Five Ways a Busy Mom Can Shop Smarter
Let’s face it, when you’re a mom your life just instantly gets busier. You have another little life you have to take care of, not just your own. Add more kids into that mix? Goodbye time! It can get really overwhelming and seem like things are piling up. After having my second, I’ve found some areas that can save you loads of time! Here are four ways a busy mom can shop smarter.
Walmart Grocery Pick Up Service
If y’all follow me on Instagram, which you should ;), you’ll know how much I love the Walmart grocery pick up service! I talk about it a lot and how much time it saves me grocery shopping. I personally am not one of those people who likes to grocery shop. Even when I’m by myself, I would much rather spend my time doing anything else, other than grocery shopping. So, I let Walmart do it for me.
This is a completely FREE service that Walmart offers. The only catch is, you have to place your order the night before. I have pushed this as far as 1 AM that day, and still have been able to pick up my order that same day from 12-1PM. You will get notified when your order is ready (mine is usually 30 minutes early), then you have your chosen hour time slot to pick up. You drive into a designated spot, they wheel your groceries out, load them up, and you are free to go.
You literally do not have to get out of the car if you don’t want to. You pay online when you schedule your pickup, so there is nothing you need to do, except sign that you got your order. This has been a game changer for me. Otherwise, I would spend at least two hours in the store buying things I don’t need, trying to remember which isle things are on and unloading/loading everyone and everything in the car!
Sign up now and get $10 off your first order!
Amazon
Everyone knows how great Amazon is by this point. They used to only sell books, but now it’s everything under the sun! What I’m here to brag about is Amazon Prime. At first, I didn’t really see the value in having a Prime Membership. I was all too happy to pay really cheap prices and cheap shipping, no matter when it arrived. But no longer is that a smart option for our family.
It is such a relief to have guaranteed two day shipping on almost any item. Most of the items I’m getting from Amazon are already the best prices, the added two day, free shipping just makes it all the better. I don’t even have to leave the comfort of my home with my wild, unpredictable brood to have the things we need!
Free/Local Returns
I also only shop store websites that offer free returns (and shipping!) or are local to me. I LOVE H&M, but there isn’t one remotely near me. I’m either going to keep the product no matter what, or I’m not going to get it. Old Navy and Target on the other hand? I’ll shop their sales online all day and just return what doesn’t fit in store (since they are both close by). But I’ve also shopped sites like Pacsun, when they offer free shipping, and just returned what didn’t work out.
One Shopping Day
I like to save my shopping for one day, to get it all out-of-the-way, so it’s not feeding into my other days of the week. This is especially true when I have multiple returns to make at different stores.
Situations like this, I would typically get someone to watch my kids for me, so I can just knock it out in a couple hours. Then while I’m at the store, I will do any additional shopping if I need to. Everything is just so much harder, and you have less room, when you have more than one kid. Can you imagine unloading and loading 2 kids, under 3, from the car 5 times just to make one measly return at each store?... No thanks!! So those are the days I just wouldn’t bring them along.
Lists
My other favorite way to save time and money while shopping, is to make a list before I go! One reason, if you go ahead of time without a list, you could forget things that you actually need.
Another reason is, you will end up getting things you don’t need. Now, it’s one thing if you didn’t realize you needed it until you saw at the store, I’ve done that plenty of times before. But you will save yourself time and money if you just take the time to write a list and stick to it.
I also try to group similar items together in my list, so I don’t have to retrace my steps. There’s nothing worse than being on the other side of the supermarket to realize you have to go all the way back to the other side for only one thing!
What do y’all think? Did I miss anything? These are my most recent developments, of having to adjust my shopping habits with multiple kiddos. When you only have one, it’s a lot easier to just put them in the cart (or wear them) and get everything else you need… But when you have two (or more) there’s no more space for your purchases!
Yes, it would be easier to just never take your kid shopping with you, but that’s not realistic for most mamas (especially those of us that stay or work at home). That’s why when you can find companies like Walmart (and their grocery pickup service) and Amazon, let them do all the work for you. They already offer the service, all you have to do is take advantage of it! :)
