasting stuff you know you’ll never eat.

Grocery Shopping 101 [Yoga.Eat.Run.]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.