Items that make shopping easier....

I loved Donna's list of "helpful" items. I thought we might like to share items that we find really work. Many of us find shopping difficult so I'm starting with items that make shopping easier.

My new favorite is a reusable shopping bag I picked up for $.99 at Home Depot. What makes it special is that it has large plastic clips that attach to the side of your shopping cart. You can put all of your small items in the bag as you shop so you don't have to reach into the depths of your cart. You just lift it by the handles and place it on the conveyor belt and empty it. No more gymnastics as you try to get the bottle of Advil that's rolling away on the bottom of the cart. I bought 2 so hopefully I remember to always have one in the car.

My other favorite item is a huge, 5 inch carabiner-type clip with a padded handle. I bought a few for about $1.00 from Harbor Freight Tools. I use them to carry shopping bags up to my apartment. They are much easier on my hands than the handles on the plastic bags. I also use them when I get stuck carrying the gallon milk jug up the stairs. They allow my husband to carry ten gallons of water at once. They make carrying almost anything you can loop on it easier. We currently have about 10 so we usually have a few in the car at all times.


What is your favorite helper?

I really love your idea about the shopping bag that clips to your cart. I use an electric cart when I go grocery shopping (or any other type of shopping, for that matter) and I can't reach the stuff in the bottom of the basket when I get to the check out lane, so thanks. This was a great idea!! And so simple too!!!

Lindaloo

It seems, when I'm grocery shopping, the items I want are always on the top shelves.  I'm short so one of my first stops in the grocery store is the utensil aisle.  I grab a pair of long-handled tongs and use them during my shopping to reach all the things on the top shelves. Then I put the tongs back before heading to the checkout.

 

Sherrine 

Sherrine, my aunt used her short stature to meet good looking guys at the store. "She'd say, excuse me, can I borrow your height?"

I find that taking the hubby with me is the greatest help I get while shopping.  I can't stand walking through a store all humped over the stupid cart and I am short too and have had to stand on a bottom shelf to reach something out of my reach.

I think BILLY MAYS SHOULD SELL US FIBROMITES A SHOPPING MAGNET THAT IS HAND HELD AND ALL WE WOULD HAVE TO DO IS POINT THIS DEVICE AT THE CAN AND IT WOULD FLY INTO OUR HANDS!

Huggies

donna

I meant "TONGS" on my last post Sherrine!!! Can you imagine reaching for something with a pair of thongs!!!! Oh my god- too funny!!!!! 

I think we should all go to Walmart and WEAR the thongs on the outside of our Michelan Men coats and Gortex pants.  I've seen worse!

huggies

donna

I pick my fave store and try to get a map of the store or write down what is in each aisle. Some stores here actually GIVE you a map showing where everything is. then I organize my coupons in a box designed for 3X5 index cards by each aisle. If coffee, tea, creamer, and pbutter and jelly are in aisle 1, then I put the coffee and tea in one index card and the pbutter and jelly in the next index card. Each weekend I cut the coupons for things we actually eat/use and put them in the dividers.

I find tall strangers very helpful. I have them put things in my cart, etc... and since I live in the South/West, mostly men are very nice about it.

I LOVE the idea of a bag to hold the little things that are hard to dig out.

I ALWAYS get someone to load cases of water, sodas, etc... into my cart. I simply cannot do it w/o paying for DAYS.

I also frequently have someone carry my things to the car for me. Even WalMart will do this, though you may have to wait a minute. I tip if the person is willing/able to accept it. My son is a bagger at a locally owned grocery store, so I know they appreciate tips.

I NEVER go through a store with carts w/o one. I use it to help with balance and to keep my purse in. I keep a carabiner in my purse to hook through the handles of my purse and the zipper and attach it to the cart.

Kids are esp helpful at the store. One thing I have found is that if at ALL possible I will go to the deli and get some popcorn chicken or chicken tenders for the kids to munch while we shop. They rarely get these, so they are a treat. AND a kid who is hungry is cranky. My kids are also cranky if I just let them have chips or cookies while we shop. (I have even been known to grab a banana for each of us and go pay before we shop. Some checkers are truly SHOCKED - and have even tried to get me to just take the fruit and not pay. But that just makes final prices more expensive for everyone. )