Even before the Coronavirus hit and we were asked to stay at home, I tried to limit my time in the grocery store. As a food lover I enjoyed walking up and down the aisles of my favorite grocery stores. Farmers markets were a regular activity where I got to enjoy sampling delicious treats, support local food artisans, and enjoy my community’s vibe. But, for the past 7 or so years, I’ve begun to really focus on saving my time and my money as I paid off thousands of dollars in debt. At last count I’ve paid off over $60,000 in debt during that time. One of the areas of spending that I focused heavily on was food. Let’s be clear, I was unwilling to eat crappy food in order to pay off debt. But, I couldn’t spend as much as I was before and make headway with my debt. The following tips will make shopping during quarantine hopefully a lot more manageable moving forward. My goal is to average 14 days minimum between shops. Why fourteen days? Because the incubation range for the virus is 1-14 days. This makes it easy for me to know when and where I was exposed to the virus if I get ill. That information would be important both to me and health officials
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Shopping Safely During a Pandemic
I’m not a germaphobe, but I’m not messing around with the Corona. Part of why I wrote this post was to share how I’m trying to eliminate unnecessary trips to the grocery store. My goal is to eliminate exposure to other people who may have the virus and avoid infecting someone’s MeeMaw if I happen to be an unsuspecting asymptomatic carrier of the virus. Still waiting for Universal tests.
Here are some of the things that I’m doing to manage my exposure.
- Avoiding the larger grocery stores-I’ve begun limiting my trips to my local Safeway store for a couple of reasons. Every single time I go to the store certain sections are completely picked over. They’re having a really difficult time keeping up with the demand for food. I think part of what’s going on is that people are shifting their shopping habits to the grocery store because it’s the only place that we’re allowed to go to.
- Bring my own bleach water and cloth or Clorox Wipes-Even though I’ve noticed that stores have begun assigning staff on regular shopping cart cleanup, I’ve also seen the same people distracted and on their cell phone. I did notice that Safeway had a GIANT dispenser of antiseptic wipes for customers during my last trip and I really appreciated it. But, I just can’t assume that’s going to be the case.
- Go to Smaller Grocery Stores-I live within walking distance of 5 grocery stores so I was able to get a feel for which stores are doing well in my neighborhood during this time. This is specific to my neighborhood.
- Whole Foods was weirdly warm inside and everyone seemed high strung and stressed. They were doing a good job keeping the shelves stocked, but the vibe was off. So, I’m staying out of there.
- Safeway as I mentioned before is having difficulty keeping up with demand. Each time I went there shelves of product are gone. In my view, it’s because it’s one of the larger stores in my neighborhood and they can’t keep up with demand.
- Sprouts-I LOVE SPROUTS during this time!! Good vibes inside still, like all stores they do have some items that are out of stock, but not to the extreme that I was seeing in Safeway. Upside, the produce is super cheap, I got large packages of chicken for $2.50 or less and that chicken is tasty. I bought 8 packages and gave 4 to my mom. Those 4 giant packages of chicken will last me about 6 weeks.
- Respect the distance guidelines-I’m staying 6+ feet away from everyone until you get your antibodies test. Most stores have now set up signage and marked the floor to indicate where to stand.
- Face mask and gloves-This is a personal choice and I’ll admit that I’m not wearing gloves and I’m uncomfortable wearing a face mask for personal reasons. This is part of why I stay the hell away from people and respect their space. I live by myself and literally the only person that I’ve been around is my mom. I’m keeping things that way for awhile with moving forward.
Speed of Shopping During Coronavirus
Even before this whole thing went down, I was completely disinterested in spending a ridiculous amount of time in the grocery store. I have other things that I would like to spend my time focusing on. Here are some of the steps that I take to make grocery shopping quick and easy.
- Write a list-I do a quick walk through of my kitchen and pantry and try to figure out what is missing and what I urgently need to pick up.
- Create a meal plan/menu-I like to have an idea of what I’m going to cook. There are a couple of reasons for this.
- Certain meals create leftovers. This week I’m making Slow Cooker Chicken Chile Verde and I will eat that for several days.
- Utilize services such as curbside pickup-In my view, curbside pickup is one of the best services ever! If you’re busy running errands, then it’s nice to have someone else shop for your groceries and know what time to pick them up. Please note: even during the best of times, some items may be difficult to get. You may want to double up on must have items.
- Shopping Services and Delivery-Tied with curbside pickup is my favorite thing ever-grocery delivery! Most grocery stores offer this service. I’ve used a number of these services for different reasons and I continue to love it. A couple of things to consider
- Online shopping items are a little more expensive. But, you need to factor in the savings of your time and the ability to avoid impulse shopping which costs us more money.
