I hate food shopping, ploughing through the hordes at the supermarket, piling my trolley with food, pushing it to the checkout, then unloading it into the car only to repeat the process again to get it into the kitchen.  I’d much rather find another way to do food shopping and leave myself free to do the sort of shopping I really enjoy!

Shopping for food on the internet offers some real advantages but it has its downside too.  Advantages are that you can shop from home, choosing just the food you want and less of the food you don’t want but got on impulse.  Then, a few days later, it’s delivered straight into your kitchen and all you have to do is put it away and start eating!  From that point of view, there’s no contest with real shopping, is there?

The disadvantages are the dreaded substitutions.  Substitutions are where the store didn’t have what you wanted and substituted something similar (and usually more expensive).  This, however, is something you just have to put up with.  The other problem is the sell-by date but some stores will guarantee a minimum sell-by date so this problem is largely disappearing.

But the biggest disadvantage of all is that people don’t know how to shop online.  Using the same techniques as you do when shopping at the supermarket is guaranteed to result in disappointment so you need to learn a whole new strategy.  Fortunately, this strategy is easy to learn.

First, you have to decide how often you want to shop; you can choose weekly, every two weeks or, if you are feeing brave, every month.  Shopping each week is easier and you will save money by no impulse buying so this will more than take care of the extra delivery charge.  I shop every fortnight which suits me while it is possible, if you are very organised, to shop for the month except that you will still need some fresh items each week.

Now, get some paper (real or electronic) and rough out a menu for each day.  Yes, I’m afraid you have to do this to shop successfully online but it’s no harder than what you do for weekly shopping except that you need to write it down.  Here is the start of my menu:

Monday
Cold roast meat
Potato wedges
Peas, beans

Tuesday
Minced Beef
Pasta sauce
Pasta

You can make your list as detailed or as sketchy as you like but the more precise you make it the easier shopping will be.  Now add in the other things you need such as bread, cheese, margarine, something for breakfast and for after your dinner.  This is actually easier to do than you think since most people, in fact, eat more or less the same food each week.  It can also be an eye-opener to see what you actually do eat over a period!

Now go through your menu and produce a shopping list.  I listed things under headings of meat/fish, potatoes/pasta, vegetables, fruit, misc and ‘things to be got fresh from the local shop’ but you can choose your own categories.  This way, however, has the advantage that the food you need is grouped in the same way that it is shown on the virtual shelves, with the meat in one area, vegetables in another and so on. 

Now, log on and book a delivery slot then make a start by going from aisle to aisle selecting shopping from your plan and putting it in your basket.  If you have organised it correctly this should be easy.  Remember, however, not to panic as the pounds start to rise, if you are shopping for two weeks, it will be a lot of money you are spending.

Once you get used to it there is really little difference from supermarket shopping, you can click on an item to see a picture and get more information and also see what’s in your shopping basket whenever you want.  Better than a supermarket you get a running total of how much you have spent.

If you are in doubt, read the help file and learn how to navigate your way around but it is usually quite straight forward and eventually you will have finished shopping and can go to the checkout.  Again this is easy, you pay by credit card and then simply wait for the shopping to arrive.

I found shopping online to be a painless and fun experience which has now become a habit resulting in less spending on food and a more organised lifestyle.  Since I shop each fortnight I still need to go to the shops for fresh items so I still get a trip out to the supermarket but now I can laugh at all the shoppers struggling with their full trolleys.