My mum has a great system for this. She places an order for pick-up, with all the big/ heavy items plus things she doesn't care about picking herself, like laundry detergent, cans etc. Then, just before her pick-up slot, she goes to the store and runs in and grabs the things she wants to choose herself. And the whole rest of her order is waiting for her. Saves her tons of time and she still gets to pick the things she cares about.
Edit: just noticed other people saying there is a mark up - this doesn't happen where we are. You pay the same price regardless of if you shop in-store, pick up or have it delivered (you do pay a delivery fee but it's only a couple of £)
That's exactly what I do! Like you said, it still saves time and keeps me to a list, and I don't get a bunch of crappy produce. Some stores are marked up, but some aren't. Also, sometimes stores like Kroger will give an extra discount of $5.00 for a pickup order.
Regarding the edit: I primarily use Walmart and Albertsons (though their ordering is lacking and frustrating and used much less) in small town US for pickup and there's no mark up.
It's the only reason I started using grocery pickup a few years ago. I still haven't used instacart because the mark up and fees and tips is too much and goes against my frugality when I don't need it.
I suppose if I broke my leg it would be handy, but I'd still use Walmart delivery since the pricing is upfront and clear. Walmart might suck for many reasons, but this is one thing I hope sticks.
I do this same thing for certain produce and sometimes specific cuts of meat it I need it for a specific meal, I've found letting them choose the produce for me usually results in poor or plain wrong choices, but the grocery pickup still saves me 90% of the time I would've spent in the store
I tried doing this several times and have had to return produce because they picked shitty/straight up rotten produce. Maybe OP has gotten lucky every time. I couldn't do it anymore. It was more work to make 2 trips to the grocery store than to just go once and pick out the groceries myself.
Exactly. And the time and frustration you spend dealing with that crap isn't worth the up front convenience to me at all.
I've watched how those employees choose products. They have a huge flatbed full of individual tubs to fill for tons of orders at once. They go down the aisles bumping in store customers out of the way to grab the first thing that matches their list off the shelf. Then they literally throw it in the appropriate tub and move on.
It is also crazy how frequently they mess up quantity, brand, or substitute with items that don't even make sense. It isn't worth it at all to me. I care about my time, but I care about the food I feed my family more.
i kept getting substitution asks that were just bonkers. like messaging me and asking if they could replace my gluten free bread with regular - like, no??? please no?? even when i would put a replacement option in, half the time it gets ignored. i’d rather do it myself.
Yeah I think this type of shopping only works for people who don't care what they eat, what companies they buy them from, and have zero dietary restrictions. Apparently that's a huge market.
I disagree. i think quality definitely varies by store and staff. our kroger is super hit or miss with produce, but our food lion is solid. I’ve seen the employees doing pick up orders actually picking through and checking produce before placing it in the bins. our household is vegan and I’ve only had one instance of a bad substitution where our regular curry paste was out so they subbed one with fish - which was my bad anyway for not checking the ingredients in the time window.
I prefer pickup for bigger orders especially as I can take my time comparing prices and checking ingredients. I can shop more thoughtfully with a meal plan in mind. why on earth would pickup be an indication that I don’t care what I eat?
We have pretty significant dietary restrictions and our produce/groceries from Walmart delivery has always been just fine. Good quality produce, no stupid substitutions, and if you don't get something you ordered they refund it no questions asked.
Plus they don't check expiration dates! Especially at Walmart, they're bad at rotating stock so they can have a full front section of expired products. It's twice as much work to go to pickup, find something is expired then go back the store, wait in line for a return and then re-pick your item. It would have been faster just getting it yourself.
I essentially put blinders on at the store. I make a list before I leave the house, ordered by where stuff is in the store. Then I go in, grab what is on the list and get out.
Really? That makes it easier, since they'll probably just toss it anyway for food safety reasons.
But, I usually need whatever I order within the week of purchase so I'd still need to go to the store to get a replacement. There's just too much human error in the pick up process to be reliablely used for anything perishable imo.
From seeing so many variety of experiences, it may really be down to the local store regardless of mega chain.
Still, when I get food that I ask for a refund for it's usually not like fully rotten or nasty expired that I can't use it in a pinch. It's bread that has a sell date by the day before that won't kill me but I wouldn't have picked for myself. Or enough mushy strawberries in the box that I would have passed over it, but if it were in my refrigerator slowly declining I'd toss them and eat the rest.
I hope I don't sound like I'm taking advantage of the store, I wouldn't return anything that's reasonable just the stuff that shouldn't be out for sale at that point.
No, you're definitely not taking advantage. I'd probably end up returning more than you when it comes to produce or expired products. If they give me clearly rotten strawberries or something that's expired, they need to know, and that'll happen in the form of a return. Unfortunately it'll usually be the picker that gets in trouble (if anyone actually does), but it ultimately comes down to the grocery manager and stocking team. They're not doing their job if something is on the floor that shouldn't be sold.
I remember when I went to a local Publix and was taking to my friend about expired products next to a stocker and he immediately stopped what he was doing with panic and asked me what was expired. While that was a bit of an extreme reaction, that means that their managers are sticklers on food being rotated properly. As a customer, that's what I want to see in a grocery store and from my weekly shopping at my two local Walmarts, they don't do that so I definitely wouldn't place a curbside order there.
I definitely agree that Walmarts are really varied in how well they're run. I've seen some terrible ones in other cities. It can be depressing just going in.
I try to write in my return comments when the mushy fruit/veg isn't crazy obvious. I hope it helps them because it's really shouldn't come down on them. They can't spend that much time scrutinizing each item.
Honestly they save me so much time and money (kids and grocery shopping don't do mix so well and my own impulses actually but they don't need to know that). I'll count myself lucky for as long as it stays quality and go back to shopping myself when it dips.
> They go down the aisles bumping in store customers out of the way to grab the first thing that matches their list off the shelf. Then they literally throw it in the appropriate tub and move on.
Isn’t this how everyone shops?
Different country. I've had positive experiences with produce selections, and substitutions.
I get the impression that to counter the concept of "poor produce" and badly chosen substitutions, the pickers are told to be generous. Also, my impression is that most of the picker staff are middle-aged women. Maybe they have shopping nous?
If there are subs, they are always ridiculously generous. Produce selections are always the good stuff.
Last week, I ordered a pre-cut half a wombok. Sub was one, full, enormous wombok. Probably won't get through it, but whatever.
Often, if the regular produce is unavailable, they'll send the organic version.
That sucks and changes things. I don't know if it's because I'm in a small town or it's local pickers but 9/10 I get produce that is as good as I would pick or it's hidden and I might have missed it too. I don't sing Walmart praises much, but the nice thing about their pick up orders is when the rare random thing is past freshness I don't have to slog back to the store to return it. I just do it by app and no fuss.
I don't even know if they'd do that if I was shopping in person and bought strawberries that sprouted mold the next day, so it's almost better to do pick up
I'll admit I didn't read the whole post so I missed that. Idk how you've been doing this for 5 years and haven't had any bad experiences but good for you
I was really worried about that, but it is working out for me. I order from the stores where employees are doing the picking and not instacart, so maybe that is the difference
I've done it and was hit and miss. I once ordered two baby bok choi and got two huge regular bok choi. Ordered a small cabbage and received the largest savory cabbage I have ever seen. Someone needs to learn their veggies. :)
Our store has learned - it now has online product listings such as "Eat now Bananas" and also "Eat later Bananas" (and avocados), so I can order half of each.
I order often and never got really anything that bad, just maybe something that I need to use up first. Usually everything is very fresh. I live in UK though.
Thank you. That is how I feel. I go grocery shopping with a detailed list and stick to it. I barely move out of the outside of the store except to dip into an aisle for tea or flour or WW crackers. Where I do sometimes deviate from my list is in the produce department if I see something on sale or that looks really good.
I also live within a 5 min drive of 3 large grocery stores and a small Wholefoods.
I’ve never had a problem with someone else picking my produce. If I want something specific I add it to the notes section. (All ripe or some green for bananas for instance). If I’m unsure what the pounds would be in the notes I’ll put “5 apples, whatever the weight comes to” etc. I’ve always gotten great picks and it saves me the hassle of time it would take. I’ve used delivery services off and on for 23 years now, since my middle child was born & I had no room for groceries if I brought both kids shopping lol. Now I use drive up service for my local grocery stores. It’s been great. I started off small on produce. Now I just put whatever I need. I do still like to go in on occasion, to see what’s in season or find new fruits and veggies we haven’t tried.
I do curbside shopping at the grocery store I work at. I totally get this; some people are just really bad at picking or the warehouse sent produce dept really bad produce.
I think this is a psychological fear rather than reality. Have you tried letting other people pick your produce. I’d say it’s about 98% successful with maybe once a year I’m disappointed and the stores have been good at refunding.
Perhaps I’m not picky enough but I haven’t had an issue.
Instacart and Aldi's own pick-up service mark up the price of every item you buy, so if you go into Aldi, you could save several dollars, maybe even $10-$20, on what you pay for pick-up when the bill's $120.
I like OP's idea of ordering ahead for pick up to cut down on impulse buys, but I will have to look in to if Aldi charges more on their website than going in to the store. I have never used the Aldi pickup feature but I'm willing to try (provided it is not more than in store prices).
They mark up.
I'm looking at the sales flyer right now for my store. Avocados are on a glorious sale this week for $.49 cents each. I just searched on Aldi' pick-up. They're .55 cents. (.65 on Instacart, so at least doing pick up through Aldi's service is less expensive than Instacart.)
The scallops on sale in the flyer for $13.99 are $15.39 if you do pick-up through Aldi. The amounts add up to a significant convenience fee.
And holy crap, their site made me think I was having a stroke for a second. That blur when you type, jesus.
It makes perfect sense when you think about Aldi’s business model though - they are a discount grocery BECAUSE they cut on everything. They cut on stock time by not taking things out of shipping boxes, they cut on checkout staff by having you bag your own, they cut on staff by charging a $0.25 rental for the cart incentivizing customers to bring their cart back, they even don’t have listed phone numbers so that team members cannot be bothered answering phone calls…
So of course when they have to hire someone to shop for you they’re going to mark it up.
They definitely mark up. A bag of frozen broccoli is $1.09 in store, but $1.25 if you order for pickup or delivery. I switched to Aldi recently too and love it, but I just go in store. Publix prices have gotten out of hand and Walmarts produce quality is hit or miss.
