I look to save time wherever I can. It’s simple really…I have 24 hours at my disposal every day.
I really like to use 8 of them to sleep.
And then…
I use 2 of them for my morning routine for me and the kids.
I use 7 of them to work.
I use 4 of them to help kids with homework, make dinner and enjoy my family.
I use 3 of them to reconnect with my hubby after the kids go to bed.
And that’s 24 hours. I use to try to fight with time (as if I was going to win that one) and try to find ways to get more hours out of my day. I tried not sleeping (guess who suffered more with that plan). I tried pouting, getting mad and even giving people I love the most, less of my hours. None of these tactics brought me any closer to a solution for the real problem.
The real problem wasn’t time, it was how I used my time and more poignantly … How I felt about myself after the fact.
So I started getting creative on how I could feel good about “getting it all done” but maybe not have to be doing “it all” myself.
Over the years, I’ve come up with a combination of strategies that have helped me feel more in control. Things like a 5-Minute makeup routine, “Fred” my robot mop and having my groceries delivered. By themselves they may not make a big difference, but put them together and magic starts to happen.
Today I’m starting a new series,’time savers’ and to kick things off, I want to share one of the ways I won back time. Grocery Deliveries.
Now most of the time when I tell someone that I have my groceries delivered, they I either give me a funny look that seems to translate to “a bit pretentious are we?” or I’m told, “I would l-o-v-e to do that!”
Well why don’t you? If you live in or near any big cities there is probably an option for delivery! And guess what! It’s been HUGE in saving me time, guilt and…wait for it…Money! Bet you didn’t see that one coming!
Here’s why I…
SAVE TIME: With Safeway, you can download an app to your phone, when I run out of something I just scan the bar code with my phone and it automatically adds it to my list. Once I’m ready, I pick a delivery window for the next day and groceries are delivered. They are even organized into categories refrigerator, pantry and freezer items, which makes putting up the groceries a breeze. No running to the store or dragging all the groceries from the car inside. They literally show up right at my front door. And if I don’t like the quality of any items, I can refuse it. I never have so far, but it’s nice to have that ability. Yes! It’s that awesome!
SAVE ON GUILT: I feel like a pretty crappy mom every time the fridge gets empty, but I also can not stand grocery shopping. This creates a constant conflict between knowing I should go and deciding I can put it off one more day week. The result is I feel guilty because I know I need to go grocery shopping. I know my kids deserve fresh produce and not just the food storage and I know it’s a lot easier to make dinner when your fridge consists of more than just pickles and mayo but at the same time… I just don’t feel like going! Enter grocery delivery and at least this problem has been solved.
SAVE MONEY: I’ll totally admit that I did not see this one coming. I was thinking, okay I’ll pay a little more, but gosh dang it, it’s going to be worth it! Well it turns out I’m saving money because I’m not impulse buying. I’m not adding all those extra items into my cart as I walk down the aisles. I make my meal plan over the weekend, add everything to my list and then groceries are delivered Monday morning. In addition there is always some promo discount for free delivery so I don’t think I’ve ever paid for delivery yet, but even if I did need to – at least with Safeway, if you’re willing to take a larger delivery window (like 4 hours) then they will take $6 off your delivery charge making it almost free.
I use Safeway Delivery but I am going to be trying Amazon Fresh soon too.
So there you go…that’s my grocery delivery story! Making the decision to try out grocery deliveries was one of those relatively simple changes that has made a world of difference! If you like the idea…give it a try yourself! You don’t have to commit, just try it for yourself and see what you think!
I’d love to hear about it! Or if you already do have groceries delivered, share your experience in the comments!
Love this! Can’t wait to hear more time savers!
So glad!! Thanks Christin! 😀
I actually was weighing this the other day. Grocery shopping lets G and I get out of the house, which is great, but I am *such* an impulse shopper! I wondered how much I would save if I started doing delivery, even with some items being priced higher. But where would G and I go if I didn’t need one extra thing from Fred Meyer? 🙂
Ha! You guys could go to the park or for a walk or build a new awesome lego on a scavenger hunt. Each clue gives him more pieces. 🙂 Or you can still go to Freddy’s but instead of full blown shopping just pick up a bit of produce and let the heavy lifting be delivered. 🙂 <3 you Z! Thanks for the comment!
I totally had to reply to this.
Late last year i noticed i was dropping into the shops every other day to grab this that or the other for dinner, the kids lunches etc. and it was adding up really fast.
On Jan 1 i decided to do MONTHLY grocery shopping. BEST THING EVER. I plan out all of our meals for the entire month (breakfast, lunches, dinners AND snacks) and do a stock take of every single item in our home. It takes me a couple of hours to do all of this but i now keep the receipts so i know exactly what i brought and what we have been though for the month. I also cross off the meals as we eat them so i know what is left in the freezer. We do a fortnightly fruit, veg, milk, bread and meat shop but do this as a family outing as we have morning tea together at the farmers market.
I do mine online too. The first month was alot of money but this month was half as much. This time i also just went into my old list and clicked on everything i needed, added a few more things and was seriously done in ten minutes!!! And we have free delivery on Wednesdays so hello! Wednesdays here i come 🙂
This month (i am from Australia) for the first time i have both of my children in full time school (cue sobs) and i work from home for my parents company AND im trying to start a photography business. I need to squeeze every SECOND out of child free chunk so i can focus on them when they get home. Knowing what we are eating every meal, having all the items on hand and not going to the shops every day has made an amazing difference to our home 🙂
Wow! That is amazing Amanda! A whole month!! I do two weeks at a time right now. I think the coolest thing has been that in your mind, at first you think it’s to luxurious to think you can have groceries delivered but in actuality it’s actually much more practical AND as a bonus you get to feel like a #girlboss 😀
I won a 6 month free delivery from Instacart in December and still haven’t used it. After reading this, I think I better take advantage!! I also just clicked on that Amazon Fresh link. I hadn’t heard of it before, but what do you know – it’s available here in Philly and Prime members get free delivery for a bit! Whoop! Thanks for the great tips!
Hurray! That is just awesome Karen! Yes, you should totally take advantage of both so you can compare and see what you think! The one thing I haven’t loved is them picking my produce but I’ve recently heard of a company called HelloFresh.com and I think I’m going to try that to see if I can avoid the grocery store even longer.