August 16th, 2012Top StoryI Hate Grocery Shopping; This Is How I Fixed ItBy Thorin Klosowski
As I've mentioned before, I'm not a huge fan of cooking, but I, like everyone else, have to sustain myself with healthy foods. Still, I want to make my list, get into the grocery store, and then get out in less than 30 minutes at all times. To do this, I use a mix of automated delivery, a simple tactic for meal planning, and a few tricks inside the store itself. Step 1: Automate Delivery of Non-PerishablesTotal Time: ~30 minutes to set up initially, 0 minutes thereafter.
It took me a couple of months to get the timing of everything right, but now I get most everything delivered right as I'm running out of it at home. It was essentially a trial-and-error process on my part, but I recommend if you want to start using a subscription service you start dating and tracking how long it takes for items to run out. Then, once you have an idea, set up the renewal process beforehand. With Amazon, you can add items at any point, and you'll be notified before they ship if you need to cancel. Here's how a few of mine are set up right now:
The benefit is twofold. First, I don't have to waste time at the grocery store picking out one of the 50 different types of toothpaste. Second, I know exactly what my budget is, and I'm not shocked by a large bill at the store when expensive items like cat food, laundry detergent, and cleaning supplies all run out at the same time. With these items all taken care of, I can concentrate on what really matters at grocery time: food. That means preparing a list. Step 2: Prepare Your ListsTotal Time: 5 minutes
As I've already mentioned, I'm not much of a gourmet chef, and my palate for food is childish at best. That said, I'm trying to learn to love food more, and part of that means experimenting with recipes. So, instead of staring at a blank list and trying to come up with something to eat, I start with one random recipe and build from there. To do this, I use Epicurious, but whatever your favorite recipe app is will work just fine. In Epicurious, I have about 20-30 standby meals stored in my favorites so that I can quickly add them to the list. Here's the basic, five minute process:
That's it. The whole process takes about five minutes. It doesn't require you to overthink your meal plans because each new meal for a day is based on the last one, and the whole process starts at a random point. If I'm struggling to find a starting point for whatever reason, I'll also occasionally hit up randomized recipe sites like Dude You Can Cook, or What the F**k Should I Make for Dinner. For me, the final piece of the puzzle involves ditching the grocery list. You can, of course, skip this step and carry around a list, but as I've mentioned before, I turn my lists into a story and memorize them, which helps me get around the store quickly. To do this I take a look at the built-in grocery list in Epicurious, and then reorder the list by hand to match the grocery store's layout. If you prefer to keep you list on your smartphone, an app like Grocery IQ will organize your list automatically. If you need to manage a lot of different people and different lists, we've also walked you through some of the best practices for keeping a collaborative grocery list. Now it's time to drive to the store. Step 3: Navigate the Store Like a Pro
The basic rule for navigating the store quickly is simple: Organize your list by the aisles in the store, and stick to the list. When you try to improv in the store you end up backtracking and wasting time. You're also more likely to grab items you don't need when you backtrack because you also get exposed to advertising twice. That bag of cookies might not have looked good on the first pass, but the second time around it might end up in your cart. I have the benefit of going to the same grocery store every time I shop, so navigation is as simple as ordering my list as though I'm walking through the store. I start in produce and quickly make my way to the bread aisle at the end. When I'm at the store, I'm careful not to do any of the stupid things we all do while shopping. In the grocery store, this is a big deal. Brand loyalty is easy to get caught up in, and advertising is everywhere. I regularly remind myself of these tricks to avoid the most common marketing tricks. I try to grab items that are on sale, even if they're not brand name, and I do my best to ignore advertising. At the same time, I'm always careful to keep an eye out for number manipulation affecting my shopping choices. If my list is solid, this isn't a problem, but sometimes I need to put on my mental blinders so I'm not tricked into buying something I don't want or need just because it's on sale. Let's get out of the store before that happens. Step 4: Check Out As Quickly As Possible
Once my cart is loaded up and I make my way to the checkout stand, the work is nearly over. The next step is to pick the right lane to stand in. According to math teacher Dan Meyer, it's best to pick the line with the least amount of people in it, regardless of how many items they're holding. This is because it takes at least a minute or so to check out a person, even if they only have a couple items. Each item only adds about three seconds to the total time. So, instead of hunting down the "perfect" line, I always pick the shortest, even if everyone has shopping carts full of food. I've also noticed that the best times to shop are early in the morning on weekends (around 9 or 10), or later in the evening on weekdays (around 7 or 8). Not only is the store less populated with people, it's also the inbetween time for shifts at my grocery store, so it's easy to find a checkout person. Next, I'll load up the conveyor belt with all my items in baggable order. This might sound over the top, but it's easy to implement, makes the checkout process quicker, and (probably) makes the cashier's job easier. You don't have need to get this perfect, but it's simple to do: group like items together on the belt. For instance, keep everything in a small box together, keep produce together, keep meat together, frozen items together, and save your fragile items (like eggs) for last. This way, as the cashier scans your items they go directly into one bag, then your cart. I also use the larger, reusable grocery bags so more items can get packed in. This means less trips to and from the car once I'm home. Finally, when you're checking out, don't bother fumbling with your reward card. Jenny's number—(your area code) 867-5309—works just fine, and you don't have to worry about the grocery store collecting personal information. That's it. The entire process, from list to unloading into my house, takes me around 30 minutes. Granted, my grocery store is less than five minutes away from my house, and I'm only shopping for one person, but the above process has cut the time I waste grocery shopping by at least 30 minutes. I've also saved money, and have slowly trained myself to try new foods. This post was illustrated by Dominick Rabrun. You can find his illustrations on his personal web site, or works in progress on his blog. |
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