I have been talking about my intense monthly grocery shopping trip a lot lately. Now, after all the talking: It. Is. Done!
And the question that has everyone holding their breath: Soooo, how'd it goooo? Was all the prepping worth it? Did watching all those episodes of Extreme Couponing help? Did I really save anything? Was it all worth it?!?
The answer is longer than one word, but the general tone is "yes." If that satiated your need to know, feel free to skip ahead. If, like me, you need to know it all, let's go into detail shall we?
First of all, the prep work. Here's me with all my spreadsheets listing recipes with all their ingredients, using the recipes to make a calendar and the ingredients to make my shopping list. Then I remember our printer is not working properly and I don't have time to run over to the in-laws to print stuff out. Crap. All that work for something I'm going to have to handwrite out now?!? Boooooooooo!
I figure there had to be an easier way to deal with this. Yup, there's an app for that!
I started digging around the app store on my Kindle Fire and found this little gem. I am usually pretty skeptical of apps, they almost never do all the things I want them to and I stop using them after a few tries. Our Groceries is a keeper!
All the reviews talked about how great it was to be able to add items to any of the lists created from any device that had the app installed (i.e. Mr. J could put "crackers" in on the iPod and it would update to show on my Kindle, the laptop, etc.). I didn't care too much about this feature as the only likely time I wouldn't be the one updating the list myself would be while I was actually out shopping. Seeing as though my Kindle doesn't have 3G (WiFi only), it wouldn't update while I was out and about. Perhaps, in the distant future, when Baby J is "Big J," he'll make use of this? Either way, like I said, I was skeptical about downloading it, but I just wanted a grocery list on my device and this had five stars, so why not?
I am so glad I did! The nifty little thing does all the work my spreadsheets do! You can add recipes or list items individually (or import them, making it my best friend), organize them into categories (Dairy, Meat, Produce, etc.) and into separate lists. I used this to make a list for each store I planned on shopping at. For the first time ever, I did not forget something!
Seems like this shouldn't have been a problem in the past with my awesome list, but when you're dealing with a hard copy that you're crossing items off on as you go, it's actually pretty easy to visually skip over items. Our Groceries lists your items by category and alphabetically (or by "popularity," depending on your settings) and a tap will cross off each item and move it automatically to the bottom of the list in the completed category. I worked my way methodically through each department at not one, not two, but three! stores, grabbed everything I needed and GTFO'ed. Best part? The app with ad support is free (the ads are seriously minimal and I didn't even notice, but you can reportedly upgrade to the pro and go ad-free).
With this in my arsenal, my grocery list population task will go even faster, but the most time consuming (and mentally exhausting) portion of prep involved checking each online site for which store would have the best deal for each item we required. Took foooreeeeveeerrr. But! On the bright side (there's always a bright side, right?), I have learned a few things.
In the end, was the prep worth is? Well, what used to take me five or more hours at the end of an exhausting day at work took me only two and a half using my mad organizing skills, new app, and a little bit of shopping during the slower part of the day (though to be fair, the "slower" part refers to the people who are there too!). You be the judge of that one!
The "Extreme Couponing" marathon did help me in one way. I needed to get about eight bags of various frozen vegetables. The supermarket had a coupon in their add for .88 each, but the limit was three and only one coupon per transaction. So, I got nine bags of veggies (and a couple of other things that I could do double transactions on to use more coupons) and split them into three transactions at the self-checkout (my preferred check out at this particular supermarket, because it's a "bag your own" store and I can bag as I go that way!). Beyond that? I spent roughly what I usually do on groceries, but I have the added bonus of knowing that several of my Sam's purchases will last for the next several months, thus saving money on future grocery bills. All in all, not as much as I would have liked, but I did save some. The next phase would actually be combing and clipping coupons. We shall see.......
All in all, I consider my grocery trip a success! Mr. and Baby J and Dubby are all happy with my "haul" and I am happy knowing that I have everything I need on hand to make whole, healthy meals alllll moooonnth looooong! Boom.
