Who Has Time For Laundry?
I haven’t done my own laundry since 2014. Not because I can’t do my own laundry though.
If you experiment with my time value calculator you can see a starting estimate of what your personal time is worth. For me, when thinking about opportunities like this around the house, I value my time at $35 per hour…
I started trying other wash-and-fold services. My perception was that the cost of sending the laundry through a separate service was going to be too high. This isn’t necessarily true though.
I haven’t done my own laundry since 2014. Not because I can’t do my own laundry though.
Me, in 6th Grade.
Growing up my mom actually had me doing my own laundry in the 6th grade. Back then I had a habit of leaving things in the pockets of my pants, especially little gum wrappers. My mom used to do the laundry for the household, and this would drive her crazy. She would find the things in my clothes or in the washer afterward and I’d hear her from across the house, “Briaannnn!”.
Photo from Pexels
Sometimes it would ruin my clothes and we’d have to replace them. One day at the beginning of my 6th grade year she’d had enough, “Brian, if you leave something in your pockets one more time, you're going to be doing your own laundry. This is your final warning!” I think you see where this is going. Within a few weeks, it happened again. She calmly walked up to me and said, “Come with me. **walks me to dryer in basement** You see this? **points to balled up gum wrapper in dryer** that’s the last time!” That day she showed me how to use the washer and dryer, and that was it. I started doing all of my own laundry at the age of 11. Have been ever since.
Decades later, as I started my work with Productivity Gladiator, and created my calculator to determine what my time was worth, I realized outsourcing my laundry might be worth it.
Using a service or a person to do my laundry for me might free up valuable time to do some things that were more important to me?
I noticed it took about one and a half hours to do one load of laundry from sorting it beforehand to folding and putting it away afterward. I found that every ten days or so I would be doing two to three loads of laundry. Doing more loads at once saved some time, but you still have to do one after the other if you’re doing it from home. Overall I found, regardless of whether it was in a washer and dryer in my home, or a laundry room, overall it was about 3 hours of my time for 3 loads of laundry.
Photo from Unsplash
If you experiment with my time value calculator you can see a starting estimate of what your personal time is worth. For me, when thinking about opportunities like this around the house, I value my personal time at $35 per hour. That means in my mind I spend $105 of my time on laundry every 10 days. I started to wonder, “Could I find someone or some service who could do it for less? If I did, could I afford to keep that up and make it a regular part of my life? Would they do a good enough job that I would want to keep working with them?” If I’m being honest, while I’m very good at doing laundry, I don't really love to do it. I don’t enjoy it. It's one of those things that I feel like I “have to do” but I don't really “want to do”.
This has been an adventure and a journey.
In 2014, I started experimenting with outsourcing my laundry. At the time, I was using the home cleaning service called Handy. One of the add-on services was for Handy to do your laundry while they worked. I started to experiment with this. I definitely learned that you had to provide some instruction. Here's a template copy of the instruction sheet that I used to provide the cleaning person which included the instructions they were to follow for the laundry. For about 5 years, I used their services. It worked pretty well. The cleaning people would come and go, and whoever did my cleaning was able to follow the instructions and did a good enough job with the laundry. At some point, I felt the quality of the job they did was no longer up to par for me. I’d find the clothes wrinkled, or some of it left undone. These results weren’t “good enough” to continue the service.
Photo from Unsplash
It was during this time that I started trying other wash-and-fold services. Prior to this, my perception was that the cost of sending the laundry through a separate service was going to be too high. I found this isn’t necessarily true. I remember in college many years ago I used the wash-and-fold service at a local laundromat near campus. They were on the way from one of the jobs I worked, and they offered it for $.50/pound. They always did a good job of folding my clothes, things were never wrinkled, and the quality of the work they did was good. I started wondering if there was something like that around me now-a-days. I used Google Maps and Yelp, checked their websites, called different laundromats that were nearby, and I found a few options that could work. The going rate seemed to be $1 per pound these days. During that research, I also looked into services that included delivery and I came across SudShare. SudShare is also $1 per pound, includes free delivery and pickup, and is a one-day turnaround time. This is very comparable to the service I would get at a laundromat, so I decided to give it a try.
