Grocery shopping can be such a hard and annoying task to do. Especially right now in the world of Covid and
masks. I want to get in and out of the store as quickly as I can! Mostly just to be done with the chore it has become. I try my hardest to get it done in one trip but somehow find myself standing in Walmart or Aldi a couple days out of the week. This is my “go to strategies” list to make grocery shopping faster, easier, and more efficient. When I follow these tips my week of meals and grocery shopping are cakewalks!
- Clean the fridge out before you go!
I know! I know! I can hear you groaning over the internet. Believe me, I DESPISE this too! I avoid it, rationalize it away, and beg my husband to do it. I will do whatever I can to not have to clean out the nasty leftover containers in the back! BUT… when I do this before I go it is so nice! My fridge is clean. I know what I have and what I need to get. Putting groceries away is amazing because there is actually space. (Imagine that!) Planning your trip out is important to maximize your time. This step takes some intentional forethought but that is what will help make this process faster and easier in the long run. - Meal plan!
At the very least plan out your dinners. This will help make sure you don’t have to do the panicked trip to the store an hour before dinner because you don’t have a vital ingredient. I plan out dinners and a couple of different breakfast, lunch, and snack ideas that can be rotated throughout the week. As I write down my meals I write a separate list of all the ingredients needed to make that meal or snack. (More on that in the next tip) - Organize your list!
Again, I hear your groaning, but this is the key to a faster and more efficient trip! Now is when you take the list of all needed ingredients for your week’s meals and cross off everything you already have. Keep in mind the quantity when doing this. It’s a hassle when I use up all of something that I need for multiple meals. After you have done the crossing off, you can organize. I like to go to the same stores if I can. Then I can keep the layout in mind. I put similar grocery items together. That way it doesn’t read: apples, milk, cat litter, bananas, mascara. Running a marathon all over the store following my list is not my preferred workout method. I would group together like items: Cat litter, mascara (because they are usually on the other side of the store), apples, bananas, milk. - Go when the store is not busy!
I recently went on a Friday at noon. Silly me. It wasn’t just any old Friday when the stores normally would have been dead. It was the Friday before a holiday. Insert a gigantic smack to the forehead! It was slammed. What should have taken me 45 minutes total (including drive time), took me almost 2 hours!!! When you google a store it gives you an idea of how busy that store is at any given time. You can use this to help narrow down a window that works for your schedule. For me, it’s worth it to do some late night shopping or early in the morning if I don’t have to fight the crowds to get my favorite Merlot BellaVitano Cheese. (You should try it! It’s dreamy!) - Use a shopping service!
This has been an amazing time saver! There is only so much time in a day. My grandpa always said “There are 24 hours in a day. That’s all you get. If that’s what God gave you then get it done or don’t.” Well this is a way to get it done! There are many different services out there. Paid and free. Just look around for what works best for your budget and needs. Shipt and Instacart are popular ones right now. You can pay a membership fee and have them delivered. I personally used Instacart for a while. It was great when I went back to work after being laid off from Covid. I had to work long hours so to have the shopping done for me and schedule a delivery was the best thing since sliced bread! When I plan ahead enough, I use Walmart or Mejier’s grocery pickup. They are great as well. Walmart has free pickup on orders of $35 or more and Meijer is $50 or more. (Later note: now Meijer has matched Walmart’s $35 minimum!)
I hope this helps my friends! Give it a try. You will thank me later. Have fun finding all your rubbermaid containers in the back of the fridge. No I won’t come clean them out for you.
XOXO,
Poppy Seeds Kitchen
