I Don’t Grocery Shop Any More (And Neither Should You!)

I don’t have a cleaning lady. Or a personal chef or a gardener. But you know what I do have?

Someone who does the grocery shopping for me.

Now before you think I’ve gone all fancy on you, know this: it doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg. I just utilize the free or nearly free service that many grocery stores are offering now.

Some of you have been doing this for a long time and this is hardly news to you… I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to those of you who haven’t tried it yet. You need to try it!

How it works

• I go online to the website of whichever store I want and I put the items I want into my cart (just like you would on Amazon or any other online store) and I select a time for when I will pick up my groceries.
• I drive to the store and park in the designated pick up area. At some stores you call to let them know you’re there and at others you check in on their app.
• Someone brings out your groceries and loads them into your car.
• If they are out of something then you can indicate whether you would want them to substitute a similar item or not. This does happen because they can sell out of something between the time when you order and they actually shop for it, but they will only bill you for items that you actually receive and you can decide if the substitutions are acceptable or not.
• You sign for them on a tablet device and you head home.
• You get an email receipt or a printed receipt.

Why I love it

• I love being able to sit down with my meal plan for the week and think everything through. I do it once the kids are in bed so that it’s nice and quiet and I can think without interruption. In the store my kids are good, but they don’t really give me time to stand there and compare labels of products, if you know what I mean. Being able to read through nutrition information and compare prices enables me to make better choices than I sometimes do in the store.
• When I’m putting items into my cart I can run into the kitchen and check the pantry to see if we already have some things.
• I don’t make any impulse purchases. We have saved money because I stick to my list and I don’t feel like I have to say no to the impulse purchases the kids want because my kids don’t get to go to the store anymore.
• Ordering online saves me time. It does take some time to sit down and plan and order everything, but it takes much less time overall.
• I don’t have to get out of the car. This is especially amazing when the weather is terrible or I have a sick kid.

I have tried this service at both Giant Eagle and Walmart and have loved my experiences at both. In talking about it to my mom, she expressed concern about someone else picking out meat and produce, but I’ve been really pleased with the quality of items picked for me.

Have you tried it yet?