(May 2023 Update: Sudshare has been renamed/rebranded to Poplin.)
So how much? How many pounds is it?
For my household, I’ve found it’s about 20 pounds per adult every 10 days. This includes workout clothes, sheets, and towels every 2 weeks, all of it. Right now, it’s about $40 every 10 days and ends up being about $130-$140 in total per month. I tip the people though that’s not required of course.
Photo from Pexels
Wash/Dry Preferences?
In my experience, cold wash with like colors, low temperature dry is best and easiest. It has resulted in excellent longevity for my clothes, even through the hundreds of people that have washed them.
How is the current service?
It’s been six months with SudShare now, and the results have been wonderful! I have been impressed with the quality of the service and especially the folding. I equate Sudshare to the Uber of wash-and-fold service. There are a whole bunch of people out there willing to do laundry which they call “Sudsters”. When you request a service they post the opportunity to see which Sudster wants it. They come and pick it up, wash-and-fold it, and drop it back off the next day. The quality of the folding has been just as good as I remember from the wash-and-fold services I used before, nothing comes back wrinkled. It's comforting to me to use this “Uber-like” model as well. With many different people being available to come and do laundry, this means if someone is on vacation, or too busy, or stops working for SudShare, there are others who will be able to fill in, and I don’t have to coordinate any of that.
Since I've started I've had about ten different Sudsters do my laundry. Of those, only one of them did not complete my laundry in the guaranteed time frame of one day and took 2 days, causing me to not request that Sudster again. The rest of the Sudsters I’ve used have been great and I would use them again. The app allows for this too, you can always keep requesting your favorite Sudsters, and if they’re not available another one can take care of it.
Ultimately, I'm writing this post for two reasons:
I wanted to share the thought that if you're feeling overwhelmed or looking for opportunities to get some of your time back, you could look into wash and fold service for your laundry. You could give a gift card to a parent or friend who is feeling this way too. Do you feel like you don’t get quality time with your partner or family? Do you ever go out to eat on weekends? Perhaps you can try using that money on this service one weekend on a Sunday afternoon, and instead of doing laundry, go on a $0 date instead. You can make some sandwiches and go picnic in the park, go see friends, play games, or do something together. Using a service doesn’t necessarily mean spending more money each month, just changing how you spend it in relation to your time.
Right now I’m happy with the quality of the work I'm getting with SudShare, but I'm also comfortable with the fact that just like many services there might come a day where I might be looking for a new one. I’ve used many over the years. For the 3 hours of my time that I get back every 10 days or so, it is absolutely worth it for me to continue to look for these kinds of solutions. That time allows me to do more of the things that are important to me, and feel more balanced in my life. I do have a limit on how much I would pay for this type of service. This is not something I would always choose to use if it didn’t make sense, but right now, with the price and experience I’m getting, I'm extremely happy with this decision and the solution that I have. If you’ve never considered this, I hope you’ll look into it!
Other hot tips from others I’ve heard since writing this:
Never, ever, take anything wet for wash-and-fold service! -Kim C-
Note: I looked into this, good tip to pay attention too! SudShare weighs your laundry after it’s all been dried and folded, each service is different!
2 Bits of Helpful Info About SudShare Specifically:
To check if SudShare services your area, you can type in your zipcode here.
$10 Credit - I have no affiliation or relationship to SudShare, and ultimately write this to inform you. However, they have a referral program, so if you would like to give them a try you can use this link and earn a $10 credit towards your first laundry service.
https://referral.sudshare.com/px1d
I’m Brian. At age 4, I was diagnosed with insulin dependent (type 1) diabetes and told that my life was going to be 10-20 years shorter than everyone else. Time is precious. I created Productivity Gladiator because I saw what a difference it made to share small and specific actions you can take right now, right away, to achieve better work life balance, be more productive, and live your best life right now, today, not wait until retirement. I want you to start doing the things you WANT to do, not get stuck only chasing what you NEED to do. If any of this resonates with you, I hope you’ll subscribe, and if you’re so inclined, send me a note. It brings me joy sharing Productivity Gladiator with you.
