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Shea Simmons is an Atlanta-based writer who has written about everything from whether Crisco is a good moisturizer to how to KonMari your space. Her work has appeared in Bustle, My First Apartment, and Make It Grateful. Read more...

You made a meticulous grocery list and followed it perfectly. Now, it’s time to check out. But when you do, is there a right way to place things on the grocery store check-out conveyor belt?

If you’ve seen people arrange items by food group or item type at check-out, you might want to consider doing the same thing.

How do you organize your groceries? It’s pretty simple. As you’re loading the items onto the conveyor belt at checkout, look for groceries that are grouped together in the store itself. For example, all of your meat can be loaded onto the belt together. Then, you can add fresh produce, followed by boxed, canned, and bagged goods from inside the aisles, and finally, frozen foods.

Even when packing your own bags, this method is helpful.

What’s the purpose other than satisfying your unending need for things to be organized (or is that just me?)? It helps the person who bags your groceries. In case you didn’t know, cashiers are taught to bag groceries in certain ways, grouping items by type and weight. For example, you don’t want to put a frozen bag of peas next to a box of cereal. As the peas thaw on the way home, the sweat could affect the box’s cardboard.

By grouping your groceries by type, you can help out your cashier and make the bagging process faster. Basically, it’s a win-win for everyone. So the next time you’re knocking out your grocery list, go ahead and keep that cart organized.

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