I’m guessing that was directed to me? Instacart supports using SNAP benefits (food assistance for low/no income families) to purchase groceries in all 50 states. It can be an alternative for persons who cannot easily drive to a supermarket.
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My original post could have been phrased better. The point was it’s important to consider how wage increases compare to grocery price increases, rather than just note than nominal prices are higher than decades ago. I posted specific numbers about how wage increases compared to grocery increases earlier in the thread. As a whole lower income wage increases have substantially outpaced both inflation and median wages in recent years since COVID. However, the reverse trend occurred during much of the period pre-COVID.
States that still have the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour are: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming (source). So, 40% of the U.S. states.
During Covid, there were places in my $7.25 minimum wage state that started offering more, but those prices have since dropped again. Maybe in the big cities of those states people might get a couple of dollars more per hour (maybe), but I’d bet that a good chunk of those states still have people earning minimum wage, especially in less urban/suburban areas.
$7.25/hour for 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year is $15,080. Minimum wage jobs are not just for high schoolers whose parents are covering their living expenses. There are many adults who work these minimum wage jobs, or have been at them so long that maybe they’re now earing $10/hour ($20,800/year) because of the number of years they’ve been working there.
These folks may not be after an intellectually rigorous life, but they’re honest, show up, and do the job that needs to be done. They were praised during Covid for working at the grocery stores and cleaning the hospitals and running the gas stations, but now that people aren’t afraid for their lives to go out in public, the level of respect (and income) for those folks have gone back down, too.
Salaries of $15-20k/year for a job is not a livable wage in the vast majority of the U.S. So those people often work multiple jobs to make a livable wage. Time spent working multiple jobs often precludes them from going to multiple grocery stores to get the best deals, researching how to stack the best discounts, planting/weeding/harvesting a garden (assuming they have the space), etc, even if they would otherwise desire to do so.
All of this to say, I totally agree with @ChoatieMom when she said:
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Where I live, there is a charge to use instacart. Is it free where you live?
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All three of my kids schools (meaning elementary, middle, and HS - all public schools) have, in the last 7-8 years, developed a system where kids can put uneaten food from school lunches in a separate area. It’s generally the fruit, milk or packaged stuff that comes with (because it’s supposed to be food you haven’t really touched - so you can’t guarantee half of a “main course” is still untouched). They have refrigerated cases and like regular shelves and all the kids are taught about putting the food aside in early elementary school so they get in the habit. If any kid in the school needs more food for lunch or snack that day they can take it, and if there’s anything left it goes to the local food pantry each night.
I wish it weren’t needed, but at least I’m glad to see that the food isn’t getting wasted anymore (because we also used to have so much get tossed).
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I wish they could make that mandatory nationwide!
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Where my daughter lives you couldn’t use those things even if you had a credit card. Those apps don’t work in rural areas where they don’t have the stores.
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I recently read an article that said that many of the employees at Walmart receive SNAP. The store that many CC posters say has great prices. Would you pay more so Walmart could pay their workers a living wage.
The fallacy that if people would just work we wouldn’t need government assistance.
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I don’t know if there is more recent data than this 2020 GAO report.
Summary article from CNBC below:
About 70% of the 21 million federal aid beneficiaries worked full time, the report found.
Walmart was the top employer of Medicaid enrollees in three states and one of the top four employers in the remaining three states. The retailer was the top employer of SNAP recipients in five states and one of the top four employers in the remaining four states.
McDonald’s was among the top five employers of Medicaid enrollees in five of six states and SNAP recipients in eight of nine states.
Other notable companies with a large number of employees on federal aid include Amazon, Kroger, Dollar General, and other food service and retail giants.
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I worked for 13 years or so at a job , and by the time I left it, my raise amounted to …nothing, because the concurrent rise in my part of the healthcare plan ate it all. This is in education.
My last job of 6 years was in higher ed, where I started at @9.50/hr and ended up at $13. This came with no benefits and was classed as p/t even though I worked 40 hr weeks. The U had been granted a “temporary” exception to their own policy to do this. My coworkers tookthese kinds of jobs in hopes of getting a foot in the door to better pay so they tolerate the conditions.
People (not anyone specifically) are making a lot of assumptions about how employment works, how life in poverty works, etc. I have friends who are both in higher ed, with advance degrees, and at the end of each month we deliver from our charity garden so they can make ends meet. They are not the only ones by far. Statistics are nice, but also depersonalize a deeply personal situation.
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And don’t forget the VETS on SNAP https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/snap-helps-12-million-low-income-veterans-including-thousands-in-every
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And will an instacart driver be willing to drop off in an area that may be known to not be safe. Or will the person who needs the groceries be willing to “out” where they live. It’s complicated time folks.
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EXCELLENT point. An excellent point of do we base our choices (if we have them) on me, myself and I or “us”. Because when we think of “us” we may shop or give differently.
