Jul 20, 2022 3 min read

I just got home from a trip to the grocery store, and when I say a “trip to the store,” I really mean me pulling my car into the predetermined parking spots, clicking a button on my phone to tell the store I’m there, popping my trunk and waiting while some wonderful store employee loads up the goods into my car. For my money, it’s the best possible way to go grocery shopping.

I started doing the drive-up grocery shopping routine during the pandemic, but the truth is I really dislike grocery shopping anyway. I love to eat but hate to cook and, thus, really don’t care about browsing the market’s aisles with all sorts of products that I’m not going to cook. I also learned a long time ago to never go to the grocery store on an empty stomach, and that rule also applies when you’re grocery shopping on your computer or phone. You can still binge shop virtually when you’re hungry.

I like to think that grocery shopping online saves me time and money since I only buy what I really want or need and am not tempted to just grab goodies that I see on my way down the aisle. I started my cyber grocery shopping at a big-box store, which was the first to offer curbside pickup for free during lockdown. Once another grocery chain started offering free curbside pickup and discounts on gasoline, I switched. Just this week, I wound up saving 30 cents per gallon of gas after I bought groceries. Here’s the problem: While wonderful and convenient, the groceries are sometimes more expensive than at the big-box store. So is this saving me money if I have a higher grocery bill only to save a few bucks at the pump?

It’s fun to use different points programs and savings incentives to save money. We’re pros at racking up miles on one airline by using their credit card for everyday purchases, and I try to buy gift cards when double gas discounts are in effect. Somehow I still don’t use coupons all that often. Some of my friends are experts at this and wind up paying next to nothing for gasoline.

I’m still trying to work all of the angles, but I’m not sure it’s really saving me any money in the end. With prices skyrocketing everywhere, we need all of the moneysaving tips we can get.

What’s your favorite tip or trick for cutting costs these days? I’d love to hear from you and even share some ideas for everyone and success stories here. In the meantime, I’ll be over here online shopping for salad ingredients, cereal and ice cream. Maybe I’ll find a two-for-one deal on ice cream since you can never have enough!

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.