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There are also moms (and sometimes dads) at home with a small kids. And they may be highly motivated to avoid journey to a grocery store.

lujim 10y ago
Agreed, and I'm in the boat. However those same people tend to have less disposable income and seem to be less apt to pay monthly fees or premiums for luxuries. When you think families think more bulk generic costco toilet paper and less "convenience fee" of any kind
- jerf 10y ago
  While I agree there's an inevitable correlation there, since children are (reductionistically, financially) an expense and households that have an additional expense will be poorer than their equivalent household without that expense, I think you may still be overstating the poverty-inducing effects of children a wee bit.
  - lujim 10y ago
    I've been Single Income/Single, Dual Income No Kids (DINK), dual income with kids and single income with kids. Kids won't completely destroy your finances but 529 plans/day care alone can put a hurting on your finances. You become much more financially responsible and less likely to pay for luxury services (for yourself) like HBO, Spotify, Netflix, Gym membership, high lease car payment etc after you have kids.
fattylite 10y ago
I understand what you meant, but a trip to the grocery store can also be a perfect way to get their energy out if the kids are particularly bananas that day. So, some parents relish that trip.
- dougk16 10y ago
  Exactly. For my toddlers I also view it as training in some level of obedience (not running to the other side of the store), social interaction, dealing with disappointment (no you can't have the batman matchbox car set), learning about money (goes in hand with the disappointment factor!), helping me to pick out food, learning what stuff is called, a little hide and seek fun within the obedience bounds...it's like a little slice of life learning all in one place. Overall it is a challenge for a parent though, so I'm not convinced that many won't just stay at home and order food from an app with the kids watching TV.
  - jeremya 10y ago
    This. In my parenting life, I feel there are so many decision where you have to choose between optimizing the short term or the long term. I tend to favor the long term and my philosophy is roughly: the difficult path becomes easier and the easy path becomes more difficult.
goatforce5 10y ago
Loblaws, a big Canadian grocery chain, has really been pushing their Click and Collect service lately. You shop and pay for your groceries online. A staff member will go around the store getting your items, and you park in a designated area in a certain time slot and they bring your groceries out to your car. I guess most people using the service order groceries at the office and pick them up on the drive home. I'm not in their target demo because I don't have kids and my life isn't that busy, but i've been surprised at how busy the designated parking spots seem to be whenever I go to one of their stores. I've just checked their website and there are no fees for using their service as long as you spend $30.
soundwave106 10y ago
I will add the elderly to this list. Especially as the population ages, there's going to be a portion of the population who are well enough to not need some sort of assisted living, but are not going to be okay enough to drive. Grocery delivery service might be very helpful to this group.

lujim 10y ago

Agreed, and I'm in the boat. However those same people tend to have less disposable income and seem to be less apt to pay monthly fees or premiums for luxuries. When you think families think more bulk generic costco toilet paper and less "convenience fee" of any kind

jerf 10y ago
While I agree there's an inevitable correlation there, since children are (reductionistically, financially) an expense and households that have an additional expense will be poorer than their equivalent household without that expense, I think you may still be overstating the poverty-inducing effects of children a wee bit.
- lujim 10y ago
  I've been Single Income/Single, Dual Income No Kids (DINK), dual income with kids and single income with kids. Kids won't completely destroy your finances but 529 plans/day care alone can put a hurting on your finances. You become much more financially responsible and less likely to pay for luxury services (for yourself) like HBO, Spotify, Netflix, Gym membership, high lease car payment etc after you have kids.

fattylite 10y ago

I understand what you meant, but a trip to the grocery store can also be a perfect way to get their energy out if the kids are particularly bananas that day. So, some parents relish that trip.

dougk16 10y ago
Exactly. For my toddlers I also view it as training in some level of obedience (not running to the other side of the store), social interaction, dealing with disappointment (no you can't have the batman matchbox car set), learning about money (goes in hand with the disappointment factor!), helping me to pick out food, learning what stuff is called, a little hide and seek fun within the obedience bounds...it's like a little slice of life learning all in one place. Overall it is a challenge for a parent though, so I'm not convinced that many won't just stay at home and order food from an app with the kids watching TV.
- jeremya 10y ago
  This. In my parenting life, I feel there are so many decision where you have to choose between optimizing the short term or the long term. I tend to favor the long term and my philosophy is roughly: the difficult path becomes easier and the easy path becomes more difficult.

goatforce5 10y ago

Loblaws, a big Canadian grocery chain, has really been pushing their Click and Collect service lately. You shop and pay for your groceries online. A staff member will go around the store getting your items, and you park in a designated area in a certain time slot and they bring your groceries out to your car. I guess most people using the service order groceries at the office and pick them up on the drive home. I'm not in their target demo because I don't have kids and my life isn't that busy, but i've been surprised at how busy the designated parking spots seem to be whenever I go to one of their stores. I've just checked their website and there are no fees for using their service as long as you spend $30.

soundwave106 10y ago

I will add the elderly to this list. Especially as the population ages, there's going to be a portion of the population who are well enough to not need some sort of assisted living, but are not going to be okay enough to drive. Grocery delivery service might be very helpful to this group.