Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Whatcha Doin?



I'm waiting for my groceries to be delivered. One of the good things for me that came out of the pandemic was using the grocery store's delivery service. You see, I hate shopping, especially grocery shopping. Take me to an an art supply or bookstore, and I'm happy as a clam to browse and putter, but walking up and down the aisles of a grocery store especially before a big storm. Nope. Himself used to do the grocery shopping. He enjoyed it so I was happy to let him do it. Besides, he's a better shopper than I am. He'd know whether an item was a good price if it was on sale. Me? I shop The Little Princess Method. If The Little Princess wants something, she buys it, whether or not it is on sale.

At the start of the pandemic, grocery stores  had special hours for Senior Citizens. The stores opened at the Crack of Stupid in the dead of night and cold for the old people to do their shopping. You'd get to the store and there'd be a long line of folks waiting to get into the store. Ridiculously stupid. The special hours were so that those must vulnerable could do their shopping while the stores weren't so crowded. Maybe good in theory, but not practice.

We used to do the grocery shopping for my parents when Dad could no longer drive. I used to beg my mother to do her shopping through Peapod, one of the areas large chain grocery service. Nope. We had to go to the store where it took her three hours. I kid you not! Peapod!

If I begged my mother to shop that way, why not shop that way myself. I first started shopping through my local grocery store using Instacart.. You point and click your way through the order. You'd be assigned a personal shopper and then they would deliver the items to you. Perfect. Until it wasn't. 

In the beginning, there were so many shortages, toilet paper, yeast, flour. The poor shoppers would constantly be texting. They don't have King Arthur Flour do you want another brand? And they would send pictures of the shelves. I spent more time texting back and forth that it would have been faster if I went to the store myself.

Peapod, idiot, use Peapod. You pointed and clicked your way through the order. At the end when  you submitted your order, could go over it and check or uncheck items that would be substituted  if an item you wanted wasn't available. No more texting back and forth. Select the items you want, select an available delivery time, usually the next day or a day or two away. Your choice. Pick a range of time and you can save a couple of bucks on the $6.95 delivery fee. Perfect.

You don't even have to help the driver unload the groceries. I made a note on my order to leave the groceries in the front porch. I just leave the doors open so the driver doesn't have to fight with opening and closing the storm door.

So while I waited for the order to be delivered today, I took a shower, had a cup of tea and typed this blog post.


I get a text when the order is about to be delivered. I can even track the order if I want. I had scheduled the order to be delivered sometime between 6:30 AM and 1 PM. I saved $2.00 off the delivery fee. The order was delivered at 7:13 AM. The driver even closed the doors.

I didn't get my whole order. I had ordered a few cans of kitty food just to have a few extra. There's a can shortage of cat food so it wasn't a big surprise. A few items were substituted, no big deal for me. I happily tip the driver (that's optional) for saving me the aggravation of doing a task I hate.

Time to put the groceries away. Whatcha doin?

21 comments:

  1. We've thought of using a service too....but it's the only time we get out and 'socialize'! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (Plus I've spoken to a few of the delivery people and from what I hear they get royally ripped off and the service makes all the $$$$!)

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    1. Peapod is a bit different. The "shoppers" don't shop from the grocery store. All orders are placed through the store's warehouse. Items are taken off the warehouse shelves by store employees who pack and deliver the items. I don't know what the store pays it's warehouse employees. Hopefully, better than minimum wage. Massachusetts minimum wage is $14.25 with an increase to $15 per hour by 2023

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  2. I've been doing this since just before Christmas. I select my delivery time, a few days away, start my order and can continue to add to it until the day before delivery. I check "use substitutions" on everything except gluten free items. And voila, it is at my door. Also done at warehouse.

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  3. I don't mind grocery shopping any more, though I used to and would put it off so that my husband just started doing it lol I agree that "the Crack of Stupid in the dead of night and cold for the old people" is "Ridiculously stupid." I never could bring myself to get out that early. Just no. I've never tried shopping any way but going up and down the aisles in person. I go most weeks, but I haven't gone yet this week and today the stores will be packed with the panic-stricken bread/milk/eggs shoppers. I'll pass lol

    I'm watching coverage of an elected official being kicked out. One of the Memphis state senators :( Later, once it gets closer to our predicted high of near 60, I'll put out more suet and mealworms for the birds in preparation for tonight's predicted ice storm. If you don't like the weather, wait a minute.

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    1. We're getting your storm a day later and I didn't want to deal with the grocery store. Went the day before last week's storm to get Himself some Pepto and couldn't find a parking spot. Stay safe during the storm.

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    2. To be honest, I'm doubtful we'll get the ice storm they're predicting primarily because they're predicting it.

      I've never not found a parking space at the grocery, but then we devote major acreage to parking around here lol

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  4. It does sound good-I haven't done it yet as I don't want to get myself too lazy haha being retired we stay indoors or around our home when its warm-so if I do the grocery shopping I actually get exercise and see people but that's me
    I do agree the senior hours at the wal mart were really crazy-6am not good in the fall and winter when it was sooo dark so I never did that either. But I do always want to be at the grocery store the first hour with less people being so rural here I don't know if there is even a delivery service available for us I may look into it as we get older

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    1. I usually make my Target run within the first hours they are open to avoid the crowds, too. Nice to have the store to myself.

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  5. Great system, and I agree with how you feel about shopping: craft type store: fun, grocery store: not fun. :-)

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  6. Funnily enough I went shopping today, it wasn't too busy and I managed to get everything that was on my shopping list :)

    All the best Jan

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    1. Getting everything on your list makes for a good day

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  7. WE live in an area with no grocery delivery, unless its non-perishables from Amazon or Costco. And you have to wait for a few days. I think shopping this way is a fantastic way to grocery shop. It's not my favorite thing either, unless I got a place like Costco or BJ's. I like one stop shopping for everything I might need, but of course that doesn't happen either. Looks like you have this down now. Hope it was a good day-rain or snow for you at the end of the weeK?

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    1. Mostly sleet and ice for the end of the week here.

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  8. Same here, I hate grocery shopping, Ingo takes over often.
    What stupid is that with the "special hours"!

    Wow, that´s a lot of groceries! Here it´s still too expensive with delivery.
    Shortage on cat food?! I could not get cauliflower, these are weird, weird times.

    Off to work in a short while. 7 steps, weeee... :-) The joy of working from home!

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    1. I think working from home is great. No long commutes, traffic jams. You can wear a nice top and sweat pants or pajama bottoms in case you have to be on camera. You can wear slippers, too.

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  9. I haven't gone grocery shopping since the beginning of the pandemic. My personal shopper is Scott, who doesn't seem to mind. And I don't have to tip him or get charged a service or delivery fee. We have an arrangement. When he gets to the store, he calls me, and I "walk" the aisles with him. I sometimes have a list and sometimes I don't. Now that he's moved to another town, I have to plan ahead because he only comes to see me about once every two weeks. Last time it was three weeks because I begged him NOT to come to town because the weekends were all snowy and icy. Thankfully, he came last weekend and I KNEW it was going to be a bad week, so I planned for once. My groceries looked a bit like yours, only mine came in a box, not plastic bags.

    I love your Little Princess attitude, but that would never work with my tight budget. Actually, Scott shops for me at Aldi and they seldom have sale items, at least none I would be interested in. When he shops at Kroger, he looks for reduced or sale items only for me.

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    1. You're lucky to have such a good friend to help you out. Good thing you planned because the weather is going to be nasty today. Stay safe.

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    2. It's actually been nasty and bitterly cold for THREE days. Hopefully it is out of here before the weekend.

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