They have to pay an employee to run around the store and grab everything for pickup orders. Of course they charge more. I see more employees at Aldi now than I ever did before the pandemic. They used to operate with a near skeleton crew.
People posting about pickup or delivery on r/frugal always blows my mind. Make a list, go to the store, stick to the list. Don’t get a shopping cart if you don’t have to (so you don’t fill it up).
Walmart doesn't charge extra, so that's where I do pick-ups. But I do big pick-ups that cover what I need for two-three weeks at a time, and I'm aiming on getting that down to a month When I need only a few things like some fresh produce, I go in.
Thanks for this info! Not going into the store is a pretty crucial requirement for me and I’m satisfied with the marked up prices since they’re still 20% cheaper than Kroger. I think that’s a win, and chasing down the other dollars I can save isn’t worth the time I’d waste. Maybe this is good for others to know so I appreciate you sharing it. Something to certainly be mindful of since I wasn’t aware of it!
I'm with you, OP. Frugality isn't just about the spending of money, but also the spending of time and mental energy.
I sit at my kid's sportsball practice and make my shopping list. I use the weekly flyer and digital coupons to structure my shopping. I add only sale items to my cart, and then I go back and fill in the blanks. I pick up the items the next day after I drop my kids off at school. There is no way I could save that time by going into the store.
For my last order, I had 65 items for an original price of $262. Between sales and coupons, I paid $160 including tax. I checked my receipt and 18 of the 65 items were not on sale. If I paid a mark up of 50 cents each, that's $9 extra. Yes, that's $450+ over the course of the year... BUT what is the likelihood I'll go into the store and buy more than $9 worth of unplanned items? Pretty fuckin' high, in my experience.
Wow that is fantastic and impressive! Completely agree with you on the cost vs reward analysis. And if a company wants to up charge me to pay for the labor/service of picking it, that’s fine with me as I am benefiting from that service greatly. The fact that it doesn’t come with an added pick up fee is a bonus, but I would still do pick up even if it wasn’t free because it’s so foundational to the planning and execution of my meals.
Right. But as the OP admitted, she hasn't been in the stores in 5 years to actually see what quality is actually available. So probably lacks any point of reference to make educated opinion.
We don't do pickup ( I'm super picky for my fresh groceries especially fruit) but we always write our list before hand and then we can usually stick exactly to it. We plan our dinners in advance, and lunch the next day is usually another serving of dinner.
Don’t do delivery, do pickup.
Delivery typically has a charge, but pickup is usually free after a minimum threshold. I usually place my order Monday during the day and then pick it up on my way home.
Thank you! This is my meal list if this is what you mean?
https://preview.redd.it/nio81o3z0bgc1.png?width=1693&format=png&auto=webp&s=c8e0ca0b31ad164f208266dfdf6376318e02d94e
Not OP but have been meal planning for over a decade for 2, and I like using a meal planner like Mealime or Eatthismuch as a general frame. Some things being auto-picked helps with the analysis paralysis, plus you sometimes get recipes you'd never try on your own. Then I slightly alter the recipes based on what I have (like if I have a bunch of honey I'll use that instead of maple syrup a recipe calls for) or modify portions based on what I bought. This helps with avoiding getting *exactly* what recipes call for which leads to a lot of waste. Finally I have go-to 'use it all up' recipes like soups, chilis, sushis, etc. where pretty much anything goes and you can clear the fridge out. Doing this I would estimate I still have food waste but I probably only waste about 10% which is lower than avg households.
I'm not very experienced with meal planning, but there are a couple things that really help with inspiration. First, I check what we already have that needs to be used up, and browse the flyer for sales; this will often trigger some ideas for me. Second (and maybe more what you want), I look through the weekly menu of a meal kit service like Chef's Plate. They list the ingredients and directions online, so you can just follow their recipe. This really helps when you feel like you're in a creative rut!
I also check for things that need used up first. Then I ask everyone what they feel like this week. You can also Google something like “easy weeknight menu” for pre made menus from various magazines and blogs, then pick a few that sound good to you. I have been menú planning for over a decade, and it was more time consuming at first, but once you have a tried and true variety of recipes you like, you don’t have to think so hard and it goes faster to fill out the menu plan.
That equals out to 933.33/mo for groceries, household goods, and eating out for two people.
That is pretty inline with our household since we moved to a HCOL area. When we lived in a MCOL area, and before grocery store prices the last couple years, we were at $500/mo, but we’re using the extra to explore our mostly local bars/restaurants area now.
Knocking out all the household goods in one shot sounds nice. I kept track last year of how long some of our items last (moisturizer, deodorant, etc.) to get an idea of how much we use in a year with the idea of bulk purchasing, but haven’t done it yet.
I’m not getting your math. I get $716 per month. $6,000 groceries (except now closer to $4,800 with Aldi), $1,200 for Costco, $1,400 for restaurants. That’s $8,600 divided by 12. Am I missing something?
Good luck making your tracker! Mine took me only a few hours to set up!
I don't go into grocery stores for grocery shopping anymore either. I do grocery delivery. Or bulk order from the manufacturer for stuff I buy all the time. I am in a fortunate location so in the summer I can go to local pick your own farms, from them I can get onions, garlic, potato, cucumber, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, corn, lettuce, strawberries, peas, beans, squash, zucchini, sunflowers, apples and herbs. and then blanch and freeze, canning/ make jam out of what I pick. I make ready to bake stuff like scones, muffins, and french fries that I flash freeze and vaccum seal in portions. I pay much less for a few weekends of work and get stuff when it is cheap and in season that lasts for months. I have a chest freezer to keep it in. There is also delivery of meat direct from local farms where I am, so I take advantage of that as well.
I don’t like other people choosing my produce. And if they don’t have the item I need or want I still need to go get it, or deal with the replacement they choose that is often not good.
I'm confused. You meal plan and pick up groceries from a chain grocery store. I'm glad this setup is working for you, but I don't see what's unconventional about it...
Right, this reads like someone trying to write for clicks and likes, testing out for a blog maybe, by way upselling and unnecessarily complicating (complete with lots of unnecessary steps and over-explaining simple steps) a basic process.
Not at all! Jesus Christ why is everyone so cynical? Thanks frugal community for being bitter and rude to me on my first post. Won’t be posting here again. Was just sharing what I do as I thought $10/day was a great feat. If it’s not helpful, I don’t see why everyone has to share negativity.
Friend, I’m sorry this didn’t 100% work out as planned (I still had to scroll pretty far to find even mild criticism, so…. 🤷♀️). Please consider that you’re still fairly young and a lot of people here have been doing basic meal planning for longer than you or I have been alive, and I’m older than you are!
Better to approach this sub ready to learn than to get sulky because you got some mild pushback. You will learn a lot from folks here that will help you—I wish I had been here at your age.
Thank you! I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I'm missing. I feel like meal planning and do pick up if you're an impulse shopper are pretty common tips.
I actually like grocery shopping. I like to see what’s on sale, pick out the best produce and meat, and get inspiration from what’s available. Of course it helps that I’m retired and have loads of time to shop.
I can't wait for an Aldi's to open in my area. In the meantime, grocery outlet is my go-to. I think besides getting rid of a car payment, cooking your own food and meal prep is the best way to reduce your spending
I saw your ETA before I saw your original post and I wanted to say I’m sorry for anyone that was a jerk about your post and am sad that you may not post again because I personally loved your post and learned a lot from it! Thank you for sharing.
I'm glad you are saving money in an intelligent way.
How is this unconventional, though? Simply because it is being brought to you in a parking lot? You are still going to the grocery store and coming home with groceries and then using the groceries to feed yourself. Pretty conventional.
I actually like to pick out my own food, making sure
that the cucumbers aren't bruised,
that the frozen vegetables are nice and loose rather than in a solid block (meaning it had thawed and refrozen in transit),
that the bread isn't molded,
that the cans aren't dented,
that the eggs aren't broken,
that the bag of flour isn't torn,
that I can get a nice mixture of fruit, some that's fully ripe and some that have a few days left to ripen (giving me a longer eating time). When someone else picks it out, then either the fruit is all completely ripe (meaning I have to eat it in a couple of days) or all green (meaning I have to wait for a few days and then I have to eat it all in a couple of days.)
So... I think that ordering ahead and having it brought to you in the parking lot is still pretty conventional, AND I think that going into the store to make wise choices in person is smart and does not mean I won't control myself regarding impulse buys.
The rest of what you say is normal meal planning, and has little to do with grocery shopping itself.
I mean conventional in the way that I have not gone into a grocery store to buy my groceries in 5 years. I would say that’s the “conventional” way.
Im glad you have a lot of things you consider when buying - sounds like this way of doing it isn’t for you! Isn’t that a cool thing about the internet? People can do things and recommend their own way, and you can just keep scrolling if it’s not something that pertains to you? I love that about the internet.
>that the bread isn't molded,
that the cans aren't dented,
that the eggs aren't broken,
that the bag of flour isn't torn,
They won't bring you stuff like that. If something is broken it's usually discounted and lays in the discounted section.
I ordered grocery maybe 30 times at this point. I never got delivered anything mouldy, broken or rotten. And at this point even if I did I would chalk it up to a mistake. Order over 50£ doesn't have a delivery charge so I'm not even paying extra for delivery straight to my home.
You didn't get bad items so it never happens. I apologize for being a bit sarcastic in my comment, but just because something works well for you at a particular store doesn't mean it works well everywhere. My sister used to get delivery and she quit because of all the bad stuff. And that's not including the times her food got misdelivered or someone else's food got delivered to her.
It honestly hurts my heart to hear people be called lazy for using click ‘n pick up services.
There are so many people who struggle with depression, executive dysfunction, lack of time, and/or an overwhelming amount of mental load. These grocery order pick up services remove a barrier for many people.
My friend works 12 hour shifts as a nurse (and her husband sucks, but that’s another story). She works Fri-Sun and alternating Wednesdays. She does weekly pick up service so she can leave work on Sunday, grab her order, toss in a frozen meal while putting away her groceries/clean the fridge, and have every ready so she can meal prep all day Monday while her kids are at school. It’s all there and ready for her. She cleans/laundry on Tuesday and does errands and misc chores on Thursdays. If she had to grocery shop, it would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. She’s hanging in by a thread.
