Online shopping has been around for a few years now. But if you haven’t tried it yet you’re seriously missing out! It is just insanely convenient whether you’re a stay at home parent, a working employee, an empty-nester, or a food blogger. This program serves everyone, and it is getting better every year!

I typically meal plan on Sundays, to get me prepared and feeling confident coming into the new week. I used to meal plan every week, but have found that I don’t end up using all the meals and with just a little more time upfront I can plan 2 weeks worth of meals at once and save a lot of mental energy. I end up going to the grocery store on the off week for fresh produce, but I typically don’t shop for canned foods, baking supplies, or my traditional staples. All that I do with the click of a button in my pajamas!

When I sit down to meal plan I go through the meals I know I want to make and assign them to days that fit our schedule. After planning too many meals and wasting food for a few years, I’ve learned to schedule in leftover days and leave a weekend night blank for nights when we’re on the go and eat out. I keep a few frozen meals always on hand, so if we do end up eating at home I can usually find something to make in a pinch!

You can either make a shopping list from your meal plan or just head straight to your computer and start filling out your Walmart order! When I first login, I select a convenient day and time for free pick up (or drop off for a small fee). There is a feature on their website to re-buy items that you have bought in the past. This is a big time saver for me because I can just go through and select from a single page the items I’ll be buying again and again, like onions, eggs, and their bakery rolls that my 3 year old adores. Also worth mentioning is that you can buy non food items as well. I have gotten car oil, hair spray, make-up and other incidentals no problem! I can’t emphasize how nice this service is, being able to do it all from the couch, and without any child tantrums! Not to mention, ordering online with a search bar is insanely easier than wandering the isles looking for obscure ingredients like clam sauce!

When you login, you select the location you’ll be buying from upfront, and your shopping options are customized based on that location. Still, the system is not perfect and sometimes they are out of certain sizes or products. In my experience, they have usually substituted a bigger/better item for whatever they are out of. For example, if I ordered a 24 pack of fruit snacks but those are out of stock, they give me the 48 pack at the price of the 24 pack. Or one time I ordered Prego spaghetti sauce and they gave me Classico brand instead. You always have the option to deny the substitutions before paying for them curbside.

I have found that ordering online actually saves me both time and money. Time for obvious reasons, but money too since I’m not tempted by all the extras I see when perusing the isles. I have had an instance or two when the pickup employees are extra slow or especially busy and it takes a while for them to bring my food out to the car. I have learned to call when I’m on my way to ask them to prepare my order, this is very helpful in speeding up the process. Once I arrive at walmart it has taken anywhere from 2-15 minutes for them to load up my trunk with the food. If I have a bad experience for any reason, I reply to the customer service follow up email detailing how they could have done better. Every time, they have replied with a $10 coupon code for me to use on my next order. This has saved me money, made me feel a little better, and once I even used the credit to pay the delivery fee so I didn’t even have to drive to the store when my kids were sick! You should absolutely try this free service, and let me know in the comments how you like it!