How Long Does Grocery Shopping Really Take?

I have been preaching for some time about how much time is ACTUALLY gained when you outsource tasks, but I was lacking the real specific quantitative data that some people would Loooove to see.  So a few Saturdays back, I set out as an experiment on a Saturday.

To start with, I try to never ever do errands on a Saturday. First off, it’s just waaaay too crazy out there for me. It’s almost like the population of the planet triples on Saturdays! Cars, traffic, angry people… definitely not my idea of what a great weekend look likes.

But for the sake of all you fine folks, I set out with a goal to:

• Go to BJ’s ( buy 4 things)
• Purchase 1 kid party gift, card and wrapping paper
• Purchase kid nightgown in Kohl’s
• Quick grocery store run ( buy 4 things )
• Take kids to Park afterwards for an hour

That would normally take less than 2 hours, and then I would be able to head out to the Park to enjoy some time with the kids before our evening plans.

But to make my experiment more “reality” based, I took the 2 “littles” as I call them with me… Emma: 10 and Jack:8.

Certainly at this age I wouldn’t even have to make 4 potty trips, change diapers on top of a diaper Geenie and chase after kids through the racks in the store right…?

But the end result looked like this:

• Go to BJ’s, get caught looking at impulse buys, leave with more than 4 items and 2 new books I don’t have time to read right now
• Went to 2 stores to buy the birthday gift only to be pulled “Mom, look at this”, “ Mom, can you buy me that”, “Mom, I have to go to the bathroom”
• Lost so much time with all the mini interruptions, it became lunch time.
• Drove through drive through, didn’t eat as healthy as I would have liked but needed to feed everyone at this point.
• Kohl’s: 15 people were in line
• Took almost 4 hours!!!
• Get home late and now can only squeeze in 15 minutes to go to the Park with the kids
• Forgot to get 1 of the things on my list because I was so distracted

Hire your personal concierge to do those quick things for you during the week when lines are shorter, less cars and traffic on the road, less “littles” being pulled around, no impulse buys.

 = 2 hours of billed time

Vs

= 4 hours of time

Lost $$ in drive through

Lost $$ in impulse buys

Increased stress and aggravation

Less time with kids at the park

Forgot an item on the list and had to send husband back out!

The reality is that what we think will be a quick run turns out to be an event. And even if you aren’t dragging around “littles”  with you, traffic, angry drivers, and grumpy people who are also forced to run all their errands on the weekend WILL impact your day!

Wouldn’t you rather be by the pool or on the golf course or at the park with your kids?

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