Mediapocalypse Grocery Hack for Faux Preppers
Here is a little pro tip on how to do a little hack and save some cash during the Mediapocalypse which is causing a run on food. Install the Wal Mart grocery app on your phone. Not the regular app, make sure it is the grocery app which is separate. Set up the store you use and add your credit card info. It will also ask you the time and day of the week you would like to pick up your order. Wal Mart provides free personal shoppers who load the food right into your car when you pull up.
Next, go through each department selecting the cheapest Great Value brand option. If you need frozen broccoli, select the Great Value brand in the smallest oz size, lets say 12 oz for $1.00. Right now everyone is buying up the cheapest brands, so those are mostly out of stock for sure even if the app has not updated "out of stock" there is a good chance it is, or will be when your shopper heads out to the floor to pick your order.
Store policy when an item is out of stock is to substitute your selection to an item of equal or greater value for the same price. This means if you select Great Value smallest size bag and they are out of stock, they upgrade you to a more expensive name brand for the same price. If you choose a smaller bag, they often substitute out bags that are double the portion size - that $1.00 bag of generic broccoli gets replaced with a 24 oz bag of name brand broccoli for only $1.00. I do this a lot with fresh blueberries for example as they sell out of the small tubs a lot because blueberries are expensive, so I end up paying the 8 oz price of $4.50 for a mega 16+ oz tub. Last week they gave me so many when I ordered 2, I had to feed some to my chickens just to use them up.
After time, you begin to see patterns in which items tend to out of stock a lot (during normal non fear induced virus times) and you can begin to work the app to your advantage. I often save $20.00 or more per order. Right now about 1/4 of many items are showing out of stock, so the substitution upgrades will be rolling in while being replaced with the more expensive name brands and organic foods that are still in stock because many people cannot afford them.
Once you check out in the shopping cart, you are taken to a substitution screen where each item is marked with a blue check. Simply leave everything check marked so your shopper can upgrade each item. The fancier things like organic Himalayan yak tongue that you are very particular about acquiring, you un-check for no-substitutions and they will simply not bring you the item if it is out of stock, and the price will be deleted from your order.
A few random details:
You normally have to place your order by at least 1 a.m. night before pick up
You receive a text when your order is ready
You click the app when you get in your car to let them know you're coming
They load your car in 5 mins and you head home instead of spending 1 hour in the store dodging screaming toddlers and little old ladies that just bathed in rose scented perfume.
The carside pickup service is free
Mediapocalypse Variables:
Tons of items are already marked "out of stock" right now
This week Wal Mart placed item limits on the app - you will most likely get capped out at 2 cans of beans, so you need to select a larger variety of items instead of buying 6 cans of the same.
Enjoy...