BLOG: The Real Cost of Nipping to the Supermarket

What is the real cost of nipping to the supermarket? The next time you find yourself chuntering about delivery costs I’d urge you to take a deep breath and think it through.

The fuel price at the pumps is racing past 140 pence per litre, so what is the incentive to leave your house to shop when the internet can deliver everything you need to your doorstep and save you heaps of hassle.

The financial cost of going out to the shops, the time and stress far outweighs any delivery charge.

The cost of driving to the supermarket obviously varies depending upon the make and model of car driven and the distance travelled. Some have it easier than others, but spare a thought for Terry. I found myself chatting to him in the pub last week and for him internet shopping is a Godsend.

To get to his nearest supermarket Terry suffers a 18 mile round-trip. That return journey costs him almost £5 before he even begins to factor in the cost of purchasing his vehicle, car insurance, road tax, depreciation, MOTs and servicing.

You may live nearer to a supermarket than Terry, but short journeys guzzle fuel too. Traffic lights, queues and hunting for a parking space only increase your frustration.

People forget how to drive in supermarket car parks and they are at their worst when trolley rage bites. Parents struggle to cope with unruly kids that understandably would prefer to be anywhere else.

If you use public transport the journey time is certainly no quicker, sometimes less reliable and you have to lug your bags too.

How much is your time worth?

It’s a hectic life, one with competing pressures and little downtime. How many times a year do you complain, “I haven’t got time to do that.”

Time is a precious commodity. Time spent in supermarkets can never be retrieved.

Add the minutes in your car to the time spent in-store and multiply by the number of trips each year. You have spent a hell of a lot of your life battling the pack just to fill the kitchen cupboards.

That’s time you could have spent with family and friends, playing sport or anything else that’s more pleasurable than supermarket shopping.

You may succumb to the temptation to travel a bit further for cheaper prices, but it’s often a false economy as you spend more in fuel and waste even more of your life.

I wouldn’t suggest you never leave your front door to get some fresh air. But is sniffing the armpit of an overweight bloke as he stretches to remove a tin from the top shelf as you zigzag a trolley through aisles that seemingly change what they stock weekly adding to your personal fitness and well-being?

You reach the final aisle only to realise you’ve forgotten something. You retrace your steps, ask a sullen shelf-stacker for directions, before wheeling your food and drink to the checkout where you play the pick the shortest queue game and invariably lose.

Supermarkets want a captive audience

It’s a minefield out there!!

Supermarket shopping makes you susceptible to special offers or products cannily placed to grab your eye as you circumnavigate from fresh veg to frozen. Supermarkets target the impulse buyer, place their most expensive products at eye level. Just take a look up or down and similar items will be there for a lower price tag.

And a tip I have fallen foul of, never shop when you are hungry – you’ll end up buying twice as much.

Shopping from home is comparatively easy

Search the shop from the comfort of your own chair, sip a cup of tea, catch up with your favourite soap or just relax. Manage your finances by reviewing your spending online and pay easily by card.

When shopping on the internet the kids won’t be tugging your arm every two minutes after everything they’d seen advertised on the TV in the last week.

And usually online it is easier to find what you are looking for. How many stores have an onscreen search option available?

Some supermarkets and local shops operate long hours, but the internet is literally 24/7. If you come awake when dark outside or just don’t have time to shop instore the internet could have been designed especially for you.

And best of all, your box comes straight to your door.

You don’t have to pick that can of beans from the shelf, load it from trolley to checkout, into a carrier bag, the boot of your car and then through your front door. You don’t have to join a queue at the Post Office.

After you’ve pressed to confirm your order you can sit back, receive update notifications on delivery and receive your box without taking off your slippers. All-in-all a small delivery charge saves so many over headaches and expenses.

You can’t buy fresh food at Approved Food, but use some of the money you’ve saved by shopping with us to keep your local stores in business. That’s what Terry is doing from now on!

JAMES BUTTLER

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