Online Grocery Shopping - Day 13 of 30 - Things That Make My Life Easier

I'm Jaren, a neurodivergent Mom of neurodivergent kids going back to school in my 40's. In this series, I'll be posting about things that make my life easier.

Let's talk about ordering grocery delivery for a second.

Like many, I started ordering online during covid when I didn't want to leave the house. But what I quickly realized is that when I ordered groceries instead of picking them out myself in-store, I saved money. Like...$100 each shopping trip (I'll get into that in a sec, don't judge yet). That's including the tip for the driver.

WHA???

Obviously, if you live in a really rural area you probably won't have this option. But if you do have it and you're in the season of life where you're busier than a donkey, might I suggest giving it a try.

Here's why I shop grocery delivery as a neurdivergent:

• First of all, fewer distractions, fewer interactions. I need to shop sales in order to stretch my dollar, not get distracted by all the fancy in-store displays or the fact that people don't know how to walk at a reasonable pace inside a supermarket. (You'd think if I overspend by $100 in-store, I'd get more food which would mean stretching the amount of time between grocery trips. Please. I just eat more.)

• Secondly, I can easily adjust my cart before checking out by adding and subtracting items without embarrassment. I love that the cart calculates in real time and lets me know how far off I am from what I budgeted.

• I'm tipping someone who's job hasn't been entirely replaced by AI. That's gotta mean something.

• Also, instead of 30 people driving their cars to the grocery store and back, one van drops off groceries after the store processes its orders. I feel like that's more economical.

• I can order when I'm calm, fed, and focused instead of trying to slip it in between classes, feeling rushed, hungry and more impulsive (which ends up being costlier).

• I can include my kids in the process of shopping, therefor prepping them for real-world experiences. It's also nice to say "Hey, you have $20 on this haul. Choose a protein, a vegetable and a dessert that you'd like this week" and let them do some of the work. *They're more likely to eat what they choose anyway, so who's the smart mom, now, huh?

• I can also reorder past orders to save even more time. Since I prefer to eat the same things over and over again, this is a great option.

How's my pitch? Are you convinced?

What are your favorite tips and tricks for grocery shopping? I'm ALL ears.

-Jaren