Grocery game plan?

[jackie011]

What’s your strategy for groceries these days? We’re not at a critical point at all, but I’ve seen it can take 5-6 days to get a delivery spot, so we’re trying to plan ahead. Debating between rolling the dice on delivery vs going to a less trafficked store that may not be as busy/picked over.

ETA: snagged a Walmart delivery time for Tuesday! DH & I added a few things to the order for DS’ birthday, too, since they’ll shop the non-food side, too. Let’s see if even half this stuff makes it to our house. 

[sproctopus]

We are trading off going to the store. My sister did a Costco run yesterday and got the stuff on our lists, we will go next week. It's just the fresh food that we are running out of (fruit, lettuce, etc.)

It has been nearly impossible to get delivery set up (all slots full) or get anything on our list (orders cancelled or next to nothing available). So our strategy is to make it so that only 1 household has to venture out every 2 weeks.

[wanderingback]

Once a week trip while walking home from work so I'm already out.
I exclusively go to a smaller store now that's always well stocked and few people.

[goldengirlz]

Going to regular grocery stores but at off-hours. H went at 7:30am this morning.

[ssmjlm]

I went around 7:15am this morning. Our plan is to just go early and keep the visit short.

There were more people in the store than I would have thought.

[isabel]

We’re doing pick up or delivery. We have a couple weeks worth of food if we’re in a pinch, so I’m not stressed about it taking time to get a slot. I created an order on Thursday but had to wait until Friday morning for them to open up the Monday slots and snag one before they were snatched up. So I’m just keeping in mind that we’re 3-4 days out for an order.

I’m basically continuing to order our normal volume of food to make sure we have fresh fruit and veg, and to replenish the pantry stuff. I’m not ordering a large volume of anything or anything outside our norm.

I figure I’ll keep on with this for as long as we can. If one of us gets sick, we have enough to last a full two-week quarantine, so we won’t be stuck not being able to get food (although I suppose we could do contactless delivery).

[jackie011]

Mar 22, 2020 10:55:05 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

I went around 7:15am this morning. Our plan is to just go early and keep the visit short.

There were more people in the store than I would have thought.

I figured it would be busy earlier vs later between reserved hours for seniors/first responders and most people wanting to go first thing. I picked up take out last night and purposely drove by a couple of stores and the big supermarket had a fuller lot and the smaller, neighborhood store did not seem as full. Maybe I’ll go to that store later this afternoon?

[tacokick]

We haven’t been to the store in 10-11 days. We are good for fresh food for the next 10 days or so before having to break into our pantry items. I’m hoping to go to the store in the beginning of April to restock, hopefully after my state has been in some sort of shelter in place order for a while.

I don’t love grocery delivery because I would want to shop by what has the furthest date, what produce looks good and will last, and to be able to adapt to what is in stock. Every time I’ve tried food delivery I end up with a ton of food that has to be cooked within a couple of days. That won’t help in this situation. I guess I will wear gloves/mask and go when I think will be an off peak time? My ILs have been shopping late at night.

Stores like H Mart/Aldi/small independent stores seem to have been less busy and where we do the majority of our shopping anyway.

[circa1978]

We stocked the pantry and freezers weeks ago so I’m mostly in the mode of trying to replenish fresh supplies through delivery (we signed up for local delivery of milk, eggs, bread, yogurt and cheese), stretching food as long as we can and trying for delivery slots if possible. I will go out once a week if I have to for meat and fruit. Also, we can pool supplies with my parents (leaving things outside) who live within walking distance, if needed.

[Doggy Mommy]

We are ordering - I keep checking the times and have gotten lucky for two weeks now. Yesterday afternoon it said the first delivery time available is next Friday. This morning it said "delivery today within 5 hours". That was 2.5 hours ago and she is shopping for us now. So far the only thing they've been completely out of is eggs. Last week we did get eggs but no flour or meat. This week they have flour and ground beef but no eggs. Everything else I've either gotten what I ordered or a similar replacement. A very kind friend offered to bring us eggs if they have them where she shops tomorrow.

We can be flexible with ordering in order to not go to the store. Even if we have to wait 5 days we won't starve. DH is immunocompromised so we're being extra careful.

[mrssandro]

Once a week, midweek, during a lunch break. No big box stores avoiding costco/walmart/or any store that appears to be busy from the outside. Only us.

[circa1978]

For what it’s worth, our Whole Foods was really well stocked yesterday. Low but not out of most grab and go packaged meat but the counter was fully stocked. No problems in any other area and pretty empty. With Prime, the prices aren’t any higher but I think people still stay away bc of the pricey rep.

We live near farms so I’m also hoping for a CSA soon.

