Grocery shopping during Coronavirus?

[dreamin_disney]

Not going to stores anymore so i’ve found Instacart and a local produce delivery service, with a few Amazon items now and Then have been been sufficient. Definitely not getting many bargains though. Miss picking out my own produce though.

How does insta cart work? Say I order 5 things but Only one thing is available, do they tell you that before delivering, do they charge by item or one flat fee?

 

[DisLiss]

Well, we still haven't gone, but my gosh, my freezer & fridge are the emptiest I've ever seen! So today we are giving in and I'm going to go grab just 3 or 4 dairy items. Those are the things we can't make ourselves nor order online from Target. (Well, technically we could make cheese, I guess, but I don't know how so I'll just stick with buying it. )

 

[Hikergirl]

How does insta cart work? Say I order 5 things but Only one thing is available, do they tell you that before delivering, do they charge by item or one flat fee?

This is my experience-
When shopping online if it stated an item was low stock it let me pick a substittution.
While my shopper was in the store gathering my items she would text me letting me know if something was out of stock and asked if I wanted to replace it with something. You can approve it or tell them no.
You communicate with them through the app.
My card was charged a certain amount and adjusted as needed if things were out of stock or things were added. I paid a flat fee, not sure if it changes by the size of your order though.
It was a great experience.

 

[LAS2AMS]

I realize some people are completely fearful of going into the public at this moment in time, but please recognize that there's people in your neighborhood that are less fortunate that you. And our economy is driven by spending -- one of the reasons the impact of the Great Recession lingered is because people and businesses refused to open their wallets. If you're still in a position where you're able to order carryout or fast food from an establishment you frequent, please support them!!! When you purchase every single package of ground beef off your grocers' shelves, you're hurting people who don't have that ability -- e.g. people on food stamps, who get their monthly allotment loaded just once or twice -- and they end up having to buy alternative options. They may be relying on a $10 package of ground beef to make two or three dinners, but maybe now the only thing available is a $30 package of premium organic grass-fed ground beef, or a pair of $50 filet. Might make for a tasty meal, but it's very damaging.

In all likelihood, we're not going to get rid of this virus, so we can't hide from it but we can reduce our exposure.

I think there will be shortages in the future. I can’t imagine that out of season fruit and vegetables will be shipped in from South America once stock is depleted from warehouses. I bought some canned and frozen while it is still available just in case fresh produce is no longer available.

Canned and frozen produce is just as nutritious as fresh. For people trying to save money, or people who toss out a lot of produce, it's a great way to save money. But alas, there's few shortages, mainly because food supply that was destined for the commercial (e.g. restaurant) market is now being diverted toward the consumer market. The biggest shortage is eggs; the wholesale price has doubled and has crossed the $2 mark nationally. If you see them being sold for less, the retailer is taking a loss (not uncommon on eggs). In Southern California, Albertsons/Vons hiked their price to $4.49 for a dozen large eggs, which is the highest price I've ever see.

 

[pryncess527]

I’m immuno-compromised so I’m trying to rely more n online ordering & pickup for minimal contact. Delivery is so expensive!!

the problem I’m finding now is that lack of open slots means I have to think further ahead. Yesterday I couldn’t find a single store with an open pickup time. New ones are released daily so today I snagged one for April 1st (the first available) and I’ll add to my order between now & the night before.

 

[afan]

I’m immuno-compromised so I’m trying to rely more n online ordering & pickup for minimal contact. Delivery is so expensive!!

the problem I’m finding now is that lack of open slots means I have to think further ahead. Yesterday I couldn’t find a single store with an open pickup time. New ones are released daily so today I snagged one for April 1st (the first available) and I’ll add to my order between now & the night before.

My kroger store which is fred meyer, released all their pick up times for the week I'm gueasing at midnight. I went on yesterday to orser for sunday and all they had open was saturday so I watched those fill up hoping sunday would then open but nothing opened. When I checked this morning it was open through next saturday. I did my small order for sunday and hope I get it all but we'll see.

 

[deide71]

I just wish I could find some yeast! I finally broke down and ordered some on eBay

 

[maxiesmom]

So my first try at using a grocery service was a mixed bag. I did pick up at store, and chose my pick up window. When I went to get my order they were like, didn't you get the text it will be late? And as the other communication had come thru e-mail, nope. So I had to go back home. And then their store system crashed. So the store was not having a good day, no fault of theirs.

