Illustration by Kat Frick Miller
Giving up his vehicle began as an experiment, says Dale Henry, a 65-year-old Toronto resident. He retired from a 23-year career as an emergency services worker last year and, shortly after, retired his car to see if he could make do without one. Almost immediately, he found it fundamentally changed the way he grocery shopped.
“Without my car, I can’t do those major marathons where I would fill up the trunk with groceries like I used to do,” says Henry. He previously grocery shopped three times a week, including the odd stop at Costco to stock up on items in bulk. Now, he gets most of his groceries delivered directly to his house and only takes the occasional trip to Costco with a friend.
Every two weeks, Henry prepares his shopping list on apps for Walmart and Voilà – an online grocery store operated by Sobeys. He buys pantry items and all of his household supplies, including tissues and cleaning products, from Walmart. For items such as produce and snacks, Henry shops on Voilà, which also gives him access to products from Farm Boy and Longo’s.
It took a while to figure out where to purchase the products he was used to buying at Costco. Henry now subscribes to Walmart’s Delivery Pass, a service that gives him free same-day delivery for $8.97 a month. On the Voilà app, he pays on a sliding scale, but says the most he’s ever spent on a delivery is $6.
Despite the fees, Henry says he now saves more than 20 per cent a month on groceries since switching to shopping online.
“I impulse shop way less now. Online shopping gives me a chance to look at my fridge and pantry while I’m shopping. I’m much more conscious overall,” says Henry.
He lives just north of Toronto’s downtown core, along a subway line, and says giving up his car means saving on gas and insurance.
“I’m lucky to live in a very walkable neighbourhood and to have access to transit,” says Henry, who still visits the local bakery or grocery stores a couple of times a month.
Here is how Henry shops for groceries.
How I save money on groceries: Checking my pantries while I’m grocery shopping over my phone has helped me save. My freezer is small, so I buy ground turkey, ground beef, chicken thighs and other proteins on sale in person. I prefer to see what it looks like.
How I splurge on groceries: Sometimes I’ll walk to the boutique grocers and butchers in my area. There, I’ll treat myself to a filet, which I cook on my cast-iron skillet, with some butter, some blue cheese and shallots sautéed with some whisky and some steamed broccoli on the side.
The hardest shopping habit to keep up: Not impulse buying when I’m shopping in person. I have a favourite bread (the NAK’D white loaf) that I can only get in-person at my local Loblaws, so when I’m there it’s easy to impulse shop.
How I’ve changed my eating habits recently: I’m eating less now that I’m older. My appetite has changed – I try to have more protein, more greens and fewer carbohydrates. I like to keep a stable weight, and have kept about 30 pounds off since I lost it a few years ago.
Five items always in my cart:
- Whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes with basil – Kirkland – $16.99 (6 cans): I make a lot of my own pizza and pasta sauces. I make a great tomato soup with it, with olive oil, onion, salt and pepper, Alpino concentrated tomato paste, a Parmesan rind thrown in there (I keep them frozen) and a little butter.
- 00 flour – PC Black Label – $4.99: I make my own pizza dough, and this is the best flour I’ve found for it. I use my KitchenAid stand mixer, batch make a couple of pizza doughs and freeze them so that I can easily make some personal pizzas.
- Kale – $2.99: This is one of those ingredients that I don’t love the taste of, but I eat because I know it’s good for me. I throw it into soup or a stir fry, or simply sauté it with salt and pepper. Hiding it in a soup by blending it in is a good way for me to get my fibre in.
- Shallots – $3.99: These are great for making sauces. I often sauté them with a bit of butter for my steak.
- Brown rice chips, cheddar flavour – Quaker Crispy Minis – $2.29: These are what I consider a “healthy snack.” They aren’t fried like other chips, but they still satisfy that craving for something to crunch on.