- If you’re using a grocery delivery service, you may want to choose a service that allows the shopper to contact you about missing items/substitutions/etc.
- Services include, but aren’t limited to, the following-Instacart/Amazon Fresh/Whole Foods/King Soopers Delivery/Safeway Delivery/Whole Foods Market/Amazon Fresh/Target (via Shipt)/Walmart Grocery Delivery
- Check your Zip code to make sure that the service you would like to use is available in your town.
- Community Supported Agriculture or CSA-we’re heading into the growing and harvest season. I eat fresh and healthy foods. Being a part of a CSA is a great way to:
- Manage your food expense. Depending on the CSA you can purchase by the box or purchase a seasonal subscription.
- Support local growers. Part of my personal mission is to support Colorado local businesses. That’s why I run my other website Square State that focuses on Colorado.
- Eat fresh fruit and vegetables grown locally.
- Stay out of grocery stores or at least cut the time down that you’re spending in them.
- Sign up for a Meal Delivery Service-I typically order a meal kit delivery when I’m returning home after traveling or during a stressful time. While I do think that they can be a little expensive. You’re saving time and energy because you don’t have to spend time thinking about what to cook.
- Hello Fresh
- Blue Apron
Food Selection
One of the most challenging aspects of shopping during a pandemic is that it’s difficult to know if what’s on your grocery list will actually be in the store. Because of this, you need to come up with acceptable substitutions for the items that you would like to pick up.
- This is the time when you’re going to have to be flexible. It’s just reality. This isn’t the time to get pissy about not having access to your favorite Oat Milk. Suck it up and make it yourself or drink something else.
- Try a different brand-Be open to trying a different brand than what you normally purchase. Ask friends and family with similar tastes to give you suggestions on good products to buy.
- Know how to substitute key ingredients in your recipes. How to do this?
- Google It! Literally type in “How to make….when you don’t have….”
- Check out Pinterest for recipe inspiration
- Youtube is also a great resource and a plus is there are videos so you can see what cooks are doing.
- Watch Great Depression Cooking with Clara-An amazing series of videos filmed by a survivor of the Great Depression. I love these videos so much.
- Shop at other stores-During normal times I have no problems doing this. However, right now I would pick one other store and call it a day if you’re unable to find the item that you’re looking for.
- International Stores-If you live next to an HMart, Lowe’s Mercado, etc. they may have what you need and are definitely worth checking out. Again, if you live close to them. Unfortunately, I live too far away from these stores so I stick to the stores that are closest to me.
Grocery Savings
Is it even possible to save on groceries during this time? In a word-yes! I’m still finding great deals on food.
- Pay attention to prices-If you think an item is more expensive, it probably is.
- Download the Ibotta app-I’m still saving with Ibotta. And new users who use my affiliate code will receive $10 when they redeem their first savings to be applied towards their first $20 payout. I’ve earned back almost $600 from Ibotta in the past couple of years.
- Look for clearance deals-I’ve actually noticed more of these and my theory is that stores are having a difficult time managing the inventory because people are shopping irrationally right now.
- This one hurts but I’m going there…stop eating because you’re bored. I’m noticed that I was eating just to eat. It became a mindless activity pretty fast during quarantine.I had to cut down on the snacking in order to save money and save on food.
Style
There are so many different ways that people eat and your eating style may be the way you operate as your best self physically. I don’t eat fast food and the primary reason why is that I don’t feel good when I eat it. That means that I have to be very deliberate and intentional about eating in a way that makes me feel good-especially at this time.
Here are some quick and easy tips to keep you eating in the style that makes you feel your best!
- Purchase a minimum of two of your necessary items. For example, if you’re gluten-intolerant make a list of the things that you eat daily and buy more than you normally would during your next grocery visit. The exception, of course, would be perishable goods.
- Buy fresh and freeze! Depending on the item that you’re buying, it may be a good idea to freeze it so that you can use it later.
- Buy good quality canned goods when they’re on sale.
Eating Well Can Still Happen During Quarantine
It’s absolutely possible to continue eating well at this time. Most of these eating well strategies on a budget I started embracing because I was in the process of trying to pay off thousands of dollars in debt. I never thought that these strategues would be helpful during a time like this.
How to Make Money Online Selling What You Already Know
Are you interested in learning how to work online selling what you already know? Watch the following webinar where I break down different online business tips than the ones shared in this episode. Go to the show notes to sign up and watch it today. *Please note this webinar will be live on April 7, 2020 at 6:00 pm MTN, then the recording will be shared via the link*
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