All the reviews talked about how great it was to be able to add items to any of the lists created from any device that had the app installed (i.e. Mr. J could put "crackers" in on the iPod and it would update to show on my Kindle, the laptop, etc.). I didn't care too much about this feature as the only likely time I wouldn't be the one updating the list myself would be while I was actually out shopping. Seeing as though my Kindle doesn't have 3G (WiFi only), it wouldn't update while I was out and about. Perhaps, in the distant future, when Baby J is "Big J," he'll make use of this? Either way, like I said, I was skeptical about downloading it, but I just wanted a grocery list on my device and this had five stars, so why not?
I am so glad I did! The nifty little thing does all the work my spreadsheets do! You can add recipes or list items individually (or import them, making it my best friend), organize them into categories (Dairy, Meat, Produce, etc.) and into separate lists. I used this to make a list for each store I planned on shopping at. For the first time ever, I did not forget something!
Seems like this shouldn't have been a problem in the past with my awesome list, but when you're dealing with a hard copy that you're crossing items off on as you go, it's actually pretty easy to visually skip over items. Our Groceries lists your items by category and alphabetically (or by "popularity," depending on your settings) and a tap will cross off each item and move it automatically to the bottom of the list in the completed category. I worked my way methodically through each department at not one, not two, but three! stores, grabbed everything I needed and GTFO'ed. Best part? The app with ad support is free (the ads are seriously minimal and I didn't even notice, but you can reportedly upgrade to the pro and go ad-free).
With this in my arsenal, my grocery list population task will go even faster, but the most time consuming (and mentally exhausting) portion of prep involved checking each online site for which store would have the best deal for each item we required. Took foooreeeeveeerrr. But! On the bright side (there's always a bright side, right?), I have learned a few things.
- For most of the items I needed, Sam's Club did have the best price per unit. So, as long as I didn't mind getting 2 (or 3 or 4!) times what I would need this month, that was the go to.
- The perishable items that I simply could not (or would not) buy in bulk were cheaper at one specific grocery store in town 99% of the time, often by just a penny, but cheaper none the less (clearly their strategy). (Cashwise for those of you in the area who care).
- The items that were cheaper at another store were so only because they were having a specific sale on that item. Knowing this, in the future I will only research ad circulars for items on my list and compare them, rather than comparing every last item.
In the end, was the prep worth is? Well, what used to take me five or more hours at the end of an exhausting day at work took me only two and a half using my mad organizing skills, new app, and a little bit of shopping during the slower part of the day (though to be fair, the "slower" part refers to the people who are there too!). You be the judge of that one!
The "Extreme Couponing" marathon did help me in one way. I needed to get about eight bags of various frozen vegetables. The supermarket had a coupon in their add for .88 each, but the limit was three and only one coupon per transaction. So, I got nine bags of veggies (and a couple of other things that I could do double transactions on to use more coupons) and split them into three transactions at the self-checkout (my preferred check out at this particular supermarket, because it's a "bag your own" store and I can bag as I go that way!). Beyond that? I spent roughly what I usually do on groceries, but I have the added bonus of knowing that several of my Sam's purchases will last for the next several months, thus saving money on future grocery bills. All in all, not as much as I would have liked, but I did save some. The next phase would actually be combing and clipping coupons. We shall see.......
All in all, I consider my grocery trip a success! Mr. and Baby J and Dubby are all happy with my "haul" and I am happy knowing that I have everything I need on hand to make whole, healthy meals alllll moooonnth looooong! Boom.
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| Baby J and Dubby celebrating Mommy's awesome shopping skills! P.S. LOOOOVE reusable bags! (These enormous bad boys were $3.50 for 2 at Sam's) My pet peeve is all those crappy plastic ones left over after shopping! Only use I have for them is a bathroom garbage liner! These eliminate the pile of them under my kitchen sink AND are much more Earth friendly, win-win! Yay, Earth! |
I love couponing!
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