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Instacart is a for-profit company. There are several associated fees, as well as several associated discounts. A summary is below. Discounts far exceed fees for me, resulting in a much decreased grocery expense since I began using Instacart. Note that Walmart orders via Instacart have effectively no fees for me besides driver tip, as listed below; yet still have substantial discounts. However, persons living in different areas or who do not vary shopping habits based on best value (including discounts) may come to a different conclusion. There are also other alternative services besides Instacart that may be a better option, depending on location and shopping habits.
– Fees –
1 . Delivery Fee or Membership Cost – There is a delivery fee, or no delivery fee for members on $10+ order. I prefer paying membership fee and having no delivery fee. I became a member during one of Instacart’s $20 for 1 year membership sales. The membership came with a 50% off grocery coupon that more than paid for the annual fee on first order. There are also other membership perks, such as Peacock streaming service being free to members.
2. Service Fee – Service fee is $2.50 for order under $35 and gradually increases above that on orders >$35. I order in advance, which gives a $2 discount, roughly cancelling order this $2.50 fee.
3. Product Markup – This varies by grocer. In my area Walmart has in-store prices, without a markup. However, Costco has a steep markup. The latter may relate to Costco charging a premium for non Costco members and wanting to give persons a reason to choose Costco’s Sameday powered by Instacart delivery over Instacart delivery.
4. Driver Tip – Can be amount of your choosing. There is no minimum and no maximum.
– Discounts –
1 . Varying Category Discount – Roughly once per month I get a category discount, such as $15 off a $30+ order of meats. Or $10 credit upon spending $20 on pet products, including dog food.
2. Store Discounts – Soon after joining, I regularly received 50% off discounts on all grocers. Now, it’s more likely to be store specific. There are discounts at specific grocers of varying quality. I rarely place an order, unless the grocer offers >= 30% off. This leads to trying new grocers, such as the Food4Less example earlier.
3. Gift Card Discounts – Until recently Costco offered >= 20% off Instacart gift cards ($100 worth of gift cards for $80). Amazon and Best Buy regularly offer 10% off Instacart gift cards. When paying with a gift card that is 10% or 20% off, all Instacart grocer orders are effectively 10% or 20% off. This can be stacked with other discounts above.
4. Value of Not Using Car/Time – There are costs associated with owning a car and driving it to a grocery store, particularly one out of your local area. Not spending those associated costs by having someone shop to you corresponds to savings. Saving time by having someone shop for you also has value.
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But would folks on limited incomes even be willing to pay a $20 membership cost, and then $10 per order. Or would they feel that $10 would better be spent on food or other essentials?
I tried instacart once. Granted it was during COVID so maybe not the best sampling. I was ordering and the place said toilet paper was in stock. So, I chose as listed, a brand I liked. I indicated I wanted a substitution if needed, figuring a substitution would be another brand of TP. I got a text from my shopper saying they planned to substitute aluminum foil for my TP…was that OK? Really…in whose world is aluminum foil a substitute for TP. So…I cancelled the order…and lost the delivery charge which they did not refund.
I prefer to shop for my own food, and substitutions, if needed.
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There is no $10 fee. $10 is the minimum order amount – they are spending $10 on food or other essentials.
Would folks on limited income have a car that they can drive to their nearest supermarket on short notice? It’s not a one size fits all solution, but it’s a viable alternative that many low income folks do use. As noted Instacart supports buying groceries via SNAP credits, and gives a membership discount for persons who use SNAP credits.
I, too, have been shocked at grocery costs. I am a very careful shopper, but my bill has increased a lot recently. My grocery budget has ballooned. I see lines at our local food pantry, which is not in an urban area. Senior citizens in particular are feeling the pinch. It’s heartbreaking that a country as wealthy as ours has people who are unable to afford food. And we absolutely have people who can’t afford food.
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You have the choice of listing a specific substitute, letting shopper choose substitute, or refunding if out of stock. It sounds like you chose best substitute, and no other TP was available since the order was placed during COVID TP shortages. It’s abnormal that you cancelled the order because a single product was not available, unless there was only that 1 product on the order. This also fits with the abnormal substitution. If you only order 1 product and that product is not available, the shopper doesn’t have a way to continue to the order. It’s not a good example of how Instacart grocery shopping typically works.
I’ve had plenty of substitutions. I prefer listing what substitution I prefer on the order, or say I prefer refund if not available on order; rather than saying shopper choose the alternative he/she thinks is best. Substitutions usually work out as intended, although there have been some bad choices or cases where shopper deviated from the substitution I list. My experience is Instacart gives a full refund on product, if there is a bad substitution or other order issue, if you contact support. You keep the bad substitute product and don’t have to pay for it. It’s by no means a perfect system, but shopping online is a useful alternative for many that many persons use.
I think we’ve exhausted the instacart discussion. I think we are saying the same things over and over again
Can we please move on?
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I second that motion!
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