Tips for having Nanny Grocery Shop?

[Anonymous]

Our nanny just started with us a few weeks ago and things are going really well. I need some tips, however, on how to help her grocery shop for the family. Our kids are in school during the day and part of the position (in the contract) is grocery shopping and meal prep while kids are at school.

This is both of our first times with this arrangement and I was hoping to get some ideas from moms and nannies that have btdt. We are getting her a credit card and asking her to submit the receipts. I am going to give her a list to get started, but an hoping she will be able become more independent once we get established. For some reason, this is an area I am struggling with handing over even though it will save me so much time. I just worry about her not be as price sensitive as I am and the grocery bill skyrocketing. (We are not cheap shoppers, but do try to keep things reasonable.). Please reassure me that nannies and moms make grocery shopping work out all the time!

[Anonymous]

To clarify, she has not started grocery shopping yet, so I don't have any complaints about her performance. Just want some tips on how to set this up the best from the get-go.

[Anonymous]

Type up an inventory of what you want to have in the kitchen, including quantity and brands. Or she could do that.
Make copies to use as the weekly shopping list.

[Anonymous]

Make sure she knows you try and shop according to price.

for example: you want blueberries, but strawberries are buy one get one free? go for the strawberries. In that instance, on the list you might write: "1 container blueberries, or strawberries/blackberries/raspberries according to price"

[Anonymous]

My boss went shopping with me a few times

She also made a general list of things they liked and didn't like. So like Noone ate bananas there.

She only left a need list after that so if they had a specific meal or if needed snacks for work whatever.

[Anonymous]

Pp here seeing how she shopped helped. Like dirty dozen had to be organic. The clean list was whatever.

[Anonymous]

I have had our nanny grocery shopping for us for about five years. It has boiled down to me doing all of the meal planning, making a specific list with every item I want on it with one exception: I let her buy whatever she wants to put in the kids' lunches (she knows the level of health/nutrition we are going for and does well sticking with it). I keep the list in MS Word and just edit it each week so the basic formatting/order stays the same.

She has our credit card and turns in the receipt each week. She has a bonus card that links to our account that she is to use, too. We have a regularly scheduled marketing day. I suspect I'm probably paying about 10% more than I would if I did the shopping myself, but overall this works great for our family! Good luck!

[Anonymous]

This just seems like a situation where there is too much that could go wrong. You are either going to have to be super specific or let her have some free reign once she gets to know your family. My MB has be pick up specific items for recipes or basics like fruit/milk/eggs but for the staples she relies on Peapod. This works great for both of us and takes the stress/potential conflict out of the situation.

[Anonymous]

You can totally make this work, but it will require some up front effort.

Make a detailed list- things you will only accept organic, things that must be a certain brand (salad dressing, cereal, whatever), things that you shop primarily based on price.

Make some general guidelines- ie, berries listed in order of preference but tell her o get whatever is on the best sale that week if the difference is more than a certain %.

If you use coupons- tell her.

If you only stock up on certain staples on sale- tell her.

I'd also recommend accompanying her on 2-3 shopping trips. She will gradually learn your style and preferences.

[Anonymous]

I had the manny go food shopping with me once. I explained what I would do with the stuff I was buying (ricotta cheese b/c already have moz at home and will make baked ziti, etc.), and how I chose what I chose.

I gave him a list of foods people in the house are allergic to and that we hate, a list of the dirty dozen. Stuff he should buy even if it's not on the list but if he sees on sale. I walked him through the kitchen explaining how we use everything (when we make chicken breasts we usually eat this and that with them) so he could employ his own critical thinking skills in purchasing. I encouraged him to write down brands that we use and quantities that we buy, to take pics with his phone if he thought he'd forget.

We also really just had to let go a bit and allow that he wouldn't do everything exactly how we do it. The first two times were a little choppy but then he got into the swing of things and it's gone much smoother after that.

[Anonymous]

This can be a great thing and you'll work it out.

Having a basic checklist is something you can build and then just keep it posted somewhere (like on the inside of a cabinet) where you can check off items that are needed.

Giving her a sense of favorites, price sensitivity etc... is good. Shopping with her a couple of times is also a great idea.

And then, be prepared to lose a little bit of control, occasionally pay more for an item than you might have chosen to, occasionally not have your favorite brands etc... But also, you'll occasionally get exposed to things you wouldn't otherwise have thought of, and someone else is doing your shopping for you! Is the value of your time worth as much as the small (potential, not definite) cost of not being fully in control? Probably!

You'll figure it out together.

[Anonymous]

Shopping with her is a good idea. It takes time to learn a families' preferences.

Make your preferences on prices known.
Tell her which items you want to be name brand and which items can be store brand.
Tell her about staples that you stock up on if they're on sale or BOGO.
Be specific on the list when starting out.
Give pointers after her first couple of trips.

[Anonymous]

If the Giant in your area is nice, then you can go on-line and make a list as if you were going to do PeaPod delivery. You just don't submit it to Peapod and you can email or print off the list. Giant also has a mobile app.

What's great is that you can see what is on sale and factor in the bonus card. For most things, we aren't brand specific and it makes a huge difference in the grocery bill buying the one on sale. Since some stuff comes up on sale every few weeks, it makes sense to buy several of longer shelf life items (cereal, soup) when its on sale.

[Anonymous]

The online option with access to sales is brilliant!

[Anonymous]

Our nanny uses a prepaid credit card. I add money whenever she needs it. I could check the purchases on line-if I wanted to. This way she doesn't have to worry about holding on to receipts.