I couldn't get eggs, and we eat a lot of eggs. Thankfully one of my best friends has a few chickens, and had a dozen eggs she could give me. I'm trying to decide if I try the grocery service again, if it is best to schedule a few days out and get one of the very first windows for that day. Maybe they will have everything I need if I hit them right away?

 

[TwoMisfits]

So my first try at using a grocery service was a mixed bag. I did pick up at store, and chose my pick up window. When I went to get my order they were like, didn't you get the text it will be late? And as the other communication had come thru e-mail, nope. So I had to go back home. And then their store system crashed. So the store was not having a good day, no fault of theirs.

I couldn't get eggs, and we eat a lot of eggs. Thankfully one of my best friends has a few chickens, and had a dozen eggs she could give me. I'm trying to decide if I try the grocery service again, if it is best to schedule a few days out and get one of the very first windows for that day. Maybe they will have everything I need if I hit them right away?

I've been doing a grocery service since this all started, along with my weekly produce box. And one thing I know (and my friends, who have also done it know)...you are never getting everything you order...and you may not even get your order.

I've had 2 canceled orders with no notice from 2 different services, and the one service who has actually delivered has delivered wrong things, and given no notice before not delivering some things (but I did get a refund)...

As my husband says, it's like shopping in old Soviet Russia when you do online and pick up - be thankful for what you get at whatever price you get it (b/c it's all more expensive), and just make it work b/c it's way better than nothing...and tip well b/c at least they showed up...

For this week, when I snagged a spot, I got a delivery missing 6 items out of 28 ordered...as an example...

 

[LovesTimone]

I normally shop for 2 weeks at a time, it's just DH and I... So I have 2 weeks of food on hand, and I hit the warehouse stores up once a month every couple of months for paper products, and cleaning stuff... I did go out and pick up a few extra things,... just due to the fact that we are not going anywhere on the weekends... I have a very well stocked pantry, which really helps in times like these....

I am shopping for my Parents as well, who are in the age group who are most at risk... My Dad normally goes out a couple times a week to get a few things... Plus my Dad was in the hospital, then nursing home for rehab, and my mom hardly eats anything... so they needed quite bit... so shopping for them over the last month as been challenging... I did manage to get them stocked up... I will most likely have to go over and get some other things next week...and check on them... I call every day... still I want to double check things...

While in Publix on Thursday morning, a lady bought 990.00 worth of groceries 2 carts full.. the cashier said WOW you must have a big family she said no only a family of 4... She said next I'm going to Wal-mart to see what else I can get... I'm going to get whatever I can, so someone else doesn't get it... and what we don't use or want... we will return... The cashier said - "You know that we have suspended our return policies"... she just shrugged and out the door she went...

 

[pryncess527]

So my first try at using a grocery service was a mixed bag. I did pick up at store, and chose my pick up window. When I went to get my order they were like, didn't you get the text it will be late? And as the other communication had come thru e-mail, nope. So I had to go back home. And then their store system crashed. So the store was not having a good day, no fault of theirs.

I couldn't get eggs, and we eat a lot of eggs. Thankfully one of my best friends has a few chickens, and had a dozen eggs she could give me. I'm trying to decide if I try the grocery service again, if it is best to schedule a few days out and get one of the very first windows for that day. Maybe they will have everything I need if I hit them right away?

I try to snag a morning pickup. I had horrible luck with a 6pm, but 9am has gone much more smoothly and they’ve filled 75-90% of the order

 

[AndreaDM]

This might help anyone in the greater Cincinnati area. We went to jungle jim’s this morning. We were able to find plenty of pasta in the Italy section. We also found dried beans in a couple areas. The main grocery section is picked over but if you look hard you can find a lot of things you need. They also had cat litter which had been hard to find at our Kroger and meijer.

There was no toilet paper. They had a few packages of paper towels. Not much in the way of cleaning supplies. I do confess, I think seeing empty shelves tends to hit people with a bit of panic, even if we already have plenty of the things that are sold out. I think that’s what causes over buying. We have enough TP but it’s hard to fight the urge to go in search of more.