Her awful MIL called her lazy for not shopping (which chores does the husband do? Oh, none) and she spiraled so hard. She is busting her ass every day and having ONE task taken off her plate makes a huge difference.
It is not lazy to be mindful of your time and energy and create systems that allow you to maximize them.
Maybe you spend a bit more (depending on the store and service) to use pick up services. But perfect is the enemy of good. Let people enjoy something good. ❤️
I walk into the store at 6.45AM....maybe 10 people in there total not including employees....I can zip round with my list super fast and be back home unpacking by 7.20 and at the gym by 7.45. Works out for me and I still stick to my plan and list and get fresh produce.
Different strokes for different folks.
I find the long self congratulatory post about something that is now standard for a lot of people slightly odd but then again...different strokes.
This isn't necessarily lazy. I mean, just considering how much time they have spent meal planning alone is an indication it's not laziness.
I try not to judge people for using the pick up service for a multitude of reasons. Physical disabilities, social anxiety, new moms not wanting to bring babies into stores filled with potentially sick people, super busy people just trying to save themselves 30 minutes so they can actually cook a meal instead of grocery shopping. And much more.
What you might consider "lazy" might be a literal Godsend to someone else struggling with something you may not even be aware of.
It’s just different for different people. When I had a small baby I was using grocery pickup religiously. Now I use it when it would save me time…sometimes when I need to burn time I go shop in person. Two working adults and a small child means not a ton of time left over so you gotta find it where you can find it.
I save 24+ hours annually by doing pick up instead of in-store shopping. Hopefully next time you’re standing in line at check out with your groceries, you have time to pat yourself on the back for how not-lazy you are.
For recipes that only need a squirt of lemon, you might want to try lemon crystals like TrueLemon (you can find other websites that sell generic too). It’s shelf stable and gives me almost exactly what I need if I’m only needing juice. I’ve been using it for soup this season and haven’t had lemons go to waste at all (you know when you know you need one but might need more so you get 3, then 1 goes bad while another half gets pushed to the back and lost in a container)
TrueLemon is great to have on hand! TrueLime's nice too if you rarely use lime juice, and I use to put TrueOrange in my water.
These days, I typically buy a bag of lemons (or two) when they're on sale, wash them all really well, zest them and squeeze them. Then I freeze the zest and freeze the juice in an ice cube tray so I don't have to worry about waste.
I always have bottled juice on hand for cooking too, but now and then Aldi will have lemons at bottom barrel prices so I grab a bunch.
Good organization plan you have.
I know how much protein I need a day to maintain muscle and calculate that in my daily food plan. If I don't get enough protein my body can pull it from my body. Based on that I organize my meal plan and budget.
if you don't care about getting the worst quality of the product that's available paying marked up prices for it when doing pick up, sure have someone else pick it for you. But none of that is definition of "Frugal" actually the total opposite.
I'm sorry objective criticism bothers you when you are trying to give out "frugal" advices that centers around convenience. Convenience costs premium. Premium is not frugal.
1. Do your own shopping. Not only will the products end up being cheaper, because you don't pay somebody to pull your items, you will end up with much higher quality products that last much longer, thus you aren't throwing stuff out or force to eat things for days because it's going bad suddenly.
1. You minimum wage stock pulled will not search for freshest gallon of milk, they will grab the one up from which will have the closest expiration date because that's how stores do FIFO. They will not assess if the product you are buying is the freshest or ripest available. Thus you end up whatever store put on top that they want to get rid of first.
2. Only buy stuff that is on sale that week and buy in "bulk" for few weeks. Tip number #1 becomes critical here.
3. Use food waste reduction apps to buy meat, dairy, produce at crazy price. I use "Flash Foods" that is partnered up with my supermarket chain. Any food on that app is 50% off, even 50% off sale price. So when chicken breast is on sale for $1.49/lb....I get it for $0.75/lb in bulk when the deal pops out. Porterhouse Steak for $9.99/lb sale.....I snag all at $4.50/lb. By deep freezer is full.
4. Minimize eating out. $1400/year is crazy amount. That's almost $120 per month or $30 per week. The food quality is horrible anyways in 90% of the restaurants. Make copy cat recipes at home. Quality will be lot better.
5. Bake at home. I make and make all my bread at home. It uses 4 ingredients, not the 15 or so found in store bread.
Overall, my daily expenses are lot less that $10/day you are getting.
Curbside pickup is the silver lining of COVID. Not just groceries, but hardware and chandlery and other things.
I'm afraid u/elephanttape that you've missed some things. Some stores including Publix, Wegmans, Piggly Wiggly, and Aldi (yes) have outsourced curbside (not just delivery) to Instacart. That means you pay higher prices than in-store PLUS fees. That isn't frugal. Giant Food, Safeway (minimum purchase), Costco, WalMart, Sam's ($3 fee), Whole Foods (Prime), Home Depot, TrueValue, West Marine, and others do picking and curbside in-house. Better prices and better service.
I like shopping at home in my bathrobe, comparing prices, and organizing my curbside pickup for one loop so I have fewer excursions (i.e. less gas).
OP, this is amazing! I'm so glad it works for you, and you feel good about what you're doing. Your method sounds very low waste as well! Kudos! I'm in the same camp of not going into the store myself and I've had very good shoppers, especially from Shipt. Did it cost more per item? Yes. But I'll get exactly what's on my list and not an extra $100 of impulse buying (yes, I have zero control!) I've been using delivery since before the pandemic. If that's what frugal means to me, then it's frugal for me. Well done on all your planning.
Same to you! It’s funny because I grew up poor so you’d figure an empty fridge would maybe give me some pause/worry, but at the end of the week (before pick up) I get excited when my fridge is empty. That tells me I made a plan and stuck to it! Holding myself accountable. Best wishes to you in your continued frugal efforts!
Do you get fuel points from Aldi though? It’s worth it for me to go there just for that, I average about 50-70 cents off in gas, and only really fill up both vehicles once a month since there’s a 35 gallon cap
No, I did at Kroger, but not at Aldi. It’s definitely a factor to consider but since I recently moved to working 3 mins from my house, I don’t drive very much so the fuel points are not as critical.
Same. I wfh but I have to make special dog food that adds up.
Also learned that you can buy gift cards at Kroger for stuff you’re buying anyway at other stores, and get points quickly.
This is exactly how we grocery shop. On Sunday we do an inventory of the pantry and fridge and I write down the regular snacks and items we need to restock and then write a meal plan for lunches/dinners.
The one thing I’ll add is that I cook a protein on Monday to last until Weds and we do a veggie option on Thursdays. I tend to rotate through grilled chicken, carnitas, barbacoa or short ribs, etc. Then on the weekends we’d eat stuff like salmon, steak - the fancier proteins.
We also spend about $125 a week in Chicago to feed two people. Definitely co-sign the method!
"Most grocery stores offer pick up services for free when you hit a certain small minimum ($30-$50)!"
Careful. There's no such thing as "free puppies".
I'm not sure how yours operate, but some grocery stores here also offer "free" pickup. Turns out if you're paying attention, not all products are the same price in store and in app. Some are, some aren't. If you never go in store, you'll never know which is which. It is a hidden "pick up charge".
That really angers me here. I hope it is not the same where you live but I wouldn't make any assumptions.
This post makes me a little sad. This is just the basics of making a grocery list with do a pickup as an "unconventional" twist. Idk. In my opinion it says something about our culture when we're having people rediscover the concept of making a grocery list.
Probably. I'm just a serious kind of person. It's sad to me that apparently these kinds of life skills aren't being taught in schools anymore. I'm glad you've rediscovered the concept of a grocery list and it's working for you though. I'm sure your post will be super useful for others that unfortunately didn't learn about grocery lists at a younger age.
It’s so backhanded to say “glad you discovered a shopping list” - maybe if you’re sad with what’s going on in the world, start with yourself by being nicer to people on the internet. I came here with positivity and got unnecessary bashing - why is that? That type of attitude in the world makes me much more sad than the fact that home ec doesn’t exist anymore. Muchhh more toxic.
It was not my intent to be backhanded. What you have here is the basics of making a grocery list. Sincerely I did not mean this to be backhanded. I was being factual. Sorry I did not express this well.
Let me format that for you:
Here are my tips:
* I created a meal planning calendar, with every ingredient and meal option I could think of listed in a sort of appendix.
- Use pick up if you can plan ahead! Not going into the store saves me quite a bit of money (and time) alone! No perusing the aisles or “I might as well…” purchases. I can go through and pick everything meal-by-meal vs. a store where you need to get all produce, then meat, then dairy, etc.
- I try to mix it up every week, but maintain structure around the categories. A normal week for us is usually 3-4 meat-based dinners, 2-3 vegetarian meals, 1 meal of leftovers or “repurposing” a meal, and 1 frozen option. 1 meal is typically a pasta, 1 is typically a Hispanic meal, 1 is typically an Americanized meal, 1 is typically a slow-cooked meal (we love to stay home and cook on Sundays!)
- If we’re feeling splurgy, we’ll plan 1 night to eat out which we’ll plan in advance and not order groceries for that day. We’ll typically do this once every 2-3 weeks (dine in, delivery, or carry out).
- The goal by grocery pick-up day is to have the fridge empty except for condiments and staples.
- Breads, buns, tortillas, and the like can usually go a long way for a family of 2! So if we are having burgers this week, 1 lb of meat is approx. 4 burgers
- but the buns are typically in quantities of 8. Next week, we can do pulled pork or sloppy joes or chicken sandwiches to use up the last 4 buns. Tortillas are the same. Quesadillas this week are burritos next week, or enchiladas become tacos. Just change the filling.
- When referring to recipes online, I try to be realistic about the cost vs. value. I might not buy a lemon if the recipe only calls for a wedge. But $2 is sometimes worth it for the flavor basil brings to some stuffed peppers! Having a robust seasoning cabinet can also help. It’s expensive upfront, but can help replace some of those one-off purchases that add up (and don’t stay good for very long).
- Today’s chili is tomorrow’s chili mac. Today’s pulled pork is tomorrow’s enchiladas. Today’s chicken breasts is tomorrow’s chicken salad sandwich.
- Leftover vegetables? Cut them up, roast them in the oven on a baking sheet with oil or butter. Grab some rice or couscous or quinoa. Add some sour cream. Boom you have a delicious vegetarian kitchen sink meal.
- Don’t overthink it! Bruschetta is totally a meal if you pick the right toppings. Bread, tomato, balsamic, burrata, basil—super fresh and delicious vegetarian summer meal.
