When my husband and I first got married, we moved to England for six months so he could study at a university there. You can imagine the financial position of a young university student and a freshly graduated employee (me) living overseas after just having a wedding. We were not flush with cash! But I have really fond memories from that period of our lives. We lived in a tiny apartment in Sheffield (a very hilly city in northern England). To save money, we would hike downhill for forty minutes through the snow with our suitcases to grocery shop at Aldi because it was cheaper than the grocery store near our apartment. Then we would drag the luggage, filled with our groceries, forty minutes UP THE HILL, through the snow, back to our apartment. By the time we got home, I was all sweaty (despite the snow) and would stare longingly at taxis.
When we returned home to Australia, I remember the first grocery shop where I loaded my car up with groceries and DROVE home. Such a luxury!
Fast forward a few years, and I went grocery shopping with my first child. I realised that supermarkets combined with a crying baby were not fun. In fact, it was really hard! Then I had another child, and I realised that grocery shopping with a toddler plus a baby was far, far, far more torturous than lugging a heavy suitcase up a snow-covered hill. So, I decided to leave my husband with the kids and go out at night to do the grocery shopping.
BUT, with my precious kid-free time, did I really want to spend it grocery shopping?
The answer was NO. I did not want to do that. I wanted to eat cake and sit in silence.
That’s what led me to discover the magical world of online grocery shopping.
I started with Coles because, at the time, they had cheaper delivery fees. Then, I tried Woolworths Delivery Unlimited. It costs about $119 per year, and orders over $75 have free delivery. That works out to be about $2.20 per week for groceries delivered if I shop at Woolworths every week, plus $2 per order for bags. Instead of spending an hour a week at the shops, I can grocery shop on my commute to work in the app and have the groceries delivered at night. Joy!
This is what I like about online groceries:
- I like that in the app you can sort by unit price, so it is easier to work out value for money.
- I like that I can check specials on things that I have bought before.
- I like that it is easy and simple.
- I like that the groceries are dropped right at my front door.
- I like that I can find gluten-free food through the filtering system.
- I like that I can get groceries delivered when we go away on holidays to the beach.
- I like that I can see the overall total in the cart and adjust to fit my budget.
The best thing for me about grocery shopping online is no impulse buying. I am totally bad at impulse buying at the shops. I will go into the supermarket on an empty stomach, buy junk food on impulse, and then regret it when I reach the car.
The downfalls of online groceries for me are:
- Not being able to get hot chooks.
- Not being able to get end-of-day specials.
- With Woolworths Delivery Unlimited, I am very incentivized to shop there all year.
Overall, the pros for me outweigh the negatives. My circumstances are quite different now compared to when I had to be more budget-conscious. I am in the season of being a busy working mother where my time is more important to me right now than saving money by shopping at a cheaper supermarket or local butcher or fruit store (which I love to do when I can). At other stages of life, I will be back to doing more frugal shopping. I actually have really happy memories from those Aldi snow grocery shopping trips.
This is just what works for me right now.
To balance shopping at Woolworths, I do like to read “The $50 Weekly Shop” by Jodie Allen to get some frugal saving ideas. I have also been trialling having a separate grocery debit card to ensure that I stick to my budget, which has been working for me.
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Disclaimer: The views and experiences shared in this blog post are based on my personal experiences and circumstances. What works for me may not work for everyone. Always consider your own financial situation, preferences, and lifestyle before making decisions about grocery shopping or budgeting. Additionally, this post is not sponsored by any of the companies mentioned, and I am not affiliated with Coles, Woolworths, or any other entities referenced. Prices and services may vary, so please check current details with the providers.