It is the Little Things in Life...

Yesterday, I talked about simplifying our life by organizing our home for the New Year. We’ll call it a New Year’s resolution of sorts. It is a constant work in progress but we’ll get there (or at least to a place closer than we are now!)

Want to know another New Year’s resolution? Find simpler/faster ways to do everyday tasks.
It is no secret around here that our life is pretty crazy. Two kids + two work out of the home parents + a blog + everything else life brings = some pretty hectic weeks. A few of those weeks back to back can leave me feeling pretty overwhelmed about tackling even the basic stuff…like buying clothes/groceries/toiletries.

[Spring Real Estate Network]

I am thoroughly convinced that it is because of crazy lives like ours that an ecommerce solution like online grocery shopping was invented!  Yep, I said online grocery shopping!

[Blippit]

Sure, online shopping for books, music and movies has been around for ages. Oh, and I’ve been online shopping for clothes since before I can really remember! But, it was just recently that I have found the beauty of online grocery shopping.

Now, I know what you are thinking because my mom said it out loud…that is just pure laziness. Let’s look at it from a different angle though.
List making: 15 minutes
Coupon collecting: 10 minutes
Travel: 20 minutes
In-store shopping: 1 hour (1.5 hours with a kiddo)
Putting away of the groceries: 15 minutes
Total Average Shopping Trip: 2 hours – 2.5 hours

Now, what if I could combine the list making and shopping into one AND do it in front of a computer where I can multi-task (like say, during an inactive part of cooking dinner)? Yeah, I just saved myself over an hour. Of course, I still have to sort the coupons, go pick it up and put it away. But, my 2 hour task now takes less than an hour to complete.

I won’t pretend that there isn’t a fee involved for this. Almost anything convenient involves an extra fee. The average cost for our area is $5 per trip or a flat monthly fee of $17.
When I first read about this online grocery shopping (a.k.a the best ecommerce solution evah!), I was skeptical because of the increase in our grocery costs. However, I find that I actually spend less because I am not strolling through the store randomly adding items to my cart (usually thanks to little 4 year old hands). Oh, plus my theoretical hourly rate is way higher than $5. After all,

So, tell me about you use the web to make your life more efficient!  Do you online grocery shop? Avoid the mall by buying clothes online?  Maybe you even car shop online?

I am participating in a blog campaign for Bucks2Blog for an ecommerce solution company and was compensated.  However, the view, opinions and online grocery shopping habit featured here are all my own.