- I find it very easy to plan a meal for 2 that makes 4 servings! 1 lb of meat, 1 lb of starch, and a frozen bag of vegetables usually feeds 4. Pasta? That can go even farther! Reheat it in a sauce pan day 2 or 3 with some oil and it tastes like a whole new meal!
- Since we are predominately making 4 servings per dinner, those last 2 servings become lunch the next day. We always keep sandwich bread, pb&j, lunch meat, or a frozen option on hand for lunches if a dinner doesn’t yield a full 4 servings.
- Take inventory before placing your next order. Anything sitting in the back of the cabinet without allocation? Those beans can become veggie tacos. That broth and half a box of pasta can be the foundation for your next soup. You then only need to buy supplementary ingredients to use up what you already have.
- Plan ahead with snacks. Buy some hummus, eat it with any left over vegetables. Make your own pico de gallo for $1 with fresh tomatoes and onions. Cereal for breakfast or dessert is cheap when you consider the costs of alternatives. Tea comes in huge servings. Plan snacking into your pick up to avoid going out to buy something to eat when you’re just trying to nibble on something.
- With lunch and dinner always covered, breakfast is the biggest variable. Bagels and cream cheese. Fruit, yogurt, granola. Oatmeal. Eggs and bread. All super easy and require very few ingredients.
- When we eat out, we try to order 4 meals worth (or large entree options) to cover lunch the next day as we would get from a normal meal at home. Getting 2 meals out of 1 entree cuts your cost per meal in half.
(I am not a bot. I just like formatting. Great write up!)
I'm pretty sure she meant that she doesn't go INTO the store to shop. I haven't been INSIDE a grocery store in 3 years. No more impulse shopping, and like her, we have saved a ton of money.
However, I think her cost per week is a bit high, but we aren't young able-bodied working young adults.
Edit...a word
Yeah it is for us but we are very old. I only cook 3 times a week (think spaghetti, chicken pot pie, chili, or soup) with leftovers the next day. We only eat eggs and toast with cucumbers or fruit. No more makeup or business clothes to buy. We are at a $55 to $60 a week per person
Lol, it's the medical marijuana that absolutely wrecks our budget tho🫣
I do agree about the "raz-mah-taz" shopping tips are nothing groundbreaking. But I guess if someone didn't get home training (foster kids, runaways trying to build a solid homelife), it might be helpful🤷♀️
Edit... a couple of words to clarify
Wow you responded fast. I deleted my comment because of the effort and enthusiasm you put into your post and I felt bad raining on your parade.
Just saying you could just as easily make a list and stick to it instore as ordering store pickup. In my experience the grocery pickers and or delivery services don't put the effort into picking out the good produce, and you'll end up with very poorly fruits and veggies.
This post reminded me of my friend who ordered a flip phone because she was addicted to her smartphone and couldn't put it down. I told her the same thing, to address the core issue which was self control.
It really has nothing to do with that. It’s a perk of not going to the store that I spend less, but the root cause was that I hated wasting an hour at the grocery store every week and having to think ahead as to what I wanted from each section (and having to go back to a section if my list wasn’t complete enough to get everything the first time around). Then depending on how busy it is, I have to wait in lines. I used to spend 45 mins-1 hour in the grocery store per week. Now I can order my groceries from my couch in 30 mins. The drive to the store is the same as whether I was shopping inside so I net even there. Don’t have to wait in any lines at all or handle any payment or transaction or bagging.
I’ve been doing this for 5 years and the produce thing is a myth in my experience. Who said because I’m eating the food that I’m going to pick better produce? Better than a person whose job is to literally handle and stock the produce daily? Lol
You’re not raining on my parade, but you’re trying to give me advice on something I feel that I have nearly perfected. The advice isn’t needed! Thanks
I mostly order nowadays and absolutely don't get only the worst quality items like some people are saying (I live in UK). Veg and fruit is almost always fresh or not anything that I wouldn't pick something myself in the store and I'm not picky at all. Def saves me some money because I don't impulse buy at the store and I can use coupons. Some people who commented probably never even tried delivery.
I recently switched to using what I have, unless the ingredient I need is a staple ingredient in the meal. I also plan dinner around what I have. I made a greek chicken rice meal the other day. The recipe called for kale, but I had romaine. I also had a ton of feta cheese and that was one of the big ingredients in the recipe. Another recipe called for rice vinegar but I had ACV and distilled white. Most often times small swaps don’t make a noticeable difference. Also helps to keep staple pantry items. I’ve found planning around what I have/what needs to be used has kept the cost and the waste down in my home. Also going to the grocery store to grab one or two necessary items and shopping with the intent of only getting those things. I’m definitely someone that likes to peruse the aisles (especially at Costco/Sam’s) and it was a huge problem. Saving so much and paying off debt now!
It just takes an incredible amount of mental effort and planning to set up something like this. So I commend you for being able to do it!
I know it's not frugal, but I loved when we could afford meal kit delivery services (hello fresh, etc). Not having to even think about what to make for dinner saves a huge amount of time and anxiety.
Anyway, being the person who plans the household meals and executes the shopping, cooking, repurposing of leftovers, making sure nothing goes to waste, and so on, takes real skill and work/time. It's rare that I'll shop ingredients for a specific recipe; these days, I buy staples and ingredients that have longevity or can be frozen. When it comes to cooking, I 'wing it' or improvise based on what we have or what needs to be used up.
Oh and always have a lemon on hand! Adding a spritz of acid to a lot of dishes really makes a difference!
My spouse and I plan three dinners a week. We eat the first on Sunday, then have leftovers Monday, the second on Tuesday, with leftovers Wednesday, and the third Thursday, with the leftovers either Friday or Saturday.
You're right that it's easy to cook four servings of a thing and have it for two meals. I also usually plan my work lunches to be the same thing all week long (although I change what that is from week to week).
However, I don't have a problem going in the grocery store and buying literally only the things on my list - this gives me flexibility in selecting the items, the time I go to the store, and when I can take time to plan the menu. I write down the menu first, then list the ingredients I need to purchase, and on the other half of the paper I re-list the grocery items in the order they appear in the store (produce, then deli/meat if needed, then canned/dry, then dairy/frozen).
I love how detailed this is! Too bad I don’t have an Aldi nearby, but I do use pick up every week. Saves me time. I prefer it to perusing the aisles, dealing with foot traffic, navigating around people, waiting in line, and all the noises. (I’m noise sensitive)
We’re a family of 2 and thinking about getting a Sam’s club membership. Just to stock up on essentials like TP, chicken, meats, bread, etc. and hopefully it’ll save us some money.
I definitely recommend a warehouse membership - it pays for itself in one or two visits depending on what you get! It’s not just good for essentials but snacks as well. We picked up a yoplait yogurt 24 pack (3 flavors of 8 each) for $8 last weekend. They normally retail at $1+ per serving. Lots of great finds in Sam’s Club/Costco!
Y'know, I think I'm going to start doing this a bit. It never occurred to me the cost in terms of TIME when it comes to grocery shopping. Thank you!
And I LOVE the commenter's idea of doing a pickup order for everything but produce - and then running in and getting the produce myself.
I’m just not ready to let somebody else choose my produce.
My mum has a great system for this. She places an order for pick-up, with all the big/ heavy items plus things she doesn't care about picking herself, like laundry detergent, cans etc. Then, just before her pick-up slot, she goes to the store and runs in and grabs the things she wants to choose herself. And the whole rest of her order is waiting for her. Saves her tons of time and she still gets to pick the things she cares about. Edit: just noticed other people saying there is a mark up - this doesn't happen where we are. You pay the same price regardless of if you shop in-store, pick up or have it delivered (you do pay a delivery fee but it's only a couple of £)
Now that’s just smart. - if I ever do pickup I will do it like this.
That's exactly what I do! Like you said, it still saves time and keeps me to a list, and I don't get a bunch of crappy produce. Some stores are marked up, but some aren't. Also, sometimes stores like Kroger will give an extra discount of $5.00 for a pickup order.
Regarding the edit: I primarily use Walmart and Albertsons (though their ordering is lacking and frustrating and used much less) in small town US for pickup and there's no mark up. It's the only reason I started using grocery pickup a few years ago. I still haven't used instacart because the mark up and fees and tips is too much and goes against my frugality when I don't need it. I suppose if I broke my leg it would be handy, but I'd still use Walmart delivery since the pricing is upfront and clear. Walmart might suck for many reasons, but this is one thing I hope sticks.
I do this same thing for certain produce and sometimes specific cuts of meat it I need it for a specific meal, I've found letting them choose the produce for me usually results in poor or plain wrong choices, but the grocery pickup still saves me 90% of the time I would've spent in the store
For those wondering, the markup is for stores that outsource their pick up.
I like that/ hybrid , and you only go into that 1 section of fresh foods
I tried doing this several times and have had to return produce because they picked shitty/straight up rotten produce. Maybe OP has gotten lucky every time. I couldn't do it anymore. It was more work to make 2 trips to the grocery store than to just go once and pick out the groceries myself.
Exactly. And the time and frustration you spend dealing with that crap isn't worth the up front convenience to me at all. I've watched how those employees choose products. They have a huge flatbed full of individual tubs to fill for tons of orders at once. They go down the aisles bumping in store customers out of the way to grab the first thing that matches their list off the shelf. Then they literally throw it in the appropriate tub and move on. It is also crazy how frequently they mess up quantity, brand, or substitute with items that don't even make sense. It isn't worth it at all to me. I care about my time, but I care about the food I feed my family more.
Don’t forget the sale items too, marked down quick sales are not online
i kept getting substitution asks that were just bonkers. like messaging me and asking if they could replace my gluten free bread with regular - like, no??? please no?? even when i would put a replacement option in, half the time it gets ignored. i’d rather do it myself.
I once had a shopper substitute an artichoke for lettuce. An artichoke!
🤣🤣🤣🤣I would've been livid!
Yeah I think this type of shopping only works for people who don't care what they eat, what companies they buy them from, and have zero dietary restrictions. Apparently that's a huge market.
I disagree. i think quality definitely varies by store and staff. our kroger is super hit or miss with produce, but our food lion is solid. I’ve seen the employees doing pick up orders actually picking through and checking produce before placing it in the bins. our household is vegan and I’ve only had one instance of a bad substitution where our regular curry paste was out so they subbed one with fish - which was my bad anyway for not checking the ingredients in the time window. I prefer pickup for bigger orders especially as I can take my time comparing prices and checking ingredients. I can shop more thoughtfully with a meal plan in mind. why on earth would pickup be an indication that I don’t care what I eat?
