How can I save time with grocery shopping?

[marywantsmoney]

Grocery shopping takes up about 2.5 hrs of my week. For the most part, I get the same stuff so shopping isn't even fun. Does anyone have a personal grocery shopper? Or does anyone pay for some sort of grocery subscription? I'm trying to find a way to justify the expense... I work a lot and grocery shopping drags me down. Kind of like how I felt about dishes before I bought a dishwasher.

[cashisking500]

There are services like Peapod that will deliver your groceries to your door based on your online order. I'm sure it's convenient, but I've never done it. It's tough to justify the expense in my opinion. Here are a couple things to think about...

- Can you shorten your time spent in the grocery if you make a list of items you need before you go? That way you're getting the items instead of roaming the store aimlessly looking for what you want.

- How often do you go to the grocery? I know some people go multiple days of the week and buy a little each time. We prefer to go on one day and get our groceries for the entire week. This obviously limits our trips to the grocery.

[disneysteve]

Grocery shopping takes up about 2.5 hrs of my week.

Why? How do possibly spend that much time grocery shopping? Do you live a great distance from the store and are including the commuting time? I can't imagine anyone actually spending that long in the store.

I do the weekly shopping in our house. I'm in and out in under an hour.

[bjl584]

I can't imagine anyone actually spending that long in the store.

I work part time in retail. Believe me, people can spend all day in a store. I routinely witness people in the store for the duration of my shift. 5 or 6 hours or more.

[disneysteve]

I work part time in retail. Believe me, people can spend all day in a store. I routinely witness people in the store for the duration of my shift. 5 or 6 hours or more.

Are you sure they aren't just homeless people looking for a safe place with air conditioning?

Seriously, I can't fathom someone spending 2.5 hours in the supermarket. Our place - Wegman's - has a great cafe in the store and even when I have lunch first and then shop, I'm still not there anywhere near that long.

OP, if you are actually spending that long shopping, my advice would be to have a detailed list prepared in advance. Then just go up and down each aisle getting the things on your list. Don't browse. Don't stop for free samples. Don't check out new items. Just get what you came for. There's simply no way that could possibly take more than an hour assuming you have no physical disability that slows you down.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Grocery shopping takes up about 2.5 hrs of my week. For the most part, I get the same stuff so shopping isn't even fun. Does anyone have a personal grocery shopper? Or does anyone pay for some sort of grocery subscription? I'm trying to find a way to justify the expense... I work a lot and grocery shopping drags me down. Kind of like how I felt about dishes before I bought a dishwasher.

In the modern capitalist economy, all of your needs and wants have a price tag:

hate cleaning? Hire a cleaning service.

Hate mowing you lawn? Hire.

Hate shopping for groceries?

There are services for that.

What you choose to spend money on is your own decision.

Some people like woodworking... DIY for all woodworking projects in the house and hire out everything you hate.

One possible solution: Amazon.com has free shipping for orders over $25 and services like Amazon Prime. Having most of your non-perishables delivered might not even cost you more money.

[Fishindude77]

Keep a pad and pen somewhere handy in the kitchen. When you discover something is needed, write it down on the pad. Plan your meals out for the week and write items needed down on the same pad.

Take the pad and a pen with you when you go to the grocery and check things off the list as you put them in your cart. Pretty simple, but not many do it. Living rural teaches you to make lists to avoid additional trips to town.

Also - I prefer the smaller style groceries rather than the fancy big facilities like Meijer, Whole Foods, etc. I can get in and out much quicker, park closer, and lines aren't as long, plus I know where everything is at by going there repeatedly.

We rarely buy meat on our weekly grocery trips either. Meat is usually purchased in larger discounted quantities every couple months at places like Sams Club, local butcher shop, etc. Then we take it home and vac seal properly sized portions so we can get the correct amount out of the freezer in the morning.

[disneysteve]

Keep a pad and pen somewhere handy in the kitchen. When you discover something is needed, write it down on the pad. Plan your meals out for the week and write items needed down on the same pad.

Take the pad and a pen with you when you go to the grocery and check things off the list as you put them in your cart.

This is exactly what we do. There is a shopping list on the fridge. Throughout the week, we all add to it as needed. I grab the list Thursday morning and take it to the store. As I go through the store, I check the items off as I get them.

Another tip is to stick with one store so that you become very familiar with where everything is located and you develop a set routine for going through it quickly and efficiently. Occasionally, my wife will come with me and that totally throws off my routine because she isn't familiar with the store layout so she tends to try and jump around which takes a lot more time.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I figure if I can't remember that we needed it then it's not really important.

Saves more money than you'd realize, lol.

[ua_guy]

My strategy has always been:

-Plan meals in advance

-Plan for at least a week's worth of food, with some backup items to curb eating out-- like, hey, if I'm too tired to cook or just don't want "chicken and vegetables", there's this awesome frozen pizza in the fridge that I'm going to devour while watching Netflix.

-Make a list. I make my list aisle by aisle as I'm envisioning the grocery store in my head.

When i get to the store, I follow my list, and that weaves the cart through the aisles starting from the left side of the store, to the right.

I. hate. grocery. shopping. This has been the quickest method to get me in/out, and on a budget.

I've tried Amazon Fresh with mixed results. I don't like the extra expense.

[marywantsmoney]

Why? How do possibly spend that much time grocery shopping? Do you live a great distance from the store and are including the commuting time? I can't imagine anyone actually spending that long in the store.

I do the weekly shopping in our house. I'm in and out in under an hour.

I'm counting 2 trips/week (sometimes more) and that includes driving there (it's quite a ways away - yay rural living - not), shopping, checking out, loading the car, unloading the car. I'd say 2.5 is pretty accurate. Plus, since all the stores around me are so-so, I often have to go to 2 different stores to find what I want. It sucks.

[pflyers85]

Lots of good advice here. Definitely make a list based on what meals you plan to make for the week. Another thing is to make sure you eat or you are full before you shop. When you shop hungry you are more likely to buy more than you would if you are full. Try to avoid shopping during the day on the weekends because it's usually busy.

Do you have a Sam's Club or other wholesale club near you? My girlfriend and I buy things like canned diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, beans, paper towels, toilet paper, and other long term goods that don't quickly spoil in bulk. A 1/2 hour to 45 mins at BJ's wholesale club once every 6 weeks significantly cuts down on the time we have to spend at the grocery store during the other weeks.

[disneysteve]

I'm counting 2 trips/week (sometimes more)

I would focus on this. Don't go 2 or more times/week. Go once a week. Plan everything out so that you don't find yourself having to go back, especially since it isn't nearby. That would help a lot.

[riverwed070707]

I personally hate meal planning more than the shopping itself. I found it to be incredibly time consuming and cumbersome. Signed up for a meal planning subscription last fall (www.cooksmarts.com) and never looked back. I get a weekly menu with a grocery list, add a few extras for breakfasts and lunches and I've planned and shopped in less than an hour. It saves me time planning, shopping and cooking (most meals don't take more than 30 minutes including prep time). Saves money because we're not wasting as much food and it saves my sanity. It costs $6-8/mo depending on which plan you go with.

[ESMonitor]

Just buy once a month. Print you out a checklist, run an inventory on what you need replenished in your fridge, freezer, food pantry, go to Wal Mart or somewhere with good prices and execute. Go early in morning before it gets crowded and crazy in there.

You will still probably have to go to store each week or so to get refills on consumables such as milk, loaf of bread, bananas, etc as I did earlier this morning, but you are out in five minutes.

I found it's also easier to budget for food if you buy just once a month. Hope this is of help.