TikTok's '4x2' Method Of Grocery Shopping Hits All The Essentials

Everyone has a different method for tackling the grocery store. Some people are avid meal-preppers and show up armed with an extensive list, while others come with a clutch of coupons looking for deals.

If you're the kind of person who tends to veer off the list or even goes list free, you're not only taking your chances with your wallet, but probably also ending up with a lot of stuff in your cart that doesn't actually make a meal, plus tons of snacks. You might not know this, but grocery stores are very carefully designed to encourage you to spend money (per Business Insider), from the size of the shopping cart to shelf placement. Even the music is chosen to get you into a mood to spend, and staples like milk are located way in the back to get you to walk past as many other products as possible.

The price of groceries is at a 40-year high right now (per NBC), so not only is it financially dangerous to go to the supermarket without some sort of plan, but you also don't want to buy a bunch of things you won't actually eat and end up throwing away, wasting your hard-earned money. Even if money is no object, throwing food away creates food waste, which is a significant problem around the world, and it's estimated that each person in the United States wastes around 219 pounds of food per year.

Most grocery shopping advice will tell you never to go shopping without a grocery list, and if you have a family, you could save as much as $100 a week sticking to the list (per Real Simple). But you don't necessarily need a detailed itinerary to get through the grocery store without giving away your life savings; all you need is to have some sort of plan and stick to it.

A great way to strategize is to do a little advance meal planning. One way to do this is to check your grocery store's weekly flier to see what's on sale and get some ideas. For example, if whole chickens are on sale, you can make roasted chicken one night and chicken soup another night if you also grab some carrots, celery, an onion, and noodles.

If you're not the imaginative type, you can download an app like MealPrepPro, Paprika, or MealBoard, which will come up with as many meals as you'd like for the week and generate a grocery list. There are also many other ways to plan and prep, and you can find advice on Instagram and TikTok, including the "4x2" method.

Tori Repa's "4x2" method is one of the best grocery shopping methods if you really hate writing lists. Tori tackles the supermarket by shopping for two items each in four categories: fruits, veggies, healthy fats, and proteins. From there, she's got a base for many balanced, nutritious meals throughout the week. This isn't to say that this is all you're going to buy at the store, but if you tend to get distracted and throw random things into the basket, this will cover your basics, and then you can add your other pantry staples, and any extras that catch your eye knowing that you have some substantial items to build your menu for the week.

Try to pick new things in your "4x2" each week to keep it fresh so you won't get bored. For example, if you grabbed chicken thighs this week for Sauteed Chicken Thighs With Artichokes And Lemon Cream, switch it up next week with a bag of frozen fish filets for Sweet And Sour Glazed Tilapia. Once you get the hang of "4x2," it'll become second nature, and you'll always have a healthy mix of things to eat each week.