Monday, October 02, 2017

Wal-Mart Grocery Pick Up

As we are all getting back to school and in our routines again, one thing I've been thinking about is how to try and streamline regular chores and tasks. One of these things is grocery shopping and meal planning! It has been working well for me to go weekly but over the summer I realized that I needed to streamline this some and make it more manageable from week to week.

I spent a lot of time and planning over the summer coming up with a master shopping list so that I could hopefully only go once a month to do a larger shopping and then stop by a store for a few minutes weekly to get dairy and produce that we needed.

My first shopping trip took me THREE hours! I was a bit stunned about how long it took! And that didn't count putting groceries away or prepping/cooking meat that I had purchased. Wow. But, that shopping trip ended up lasting me six weeks since we were gone part of that time for storm evacuation.

So, recently it was time for me to go for a second time and I was trying to figure out how to shorten the investment of time on a larger shopping. Enter: Wal-Mart grocery pick up!

I'd been hearing about this quite a bit on-line and from a couple of friends but couldn't figure out how to do it locally. Turns out, our local Wal-Mart is not offering this service yet. But when a friend from church mentioned that she drove about 45 minutes to another Wal-Mart who was offering it, I decided to give it a try.

Submitting my order online was simple and they even have produce and meat options - really you can get anything! I scheduled my pick up time and my order was ready and waiting when I got there. Even with the 45 minute drive, I still saved over an hour by driving to pick up my groceries. The pick-up option doesn't cost anything extra either.

I also got a bag of free samples/goodies for trying it for the first time. A couple of things I learned by talking to the lady who brought my groceries out:
- they don't accept coupons
- if you choose to allow them to substitute an item {I didn't this time as I was unsure about it} they will give you the closest comparable thing at the price of the item you requested. For example, I requested 3 lb. packages of chicken and they were out - she said if I'd selected substitutions they would've given me the 4 lb. packages at the same price as the 3 lb. etc.
- you can add things to your order up until the night before. When I initially submitted my order, it was a few days in advance and I kept thinking of things I needed so I would just go in and add them and it was so easy!
- they pull out your produce and meat for you to approve: and they mentioned that they pull from the meat and produce that are in the back so it is the freshest available in the store at the time. Love that!

All that to say, I was super pleased with how much time this saved me! I used the time in the car to pray and just pulled up and picked up my groceries and came back home. So simple and efficient and really saved me some time!

If you are interested in trying it out in your area, here is a referral code that will give you $10 off and me $10 off. The minimum purchase is $50.

There is my time-saving help from around here lately - have you any great tips to share about saving time?

3 comments:

Jessica Knapp said...

Monica, Wal-Mart pick up has completely changed my life! I love it! I'm curious to know more about how you planned a month at a time. Did you plan meals for a whole month first, then a master shopping list? I've been wanting to try shopping for a month at a time. I typically go every 1 1/2 - 2 weeks, but once a month for a big run would be a lot easier. My recent change to chores is doing a load of laundry every day. Another Fly Lady tip, but one I always put off. I thought it would feel like I'm doing laundry all the time. But I've found that it's so much easier to do a load and get it put away versus several at a time. You may already do laundry that way, but thought I'd share. Thank you!

Mary Ann said...

I've been thinking about trying Walmart's grocery pick-up too and received a $10 off coupon in the mail. (My sister has used it and opted for the substitutions and loved it!)I'm unsure about driving a little farther to a Walmart that offers it. Was thinking about coordinating it when I go that direction anyways. With working and a husband who is still recovering from major surgery, any time savers are good!

angie said...

Thanks for giving me the kick start to try this service. I just placed my order and will pick up tomorrow. Lately, my meal planning has been day-to-day, and my grocery shopping trips have been whatever will fit into my bike basket! How did store know you arrived?did you use the app?