We have pretty significant dietary restrictions and our produce/groceries from Walmart delivery has always been just fine. Good quality produce, no stupid substitutions, and if you don't get something you ordered they refund it no questions asked.
Plus they don't check expiration dates! Especially at Walmart, they're bad at rotating stock so they can have a full front section of expired products. It's twice as much work to go to pickup, find something is expired then go back the store, wait in line for a return and then re-pick your item. It would have been faster just getting it yourself. I essentially put blinders on at the store. I make a list before I leave the house, ordered by where stuff is in the store. Then I go in, grab what is on the list and get out.
You can start a return for problematic food straight from your Walmart app. They don't require you to return it. At least I've never been asked to.
Really? That makes it easier, since they'll probably just toss it anyway for food safety reasons. But, I usually need whatever I order within the week of purchase so I'd still need to go to the store to get a replacement. There's just too much human error in the pick up process to be reliablely used for anything perishable imo.
From seeing so many variety of experiences, it may really be down to the local store regardless of mega chain. Still, when I get food that I ask for a refund for it's usually not like fully rotten or nasty expired that I can't use it in a pinch. It's bread that has a sell date by the day before that won't kill me but I wouldn't have picked for myself. Or enough mushy strawberries in the box that I would have passed over it, but if it were in my refrigerator slowly declining I'd toss them and eat the rest. I hope I don't sound like I'm taking advantage of the store, I wouldn't return anything that's reasonable just the stuff that shouldn't be out for sale at that point.
No, you're definitely not taking advantage. I'd probably end up returning more than you when it comes to produce or expired products. If they give me clearly rotten strawberries or something that's expired, they need to know, and that'll happen in the form of a return. Unfortunately it'll usually be the picker that gets in trouble (if anyone actually does), but it ultimately comes down to the grocery manager and stocking team. They're not doing their job if something is on the floor that shouldn't be sold. I remember when I went to a local Publix and was taking to my friend about expired products next to a stocker and he immediately stopped what he was doing with panic and asked me what was expired. While that was a bit of an extreme reaction, that means that their managers are sticklers on food being rotated properly. As a customer, that's what I want to see in a grocery store and from my weekly shopping at my two local Walmarts, they don't do that so I definitely wouldn't place a curbside order there.
I definitely agree that Walmarts are really varied in how well they're run. I've seen some terrible ones in other cities. It can be depressing just going in. I try to write in my return comments when the mushy fruit/veg isn't crazy obvious. I hope it helps them because it's really shouldn't come down on them. They can't spend that much time scrutinizing each item. Honestly they save me so much time and money (kids and grocery shopping don't do mix so well and my own impulses actually but they don't need to know that). I'll count myself lucky for as long as it stays quality and go back to shopping myself when it dips.
> They go down the aisles bumping in store customers out of the way to grab the first thing that matches their list off the shelf. Then they literally throw it in the appropriate tub and move on. Isn’t this how everyone shops?
Different country. I've had positive experiences with produce selections, and substitutions. I get the impression that to counter the concept of "poor produce" and badly chosen substitutions, the pickers are told to be generous. Also, my impression is that most of the picker staff are middle-aged women. Maybe they have shopping nous? If there are subs, they are always ridiculously generous. Produce selections are always the good stuff. Last week, I ordered a pre-cut half a wombok. Sub was one, full, enormous wombok. Probably won't get through it, but whatever. Often, if the regular produce is unavailable, they'll send the organic version.
That sucks and changes things. I don't know if it's because I'm in a small town or it's local pickers but 9/10 I get produce that is as good as I would pick or it's hidden and I might have missed it too. I don't sing Walmart praises much, but the nice thing about their pick up orders is when the rare random thing is past freshness I don't have to slog back to the store to return it. I just do it by app and no fuss. I don't even know if they'd do that if I was shopping in person and bought strawberries that sprouted mold the next day, so it's almost better to do pick up
Lucky every time in 5 years? Is that luck? Lol
I'll admit I didn't read the whole post so I missed that. Idk how you've been doing this for 5 years and haven't had any bad experiences but good for you
I was really worried about that, but it is working out for me. I order from the stores where employees are doing the picking and not instacart, so maybe that is the difference
I've done it and was hit and miss. I once ordered two baby bok choi and got two huge regular bok choi. Ordered a small cabbage and received the largest savory cabbage I have ever seen. Someone needs to learn their veggies. :)
I’ve had cashiers not know the difference between cucumbers and zucchinis. I know they are both long and green but really?
Yes, I want to be the one manhandling the avocados to find the good ones all at the same stage of ripeness.
Our store has learned - it now has online product listings such as "Eat now Bananas" and also "Eat later Bananas" (and avocados), so I can order half of each.
I just ask to check it while they are loading the car. 95% of the time mine is fine. Obviously depends on who is doing your shopping.
I got rotten garlic once. How is that even possible?
[удалено]
Don’t be sticking your nasty ass nails in produce unless you’re buying it.. who does that? Now ima be paranoid checking for lil nail marks
If it's poor quality you can refund it, at least through Kroger.
I order often and never got really anything that bad, just maybe something that I need to use up first. Usually everything is very fresh. I live in UK though.
Thank you. That is how I feel. I go grocery shopping with a detailed list and stick to it. I barely move out of the outside of the store except to dip into an aisle for tea or flour or WW crackers. Where I do sometimes deviate from my list is in the produce department if I see something on sale or that looks really good. I also live within a 5 min drive of 3 large grocery stores and a small Wholefoods.
That, and you miss out on substantial savings by shopping in-store and buying unadvertised markdowns.
This is my scenario. I shop the sales really hard
I’ve never had a problem with someone else picking my produce. If I want something specific I add it to the notes section. (All ripe or some green for bananas for instance). If I’m unsure what the pounds would be in the notes I’ll put “5 apples, whatever the weight comes to” etc. I’ve always gotten great picks and it saves me the hassle of time it would take. I’ve used delivery services off and on for 23 years now, since my middle child was born & I had no room for groceries if I brought both kids shopping lol. Now I use drive up service for my local grocery stores. It’s been great. I started off small on produce. Now I just put whatever I need. I do still like to go in on occasion, to see what’s in season or find new fruits and veggies we haven’t tried.
or meat
They always pick the most fucked up ones!!!
This. Other than that it's a good plan
I do curbside shopping at the grocery store I work at. I totally get this; some people are just really bad at picking or the warehouse sent produce dept really bad produce.
I think this is a psychological fear rather than reality. Have you tried letting other people pick your produce. I’d say it’s about 98% successful with maybe once a year I’m disappointed and the stores have been good at refunding. Perhaps I’m not picky enough but I haven’t had an issue.
This! And meat! They always pick out the worst cut of meat you've ever seen.
You should read "An Everlasting Meal" and "The Everlasting Meal Cookbook."
I’ll check it out - thanks for the recommendation!
One of my favorite reads! So soothing, really. She just published either a follow up or a cookbook, I think.
This is what I do too! Down to the details haha :)
Instacart and Aldi's own pick-up service mark up the price of every item you buy, so if you go into Aldi, you could save several dollars, maybe even $10-$20, on what you pay for pick-up when the bill's $120.
I like OP's idea of ordering ahead for pick up to cut down on impulse buys, but I will have to look in to if Aldi charges more on their website than going in to the store. I have never used the Aldi pickup feature but I'm willing to try (provided it is not more than in store prices).
They mark up. I'm looking at the sales flyer right now for my store. Avocados are on a glorious sale this week for $.49 cents each. I just searched on Aldi' pick-up. They're .55 cents. (.65 on Instacart, so at least doing pick up through Aldi's service is less expensive than Instacart.) The scallops on sale in the flyer for $13.99 are $15.39 if you do pick-up through Aldi. The amounts add up to a significant convenience fee. And holy crap, their site made me think I was having a stroke for a second. That blur when you type, jesus.
It makes perfect sense when you think about Aldi’s business model though - they are a discount grocery BECAUSE they cut on everything. They cut on stock time by not taking things out of shipping boxes, they cut on checkout staff by having you bag your own, they cut on staff by charging a $0.25 rental for the cart incentivizing customers to bring their cart back, they even don’t have listed phone numbers so that team members cannot be bothered answering phone calls… So of course when they have to hire someone to shop for you they’re going to mark it up.
Thanks for sharing some late night examples! I will keep my eyes peeled this weekend when I go to the store to shop.
You're right. Instacart says this on their website when you're shopping Aldi.
They definitely mark up. A bag of frozen broccoli is $1.09 in store, but $1.25 if you order for pickup or delivery. I switched to Aldi recently too and love it, but I just go in store. Publix prices have gotten out of hand and Walmarts produce quality is hit or miss.
They have to pay an employee to run around the store and grab everything for pickup orders. Of course they charge more. I see more employees at Aldi now than I ever did before the pandemic. They used to operate with a near skeleton crew. People posting about pickup or delivery on r/frugal always blows my mind. Make a list, go to the store, stick to the list. Don’t get a shopping cart if you don’t have to (so you don’t fill it up).
Walmart doesn't charge extra, so that's where I do pick-ups. But I do big pick-ups that cover what I need for two-three weeks at a time, and I'm aiming on getting that down to a month When I need only a few things like some fresh produce, I go in.
Pretty sure they don’t up charge items if you’re Walmart+, otherwise they do. It was one of the perks of Walmart+ when I was looking at it before.
I don't use Walmart+ and the prices are the same. I've checked while standing in store occasionally because I've always been a suspicious bastard
Thanks for this info! Not going into the store is a pretty crucial requirement for me and I’m satisfied with the marked up prices since they’re still 20% cheaper than Kroger. I think that’s a win, and chasing down the other dollars I can save isn’t worth the time I’d waste. Maybe this is good for others to know so I appreciate you sharing it. Something to certainly be mindful of since I wasn’t aware of it!
