Make a list of all your intended stops for the day and then plan your route at breakfast time. By planning well geographically, you can save time.

• Group your errands. By working with an errands list and devoting a couple of hours once or twice a week to doing them, you ought to be able to keep your errands from eating up all your time.

• Try to get your errands done at nonrush times. Some people like to run a couple of errands on their way to work (drop off dry cleaning, stop at pharmacy) when the establishments aren’t crowded and it’s possible to get in and out quickly. Use time-saving delivery services when possible.

• Ask for help from your family. Your spouse and any teenagers are all capable of getting things done. If you prefer, you can make it a family activity. At a shopping center, let everyone fan out in different directions, and meet back at the car.

• Weigh time savings against dollar savings. The family brand of toothpaste may be going on sale at the drugstore the next day, but if you’re at the grocery store—and have no other pharmacy errands that week—it may make more sense to just buy the toothpaste with the groceries.

• When you come home, put everything away soon after arrival. Enlist help from family members even if they didn’t go shopping with you. If you leave the purchases here “for now,” you’ll find that they’ll likely sit there too long.