Hey there! I’m so excited to be here at Ask Anna (the Queen of cleaning!). Like Anna, I enjoy my household most when it’s clean and orderly, but life with kids can be messy and my home is no exception! So, I’ve dedicated my website 20 Minute Mom to finding simple and quick ways to keep your household organized, clean, and comfortable for your family. I’ll be here at Ask Anna on the 4th Tuesday of each month sharing my latest tips!
Despite my love for anything involving shopping, I’ve had different seasons in my life where it made sense to do a majority of my shopping online. Whether it’s a new baby, illness or disability, lack of a vehicle, difficult work schedules, or wiggly toddlers I think there are many times where it makes sense to shop online. My experience has been that while it can be a wonderful thing to have household supplies shipped directly to your doorstep, it can take a little more planning and organization to make it work well. There is no point in shopping online when you have to run to the store the day before your shipment of diapers is due to arrive because you ran out too soon (been there, done that!)
Here are the steps I take to organize my online shopping:
1. Make a List of Items You Intend to Purchase Online: (toilet paper, diapers, dish soap, laundry detergent)
2. Note Frequency of Purchasing: using a sharpie marker or a sticker, write the date of purchase on your items (easy to do when you first bring them in the house). When they run out, you will have an idea of how long each item lasts. (i.e, it takes 3 weeks to go through 12 toilet paper rolls.) This way, you will be able to set many items to auto delivery. (I suggest you use the Free Printable below to help with this step!)
3. Find Item(s) In an Online Shop: Many online stores offer free shipping with a certain dollar amount purchase. Determine which shop(s) you will be buying the products from when you order. (I have had great luck with diapers.com/soap.com and amazon.com).
4. Track Online Purchases: after you’ve made an online purchase, print up the receipt and place in a household binder. Now you have an easy way to remind yourself when you ordered what, how much it was, and to double check that everything was delivered.
I have created this Household Inventory Checklist as a tool to organize your shopping needs. It is designed to help determine how quickly your household goes through certain items such as toilet paper, paper towel, and even protein bars. Although it is the first step in deciding what to order online (and how often), this list is not specific to online shopping – so anyone can use it! This would even be helpful for a couponer (or for buying in bulk at a warehouse store) determining how many of each item she needs for a stockpile. {Download Here}
I’m curious, do you shop online? If yes, do you like it? If no, why not? Do you have any favorite online shops or other great tips to share!?
Amy is a Registered Nurse turned Stay-at-Home Mom who lives with her hard-working husband and pig-tailed daughter in Southern California. When she’s not creating straight vacuum lines and warding off spider intrusions she enjoys reading, pomegranate martinis, Target, and Dodgers’ baseball. Enjoy some of her time-saving household management tips at 20MinuteMom!
About AmyB
Amy, I am all about online shopping! It saves so much time and trouble and as you say, if you’re organised, a little time spent the first order makes any subsequent orders easier. I am from the UK originally and do SOO miss my supermarket online shopping. It remembered every item you’d bought and you just had to click which you wanted this time, the shopper would pick the items and they’d be delivered within a two hour time window. It was a very minimal delivery fee and the driver would even bring the shopping right into the kitchen (in fact if you said you didn’t want to use plastic bags, he’d bring them in to your kitchen in a crate and help unload them onto the counter – no tipping encouraged) It was bliss, especially after having a baby.