I live .15 miles away from one grocery store and .7 miles away from another and yet, despite the closeness of these two options, when we first moved to Brooklyn, they might as well have been an eternity away. We had sold our car before we arrived and had a two-month-old infant who, obviously, couldn't be left at home alone while I bought groceries. We could only purchase what we could carry home and were increasingly more and more tempted to just scrap our tight budget and eat out every meal at any one of the hundred sumptuous smelling restaurants within arms length because heck, on the surface actual groceries seemed too expensive anyway. So there were, you might say, a few hurdles we had to hop over in order to successfully stock our cupboards. Here's a quick look at how we trained:
Hurdles 1 and 2: No car and the restriction of only buying what can be physically carried home.
How we hopped them: We bought a cart. It's been great. It comes with me on every grocery shopping trip and gets wheeled around the store as I fill it with food items from the shelf. Once everything is paid for and bagged, it's loaded up again and wheeled home. If buying a cart isn't up your alley, you can also look into getting your groceries delivered. Some stores deliver either for free (not including the tip) or for a small charge, so all you'd have to do is shop and pay for your groceries, tell the cashier where you live, and walk home empty-handed (or nearly empty-handed, in the event that you have a few perishable items that need to be taken home right away). Some stores will even do the shopping for you: all you have to do is fill your cart online or make a phone order and wait for your goods to be dropped off at your home. This luxury, though, is usually a bit pricey.
Hurdle 3: Shopping with the baby
How we hopped it: It's not practical for me to do my grocery shopping with Garrett in the stroller for several reasons: 1) it's hard to maneuver the teeny tiny aisles with a stroller, 2) I can't pile in a week's worth of groceries into the storage basket underneath the stroller which is why I 3) bring the above-mentioned cart with me. So, with the stroller option out, I am left with a dependency on my infant carrier. It is my lifesaver (for grocery shopping and laundry alike).
Hurdles 4 and 5: My groceries cost me an arm and a leg so it's no wonder New Yorkers have the "must eat all my meals out" mentality.
How we hopped them: Yeah, they weren't kidding when they said the cost of living in New York City was higher than most places. Sheesh! If you're not careful you can break the bank with just the necessities. Still, though, with a little extra homework and patience, it really is is cheaper to feed a family at home rather than at a restaurant (tempting though they are). Before I do my weekly shopping trip, I first look through the supermarket circulars (one store's I pick up on any one of the numerous occasions I walk by, and the other gets sent to my email inbox). Then I plan my meals around what's on sale. I also keep my food storage in mind when I thumb through the ads and will sometimes buy several of one item to keep on hand. I think most budget-minded grocery shoppers around the country also do this, but for me here in the city it is extra important. Also, like anywhere, make a shopping list and stick to it like glue.
A Few Other Hurdle-Hopping Training Tips
- Oddly enough, Brooklyn has a Costco, and happily enough, I have a few friends with memberships. There's no getting around the fact that some items (baby formula, anyone?) are just cheaper there. So when I'm given the chance to tag along with someone, I jump at it.
- Speaking of babies....Babies require diapers. Diapers come in large (expensive) packages. Which is why I buy mine from diapers.com. I wrote a post awhile back where I totally sang their praises and also gave away my $5-off-your-first-purchase code (LIAN6247) if you're interested in reading more about them.
- Because I have a baby with me, I plan my trips for times when I know the grocery stores will be the least crowded. For me that means earlier is better.
- I plan ahead when I need to buy bigger items. If, say, I needed bag of potatoes, a gallon of milk, or a package of toilet paper and just didn't have the manpower to get those, plus all my other groceries, up the stairs to my apartment, I'll have Blake swing by the store on his way home from work to pick them up for me. Husbands are great like that.
4 comments:
I don't take my car to the grocery store either, so I do many of the same things. I love my little cart and can fit so much stuff in it. The hardest thing for me is now that Little Dude is almost two and weighs 25 pounds carrying him is tricky. I do have a nice frame backpack and will often take him in that while I pull my cart. My stroller is useless as far as storage goes and you can only fit a bag or two on the handles. I also really like delivery services. I did one last year that delivers fresh organic produce once a week and I'm starting it up again soon. So nice to have on hand.
I'm thoroughly impressed. All of a sudden my difficulties taking two kids (in a car) to the grocery store seem pretty well moot. You are talented!
You are an amazing woman. I have to ask though... how on earth would I shop, with all four kids... if I lived in Brooklyn? I'm thinking I would have to put the kids on leashes.
Or shop without them. Or not shop.
I think I can handle this method with two kids: one in the carrier and one walking. Any more than that, though, and I think I'll be doing my grocery shopping at odd hours so that Blake can stay home with the kiddies. Truth is, though, people here in Brooklyn don't seem to have more than 2 kids. You see a few with 3, but really never more than that. So I guess for most people (who either have very few kids or a nanny/extended family who lives with them and helps out) it's not much of an issue.
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