I’m just wondering what the title asks: do you organize your groceries in the order you will check them out, if doing self-checkout, or arrange them on the belt/counter in a standard checkout line, in the hope that they’ll be bagged in a specific way?
I didn’t know there was any other way people do it, but just learned some people prefer to checkout/bag without pre-arranging things. I’m kind of curious to see what’s more common, or if there’s some other options I haven’t considered?
Heavy stuff first, cold things together, fragile stuff last.
This is the way
Yep. Heavy and dense first, all refrigerated together, etc. I shop at WinCo mostly so I bag my own. It’s very satisfying making it a super efficient process up front.
First heavy and non breakables or non crushables. Then crushables the veggies then fruits.
Of course I do, is there another way? How else would one determine packing order and avoid crushing the more delicate stuff like tomatoes and eggs under the weight of the heavier items.
Same with stuff that needs to be frozen or refrigerated. Makes it that much easier to put things away when you’re back home.
The stuff at the top of the basket goes first so I can reach the stuff at the bottom?
I put the heaviest and least breakable things first in line so they end up at the bottom of the bag(s). Canned food, stuff in plastic bottles, then all the cold/ frozen stuff altogether, light and delicate things like bread, chips etc last
You reminded me that some third-world countries like the US have people packing your groceries for a few dollars a day
I go to scan-while-you-shop places then strategically bag as I walk around the store. 30 seconds to pay and then leave.
Since I usually self check at Walmart and other places that have it, I place the big items in the cart with the bar code accessible for hand scanning without removal, frozen/refridgerated items generally together, everything else in cart doesn’t really matter to me. The upper cart space (where toddlers/baby could go) is where I place my eggs, bread, and fresh veggies. Then I scan in this order: Frozen items, regular cart items, eggs/bread, weighed veggies, (bagging and putting back in the cart as i scan them) lastly use the hand scanner for the big items. Sometimes I scan the big items first if i know i need to place bags on top. Once I see that everything has been bagged and back in the cart, then I’m confident that I didn’t miss anything, pay, and then GTFO. I’m an efficient self checkout machine, haha
I’m a car-free city dweller, so I always put heavy stuff first so I can pack it in my backpack, lighter stuff next to fill my reusable bags, with fragile stuff last so it’s packed on top.
Makes it easy to walk or bus home with everything.
Nope
I keep cold things or products that are identical or related together most of the time. So all the bags of chips, or all the cans, all the meats, all the frozen stuff, etc.
And I guess like the other guy, I usually stick fragile stuff on one end or the other.
Not really
Depends. Aldis, not much. Walmart I absolutely do. Self check, a little, but only use it when only have a few things.
I am way lax. No pre-organization really at all - but most of the time I also bag them myself with my own bags. I wlll somewhat organize them during that process.