Dictating Is 3x Faster Than Typing. Start Talking!
I’ve been pushing myself to try a new habit. Anytime I need to type one sentence or more, I talk to my computer or device instead of typing. It is so hard to break this habit after so many years of typing!
“You mean you’re talking to your devices? All the time?”
Yep! I talk to my phone, even out in public. I talk to my computer at home. I talk to my computer at work. I do it as much as possible. So. Freaking. Cool! It must be hilarious to be around me while I am working. I’m just taaaaaalking away with no one around.
“Alright, but HOW MUCH faster is it? Why isn’t everyone doing it?”
I’ve been pushing myself to try a new habit. Anytime I need to type one sentence or more, I talk to my computer or device instead of typing. It is so hard to break this habit after so many years of typing. I usually start typing without thinking, catch myself, then switch to speaking. I'm doing pretty well with it, catching myself most of the time now, and wow, it's definitely faster!
“You mean you’re talking to your devices? All the time?”
Yep! I talk to my phone, even out in public. I talk to my computer at home. I talk to my computer at work. I do it as much as possible. So. Freaking. Cool. For me, the difference has been huge! I’ve also retrained myself to talk significantly faster to my devices, since I found I had a habit of speaking slowly which I thought the computer would need. The devices all process speech-to-text faster than I can even bring the words to mind! It must be hilarious to be around me while I am working. I’m just taaaaaalking away with no one around.
“Alright, but HOW MUCH faster is it?”
Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels
Sure, let’s break it down.
A Stanford study found that speaking is three times faster than typing on phones with on-screen keyboards. On a computer with a full keyboard, it actually works out the same. The average typing speed is 40ish Words Per Minute (WPM), while the average speaking rate is 120-150 WPM. The software you have access to for free on all your devices goes much faster. Want to see for yourself? Right now, use the “microphone” or “dictate” option on your keyboard/device and say this classic tongue twister as fast as you possibly can: “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” Did your device get it correct? Pretty cool, right? The built-in software you have access to on your devices can keep up with even the quickest auctioneers at 250+ words per minute!
For me, I tested myself. If you want to, you can too, go to typingtest.com. I wanted to see how my skills stacked up. I use all my fingers and don’t look at the keys. Turns out on the desktop keyboard I’m at 39 Words Per Minute, and on my phone I’m at 30 WPM. I also found this site which lets you read a segment of text out loud and calculates speaking speed. Mine was 179 WPM.
Using the averages from the reserach, here’s the amount of time you can be spending and saving inputting text:
So why is everyone still typing? HABIT.
Only since around 2014 has this technology and use of AI for improved speech-to-text started becoming freely available in all of the devices that we use, AND good enough to get it right the majority of the time. Think about it; we’ve spent a lifetime pressing keys to respond to computers and devices. To start speaking to your devices requires changing a lifetime of habits.
In case you’ve never tried it, here are the instructions on how to dictate (sometimes called speech-to-text) on:
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
But what if it doesn’t get it right? Do I have to reread what it typed?
I mean, of course, you can and should. Otherwise, funny typos can be interesting. I used to type the email or text I was working on, then reread it to make sure it was correct and came across how I wanted. Instead, I activate the dictate button and speak the email or text I’m working on, then reread it before sending it or moving on. I type quickly, but now that I’ve started teaching myself to talk faster to my computer, this feels about 3x quicker than it was before.
I’ve even taken the rereading a step further by using editing software, such as Grammarly. This eases the editing phase post-dictation. I didn’t want to pay for Grammarly, though, so I’ve also been fond of ProWritingAid, which is a Chrome browser extension I’ve been using that’s like a free version of Grammarly. It underlines the issues that it identifies and makes edits quicker. Microsoft Office also does this with its spelling and grammar check. I leverage those, too, to help make edits faster.