[jackie011]

Mar 22, 2020 11:06:17 GMT -5 Doggy Mommy said:

We are ordering - I keep checking the times and have gotten lucky for two weeks now. Yesterday afternoon it said the first delivery time available is next Friday. This morning it said "delivery today within 5 hours". That was 2.5 hours ago and she is shopping for us now. So far the only thing they've been completely out of is eggs. Last week we did get eggs but no flour or meat. This week they have flour and ground beef but no eggs. Everything else I've either gotten what I ordered or a similar replacement. A very kind friend offered to bring us eggs if they have them where she shops tomorrow.

We can be flexible with ordering in order to not go to the store. Even if we have to wait 5 days we won't starve. DH is immunocompromised so we're being extra careful.

That’s what gives me pause- DH has cancer and were trying to be very careful and keep him on his chemotherapy schedule. We haven’t heard anything from his (standalone) cancer center yet, but realize this situation changes so quickly they probably aren’t even sure what next week will bring. Maybe ordering is the better way to go 🤷🏻‍♀️

[jackie011]

Mar 22, 2020 11:08:02 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

For what it’s worth, our Whole Foods was really well stocked yesterday. Low but not out of most grab and go packaged meat but the counter was fully stocked. No problems in any other area and pretty empty. With Prime, the prices aren’t any higher but I think people still stay away bc of the pricey rep.

We live near farms so I’m also hoping for a CSA soon.

DH relies on flavored and sparkling water to help with his nausea and already places Whole Foods/Prime orders for that. I’ve never looked into that as an option for our other stuff, maybe I should?

[circa1978]

jackie011 , it's worth trying. I think you can get delivery through Amazon or InstantCart. That reminds me that I've also been picking up a package or two of tofu whenever I can. It stays fresh longer than meat and it's really easy to make in the air fryer. In general, I've found vegetarian/vegan options of things are more available than meat and are still great sources of protein. 

[arehopsveggies]

I don’t want to use up all my stash when there aren’t any confirmed cases in my area, and then have to go out more when there are. So I’m hoping to go once a week or so. For fresh things and a few extra canned/frozen stash each time?

My wic card isn’t getting loaded for March until this week. So I will have to go after that, and I’m worried that I won’t be able to get the WIC things I need- milk is limited and eggs have been non-existent

[sporklemotion]

I’m going once a week. I’ve stopped trying to game busy times but am
Just being careful to stay away from other shoppers as much as I can and avoiding the stores that are usually busier. It wasn’t too bad yesterday.

[TBM]

Our plan is to use Amazon prime Whole Foods delivery, and make better use of the organic produce delivery service that we subscribe to, with a trip to Costco eventually, (only when we run out of manchego cheese and salmon burgers, which won't be for awhile) and Aldi when we run out of Almond milk. We usually buy enough almond milk for a couple of weeks at a time...not really that much since it is just for my daily chai latte and an occasional bowel of cereal for DH. We should have enough for another week or more.

Whole Foods seemed like there were no delivery times available, but it said that spots open periodically, so I kept checking until a spot opened and got a delivery a few hours later. There were a couple of substitutions, but it was like for like substitutions and I got everything on my list.

ETA: We ordered some 6 or 12 packs of some hard to find locally canned items on Amazon. They are normal pantry items for us, and in normal times, last months, so we are pretty well set with that stuff.

[artichokie]

We went this morning at 7am, before it opened.  Parking lot was already 1/2 full and there were about 50 in line waiting for it to open.  

[gibbinator]

I've been going to the small local stores rather than super markets. We've also been slowly stocking up the pantry so we should be able to avoid stores for 2 weeks presently.

As of today my province has declared a state of emergency, meaning no kids in stores and one family member is supposed to be designated to do all errands. We still only have 20ish cases in the province but the government decided to get a jump on locdown to keep community spread down. So basically, taking the same steps as other harder hit provinces. It's a smart move especially since we have quite the aging population here.

[VillainV]

We are doing Walmart pickup. It was a little harder to find a pickup slot this weekend, and they were out of a bunch of stuff, but we were able to get most of what we needed. We are VERY well stocked now, so I will probably skip pickup next week and maybe just try to swing by the store during off-hours this week if we run out of fresh produce.

Assuming our Home Chef deliveries keep arriving, we have maybe 3-4 weeks of food in the house (minus produce). If they stop, then we have maybe 2 weeks tops.

[wildrice]

I went to the store the night the governor announced schools were closing/state employees should work from home, and again this past Wednesday morning. I also got a Amazon prime Whole Foods order last Sunday. In addition to the Costco trip I made 3 weeks ago. So, we are pretty well stocked. I don't plan to go to the store again until a week from Wednesday, so that will be 2 fulls weeks since the last trip. For at least the next 2 weeks, I have to go into work for an hour or so on Wednesday mornings, so I'm going to plan to hit the store after that the week after next.

Beyond that - I don't know. Probably still try to stick to every 2 weeks until this gets better. Though I guess if we actually do end being ill, we'll need to have a full 2 weeks worth of food available at all times. So that makes me wonder if I should go more often while we're healthy. Though going to the store increases the chance of being ill, so it's kind of like we're potentially damned either way.

