Any other grocery pickup lovers in the house? Grocery pickup has saved me hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars since I started using it in 2019. In 2019, I had two kids under 2 and grocery shopping with kids is not an enjoyable experience! It was right about when stores began to launch grocery pickup and delivery so I decided to give it a go. Most stores started it as a free service to get people hooked (guilty!). While some now have fees associated with grocery pickup, I am convinced that if I paid a fee, it is worth it for the time and money it saves me.
Each week, I spend around 20 minutes figuring out my family’s meal plan for the week, taking stock of what we already have vs what we need to execute this meal plan, ordering groceries online, and picking up the groceries that I ordered. Also, 5 more minutes and voila, I have put the groceries away too! If I compare how much time I would spend if I went into the grocery and shopped around for these items, after already doing the meal planning, I would have to add at least another hour to my weekly shopping regimen. Thus, I save myself an hour a week just by using grocery pickup.
Not only that, but I am convinced I save myself AT LEAST $10-$20 a week using grocery pickup. I love that I can see what my total will be as I’m checking out, before I pickup my groceries. If my grocery budget is $200 a week, I can see my total and know if I need to remove something, have extra room to stock up, or need to find more coupons. I also save some money each week because I don’t yield to cleverly placed marketing in the grocery stores. Do I need a container of Oreos that are on sale for $2.99? No! But might I buy them if I they’re on an end cap when I’m in the store shopping? Yes! We’ve all been there. A few extras jump into our carts and before you know it, we’ve spent more than we planned on.
The other thing I love about grocery pickup is how easy it is to use with money saving apps like Ibotta and Fetch Rewards. I have saved over $700 since May of 2020 on just Ibotta alone. I try to look for things I already buy, but sometimes they’ll have free items that I try just because!
Walmart and Kroger pickup are my preference because they are free if you spend $35+ per order. I also like the way these two places handle substitutions if needed. If I just need a few items, I use Target Drive Up since they don’t have a minimum spend. I have not had a great experience with Meijer pickup. Every now and then I shop at Aldi using Instacart for pickup as well.
Do you use grocery pickup? What are your favorite grocery pickup ideas? Do you have any other money saving apps you love? Comment below.
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