A Few Other Observations
Visual Learners - Sometimes, I’m a bit of a visual person, so seeing the text appear as I type is helpful for my thinking process. When I talk to people in real life, I don't see the words appearing as I'm talking. I wonder if that visual is part of the habit I used to have with typing? Now that I've gotten used to just speaking to my computer with no one in the room with me, I’ve gotten over it reasonably quickly. To be honest, I don’t look at the screen. I look around and then come back to see what it says.
Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels
Mental and Physical Strain - Dictation often eases the psychological and physical stress your body takes on while typing, and reduces pain in common areas such as your back, wrists, elbows, and hips. Carpal tunnel and arthritis symptoms can lessen. Have you ever tried to type an entire 4-page college paper with a wrist brace or a cast? The time it takes to type it out is often more painful than the injury itself.
Multitasking - I’ve found I can dictate while doing mindless physical activities--exercising, walking between meetings, relaxing at home, or playing with a stress ball. I wrote this post almost entirely with dictation while I was washing dishes. Take that, housework!
Brain Dump - It is also much easier to brain dump a list of things you need to do instead of writing it out. Sometimes you can forget what you are thinking about while writing the first few things down. You get distracted by spelling, grammar over the topic, or writing so fast to keep up with your rapid thoughts that you can’t read what you wrote.
What are you waiting for? Stop typing, start talking!
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Main Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
I’m Brian. At age 4, I was diagnosed with insulin dependent (type 1) diabetes and told that my life was going to be 10-20 years shorter than everyone else. Time is precious. I created Productivity Gladiator because I saw what a difference it made to share small and specific actions you can take right now, right away, to achieve better work life balance, be more productive, and live your best life right now, today, not wait until retirement. I want you to start doing the things you WANT to do, not get stuck only chasing what you NEED to do. If any of this resonates with you, I hope you’ll subscribe, and if you’re so inclined, send me a note. It brings me joy sharing Productivity Gladiator with you.
Stop The Back-and-Forth to Set Meetings!
Is this type of back and forth familiar to you?
“Hey can you meet next week?”
“Sure what time works good for you?”
“How about Wednesday afternoon?”
“No I’m busy then, what about Thursday?”
“No, I’ve got multiple events going on that day. Any other times work for you?”
And on and on….
This is such a waste of both party’s time sending all this back and forth, and waiting for the replies. Technology and software have eliminated the need for this, so now start using them and changing these habits to get your time back!
Is this type of back and forth familiar to you?
“Hey can you meet next week?”
“Sure what time works good for you?”
“How about Wednesday afternoon?”
“No I’m busy then, what about Thursday?”
“No, I’ve got multiple events going on that day. Any other times work for you?”
And on and on….
Photo taken from Calendly.com
This is such a waste of both party’s time sending all this back and forth, and waiting for the replies. Technology and software have eliminated the need for this, so now start using them and changing these habits to get your time back! Here are several tactics that work with all online calendar types, they’ve been tested specifically with google and outlook calendars. If your work system is locked down, it may require some permissions you don’t have, in order to set it up, but TRY IT!
1) If it’s an internal meeting, through your same organization/work, use “scheduling assistant” features within google, outlook, etc.
When you create the calendar invites, use the option to see when someone is busy or available. In Outlook, they call it Scheduling Assistant and Google Calendar calls it their “Find a time” feature. With Google’s feature, even if you aren’t a member of that person’s organization, but let’s say these are your best friends that you schedule stuff with all the time, it’s possible to update their access so they can see what you’re up to, even if it’s just whether you’re already busy or free.
It’s important for you to make sure you mark things in your calendar, and in a calendar event you create, you can specify whether you show as “busy” or “free” in the event options. This way, if you have an all-day event that says “mom’s birthday” it won’t show you as unavailable that whole day. If you have 4 of 5 days of vacation though, and that event is marked as “busy”, then people will know you’re not available.