I'm with you, OP. Frugality isn't just about the spending of money, but also the spending of time and mental energy. I sit at my kid's sportsball practice and make my shopping list. I use the weekly flyer and digital coupons to structure my shopping. I add only sale items to my cart, and then I go back and fill in the blanks. I pick up the items the next day after I drop my kids off at school. There is no way I could save that time by going into the store. For my last order, I had 65 items for an original price of $262. Between sales and coupons, I paid $160 including tax. I checked my receipt and 18 of the 65 items were not on sale. If I paid a mark up of 50 cents each, that's $9 extra. Yes, that's $450+ over the course of the year... BUT what is the likelihood I'll go into the store and buy more than $9 worth of unplanned items? Pretty fuckin' high, in my experience.
Wow that is fantastic and impressive! Completely agree with you on the cost vs reward analysis. And if a company wants to up charge me to pay for the labor/service of picking it, that’s fine with me as I am benefiting from that service greatly. The fact that it doesn’t come with an added pick up fee is a bonus, but I would still do pick up even if it wasn’t free because it’s so foundational to the planning and execution of my meals.
Aldi product is significantly lower quality than Kroger. I shop both. So you are paying pick up premium for lower quality food. That's not Frugal.
$10/day is not frugal in your opinion? Lol.
I’m personally shocked that OP finds Aldi better quality than Kroger. This has never ever been my experience
Right. But as the OP admitted, she hasn't been in the stores in 5 years to actually see what quality is actually available. So probably lacks any point of reference to make educated opinion.
We don't do pickup ( I'm super picky for my fresh groceries especially fruit) but we always write our list before hand and then we can usually stick exactly to it. We plan our dinners in advance, and lunch the next day is usually another serving of dinner.
Knowing what you're shopping is absolutely key.
I wanted to do this but Walmart delivered both my test orders to the wrong house, not even on my street.
Don’t do delivery, do pickup. Delivery typically has a charge, but pickup is usually free after a minimum threshold. I usually place my order Monday during the day and then pick it up on my way home.
Maybe try with a different store if you can? Since Walmart just sucks in general…
True, I would never eat Walmart meat.
This is awesome! Can you share your meal plan for days of the week at least? My wife and I always struggle to come up with what we want to make.
Thank you! This is my meal list if this is what you mean? https://preview.redd.it/nio81o3z0bgc1.png?width=1693&format=png&auto=webp&s=c8e0ca0b31ad164f208266dfdf6376318e02d94e
Thanks for posting this!
Super impressive list!!
Not OP but have been meal planning for over a decade for 2, and I like using a meal planner like Mealime or Eatthismuch as a general frame. Some things being auto-picked helps with the analysis paralysis, plus you sometimes get recipes you'd never try on your own. Then I slightly alter the recipes based on what I have (like if I have a bunch of honey I'll use that instead of maple syrup a recipe calls for) or modify portions based on what I bought. This helps with avoiding getting *exactly* what recipes call for which leads to a lot of waste. Finally I have go-to 'use it all up' recipes like soups, chilis, sushis, etc. where pretty much anything goes and you can clear the fridge out. Doing this I would estimate I still have food waste but I probably only waste about 10% which is lower than avg households.
I'm not very experienced with meal planning, but there are a couple things that really help with inspiration. First, I check what we already have that needs to be used up, and browse the flyer for sales; this will often trigger some ideas for me. Second (and maybe more what you want), I look through the weekly menu of a meal kit service like Chef's Plate. They list the ingredients and directions online, so you can just follow their recipe. This really helps when you feel like you're in a creative rut!
I also check for things that need used up first. Then I ask everyone what they feel like this week. You can also Google something like “easy weeknight menu” for pre made menus from various magazines and blogs, then pick a few that sound good to you. I have been menú planning for over a decade, and it was more time consuming at first, but once you have a tried and true variety of recipes you like, you don’t have to think so hard and it goes faster to fill out the menu plan.
That equals out to 933.33/mo for groceries, household goods, and eating out for two people. That is pretty inline with our household since we moved to a HCOL area. When we lived in a MCOL area, and before grocery store prices the last couple years, we were at $500/mo, but we’re using the extra to explore our mostly local bars/restaurants area now. Knocking out all the household goods in one shot sounds nice. I kept track last year of how long some of our items last (moisturizer, deodorant, etc.) to get an idea of how much we use in a year with the idea of bulk purchasing, but haven’t done it yet.
I’m not getting your math. I get $716 per month. $6,000 groceries (except now closer to $4,800 with Aldi), $1,200 for Costco, $1,400 for restaurants. That’s $8,600 divided by 12. Am I missing something? Good luck making your tracker! Mine took me only a few hours to set up!
You’re right, sorry about that. I took $8,600 + $1,200 + $1,400 instead of $4,800 + $1,200 + $1,400.
Just fixed my post so it’s clearer! Thank you!
He assumed the 8600 was just groceries and then added the 1200 for Costco and 1400 for restaurants. That's what I thought you meant as well.
Oh I see, sorry that $8,600 was me totaling, not subtotaling. Thanks for calling that out
I miss Aldi “Mash Up Mom” and her menus based on sales!
I’ve never heard of this! Definitely checking it out.
She is on hiatus. You might find old menus on internet.
I love your meal plan idea. Would it be possible to post a screenshot or description of your tracker?
Let me know if this is helpful! https://preview.redd.it/6hl5h54ctdgc1.png?width=2219&format=png&auto=webp&s=afac26d8f5ee696b5682d53437c0eb95e8060c35
Thank you so much! That is super helpful!
https://preview.redd.it/6zocuwjgtdgc1.png?width=1693&format=png&auto=webp&s=fec62a47f2d1dbf3bd9749b1be48ce19168fa771
I don't go into grocery stores for grocery shopping anymore either. I do grocery delivery. Or bulk order from the manufacturer for stuff I buy all the time. I am in a fortunate location so in the summer I can go to local pick your own farms, from them I can get onions, garlic, potato, cucumber, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, corn, lettuce, strawberries, peas, beans, squash, zucchini, sunflowers, apples and herbs. and then blanch and freeze, canning/ make jam out of what I pick. I make ready to bake stuff like scones, muffins, and french fries that I flash freeze and vaccum seal in portions. I pay much less for a few weekends of work and get stuff when it is cheap and in season that lasts for months. I have a chest freezer to keep it in. There is also delivery of meat direct from local farms where I am, so I take advantage of that as well.
I don’t like other people choosing my produce. And if they don’t have the item I need or want I still need to go get it, or deal with the replacement they choose that is often not good.
I'm confused. You meal plan and pick up groceries from a chain grocery store. I'm glad this setup is working for you, but I don't see what's unconventional about it...
Right, this reads like someone trying to write for clicks and likes, testing out for a blog maybe, by way upselling and unnecessarily complicating (complete with lots of unnecessary steps and over-explaining simple steps) a basic process.
Not at all! Jesus Christ why is everyone so cynical? Thanks frugal community for being bitter and rude to me on my first post. Won’t be posting here again. Was just sharing what I do as I thought $10/day was a great feat. If it’s not helpful, I don’t see why everyone has to share negativity.
Friend, I’m sorry this didn’t 100% work out as planned (I still had to scroll pretty far to find even mild criticism, so…. 🤷♀️). Please consider that you’re still fairly young and a lot of people here have been doing basic meal planning for longer than you or I have been alive, and I’m older than you are! Better to approach this sub ready to learn than to get sulky because you got some mild pushback. You will learn a lot from folks here that will help you—I wish I had been here at your age.
Thank you! I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I'm missing. I feel like meal planning and do pick up if you're an impulse shopper are pretty common tips.
I actually like grocery shopping. I like to see what’s on sale, pick out the best produce and meat, and get inspiration from what’s available. Of course it helps that I’m retired and have loads of time to shop.
This is great advice! Creating your cart online really helps not purchasing random stuff you don’t need just because it’s in front of you.
I can't wait for an Aldi's to open in my area. In the meantime, grocery outlet is my go-to. I think besides getting rid of a car payment, cooking your own food and meal prep is the best way to reduce your spending
I saw your ETA before I saw your original post and I wanted to say I’m sorry for anyone that was a jerk about your post and am sad that you may not post again because I personally loved your post and learned a lot from it! Thank you for sharing.
I'm glad you are saving money in an intelligent way. How is this unconventional, though? Simply because it is being brought to you in a parking lot? You are still going to the grocery store and coming home with groceries and then using the groceries to feed yourself. Pretty conventional. I actually like to pick out my own food, making sure that the cucumbers aren't bruised, that the frozen vegetables are nice and loose rather than in a solid block (meaning it had thawed and refrozen in transit), that the bread isn't molded, that the cans aren't dented, that the eggs aren't broken, that the bag of flour isn't torn, that I can get a nice mixture of fruit, some that's fully ripe and some that have a few days left to ripen (giving me a longer eating time). When someone else picks it out, then either the fruit is all completely ripe (meaning I have to eat it in a couple of days) or all green (meaning I have to wait for a few days and then I have to eat it all in a couple of days.) So... I think that ordering ahead and having it brought to you in the parking lot is still pretty conventional, AND I think that going into the store to make wise choices in person is smart and does not mean I won't control myself regarding impulse buys. The rest of what you say is normal meal planning, and has little to do with grocery shopping itself.
I mean conventional in the way that I have not gone into a grocery store to buy my groceries in 5 years. I would say that’s the “conventional” way. Im glad you have a lot of things you consider when buying - sounds like this way of doing it isn’t for you! Isn’t that a cool thing about the internet? People can do things and recommend their own way, and you can just keep scrolling if it’s not something that pertains to you? I love that about the internet.
😂 Love your energy.
>that the bread isn't molded, that the cans aren't dented, that the eggs aren't broken, that the bag of flour isn't torn, They won't bring you stuff like that. If something is broken it's usually discounted and lays in the discounted section.
Oh, sweet summer child.
I ordered grocery maybe 30 times at this point. I never got delivered anything mouldy, broken or rotten. And at this point even if I did I would chalk it up to a mistake. Order over 50£ doesn't have a delivery charge so I'm not even paying extra for delivery straight to my home.
You didn't get bad items so it never happens. I apologize for being a bit sarcastic in my comment, but just because something works well for you at a particular store doesn't mean it works well everywhere. My sister used to get delivery and she quit because of all the bad stuff. And that's not including the times her food got misdelivered or someone else's food got delivered to her.
Unfortunately a lot of people experience at least one if not more “mistakes” per order which makes the time/effort saved not as worth it
Where are these people ordering from? Seems like OP didn't have a bad experience in Kroger or Aldi.
>They won't bring you stuff like that. Oh yes they will.
