Do you remember what it was like when you first moved out of your parents’ house? You were excited to be live your own life and do things however you want. There’s an independence that comes with living by yourself. This freedom comes with errands, but they were never a problem. One of the most important things you need to do on your own is doing the groceries.
The problem is that you have so much work and so many other things demanding your time that you stop going to the supermarket. You just don’t have the time. You need to rush to work and beat the traffic. You end up skipping breakfast to save some extra time. Before you know you have an empty fridge and you’re living on takeout meals.
The good news is that it’s now possible to do all of your grocery shopping online. A full fridge is just a few taps and clicks away. Here are some tips to save time and money with online grocery shopping.
1. Put Together a Grocery List
Putting together a grocery list might sound like a chore, but it forms the foundation of every successful shopping trip. They don’t even take all that long to make either, so you’ve got no excuses.
Start out by putting together a basic list of the essentials. Write down everything that gets used in your household. Think about the pantry staples that you can’t live without that can be used to make easy meals. With this basic list of essentials on your side, you’ll never have to write a full list again. Just add and take away seasonal and one-time items as and when necessary.
2. Shop Local, Not Super
Supermarkets are designed to lure shoppers in and make them spend hours wandering the store picking up things they don’t necessarily need. Given that most supermarkets also sell things in bulk, there’s no guarantee of quality. No one wants to spend money they don’t have on something they don’t need that winds up being no good anyway.
There was once a time the local market and shops were where people went to find quality ingredients and food. These places are smaller and specialize in a few products, so you know that they are selling a high quality product they understand.
If you don’t have the time to take a trip to the local market, then websites such as www.mercato.com can help. Mercato makes it easy to find local shops near you for the things you need. They even let you order products from the shop and get everything delivered to your door. Talk about convenience!
Just take a look through your shopping list, add what you want to your shopping cart, make your payment, and wait for everything to be delivered. No matter how busy your life gets, you’ll be able to order groceries and food to enjoy at home.
3. Take Advantage of your Phone
If you’re the kind of person that isn’t big on writing in notepads, why not take advantage of your phone instead? Snap a picture of a recipe that you’re curious about trying out, or write down any food or ingredients that you need on your notepad as a shopping list.
That makes it much easier for you to build up a shopping list and avoid buying products you don’t need. Another thing to consider doing is taking a picture of the inside of your fridge before going to the store or shopping online.
4. Use Discounts when Possible
If you don’t have the time to put together a full grocery list, then you probably wouldn’t have the time to look for discounts and coupons either. The good news is that you don’t need to spend hours doing that because you can get cash back from buying the products you want, particularly dry goods, with some stores offering up to 10% cashback on purchases.
There are many comparison websites that let you check which stores have the lowest prices so you don’t need to check individual stores too. You’ll know just where to go to get the best deal.
It’s possible to enjoy an amazing grocery shopping experience even when you have a hectic life. All you have to do is plan things ahead of time, learn how to prioritize, and take advantage of the technology at your fingertips to make everything go smoothly.