In their video I linked to above, google mentions
people spend an hour per week just trying to schedule meetings.
This is a time waster that can be avoided!
2) Use Calendly, YouCanBook.Me, etc. to share certain parts of your time that’s free, without sharing your full calendar.
Calendly is an automated scheduling software that allows your invitee to pick a slot from your calendar that works for you both. Simply send them your link. This also works for group meetings. Once connected to your Google Calendar, it will be easier for people to schedule an appointment with you without worrying about multiple bookings. You can still take full control of your schedule by setting a daily limit that allows you to cap the number of meetings allowed to be booked per day. Also, it notifies you for every booking added, sends you reminder emails, and can even ask you to confirm whether you’re available or not for the booking. Visit their website to check more of its features here.
Well, it’s simple but it works. Youcanbook.me sends your invitee or customer’s bookings straight to your calendar. Simplify scheduling by connecting this tool to your calendar. Then, simply send your personalized youcanbook.me link to anyone who wishes to schedule an appointment with you, which they can also open anytime the need arises. They’ll pick a slot that also fits their schedule and voila! Meetings are set without spending too much time. Plus, get to avoid multiple bookings. Find out more of its uses and features here.
Photo taken from Doodle.com
3) What if it’s a whole group of people, not just one or two you’re trying to schedule?
“Make meetings happen”, Doodle says as it makes scheduling quick and easy for us all. Doodle works like a scheduling poll in three ways. First, it allows you to customize your event request by suggesting open schedules. Then, you can send a link to the participants of the event that will allow them to indicate their availability. Lastly, it collects the participants’ availabilities on one page and enables you to pick the best time that works for you and your invited participants. To avoid the back and forth, you can connect Doodle to your Google Calendar. Click here for more information on how to create a doodle poll.
This is great for groups of friends, maybe trying to find a weekend to go on vacation together? People from different organizations who don’t use the same calendar system or don’t have access to each other’s availability? So many situations where this is a great tool!
4) For all others, limit the back and forth as much as possible. Or simply reply with the calendar invite. be aware of this rabbit hole and don’t get sucked into endless back and forth.
Setting appointments can be daunting sometimes. Now that you’re aware of it, don’t get sucked in! You’re Better Than That!
Subscribe if you don’t already! Get these nuggets of knowledge in your email automatically so you don’t have to go looking for them!
I’m Brian. At age 4, I was diagnosed with insulin dependent (type 1) diabetes and told that I was going to have a harder life that was likely 10-20 years shorter than normal. I’ve lived my best life every day since then, because you only get one chance to live it. I created Productivity Gladiator because I saw what a difference it made to share small and specific actions you can take right now, right away, to achieve better work life balance, be more productive, and live your best life right now, today, not wait until retirement. It brings me joy to share this passion with you.
Another Errand You Could Skip: Get Alcohol Delivered
Did you know you could get alcohol delivered? People tend to spend hours running errands. When it comes to buying alcohol, for instance, it takes an average person about 20 minutes or more. Often times this goes up depending on travel time to the store, finding what you’re and the time you have to wait in a queue, if there’s any.
It’s a good thing that e-commerce has reached the alcohol industry, and it’s actually thriving. This industry is expected to grow more in the next few years. Have you ever had your alcohol delivered? What are you waiting for? Avoid these random trips to the store to satisfy your cravings, get your alcoholic beverages delivered!
Did you know you could get alcohol delivered? People tend to spend hours running errands. When it comes to buying alcohol, for instance, it takes an average person about 20 minutes or more. Often times this goes up depending on travel time to the store, finding what you’re and the time you have to wait in a queue, if there’s any.
