How To Make Shopping A Caregiver And Senior Outing

Caring for someone while also taking care of daily tasks, especially if accompanied by a person with cognitive or mobility issues, can be a cause of major caregiver stress and burnout. Learning good planning skills and effectively strategizing grocery or retail store shopping trips can reduce the odds of an exhausting event.

Shopping for a household is a necessity and it is important; but instead of “work”, with few strategies and tips it can become something desirable, stimulating, and entertaining.

It also can engage our elders to train their cognitive skills helping to find the best products, great deals and the right coupons for savings. A shopping trip can become a “shopping smart” trip that leaves a feeling of accomplishment.

What Shopping Smart Looks Like

Shopping smart means to invest time in seeking information related to the marketplace, products, and promotions.

Couponing is the most known form of shopping smart; it is something that many of our seniors (and everybody else) have done and still do. Taking advantage of current discounts is another important strategy.

However, using a list and coupons isn’t the extent of grocery trip organization. The internet gives you the chance to find many important pieces of information.

• For example, Google Shopping can help you to find specials in your area and good deals online.
• You can also look for virtual mailers for physical stores. These will tell you about the specials that are on offer. You may even be able to load coupons onto your store loyalty card, rather than needing to print or clip coupons.
• Online reviews are a fantastic way to learn whether a product is any good. This is powerful for expensive products that you’re unsure about.
• Another approach is to identify the physical stores that fit your needs considering location, parking spaces available, set of stairs to get into the store, or disability-friendly buildings.
• Also take a look at other important details, like the best time of the day to visit the store and traffic routes that have less traffic.

All of these areas can make your shopping experience that much easier, helping you to have a less expensive and less stressful experience.

Getting Ready:

Set up space in your home to gather all the small things you need to take on a shopping trip or to run errands, such as:

• A shopping list
• Coupons
• Prescriptions
• Phone charger
• A notepad to write down errands you keep forgetting doing or that you couldn’t complete in this trip.

Tools like this can help immensely – making it easier to keep everything that you need in one place.

Organize your errands objects by group, like:

• Dry cleaning to be delivered and receipt to get what is done
• Books to the library
• Post office packages
• Amazon returns
• Recyclable grocery bags.

It is much easier to have all together and just carry everything to the car at once.

Speaking of the car, preparing a couple of things in your car will allow you to be ready for whatever happens.

• Keeping a cooler in your trunk (like this one) with some frozen water bottles in summer is a huge thing, especially if you live in very hot states, like Arizona. 
• You can keep a little bag of peeled, ready to eat fruit, a lunch bag, or a special shake. This is very important to caregivers that care for diabetic seniors to avoid hypoglycemia. Other diabetic products can be helpful too, including glucose monitors and lancing devices.
• You can purchase small thermos or bags that keep food hot or cold. The cooler also can store those groceries that are frozen or need refrigeration until you get home.
• A basket in the trunk can have extra tissues, medication, incontinence supplies, or even a change of clothes. It can store some magazines, books, or anything that you use to distract and calm the person you are caring for.
• A basket (like this one) will also be helpful to carry all the bags with the things you bought at once into the house.

How to Choose The Best Day and Time

There is no single best day to go grocery shopping with seniors, but all the best days are weekdays.

Weekends are when 90% of the people run errands. That means, stores are packed, lines to pay are very long, parking takes time, and some merchandising and products may be messier or even not available.  

If possible, choose a time in the morning, as most stores have more deals or discounts early in the day. Gas stations set prices (usually prices go up) around noon, so filling up your car early in the morning, saves you money.

Once you get to the store, look for special morning discounts. These can include sales like “loss leader” or clearances that have a time frame.

Eating On The Way

Gas stations also offer deals on breakfasts on the go, so while you’re there you can grab some breakfast and take it with you.

You can take your breakfast and stop in a park on your way. A bench in a beautiful street in town also works for you to drink your coffee while enjoying a bit of outdoors before getting ready to go to the mall, post office, or wherever you are going..

Just make sure you eat before you get to the grocery store. This will avoid many mistakes people do when shopping for food.

Local bakeries are a great option to visit first thing in the morning.

If you haven’t got a breakfast deal in the gas station, you can look in your local bakery for products of baked goods that were not sold the day before. They are still fresh, freeze wonderfully, and I don’t know of many things in life better than a cup of coffee near a window (when possible) while smelling baked goods…

Managing Your Time Well

Time management is nothing more than making the most of your time. If you are taking an older person out, good time management is crucial.

Too much time spent in the car, looking for parking, waiting in lines, walking around to find a store can translate to them becoming irritated, feeling tired, or overwhelmed. And from there, your day most probably will turn upside down.

• Lump similar activities together. Never run out for just one task. To save and optimize your time, choose a route that helps you get several things done once you leave the house.
• Plan each trip so that you’re running errands to places that are near each other.
• You could also decide to go to a mall rather than a superstore to maximize your efficiency. Be wary, of course, of higher prices in malls, and that getting from point A to B in a shopping mall can translate into a few miles of walking.
• This may sound contradictory, but be flexible and don’t follow your list if it will help you take on any sudden changes with stride.
• Time for breaks with a senior between errands is a wise way to get the most of your trip. Using part of your time to take a rest between lists of tasks, will probably save you time later in the day. Remember that your weekly errands can also double as a pleasant way to take your company out.
• Just driving through a beautiful neighborhood, a park, or a secondary road in the trip route can work as a break, a moment of distraction and entertainment.    
• A magazine, a book, or a tablet (like this one) with some fun and interesting apps can get you and the other person distracted while waiting in line, or if you stop on your way back home just to enjoy the fresh air outdoors.

Rewarding Yourself

Reward yourself!

Seriously. You did great, planning, organizing, saving, caring, and now it is time to enjoy a little luxury while you are out to keep you and your company motivated for the next one.

It can be a sweet treat (if you both can have it), or a new magazine, a nice bath soap, or a beautiful bouquet. Who says no to it?

Turning essential tasks into an enjoyable trip out helps to make caregiving less stressful, while giving everyone a good time outside the home.

A positive experience could also be a major motivational factor to increase the senior’s involvement in planning the next trip. The process can also help you to see how easy it can be to add self-care into your day.