Are Grocery and Meal Delivery Services Worth It ?
“Dear Jill, “I’ve been thinking about using a grocery delivery service instead of going to the store. The one I’m looking at charges $15 to deliver the groceries. Do you think it’s worth it?”
—Kim D.
Depending on where you live in the U.S., you may have noticed grocery delivery services are far more prevalent than they were a few years ago. In Chicagoland, which I call home, even area supermarkets and superstores are getting in on the groceries-to-go game.
The convenience of shopping from home means less time spent in-store. Your groceries arrive at your doorstep – especially convenient if there are physical or logistic issues that prevent you from going to the store as often as you’d like.
Depending on which grocery service you utilize, you also may be able to save a shopping list of your frequently purchased items to make future grocery orders even easier. So what should you keep in mind? Most grocery delivery services do charge a delivery fee, so you may find that it’s worth placing a larger order to justify the delivery fee. If a supermarket in your area offers grocery delivery, you may find that the in-store sale prices apply to the groceries being delivered as well. Other grocery delivery services have a different set of pricing for their online offerings.
Of course, you’ll want to see if your grocery delivery service accepts coupons.
Check whether you can apply online coupons to the items you’re ordering for delivery. Depending on your service, you also may be able to apply paper coupons to your order at the time it’s delivered.
Another option to consider is curbside pickup. One national superstore is currently rolling this service out around the country, and several large drugstore chains already offer it too. Place your order online, then drive to the store, where an employee will bring your purchased items directly to your vehicle.
If you’re interested in trying grocery delivery or curbside pickup, it’s worth looking for introductory offers from your retailers of choice. One drugstore chain offers $10 off your first $20 curbside order, while others offer free delivery on your first order of groceries. When a large supermarket in my area began offering grocery delivery, they sent out a mailer for $25 off my first order.
“Dear Jill, I’ve seen a lot of commercials lately for boxed dinner delivery kits. You get a box of ingredients: Meat, vegetables, sauces and spices. They also send the recipes to make the food. The box shows up and you have a week’s worth of dinners ready to make.
Have you tried these and are they worth it? The price seems a little high to me. “ —Gertrude P.
Like grocery delivery, the meal kits often have attractive introductory offers.
Some services allow you to browse and choose the recipes you’d like included in your kit, while others ship a predetermined meal plan for the week.
Having the “What’s for dinner?” question answered for you every night of the week certainly seems attractive, especially to this busy mom. While I’ve looked at few different dinner kit services, I haven’t taken the plunge. Of the ones I’ve examined, the average cost of them works out to around $10 per person per dinner. When I’m feeding four hungry mouths on a nightly basis, it’s simply not cost effective for us to spend close to $300 per week just on dinners. My weekly grocery bill for all of our meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner typically doesn’t break $100.
In looking at the recipes provided on some of the dinner kit services’ websites, I know I could make similar meals at home for less – especially pasta-based dishes, which typically are inexpensive to prepare.
That said, if you’re a single person or a couple without children at home, you may feel differently. Take a look at the meals offered by the kit in which you’re interested, and consider how much it would cost to make similar meals with ingredients from the supermarket.
© CTW Features Jill Cataldo, a coupon workshop instructor, writer and mother of three, never passes up a good deal. Learn more about Super-Couponing at her website, www.jillcataldo.com. Email your own couponing victories and questions to jill@ctwfeatures.com.
—Kim D.
Depending on where you live in the U.S., you may have noticed grocery delivery services are far more prevalent than they were a few years ago. In Chicagoland, which I call home, even area supermarkets and superstores are getting in on the groceries-to-go game.
The convenience of shopping from home means less time spent in-store. Your groceries arrive at your doorstep – especially convenient if there are physical or logistic issues that prevent you from going to the store as often as you’d like.
Depending on which grocery service you utilize, you also may be able to save a shopping list of your frequently purchased items to make future grocery orders even easier. So what should you keep in mind? Most grocery delivery services do charge a delivery fee, so you may find that it’s worth placing a larger order to justify the delivery fee. If a supermarket in your area offers grocery delivery, you may find that the in-store sale prices apply to the groceries being delivered as well. Other grocery delivery services have a different set of pricing for their online offerings.
Of course, you’ll want to see if your grocery delivery service accepts coupons.
Check whether you can apply online coupons to the items you’re ordering for delivery. Depending on your service, you also may be able to apply paper coupons to your order at the time it’s delivered.
Another option to consider is curbside pickup. One national superstore is currently rolling this service out around the country, and several large drugstore chains already offer it too. Place your order online, then drive to the store, where an employee will bring your purchased items directly to your vehicle.
If you’re interested in trying grocery delivery or curbside pickup, it’s worth looking for introductory offers from your retailers of choice. One drugstore chain offers $10 off your first $20 curbside order, while others offer free delivery on your first order of groceries. When a large supermarket in my area began offering grocery delivery, they sent out a mailer for $25 off my first order.
“Dear Jill, I’ve seen a lot of commercials lately for boxed dinner delivery kits. You get a box of ingredients: Meat, vegetables, sauces and spices. They also send the recipes to make the food. The box shows up and you have a week’s worth of dinners ready to make.
Have you tried these and are they worth it? The price seems a little high to me. “ —Gertrude P.
Like grocery delivery, the meal kits often have attractive introductory offers.
Some services allow you to browse and choose the recipes you’d like included in your kit, while others ship a predetermined meal plan for the week.
Having the “What’s for dinner?” question answered for you every night of the week certainly seems attractive, especially to this busy mom. While I’ve looked at few different dinner kit services, I haven’t taken the plunge. Of the ones I’ve examined, the average cost of them works out to around $10 per person per dinner. When I’m feeding four hungry mouths on a nightly basis, it’s simply not cost effective for us to spend close to $300 per week just on dinners. My weekly grocery bill for all of our meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner typically doesn’t break $100.
In looking at the recipes provided on some of the dinner kit services’ websites, I know I could make similar meals at home for less – especially pasta-based dishes, which typically are inexpensive to prepare.
That said, if you’re a single person or a couple without children at home, you may feel differently. Take a look at the meals offered by the kit in which you’re interested, and consider how much it would cost to make similar meals with ingredients from the supermarket.
© CTW Features Jill Cataldo, a coupon workshop instructor, writer and mother of three, never passes up a good deal. Learn more about Super-Couponing at her website, www.jillcataldo.com. Email your own couponing victories and questions to jill@ctwfeatures.com.
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