To think, average drinkers usually lasts only a few days a week without alcohol. And, not every one of them can afford to buy in bulk, to keep it stored for future needs. This means more trips to the grocery or drive-thru liquor stores. If we put it in numbers, the time people actually spend on this errand could mean so much in the long run. Suppose, one spends 20 minutes travel time back and forth, and regularly buys alcohol - about once a week.
10 mins there + 15 mins shopping + 10 mins back = 35 minutes alcohol shopping
35 minutes shopping x 52 weeks/year = 30.33 hours/year
Remember in our earlier post where we used the calculators to estimate how much your personal time is worth? Go find out right now if you haven’t already.
How much value of your personal time do those liquor store runs cost you in a year? $300? $700?
Think how much time would you have saved in a week if only there’s another way to get alcohol? Imagine the relief of getting the batch of liquor and beer for that upcoming bbq you’re hosting?
It’s worth noting, each state’s liquor laws are different.
In just about every state, beer and wine are allowed. I have Amazon Fresh bring a lot of those for me when they bring my groceries. The wild card is the liquor and whether it can be delivered. In the DC area, you have 3 different state’s laws in play. In VA, ABC stores have a state mandated monopoly on all liquor sold, and they do not deliver. In DC and Maryland, it’s deregulated and can be delivered, so most all the resources below should work for you. Liquorama.com has a list of the states that do not allow shipments and those who only allow wine. The NCSL has a state by state breakdown in a chart, which is handy if you’re wondering about your state specifically.
Table based on the information taken from NCSL.
The remaining states not listed above only allow direct wine shipments. While these are all true, please also note that delivery of alcoholic drinks is only allowed to people 21 years old and above. The presence of one is required for every direct delivery.
For those of you, like me, that live in a state with restrictions, there is the potential for creative solutions too. Errand running services such as Taskrabbit, (here’s a referral code for $10 off your first use if you’d like to experiment with it) have people that will go run to the store for you and drop off what you need, you’ll just compensate them for their time.
It’s a good thing that e-commerce has reached the alcohol industry, and it’s actually thriving. This industry is expected to grow more in the next few years. Have you ever had your alcohol delivered? What are you waiting for? Avoid these random trips to the store to satisfy your cravings, get your alcoholic beverages delivered!
Here’s some of the apps/websites/services I’ve heard of or tried:
Drizly on mobile site
Drizly
I’ve used this one several times. With Drizly, there’s no need to worry about having an empty cup. Not on their watch, as they say. Drizly works with local stores and allows people to shop their beer, wine, or spirit of choice from their shelves at the touch of a button. Ordering can be easily done through any computer or smartphone by visiting their website.
Oh! They sell extras too. With their website, you can also have some snacks, mixers, sodas, and fruits delivered. Find some cocktail recipes too! Now, you’re so ready for that party.
Minibar Delivery
Get your favorite drink, straight to your door with Minibar Delivery. You can visit their website, or download their app from App Store or Google Play, and experience alcohol shopping with just a few taps. They partner with local stores and identify which ones are nearest to your location.
Like others, they have extras too. No time to shop for gifts? Minibar Delivery got you covered with their Give a Gift offers. Better yet, easily and conveniently plan an event with the help of Minibar Delivery and just a few clicks with their Party Planner. You can even book a bartender for your next event. How cool is that?
budlight.com
Bud Light Button
This one is a funny and ingenius use of technology. It’s an app that is simply a button. You create a profile with your payment and credit card info, and the default quantity of bud light you want. 6pack? 12pack? After the initial setup you open the app and press the button, and in 30-45 minutes, bud light gets delivered to the location of the phone. I used it while I was at a social softball game one evening in DC and we ran out of beer. It was like magic! Used it one other time at a BBQ at a friend’s house. For light beer drinkers out there, maybe this app is for you.
LoveScotch
LoveScotch, like many others, is an online liquor store but it gives more emphasis on scotch and spirits. You can have the best range of rum, vodka, tequila, bourbon, and more, delivered across the USA.
They also cater gifting with an even more personal touch. You can have a personalized message engraved in the bottle of your loved ones’ favorite drink. That would be sweet, wouldn’t it?
