5 Simple Ways To Save A Ton Of Time At The Grocery Store

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Grocery shopping is a production, plain and simple. It consumes too much of your time and energy — physical and emotional — and your desire to shop for food only dwindles as the number of delivery services increases. While roaming the supermarket aisles might seem like a hassle, there are plenty of ways for you to cut down on the amount of time you spend there. Here are five simple ways to minimize your time at the store.

Turn on Airplane Mode.

This might seem like overkill, but your phone slows you down more than you think. While you’re walking and texting at the same time, trying to avoid running into other shoppers, you could be speeding through the aisles and cutting that time in half. Your friends can wait 20 minutes. So put your phone on Airplane Mode and slip it in your pocket while you’re shopping. Unless you’re looking at a grocery list on your phone, there’s no reason you should have to stare at that screen while you’re shopping.

Know the speed of your cashier.

If you go to the same Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s location every week, chances are you know the cashiers pretty well. You might love your weekly convo with Ted, but you also know he moves at turtle pace when it comes to bagging.

So when you’re pressed for time, stick with that antisocial cashier who only says two words and clearly wants to keep small talk to a minimum. You can always talk to Ted about his hyperactive Frenchie when you have time to meander on a Sunday afternoon.

Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry.

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This might seem like a no-brainer, but you should never go to the grocery store when you’re hungry. All it does it make you even more easily distracted because everything looks appetizing. Always eat a snack before you go and have a list itemizing those go-items you need. Think about your staples and get those out of the way first.

Shop at weird hours.

Whatever you do, don’t go grocery shopping right after work. And if that means sacrificing boozy brunch to get your grocery shopping out of the way, so be it. Pick a time when you know the crowds will be as small as they come. No one needs to wait in a line for 45 minutes while simultaneously getting sucked into purchasing nine more snacks in the process.

Know the layout of your grocery store.

After you’ve been to a grocery store four or five times, chances are you know the lay of the land. You know where to find your favorite cashews, where to get the paper products and where they keep the Sriracha. Once you know the floor plan, make a game plan for yourself so that you don’t have to walk down the same aisle multiple times looking for granola. Start at the farthest end of the store and work your way progressively closer to the cash register — and don’t look back.

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