I ordered groceries and once again it was a bit of a headache.<\/p>\n
I had a budget of $250. That’s to buy groceries for the rest of the month (17 days) for 3 adults and 2 cats. (So that’s like $14 to live on per day.)<\/p>\n
I ordered from Walmart and Safeway. Staples and such from Walmart, and taking advantage of the meat BOGO from Safeway.<\/p>\n
The one thing I like about Walmart is that whatever the final bill is, that’s what I have to pay. I can pick out the substitutions and what-have-yous, then I agree to pay a set amount AND THAT’S IT. I know exactly what to expect because the amount I agree to is what gets paid.<\/p>\n
Safeway though… Sigh.<\/p>\n
Ordering from Safeway is very stressful. I agreed to pay $79.76, but got charged $91.04. That’s an $11.28 difference.<\/p>\n
AND I’ve gotten VERY careful with making sure to set my substitutions or mark Do Not Substitute, as there was one time when they charged me $60 OVER what I agreed to because the grocery picker substituted like $50 meat and shrimp for what should have been a BOGO and $10 meat.<\/p>\n
Every time I order from Safeway is a crapshoot. My budget is so tight, and it’s terrible that I can’t be sure whether I’m going to be forced over it. And like, they don’t allow changes or rejections, so once you order and the clock hits 11:59 p.m. on the day you order THAT’S IT.<\/p>\n
So like, they pick out the groceries on delivery day, but you have no further say in anything. You can’t reject anything and if you call the Help Line the person will say they can’t do anything for you because the order is locked in.<\/p>\n
All you can do is wait for the delivery guy to show up, then pick through the bags and find the items you want to reject.<\/p>\n
As it is, I had to go back to my Walmart order and change the tip amount for the Walmart driver. I feel bad because George was a nice guy, but that $250 amount was a HARD limit. So while George still got a tip, it wasn’t what it would have been if Safeway was more upfront with their final amounts.<\/p>\n
I agreed to $79. Why do I have to STRESS that they could charge me $10 or $20 or $60 or $100 more than what I agreed to? Why can’t they be completely transparent with their amounts?<\/p>\n
It’s very frustrating.<\/p>\n
And I know. Someone out there is like “If it matters so much, why don’t you go to the grocery store and shop for yourself???” Well, because whatever lies people tell themselves, we’re in the middle of a pandemic.<\/p>\n
Me going to the store risks me being exposed to sickness, and if I’m sick, risks me exposing other people to sickness.<\/p>\n
And also, me ordering from the store keeps the store people employed, and also provides jobs to the delivery people. I mean, Safeway uses their own trucks and employees to make home deliveries, but they get tips now so that’s extra money for the drivers and their families. Walmart outsources their deliveries, so that’s people that otherwise wouldn’t have a job being able to buy groceries and pay rent for themselves.<\/p>\n
Me and my family need to eat. And I only have a finite amount of money to buy EVERYTHING for a whole month.<\/p>\n
$500 for groceries and essentials for 3 adults and 2 cats for a WHOLE MONTH.<\/p>\n
That’s food, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry soap, coffee, coffee filters, cat food, cat litter, bird seed, dish soap, shampoo, conditioner… EVERYTHING for an ENTIRE MONTH.<\/p>\n
And this time I didn’t have enough to buy cat litter and I’m really<\/em> regretting it because I’m going to have to figure something out as Lemon’s medication is making her pee an excessive amount.<\/p>\n Life is hard enough. Why can’t Safeway be more reasonable? It makes it so even when they have good deals, I don’t want to order from them because they could substitute for something ridiculous and end up with an overcharge. Boo.<\/p>\n ~Harper Kingsley<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 The Paypal: https:\/\/paypal.me\/harperkingsley<\/a>. Directly support the content.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Patreon: https:\/\/patreon.com\/harperkingsley<\/a>. Become a patron and receive access to Patreon-only content and bonus posts.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Amazon shop: https:\/\/amazon.com\/shop\/harperkingsley0<\/a>. See curated lists of items, and if you click an item but buy something else I still get money for driving traffic.<\/p>\n \u2022 The story site: https:\/\/kimichee.com<\/a>. Just stories, poems, and reviews, no excess babble.<\/p>\n \u2022 The blog: https:\/\/www.harperkingsley.net\/blog<\/a>. The stories, the meta, the babble, the news; a broad spread of content.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Ko-fi: https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/harperwck<\/a>. Artwork, links, a way to support the creation of new content.<\/p>\n