If you don’t do online food shopping

[PullingMySocksUp]

do you mind me asking why not?

I cannot imagine doing it all in person any more, takes me ten mins to wizz through my favourites.
A friend of mine was looking slightly surprised when I said we do it online, and I think there was a weird superiority to her reply.

Gawd this reads like market research. It’s really not.

I guess I can think of cost (we do any time delivery for £20 a quarter but if you thought it was £7 a delivery I can see why that would put you off).

Because I shop at 3 different places each week and I don't buy the same stuff each week. Plus it's a bit of alone time while dh has the kids 🤷🏻‍♀️ sad but it works well with me.

I used to shop online, but once child number 2 came along it got too expensive. I got sick of spending 70-80 a time but only having 3 or 4 carrier bags full. I wasn't just buying branded stuff either and was meal planning. Tried aldi and Lidl and then couldn't justify it any more. I get so much more for our money. Would bloody love to go back to online as hate doing the food shop, but just doesn't make financial sense for us.

I live within walking distance of a decent sized Sainsburys, a Co-op, an M&S food and a mini-Waitrose, but also lots of smaller independent shops that are better for some things (greengrocer, baker, whole food/scoop your own type places) and I also get a lot of bulk ingredients from Chinese or Korean supermarkets, so I would never want to get all my food from one place.

I am also often not sure from one day to the next how many people I will be cooking for (teenage DD, DS at uni but back every now and again) so meal planning tends to be rather last minute and it is easy to pop to the shops for any fresh ingredients I need.

I have to say that reading all the 'most ridiculous substitution you have had' threads on here has also put me off.

I take the kids with me for an hour out of the house!

They like to put everything in the trolley and ask loads of questions about different foods.

Because I use a local nursery that doesn't wrap everything in plastic (fruit and veg) and because I use Lidl or Aldi for the rest. I actually quite like food shopping, I like to choose the right things and make my own subs and check the dates on everything. I'm also a low carb bore dieter so I like to scope out new stuff and also check the nutrition/origins of everything.

I've just read this back and realised I'm incredibly dull aren't I?

I enjoy food shopping, especially when dd was little.
I don't spend enough for minimum delivery (don't know if that is still a thing).
I don't do internet shopping in any form if I can avoid it.

Aldi. Good quality food, not too far away and £££ saved.

I do one monthly cupboard shop online which covers the first week's meal plan plus stuff like toiletries, cat stuff, anything which only needs buying once like mayonnaise, rice, peanut butter etc

Then do a weekly trip on foot to Lidl to get stuff for the ensuing weeks' meal plans, fresh stuff, lunches and snacks etc.

Used to do it all online but DH and I are trying to walk more and shed some pounds as well as control our spending a bit better!

My DH does the shopping, I might ask him why he doesn’t do it online.
Which is the best and which is the worst?? I’ll tell him which ones MN advises...

I just have the fear they'll give me short dated stuff and I like to 'inspect' fresh fruit/veg

I've never done an online food shop for myself, although I have done one once for someone who was very ill and couldn't get out themselves .
I don't see going to the shops a chore and always treat myself to a coffee so would miss that.

And the whole substitute process, but I've since found out you can turn that off!

I like to have a browse round the shop! If I shopped online I'd buy what I needed , shopping in store I buy twice as much!!! Not food stuff but clothing, homewares etc.
They'll never make everything online only(well not soon) for the reasons I've stated!

A lot of time the expiry dates on fresh food/meats/bread that we have delivered is really rubbish. Everything goes off three days after the delivery. I can find much better dates myself by rummaging to the back of the shelves.

Also I don't do a big shop. I like all the main supermarkets for different things and my lifestyle plus where I live means I can pop in almost daily

I shop online for stuff that’s reliable like tins, jars, bottles, frozen food, household products. Then I do a quick run to the local to choose my own perishables so I can pick decent quality and long dates. Makes my trip quicker and less to carry.

I used to do it weekly. Since h left cant afford to do it more than once a month where I try and get as much as possible for £40ish, at cheapest delivery slot. Then top up with £10-20 a week going into the shop until the next month.

I get to rummage in the reduced sections, I always seem to meet friends in there, I get to pick my own veg meat etc, and I try to buy locally produced products in as little plastic as possible. Also I hate the idea of a future where we do even less for ourselves than we do now

If we’re all rummaging at the back for the meat and veg with long dates, who actually buys the short date stuff at the front? They probably fob it off on the people who get their food picked and delivered. And that’s why I go to the shop for my fresh food.

Because I can drive to thd supermarket, do the shopping, and have it in the fridge in less than the 1hr time slot.
Because when something isnt available, I can make instant changes to the rest of the shop to make it work.
Because I can pick up stuff that looks good rather than what I think will be good.
Because I'm fecking picky on what apples I will eat (more than just a type)
Because its 45mins without hearing "Mummy, mummy, MUMMMMYYYYYY"

I don’t though I am tempted some times, the one thing that puts me off is I like to pick my own meat I’m really fussy like that plus my dd has coeliac disease so we can’t afford substitutes that may have wheat in them.

Also my ds has asd and its good for him to go to busy places sometimes and helps with his life skills by helping me shop for items on the list, though I avoid taking him Christmas food shopping now as its just too busy for him to cope with.

If online shopping had been available when my ds was little it would of been really useful, many a time we had just got through the supermarket doors and he screamed his head off until we left often without most of the items I wanted.

I tried it and hated it. It takes me longer to fill my online basket than actually do the shop, plus has to be done in the precious time when the baby sleeps! He loves coming to the supermarket with me, there's loads of stuff to chew look at and lots of grannies to flirt with.

I always missed stuff when I ordered online, the 2 hour delivery window never suited me (I wouldn't mind 8-10, but the earliest slot is 10) and you could guarantee they would then turn up at the worst moment, like the minute you took the nappy off (I think I once greeted him with a naked baby).

I'm single. I just pop into the shop on my way home from work. Why would I need to do it online?

Because I like to shop in Aldi, I pass it daily at a quiet time when there are no queues and I can be in and out pretty quickly so I wouldn't save much time and this way I don't have to wait in for it to arrive.

Most weeks we do an online shop with Tesco. No issue with slots, food is always fresh (you can add a note asking for fresh as possible, has always worked for me). Whenever we get substitutions, which is roughly half the time, it's usually only one item and it's a sensible substitution. You can specify items you don't want subbed, or ask for a specific item as a replacement.

We go to Aldi about once every 3-4 weeks, but for the weekly shop, online is so much easier.