Typical Tuesday: Green Grocery Shopping LISTS (con-tain-it)

Okay...I'm such a GEEK...I know but when I find a really handy "tool" I just have to share it with you all. There is an added BONUS because this tool helps you to be GREEN in that you don't have to go out and buy a paper just to get the weekly Grocery Store Sales Flyers...which is the case for my favorite local store here in North Carolina, Harris Teeter. Maybe, because they are a small, southern grocery chain...I don't know...but Harris Teeter only places their weekly flyers in the local newspapers and, you have to actually buy the newspaper on Wednesdays to get the new weekly flyer. This is very green of the store because, in lieu of flooding everyone's mailboxes with their weekly flyers, only those shoppers who really want the flyer will buy the paper. When I get the bunch of weekly sales flyers in my mailbox on Tuesday, I don't even look at them...in my recycle bin they go...SUCH A WASTE :{ Wish more store would adopt this policy...and save some more trees!

SO, WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BUY THE NEWSPAPER EITHER, YOU ASK? Well for those of you who are like me, I don't read the paper...UNLESS I HAVE TO...too darn depressing. SO YOU SHOP ON-LINE...I'm sure most of your local stores have this option as well...so go check it out! For those of you who are "scared" of the internet or who are easily FRUSTRATED...this post is for you :D I'm using screen prints from Harris Teeter to walk you all through the process...so here goes...(please note that I'm using screen prints so these photos are a little blurry):

1. First up, you need to type the link for the stores homepage in your browser: http://www.harristeeter.com/ and hit the "Enter" or "Return" key and up pops this main page window.

From this screen, you need to "click" your mouse on either the green "SHOPPING" tab (found on the top left) or; the "ONLINE SHOPPING" link (found on the top right side of the screen).

2. The next screen that pops up then will ask you for your store location (state/town/store) and then you will have the main page for your local store and it looks like this screen. This is the link that I save to my desktop so that I can just click on it and have it every week when I go shoppping.

So when this screen pops up, I click on the "All Specials" green tab and the next screen brings up my local store:

3. So the next window shows the "last" store location that you shopped at on-line...that is :D So if you are returning to this store then click on the "Use This Store" button. If for some reason your want to "Select Another Store" then a menu will drop down with other area locations for you to select from.

4. And we are off...the weekly specials for your store will come up immediately on the next screen...with great visuals...I just love pictures...makes things so much easier for me...

5. So you simply scroll down and view the photos on the left side of the screen, and when there is an item that you want to buy, simply "click" on the picture and the item will automatically be added to your "Current Shopping List" on the right side of the screen:

6. AND like magic...all the items that you have selected show up in your "Current Shopping List". You can continue to shop the sales by department by clicking on the underscored items in the "Current VIC Specials - Browse by Department".

7. So what happens if you need something and it's NOT ON SALE this week? Well then you select the second green tab that says "QUICKLIST" and it brings up another window with all your grocery items sorted by product type:

8. Okay...here's a really GEEKY, COOL TOOL...for these "QuickList" items...you can add "NOTES"to your shopping list. "SO WHAT"...you ask? Well this is when you write things that are personal to your needs, for instance, under beans I've added the notes "Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans" because that's what we needed...you could need black beans or pinto beans. ALSO you could put in any coupons notes that you have here, espcially handy when the store is running "triple coupons"...cool beans :D

9. So, once you are done compliling your Shopping List you can now print it or email it to yourself...for those of you with Blackberry phones I guess...lol ANYHOW...this is the cool part to me...when you go to PRINT your list...it automatically CATEGORIZES everything for you so that when you go to shop...you can go row by row...how cool is that...IT's THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY...what can I say...especially the ones that keep us all organized :D

Another great service that some of the Harris Teeter stores offer is "CURBSIDE PICK-UP" where you do your shopping on-line, which means that you compile your shopping list and actually "check out" and pay for your entire grocery order while on-line. Then the staff shops for your groceries and bags them up and places them in their "lockers" at the store entrance until you come to pick them up "curbside". If you have coupons, then you turn them into the staff and they verify them and put them onto your VIC account and the next time you shop, they are automatically taken off your next bill. Really great service for mothers or working families :D

Hope this all helped those of you who are a little "shy" when it comes to getting around on some internet sites...once you start this, you will wonder "WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG". This may look like a lot of steps, but that is because it is so difficult to show it "step by step" with the screen prints...but literally it is simply a few "clicks" of the mouse!