Tag: saving money

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GROCERY DELIVERY CHANGES GAME FOR SENIORS

Shopping wasn’t much fun if you grew up during the WWII years of 1939 to 1945.  Coffee and meat were rationed, as well as sugar and most other good food.  Besides the rationing, money was scarce. After the war finally ended,  I became  a teenager, earning my own money at last. That was the start of my love for shopping, which continues to this day.  When the Covid pandemic hit , I masked up, wore gloves, and persisted with my  trips to the grocery store.  But one freezing day last  February, my arthritis flared.  My heart wanted to shop, but my shoulders and knees rebelled.  With trepidation , I  ordered  groceries online to be delivered.   To my surprise, it was easy as cake. Grocery delivery changes the game for seniors.

Grocery delivery changes game for seniors who want to age in place
GROCERY DELIVERY CHANGES GAME FOR SENIORS. It can actually save you money.

A lot of people love to shop.  In fact, over 80% of people prefer shopping in physical grocery stores.  It’s fun to  wander the aisles looking  for unexpected treats and new products. Sometimes, you stop and visit with neighbors. Maybe glance at the tabloid headlines while in the checkout lane.  And if you’ve been shopping the same place for awhile, you enjoy talking to your favorite cashier.

Delivered groceries seemed to me an extravagance reserved for spoiled, wealthy people, too lazy to shop, too snooty to mingle with the common folk. In the old days,  stores that delivered groceries catered to “the carriage trade”–that wealthy upper crust who belonged to the country club   and employed  household servants.

And yet, when I looked at my receipt that  first day,  I found that I had saved enough money to pay for the delivery cost and tip for the driver. Because I was logged into my own account at that store, they automatically gave me all of their weekly discounts and coupon savings.  Better yet, I saved on gas used while  driving back and forth to the parking lot.

For an octogenarian who has always shopped in-store, this  process took me way out of my comfort zone.  But if you want to age in place, and stay in your own home, this may be one of the best decisions you will ever make. Grocery Delivery changes the game for seniors.

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8 SURPRISING BENEFITS OF OUTBREAK

So far, the Coronavirus scare has brought about some positive changes for Americans.   Good things sometimes happen in bad times. If you’re a senior on a fixed income, or someone with a steady job, these are 8 surprising benefits of the coronavirus outbreak. 

  1.  Low gas prices. If you’re still driving to work or running errands, the cost of filling your gas tank is going to come as a nice surprise.

2. Teleworking from home.   What a luxury.  Wearing pajamas all day.  Relaxing, using your own clean  bathroom, saving lunch money.  No commuting time means  much less stress.  It’s almost like a vacation.

One good thing about staying home during the crisis: more family meals together
One of the 8 surprising benefits of the outbreak is that families will eat more meals together at home,

3. Saving a pile of money if you social distance, and stay away from restaurants.   Have you ever figured out how much you spend on meals away from home?  The entrée  price may be low, but then,  there’s  the sneaky way  beverages add to the total bill.  A couple glasses of wine may cost more than the meal itself.  And the added taxes and the obligatory tip may increase your tab by 30%.   Now, you don’t have to feel like a cheapskate if you stop taking the family out to dinner.

4. Get reacquainted with family members.  Play scrabble or gin rummy.   You might even have meals  together.

5. Better health habits.  You’ll probably wash your hands more often, even when the crisis is over. Which means you will be less apt to get colds, flu, and other infectious diseases in the future..

6. Buy a new house.  Low interest rates means more people can afford a mortgage.

7. Cut down on  wasteful spending.  You don’t need a closet stuffed with clothes, a houseful of computers and TVs, and  a garage filled with extra  cars, boats and  motorcycles.

8,  Stop relying on paper goods. Cloth diapers and dishtowels could make a comeback. Anyone remember cloth napkins? We washed them once a week, and fastened them with clothespins bearing our names.

The good thing about being over 80 is that we learned  how to “make do” in hard times.  I hope you won’t come down with the coronavirus.  But whether  you do or don’t, you may find some comfort with these 8 surprising benefits.