Saving Money on the Road: Grocery Pickup Services

In my last installment of “Saving Money on the Road”, I talked about how meal planning is one of the biggest things I do that helps me to save money. Today I’m going to discuss how grocery pickup services help me to keep my grocery budget in check.

So what’s the big deal about pick up about grocery pickup services? And how can they save me money?

Similarly to how I discussed going to the grocery store with a comprehensive list in my last article, shopping for groceries online definitely helps me to save money. Let’s face it, grocery store set up and design is a science. Did you know that there are people who have made a career of enticing you to spend more at the grocery store than you had intended? Did you know that grocery stores even control the smells and sounds in the store to make you purchase products? This is nothing new! It’s been going on for several decades now.

So what happens when you choose to skip the store altogether and order your groceries online for pickup or delivery? You save money! It’s as easy as that! You “rob” the grocery stores of the ability to entice you with products that are just wants and instead purchase products that you need to actually feed your family. Don’t get me wrong, if you’ve ever used any of these services, you know they still try to stick you with the “Hey! Did you forget to buy…. ?”

Walmart Grocery Pickup

I know that people have different opinions on whether or not they agree with “supporting the evil empire.” Let’s face it. When it comes to groceries, they are usually the cheapest. I’m not like all sold out to Walmart. As a matter of fact, I haven’t grocery shopped there in quite some time because one hasn’t been close to where we’ve been located.

Pros

• Free to use on orders over $35
• Very convenient
• Order from their Grocery specific app and website

Cons

• I found Walmart to be out of certain products after the online system allowed me to order them
• Sometimes the produced picked was not the best or what I would have picked
• Cannot use coupons on products
• Limited locations offer Grocery Pickup, but they seem to be expanding quickly

Kroger Pickup

Kroger’s grocery pickup service was formerly called Clicklist, but how now been renamed Pickup. Kroger is typically more expensive on groceries than Walmart, but there are certain things that I will only buy at Kroger. For instance, I do not purchase any meat from Walmart that is not prepackaged. I don’t have issues with bacon, sausage, or lunch meat. But I do not purchase ground beef, steaks, or chicken breast from Walmart. I buy all of my meats from either Kroger, Publix, Fresh Market, or a local butcher shop.

Pros

• Very convenient
• Order from the Kroger app or website
• Produce is more inline with what you would pick for yourself in store

Cons

• $4.95 fee for using their service after your first 3 orders
• Limited locations offer Kroger Pickup
• Food cost is higher in general

I hope I have been able to enlighten you on the advantages of using “non-traditional” grocery shopping methods. Give them a try and see how your grocery budget fares.

Have you used a grocery pickup service? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments.

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