I had mostly good luck with my grocery delivery last week, so I may give that another shot too. I agree with tacokick though, often the produce is on its last legs when it arrives which isn't that helpful right now. Amazon is good about refunding you for items if they are unusable (like the mushy avocados I received) but then I still needed to go to the store for avocados so...that's not that helpful.

[SusanBAnthony]

Our Cub (MN grocery store) in the city was fine yesterday in terms of what they had in stock. I was even able to get two quarts of shelf stable milk, Kleenex, and acetominophine! But people were on edge and I think the store has been slammed and the workers were crabby.

I've decided that I will switch to Target or the Hy-Vee that is in the outer suburb I work in, for as long as I am working.

We are basically trying to go less than once a week and deal with it if they are out of stuff and we can't get it. We usually got every couple days to multiple stores each week, so going to one store every 8-10 days is a big shift.

[SusanBAnthony]

Mar 22, 2020 11:26:08 GMT -5 arehopsveggies said:

I don’t want to use up all my stash when there aren’t any confirmed cases in my area, and then have to go out more when there are. So I’m hoping to go once a week or so. For fresh things and a few extra canned/frozen stash each time?

My wic card isn’t getting loaded for March until this week. So I will have to go after that, and I’m worried that I won’t be able to get the WIC things I need- milk is limited and eggs have been non-existent

I don't know where you live, but in MN one of the best places to use WIC is at the co-ops. They are rarely out and have really good wic-eligable choices.

[jewel]

I am doing Costco once a week (for us, but also because I’m shopping for my mom, dad, inlaws, and 1 neighbor). Our Costco opens at 9. I got there yesterday at 8:15 expecting to wait in line and there were already people done shopping and coming out. I am incredibly impressed with the organization and constant disinfecting they’re doing at Costco. It was busy, but I was as careful as I could be, and there’s no chance of getting paper products, eggs, milk, fresh chicken, or bread, if I don’t go early. Hopefully next week, we’ll just need fresh produce and I can go later in the day when it’s much quieter.

I am also ordering Walmart pick up when I can, but they almost never have time slots available, and have been cancelling most of my items. Last week, I had 26 items on order and 19 of them were canceled before pickup.

[Que?]

I live in a remote area with an already limited supply chain. Everything here is closed except essential services. We stocked up weeks ago, like not hoarding lol, but we’re set. I also started baking/cooking and freezing last week. We have a produce market in our neighbourhood that one of us can run to if we need to.

[mbcdefg]

I’m not going out until we are out of milk and coffee. I’ve been keeping a running list on my phone of what we need, and what would be nice to have, but I’m fully expecting certain items to be gone by the time I get to the store so I’m preparing to be very flexible. And just get whatever comes to mind (not hoarding multiples of the same items) so that I hopefully won’t have to go again for at least another two weeks.

I’m planning to go for milk, coffee, eggs, fresh produce, and meat. We’re pretty well stocked on other things and we could manage fine if we weren’t able to get out at all. But I’m trying to save those things for if we’re not allowed out or if we get sick.

I’m on a town FB group and someone posted that she started a shopping group for our part of the county, which encompasses maybe 5-6 towns. People are posting which stores they’ve been to - Costco, supermarkets, hardware stores, convenience stores and bodegas, etc - with helpful details. How crowded they are at certain times of day, if there are popular items in stock like eggs and milk and meat, special shopping hours for seniors and the immunocompromised, photos of shelves, etc. People are also asking where to find things like turkey bacon and kosher food, so they don’t have to go looking in multiple stores.

I haven’t looked at grocery deliver or pickup options yet, but town chatter online seems to indicate that there are limited spots available and if you do manage to snag a spot it’s likely a 3-7 day wait. I don’t want to rely on someone else to get my groceries plus I don’t want to take a spot from someone who really needs a service so I’ll just go myself and bring my own Clorox wipes, and try to get in and out as quick as possible.

[namasteak]

We are set for 6 weeks but I don’t want to use too much in case there are a lot of local cases or we have to quarantine for 2 weeks. I plan on going to the grocery store every other week first thing in the morning.

I’m trying to get our elderly neighbors to let us shop for them but they insist on going themselves. If they give in then I will go once a week for them.

[krystee]

I am going every other week, with Amazon Fresh orders of milk, produce, some snacks and whatever I forgot the last week in between.

[chimera]

DH is dealing with it from now on to minimize my exposure. He is going to the smaller grocery store near his office when needed for milk and produce. (He still has to go in to work as they are deemed essential)
I hit up Costco & Wegmans early last week in the middle of the day when it was just 4 counties (including ours) in our state on lockdown, to round out our pantry items.
Freezer is still full from way before this started. We are signed up for CSA.