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I think a lot of people find it helps them avoid impulse buys in-store though. Also, saving time/doing things more efficiently isn't "lazy" is it...?
It honestly hurts my heart to hear people be called lazy for using click ‘n pick up services. There are so many people who struggle with depression, executive dysfunction, lack of time, and/or an overwhelming amount of mental load. These grocery order pick up services remove a barrier for many people. My friend works 12 hour shifts as a nurse (and her husband sucks, but that’s another story). She works Fri-Sun and alternating Wednesdays. She does weekly pick up service so she can leave work on Sunday, grab her order, toss in a frozen meal while putting away her groceries/clean the fridge, and have every ready so she can meal prep all day Monday while her kids are at school. It’s all there and ready for her. She cleans/laundry on Tuesday and does errands and misc chores on Thursdays. If she had to grocery shop, it would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. She’s hanging in by a thread. Her awful MIL called her lazy for not shopping (which chores does the husband do? Oh, none) and she spiraled so hard. She is busting her ass every day and having ONE task taken off her plate makes a huge difference. It is not lazy to be mindful of your time and energy and create systems that allow you to maximize them. Maybe you spend a bit more (depending on the store and service) to use pick up services. But perfect is the enemy of good. Let people enjoy something good. ❤️
I walk into the store at 6.45AM....maybe 10 people in there total not including employees....I can zip round with my list super fast and be back home unpacking by 7.20 and at the gym by 7.45. Works out for me and I still stick to my plan and list and get fresh produce. Different strokes for different folks. I find the long self congratulatory post about something that is now standard for a lot of people slightly odd but then again...different strokes.
This isn't necessarily lazy. I mean, just considering how much time they have spent meal planning alone is an indication it's not laziness. I try not to judge people for using the pick up service for a multitude of reasons. Physical disabilities, social anxiety, new moms not wanting to bring babies into stores filled with potentially sick people, super busy people just trying to save themselves 30 minutes so they can actually cook a meal instead of grocery shopping. And much more. What you might consider "lazy" might be a literal Godsend to someone else struggling with something you may not even be aware of.
It’s just different for different people. When I had a small baby I was using grocery pickup religiously. Now I use it when it would save me time…sometimes when I need to burn time I go shop in person. Two working adults and a small child means not a ton of time left over so you gotta find it where you can find it.
I save 24+ hours annually by doing pick up instead of in-store shopping. Hopefully next time you’re standing in line at check out with your groceries, you have time to pat yourself on the back for how not-lazy you are.
Never had an issue with moldy or damaged food when doing pick up at Aldi or my local grocery store.
Never had an issue with making/reading a grocery list.
The thought of getting my cabinets and fridge practically bare each week before getting more food is giving me an anxiety attack. Hell NO.
This is amazing and written so easy to understand! ❤️
Thank you so much for the kind words!
For recipes that only need a squirt of lemon, you might want to try lemon crystals like TrueLemon (you can find other websites that sell generic too). It’s shelf stable and gives me almost exactly what I need if I’m only needing juice. I’ve been using it for soup this season and haven’t had lemons go to waste at all (you know when you know you need one but might need more so you get 3, then 1 goes bad while another half gets pushed to the back and lost in a container)
TrueLemon is great to have on hand! TrueLime's nice too if you rarely use lime juice, and I use to put TrueOrange in my water. These days, I typically buy a bag of lemons (or two) when they're on sale, wash them all really well, zest them and squeeze them. Then I freeze the zest and freeze the juice in an ice cube tray so I don't have to worry about waste. I always have bottled juice on hand for cooking too, but now and then Aldi will have lemons at bottom barrel prices so I grab a bunch.
Good organization plan you have. I know how much protein I need a day to maintain muscle and calculate that in my daily food plan. If I don't get enough protein my body can pull it from my body. Based on that I organize my meal plan and budget.
Good tips! Pay no attention to those who are critical of your well written post. I'm sure you helped more people than you realize.
if you don't care about getting the worst quality of the product that's available paying marked up prices for it when doing pick up, sure have someone else pick it for you. But none of that is definition of "Frugal" actually the total opposite.
Here’s another tip I didn’t mention in my post: you can read about something you disagree with and not comment something negative. ❤️
I'm sorry objective criticism bothers you when you are trying to give out "frugal" advices that centers around convenience. Convenience costs premium. Premium is not frugal.
I’d love to hear what tips you have for achieving under $10/day! Super impressive that you’re achieving that!
1. Do your own shopping. Not only will the products end up being cheaper, because you don't pay somebody to pull your items, you will end up with much higher quality products that last much longer, thus you aren't throwing stuff out or force to eat things for days because it's going bad suddenly. 1. You minimum wage stock pulled will not search for freshest gallon of milk, they will grab the one up from which will have the closest expiration date because that's how stores do FIFO. They will not assess if the product you are buying is the freshest or ripest available. Thus you end up whatever store put on top that they want to get rid of first. 2. Only buy stuff that is on sale that week and buy in "bulk" for few weeks. Tip number #1 becomes critical here. 3. Use food waste reduction apps to buy meat, dairy, produce at crazy price. I use "Flash Foods" that is partnered up with my supermarket chain. Any food on that app is 50% off, even 50% off sale price. So when chicken breast is on sale for $1.49/lb....I get it for $0.75/lb in bulk when the deal pops out. Porterhouse Steak for $9.99/lb sale.....I snag all at $4.50/lb. By deep freezer is full. 4. Minimize eating out. $1400/year is crazy amount. That's almost $120 per month or $30 per week. The food quality is horrible anyways in 90% of the restaurants. Make copy cat recipes at home. Quality will be lot better. 5. Bake at home. I make and make all my bread at home. It uses 4 ingredients, not the 15 or so found in store bread. Overall, my daily expenses are lot less that $10/day you are getting.
Good for you!!
When I see what people spend on groceries for 2 or 3 people a month, makes me even happier with what we spend for 5 people.
Curbside pickup is the silver lining of COVID. Not just groceries, but hardware and chandlery and other things. I'm afraid u/elephanttape that you've missed some things. Some stores including Publix, Wegmans, Piggly Wiggly, and Aldi (yes) have outsourced curbside (not just delivery) to Instacart. That means you pay higher prices than in-store PLUS fees. That isn't frugal. Giant Food, Safeway (minimum purchase), Costco, WalMart, Sam's ($3 fee), Whole Foods (Prime), Home Depot, TrueValue, West Marine, and others do picking and curbside in-house. Better prices and better service. I like shopping at home in my bathrobe, comparing prices, and organizing my curbside pickup for one loop so I have fewer excursions (i.e. less gas).
OP, this is amazing! I'm so glad it works for you, and you feel good about what you're doing. Your method sounds very low waste as well! Kudos! I'm in the same camp of not going into the store myself and I've had very good shoppers, especially from Shipt. Did it cost more per item? Yes. But I'll get exactly what's on my list and not an extra $100 of impulse buying (yes, I have zero control!) I've been using delivery since before the pandemic. If that's what frugal means to me, then it's frugal for me. Well done on all your planning.
Same to you! It’s funny because I grew up poor so you’d figure an empty fridge would maybe give me some pause/worry, but at the end of the week (before pick up) I get excited when my fridge is empty. That tells me I made a plan and stuck to it! Holding myself accountable. Best wishes to you in your continued frugal efforts!
Super helpful, thank you!!!
Thank you!
Do you get fuel points from Aldi though? It’s worth it for me to go there just for that, I average about 50-70 cents off in gas, and only really fill up both vehicles once a month since there’s a 35 gallon cap
No, I did at Kroger, but not at Aldi. It’s definitely a factor to consider but since I recently moved to working 3 mins from my house, I don’t drive very much so the fuel points are not as critical.
Same. I wfh but I have to make special dog food that adds up. Also learned that you can buy gift cards at Kroger for stuff you’re buying anyway at other stores, and get points quickly.
That’s interesting! And good to know
This is exactly how we grocery shop. On Sunday we do an inventory of the pantry and fridge and I write down the regular snacks and items we need to restock and then write a meal plan for lunches/dinners. The one thing I’ll add is that I cook a protein on Monday to last until Weds and we do a veggie option on Thursdays. I tend to rotate through grilled chicken, carnitas, barbacoa or short ribs, etc. Then on the weekends we’d eat stuff like salmon, steak - the fancier proteins. We also spend about $125 a week in Chicago to feed two people. Definitely co-sign the method!
Awesome! $125 in Chicago is really great! Sounds like you have it down pat.
"Most grocery stores offer pick up services for free when you hit a certain small minimum ($30-$50)!" Careful. There's no such thing as "free puppies". I'm not sure how yours operate, but some grocery stores here also offer "free" pickup. Turns out if you're paying attention, not all products are the same price in store and in app. Some are, some aren't. If you never go in store, you'll never know which is which. It is a hidden "pick up charge". That really angers me here. I hope it is not the same where you live but I wouldn't make any assumptions.
This has already been commented multiple times but thanks.
Sorry! Did not make it through the 175 comments! Apologies for the spam. I enjoyed reading about all your ideas.
This post makes me a little sad. This is just the basics of making a grocery list with do a pickup as an "unconventional" twist. Idk. In my opinion it says something about our culture when we're having people rediscover the concept of making a grocery list.
Lol. Probably don’t need to take it that seriously.
Probably. I'm just a serious kind of person. It's sad to me that apparently these kinds of life skills aren't being taught in schools anymore. I'm glad you've rediscovered the concept of a grocery list and it's working for you though. I'm sure your post will be super useful for others that unfortunately didn't learn about grocery lists at a younger age.
It’s so backhanded to say “glad you discovered a shopping list” - maybe if you’re sad with what’s going on in the world, start with yourself by being nicer to people on the internet. I came here with positivity and got unnecessary bashing - why is that? That type of attitude in the world makes me much more sad than the fact that home ec doesn’t exist anymore. Muchhh more toxic.
Lol and all your “Good for you!”s weren’t backhanded? Wow.
What else am I supposed to say? Lol. They do something that works for them, so good for them.
It was not my intent to be backhanded. What you have here is the basics of making a grocery list. Sincerely I did not mean this to be backhanded. I was being factual. Sorry I did not express this well.
I couldn’t get past $100-$120/wk for groceries for two people. To me that’s not frugal. We have a budget of $650/mo ($139/wk) for 5 people!
Good for you!
