Another Grocery Haul plus a hack for saving time and energy
My trip to Fresh Thyme yielded many great deals on meat, but was lacking in fruits and vegetables, so the next day I went to Aldi to fill in the gaps. I also purchased chicken breasts and ground pork, which are staple items for us. My total for items shown was $116. My goal was to spend closer to $80, but the extra fruit and the chocolate were not part of the plan. I also purchased several cans of tuna for “just in case” because we were out of canned tuna. If you missed the post about the Fresh Thyme grocery haul, you can check it out here: https://abitofaplan.com/grocery-haul-and-finalizing-a-meal-plan/
When my husband came home, he needed to go to Walmart for a couple of things. I also had a short list of household items we were running low on, so I agreed to come along. I usually avoid larger stores like this because it can be overwhelming trying to find very specific items. I feel like I am endlessly wandering and trying to check things off my shopping list. My go-to for regular household items is Target pick up. Target is less than a mile away, so I can be there and back with my items loaded in less than 15 minutes. Walmart also has free pick up, but for us it is a longer drive for me, so not something I have tried. Both the Target and Walmart app have a super handy feature that saves SO MUCH time if you need a very specific items.
As an example, one of the items I needed was bulk Epsom salt. An Epsom bath soak is wonderful for aches and pains. I had no idea where to look for this in an unfamiliar store, so before we got there, I went to the Walmart website and selected the specific store where we shopping and searched for “Epsom salt” and selected the specific one I wanted. I have highlighted this below–by scrolling to the bottom of the page I can see that the bulk Epsom salt is located in aisle G-13.
Shopping Tip 1: Use the store’s website or app to help plan your shopping even if you are going to be shopping in person.
I simply repeated this process for each of the items on my list. I was done with my shopping so fast, my husband hadn’t even finished browsing the movies section! This is also very helpful if you need to send someone else to shop for you-they can see exactly what you want, the size, the price and the aisle where it is located. In the case of Target, it also highlights when an item is low stock. What tips do you have for saving time and energy when shopping in larger stores?