I don't know about you, but routine grocery shopping has never been something I love to do. I say routine, because, I did love grocery shopping with my dear husband when grocery shopping dates were a thing. We used to go to Trader Joe and Costco while the kids were at youth activities at church. Those were the days! Now, well, shopping is my sole job and I prefer to be as quick as possible. Enter curbside pickup!
First, you put a fun little app on your phone to build your list as you go. All I have to do is notice that I am running low on an item, quickly grab my phone and add it to my list. I don't have to spend time thinking about what we need. As the week goes along, I see my bill rising. Sometimes the growing total prompts me to take off an item or two to keep under budget. It's rather useful as a budgeting tool. I have also taken my app out when shopping at another store to compare prices.
Once my list is finished, I reserve my time slot and wait for my grocery fairies to go to work for me. There are a few things I usually like to pick out myself, so I still go to another smaller store to get those things, fresh produce and meat on sale. But that trip is quick and usually a few days later so I can also pick up anything that we may be low on at the moment or is a better deal at that store. I am usually out and about anyway so I can make this an easy stop.
At the appointed hour, I hop into my van, drive 7 minutes to the big box store and wait for the nice, friendly people to load me up. I actually cannot imagine walking around a big grocery store gathering all this stuff all by myself! I used to do that with 3 kids??? Another perk is that sometimes my darling husband will stop and pick up the groceries for me on his way home. I do not like to use this option very often because I would rather have him home as soon as possible, but it is a good plan B.
So, that's my current sanity saver! Do you use grocery pickup? Do you have anything saving your sanity right now?