I have found that with rice, my store can be out of rice in the pasta/rice/grain aisle, but if I go to the ethnic foods aisle, there is rice aplenty, and cheaper!

 

[punkin]

DD wanted Magnum Ice Cream bars last night. I went out to the store and OMG! There's no ice cream. DH and I are on diets so I have not been in the ice cream aisle for months. I snagged her the last package of Haagen Dazs bars. WOW!

I'm going to get whatever I can, so someone else doesn't get it

I don't even know what this means! I understand "I'm going to get whatever I might need in case you run out", but this is beyond anything!!!

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

Grocery shopping sucks now. Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are limiting the people allowed into the store at one time so you have to wait at least an hour outside. Costco has been out of chicken. The Shoprite had chicken but each shopper was limited to 4 packages. And I saw no family sized packs. Biggest was 2 lbs. Going with the limit got me less than I usually get from the Costco pack. I can’t manage to stock up to limit going shopping.

With 2 kids and a husband on a keto diet, we go through a fair amount of meat.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Grocery shopping sucks now. Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are limiting the people allowed into the store at one time so you have to wait at least an hour outside. Costco has been out of chicken. The Shoprite had chicken but each shopper was limited to 4 packages. And I saw no family sized packs. Biggest was 2 lbs. Going with the limit got me less than I usually get from the Costco pack. I can’t manage to stock up to limit going shopping.

With 2 kids and a husband on a keto diet, we go through a fair amount of meat.

You may want to try ordering from a farm online...I got 5 ducks shipped for $99...and actually got them (gave 2 to friends b/c I could only keep 3...and ordering 3 would have been $120...so 5 it was)...you're not going to be able to get sufficient meat safely for your family if you need to go out every day...it's not gonna be there for weeks...

The other option is to do takeout for proteins...one thing my locals takeouts/contactless delivery have are proteins...and some are in the "very easy to reheat" category, which you'd want to do if you want to be really safe...

 

[LuvOrlando]

I'm thinking most of the food we need is going to be ok as growers bring things up from the south as weather softens and hopefully farmers markets will focus more on outdoor sales. Maybe this mess can help all the farmers who have been having a tough time in recent years. If anyone knows of any farm to table that does shipping I'd love to hear about it. Thank goodness the whole local sourcing thing has been a growing trend!

Always looking for the silver lining

 

[Brett Wyman]

We've switched to 100% home delivery. We have Kroger home delivery, Instacart, Prime now or Amazon Fresh, among others as options. We jump between each depending on our needs. Instacart will go to CVS and Costco which rocks. I know not everyone has delivery options, so I say this with some humor intended, but if I go to a grocery store I feel like I might a well sit in a restaurant or go to a movie. I felt like groceries stores were germ fests long before all of this started.

 

[jodifla]

We are lucky .. we have a local butcher shop, so we can get our meat there. Otherwise, we are doing about once a week shopping at off times and doing Ok with it being lower crowds

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I just went out today for some additional groceries, toiletries and household goods. I started at Aldi this time because last weekend it was the only place I could find ground beef. My Kroger has been out of pasta, chicken, ground beef, eggs and paper products the last 3 or 4 times we’ve been there. I needed all that stuff and Aldi had it!!! I was down to 1 roll of paper towels; Aldi had a big pack (no TP though they had it last week). They had lots of chicken, milk, eggs and ground beef. Then I went to Target for shampoo, conditioner, face wash, powdered Gain (I got the last box; they had none last week.), banana bread mix, breakfast burritos. All in all, I got everything I needed!!! Yay!

 

[Shanan]

I think it is right to be cautious and you should be buying groceries. Buy what you & your family will eat. I can a lot of tomatoes & marinara sauce in the summer so I hardly ever have to buy those items. We also always keep a minimum of 2 week supply of food in the pantry & freezers
I will admit when I started hearing about a new virus in China (January) I started adding extra canned goods to my stash each time I went to the grocery store. On January 29th is when I decided ok time to get serious and stock up. I got extra vitamins, OTC meds, bread, baking mixes, flour, beef for the freezer, etc. I have lupus and taking precautions.
I did go to the grocery store about 11 days ago & got 1 bread & 1 milk(which are now frozen), eggs, fresh produce & potato chips for DH. I will admit that I did not think in January to get yeast & there was none to be found. Oh well you live you learn