Here are other options you might want to try, as well:
You may not be able to give up drinking, but you can give up random store trips for drinks. Save time and enjoy the comfort of ordering your drinks online and having them delivered in less than an hour!
Subscribe if you don’t already! Get these nuggets of knowledge in your email so you don’t have to go looking for them!
I’m Brian. I created Productivity Gladiator after I saw what a difference it made to share very small and very specific actions you can take right now, right away. They make a difference in your life, little by little, and the impact grows and grows. I want you to start doing the things you WANT to do, not get stuck chasing what you NEED to do. If any of this resonates with you, I’d love to talk with you or your organization about it, send me a note. Thanks for letting me share my Productivity Gladiator passion with you.
Get Groceries Delivered. You Running Errands? Or Are Errands Running You?
The average American spends on average 10 – 15 hours per week on tasks like doing laundry, picking up the dry cleaning or grocery shopping. And of course, this in addition to their regular “40” hour a week career, and this is frequently even more! This is more than just about work/life balance; it’s about taking back your time!
Let’s just zero in on those grocery store trips, for example. How much do your grocery visits cost? Let’s put a number to it…
The average American spends on average 10 – 15 hours per week on tasks like doing laundry, picking up the dry cleaning or grocery shopping. And of course, this in addition to their regular “40” hour a week career, and this is frequently even more! This is more than just about work/life balance; it’s about taking back your time!
Let’s just zero in on those grocery store trips, for example. How much do your grocery visits cost? Let’s put a number to it.
Data suggests the average person goes to the grocery store 1.6 times a week and spends 43 minutes there. As everyone knows, the grocery store can be quite headache with overcrowded aisles and the long lines to check out. Then there’s the travel time, which according to what I found is 15 minutes or less for 87% of people. For our estimating purposes here we’re going to use a travel time of 10 minutes each way door-to-door.
10 mins there + 43 mins shopping + 10 mins back = 63 minute grocery store trip
63 Minute Store Trip x 1.6 Trips Per Week x 52 Weeks/Year = 87.36 Hours/Year
How many dates could you have gone on with that time? How much would your relationships have been improved? How about time with the kids?
Remember in our earlier post where we used the calculators to estimate how much your personal time is worth? Go find out right now if you haven’t already.
If you value your time at even a very cheap $10/hr, for 87 hours that’s $870 of your time you spend going grocery shopping each year. At $25/hr that’s $2,184/year of your time. This doesn’t include the cost of the groceries either, this is just the time you spend on it.
Let’s add on another layer of going to the store. The more time you spend in the grocery store, the more money you will spend? If you have 15 items on your store list, you’ll likely come home with a few more items you found which were such a great deal, or something else you came across which looked cool, or you thought the kids would like.
Is there a way to break out of this time and money wasting cycle? Get your groceries delivered!
These services started to pick up steam around 2010. I’ve been getting groceries delivered since 2014. Here’s what I’ve tried, what I know, and resources I’m happy to share. Overall the change has been worth it. I only go to the grocery store maybe once or twice per year, the rest get’s delivered
Amazon Fresh
Best experience so far. Amazon Fresh Free Trial Referral Link: https://amzn.to/2InrRc1
Came to Washington DC in 2018, I quickly switched to give it a try. I haven’t looked back. Amazon Fresh is a service available to Amazon Prime members, for an additional $15/month. Unlimited deliveries included on orders over $40.
Pros:
Orders have never been late…ever.
Produce has been well picked. Have never had a product which I had to throw out
Orders have been correct
Many prices cheaper than competitors like Walmart and Giant.
Delivery drivers in most cases have followed directions (ex: leave groceries outside my door, call me when you arrive to let me know the groceries are here if I don’t answer the door)
They deliver the full lineup of Whole Foods products, so many of the generic brands are reasonably priced (Amazon just slashed prices on whole foods products)
Delivery windows are in 2-hour increments from early morning to late night, can even deliver the same day, rarely have windows not been available.