I’ll be honest, I’d like to spend more that’s just what our budget allows. 😅
Let me format that for you: Here are my tips: * I created a meal planning calendar, with every ingredient and meal option I could think of listed in a sort of appendix. - Use pick up if you can plan ahead! Not going into the store saves me quite a bit of money (and time) alone! No perusing the aisles or “I might as well…” purchases. I can go through and pick everything meal-by-meal vs. a store where you need to get all produce, then meat, then dairy, etc. - I try to mix it up every week, but maintain structure around the categories. A normal week for us is usually 3-4 meat-based dinners, 2-3 vegetarian meals, 1 meal of leftovers or “repurposing” a meal, and 1 frozen option. 1 meal is typically a pasta, 1 is typically a Hispanic meal, 1 is typically an Americanized meal, 1 is typically a slow-cooked meal (we love to stay home and cook on Sundays!) - If we’re feeling splurgy, we’ll plan 1 night to eat out which we’ll plan in advance and not order groceries for that day. We’ll typically do this once every 2-3 weeks (dine in, delivery, or carry out). - The goal by grocery pick-up day is to have the fridge empty except for condiments and staples. - Breads, buns, tortillas, and the like can usually go a long way for a family of 2! So if we are having burgers this week, 1 lb of meat is approx. 4 burgers - but the buns are typically in quantities of 8. Next week, we can do pulled pork or sloppy joes or chicken sandwiches to use up the last 4 buns. Tortillas are the same. Quesadillas this week are burritos next week, or enchiladas become tacos. Just change the filling. - When referring to recipes online, I try to be realistic about the cost vs. value. I might not buy a lemon if the recipe only calls for a wedge. But $2 is sometimes worth it for the flavor basil brings to some stuffed peppers! Having a robust seasoning cabinet can also help. It’s expensive upfront, but can help replace some of those one-off purchases that add up (and don’t stay good for very long). - Today’s chili is tomorrow’s chili mac. Today’s pulled pork is tomorrow’s enchiladas. Today’s chicken breasts is tomorrow’s chicken salad sandwich. - Leftover vegetables? Cut them up, roast them in the oven on a baking sheet with oil or butter. Grab some rice or couscous or quinoa. Add some sour cream. Boom you have a delicious vegetarian kitchen sink meal. - Don’t overthink it! Bruschetta is totally a meal if you pick the right toppings. Bread, tomato, balsamic, burrata, basil—super fresh and delicious vegetarian summer meal. - I find it very easy to plan a meal for 2 that makes 4 servings! 1 lb of meat, 1 lb of starch, and a frozen bag of vegetables usually feeds 4. Pasta? That can go even farther! Reheat it in a sauce pan day 2 or 3 with some oil and it tastes like a whole new meal! - Since we are predominately making 4 servings per dinner, those last 2 servings become lunch the next day. We always keep sandwich bread, pb&j, lunch meat, or a frozen option on hand for lunches if a dinner doesn’t yield a full 4 servings. - Take inventory before placing your next order. Anything sitting in the back of the cabinet without allocation? Those beans can become veggie tacos. That broth and half a box of pasta can be the foundation for your next soup. You then only need to buy supplementary ingredients to use up what you already have. - Plan ahead with snacks. Buy some hummus, eat it with any left over vegetables. Make your own pico de gallo for $1 with fresh tomatoes and onions. Cereal for breakfast or dessert is cheap when you consider the costs of alternatives. Tea comes in huge servings. Plan snacking into your pick up to avoid going out to buy something to eat when you’re just trying to nibble on something. - With lunch and dinner always covered, breakfast is the biggest variable. Bagels and cream cheese. Fruit, yogurt, granola. Oatmeal. Eggs and bread. All super easy and require very few ingredients. - When we eat out, we try to order 4 meals worth (or large entree options) to cover lunch the next day as we would get from a normal meal at home. Getting 2 meals out of 1 entree cuts your cost per meal in half. (I am not a bot. I just like formatting. Great write up!)
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I'm pretty sure she meant that she doesn't go INTO the store to shop. I haven't been INSIDE a grocery store in 3 years. No more impulse shopping, and like her, we have saved a ton of money. However, I think her cost per week is a bit high, but we aren't young able-bodied working young adults. Edit...a word
Yes, that is what I meant. $70-$84/person per week is a lot for all meals and toiletries?
Yeah it is for us but we are very old. I only cook 3 times a week (think spaghetti, chicken pot pie, chili, or soup) with leftovers the next day. We only eat eggs and toast with cucumbers or fruit. No more makeup or business clothes to buy. We are at a $55 to $60 a week per person Lol, it's the medical marijuana that absolutely wrecks our budget tho🫣 I do agree about the "raz-mah-taz" shopping tips are nothing groundbreaking. But I guess if someone didn't get home training (foster kids, runaways trying to build a solid homelife), it might be helpful🤷♀️ Edit... a couple of words to clarify
Lol. Thanks for the backhanded compliments. Enjoy your eggs and toast!!
Thanks for your feedback!
You do get charged a higher online price than in store for a lottt of grocery stores. Target is the only one I’ve seen that has consistent pricing.
Sadly I think the majority of Reddit commenters only say something to say the OP or another commenter is wrong.
Awesome! Sounds as if you could write a book about it, maybe even teach it—monetized.👍
Nice of you to say! Thank you!
You're welcome
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LMAO. What are you talking about? Projecting much?
Wow you responded fast. I deleted my comment because of the effort and enthusiasm you put into your post and I felt bad raining on your parade. Just saying you could just as easily make a list and stick to it instore as ordering store pickup. In my experience the grocery pickers and or delivery services don't put the effort into picking out the good produce, and you'll end up with very poorly fruits and veggies. This post reminded me of my friend who ordered a flip phone because she was addicted to her smartphone and couldn't put it down. I told her the same thing, to address the core issue which was self control.
It really has nothing to do with that. It’s a perk of not going to the store that I spend less, but the root cause was that I hated wasting an hour at the grocery store every week and having to think ahead as to what I wanted from each section (and having to go back to a section if my list wasn’t complete enough to get everything the first time around). Then depending on how busy it is, I have to wait in lines. I used to spend 45 mins-1 hour in the grocery store per week. Now I can order my groceries from my couch in 30 mins. The drive to the store is the same as whether I was shopping inside so I net even there. Don’t have to wait in any lines at all or handle any payment or transaction or bagging. I’ve been doing this for 5 years and the produce thing is a myth in my experience. Who said because I’m eating the food that I’m going to pick better produce? Better than a person whose job is to literally handle and stock the produce daily? Lol You’re not raining on my parade, but you’re trying to give me advice on something I feel that I have nearly perfected. The advice isn’t needed! Thanks
I mostly order nowadays and absolutely don't get only the worst quality items like some people are saying (I live in UK). Veg and fruit is almost always fresh or not anything that I wouldn't pick something myself in the store and I'm not picky at all. Def saves me some money because I don't impulse buy at the store and I can use coupons. Some people who commented probably never even tried delivery.
Pick up at wegmans, you get upcharged at least a dollar for every single item, and usually end up with gross produce.
I recently switched to using what I have, unless the ingredient I need is a staple ingredient in the meal. I also plan dinner around what I have. I made a greek chicken rice meal the other day. The recipe called for kale, but I had romaine. I also had a ton of feta cheese and that was one of the big ingredients in the recipe. Another recipe called for rice vinegar but I had ACV and distilled white. Most often times small swaps don’t make a noticeable difference. Also helps to keep staple pantry items. I’ve found planning around what I have/what needs to be used has kept the cost and the waste down in my home. Also going to the grocery store to grab one or two necessary items and shopping with the intent of only getting those things. I’m definitely someone that likes to peruse the aisles (especially at Costco/Sam’s) and it was a huge problem. Saving so much and paying off debt now!
It just takes an incredible amount of mental effort and planning to set up something like this. So I commend you for being able to do it! I know it's not frugal, but I loved when we could afford meal kit delivery services (hello fresh, etc). Not having to even think about what to make for dinner saves a huge amount of time and anxiety. Anyway, being the person who plans the household meals and executes the shopping, cooking, repurposing of leftovers, making sure nothing goes to waste, and so on, takes real skill and work/time. It's rare that I'll shop ingredients for a specific recipe; these days, I buy staples and ingredients that have longevity or can be frozen. When it comes to cooking, I 'wing it' or improvise based on what we have or what needs to be used up. Oh and always have a lemon on hand! Adding a spritz of acid to a lot of dishes really makes a difference!
My spouse and I plan three dinners a week. We eat the first on Sunday, then have leftovers Monday, the second on Tuesday, with leftovers Wednesday, and the third Thursday, with the leftovers either Friday or Saturday. You're right that it's easy to cook four servings of a thing and have it for two meals. I also usually plan my work lunches to be the same thing all week long (although I change what that is from week to week). However, I don't have a problem going in the grocery store and buying literally only the things on my list - this gives me flexibility in selecting the items, the time I go to the store, and when I can take time to plan the menu. I write down the menu first, then list the ingredients I need to purchase, and on the other half of the paper I re-list the grocery items in the order they appear in the store (produce, then deli/meat if needed, then canned/dry, then dairy/frozen).
I love this idea, but I hate it when my plan is ruined by an out of stock/the picker couldn't find it. Plus I like my clearance cart finds
I shop online and pick up because it prevents me from buying shit I don't need. I get my produce at Aldis on my way to pick up my groceries at Walmart
I love how detailed this is! Too bad I don’t have an Aldi nearby, but I do use pick up every week. Saves me time. I prefer it to perusing the aisles, dealing with foot traffic, navigating around people, waiting in line, and all the noises. (I’m noise sensitive) We’re a family of 2 and thinking about getting a Sam’s club membership. Just to stock up on essentials like TP, chicken, meats, bread, etc. and hopefully it’ll save us some money.
I definitely recommend a warehouse membership - it pays for itself in one or two visits depending on what you get! It’s not just good for essentials but snacks as well. We picked up a yoplait yogurt 24 pack (3 flavors of 8 each) for $8 last weekend. They normally retail at $1+ per serving. Lots of great finds in Sam’s Club/Costco!
Yeah definitely agree! Thanks 😊
Y'know, I think I'm going to start doing this a bit. It never occurred to me the cost in terms of TIME when it comes to grocery shopping. Thank you! And I LOVE the commenter's idea of doing a pickup order for everything but produce - and then running in and getting the produce myself.