Cons:
Some items are Prime, some are Fresh, which are 2 different programs. Some are Prime Pantry, which is yet another program. Prices differ, need to pay attention
Peapod
I used Peapod from 2016-2018 up until Amazon Fresh arrived, because it was the best option I had at the time.
Pros:
Had full stock of all items available from Giant grocery store for the same price as available in the store
Had decent selection of delivery time frames, though they weren’t always available, sometimes had to order 2-3 days in advance
Cons:
Delivery drivers often over worked, tired, and sometimes irritable
Rarely did full order arrive as requested,
Only 1 out of every 10 times did the driver arrive within the specified delivery time window.
No way to resolve issues (ex: wrong item delivered, one of my eggs is broken, etc) automatically like amazon through the website, you had to email, then wait one business day for a response. You could also call but the wait was long on hold.
Instacart
Have tried this twice. Pricing on the app isn’t always the same as in the store, it’s sometimes inflated pretty drastically. Instacart is is currently the best option for Trader Joes delivery, though they drastically inflate the pricing. If they would match the price in the store, I this I would use Instacart as my go-to option more frequently and might even pay their monthly fee to get unlimited deliveries, but between the inflated prices, AND the delivery charge, I’ve stayed away and made do with other services.
Why do people say they don’t do this?
In my workshops, the most common response from people who were not on board with grocery delivery, it’s generally for 2 main reasons:
Only I can pick good produce.
Okay, I understand this mentality. Here’s 2 thoughts on this though.
a) if you had a friend who worked in a grocery store, and handled the produce all day, would you trust them to pick good produce? These are often the type of people that are picking your produce with these delivery companies.
b) These companies know if they bring you bad produce you’ll leave and never come back, there’s incentive and motivation to get it right for them. This is exactly why I left Peapod, it happened one too many times. With Amazon Fresh I’ve never had a problem.But I really enjoy going to the store.
I don’t want you to think I’m taking this away from you. If this really is your favorite part of your week and you absolutely love to shop at the grocery store, then I support you, I want you to do the things you love and enjoy! The reality for many people is there’s too much on their plate, they don’t have time, and something has to give, and if they’re going to sacrifice something, the grocery store run is lowest on the priority chain. For some (not all, just some) participants in my workshops, when we dug a little deeper we found out that they’re overwhelmed, and going to the store was one thing they felt like they were good at. They felt successful when they did, so it was more of a pick me up, and by taking it away, it was like taking a “win” off the board for them, which didn’t feel good either. It’s been intriguing to see the reasons why there’s more to this when you dig a little deeper.
Conclusion
This isn’t meant to be an all inclusive list of grocery delivery services, I just wanted to share a little of my experience with it to get you thinking about it. If you want to read about all the different grocery delivery services, here’s a thorough Lucie’s List article from 2019 which does a great job digging into many more of the options you may have available. Try commiting to getting your groceries delivered for a month, see how your life and schedule feel different without the regular pressure of getting to the store. I recommend you try one service with their free trial offer. Then another. Then another. You’ll learn as you go. Each time you’ll get a bit more savvy. Pretty soon you’ll not only be saving money from the cost of groceries in the store, but you’ll be saving the time to go and get them.
If you find you miss going to the store, you can always go back to doing it, but if you have too much on your plate, try letting someone deliver your groceries, see if it changes your life!
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I’m Brian. At age 4, I was diagnosed with insulin dependent (type 1) diabetes and told that I was going to have a harder life that was likely 10-20 years shorter than normal. I’ve lived my best life every day since then, because you only get one chance to live it. I created Productivity Gladiator because I saw what a difference it made to share small and specific actions you can take right now, right away, to achieve better work life balance, be more productive, and live your best life right now, today, not wait until retirement. I want you to start doing the things you WANT to do, not get stuck chasing what you NEED to do. If any of this resonates with you, send me a note. It brings me joy to share this passion with you.