Groceries — Blog — Healy Chen

Waiting for QR

Yesterday I was at the local Whole Foods doing some grocery shopping during lunch (as one does). I got to the self-checkout terminals and the first thing to do is scan the Amazon Prime QR code. That lets the system know I am a Prime member and to give me my 5% cash back and other associated discounts. But there was a problem: my iPhone did not a have a strong enough network connection to load the QR code in the Amazon app. Apparently two (out of five) bars of 5G cellular is insufficient.

To load quickly, anyways. The loading circle kept spinning, so I just stood there waiting for the QR code to pop up. The people flow during that hour was slow so I was not holding up anybody. Honestly I think Whole Foods should make sure there’s solid network connection in their stores, especially now that everything is on our phones - including our credit cards. Gone are the days of Safeway where you bring a tiny card with a barcode to scan as confirmation of membership. Even Costco have migrated to digital ID cards on the Costco app. I never bring the physical card with me these days.

Soon as California allows for digital driver licenses in smartphones, I won’t bring a wallet with me ever again.

After a few minutes of waiting, the QR code finally appeared. I simply refuse to give up the 5% cash back (that is, if you have an Amazon Prime Visa card). Amazon Prime membership is not cheap these days, and I need to “make that money back” as fast possible so that I’m in the green. I bet the security guy was looking at me really funny, though. What is this guy doing staring at his phone and not scanning any items?

Costco rethink

Who doesn’t like going to Costco? I sure do. There’s no place else that can get you as best a bang for your buck, no matter what it is that you buy.

Groceries is what my family most often buys from Costco, and now that I’m living by myself away from my parents, I’ve continued on that tradition. However, there’s a problem: buying in bulk is great in terms of price per single unit, but now, that giant bag of potstickers will need to be eaten entirely by me. There’s no other persons in the household to share in that burden of depleting a multi-pound tray of fish, so while it remains tempting to buy, these days the purchasing decisions involve careful planning on how to eat it all.

It turns out, that stops all the fun. Instead of buying multiple items, I’m stuck to buying just one package of breakfast sandwiches, because it will take me some time to get through all 10 of them. Never mind the fact the fridge I’ve got in the studio unit is not that large.

It won’t stop me from going to Costco probably every other week, but now I have to be more strategic with what I buy. If variety is what I want, then it’s the smaller chains like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods where I’ll need to shop at for groceries.

Luckily, there’s a Trader Joe’s within minutes walking distance from where I live, and sometime in the near future, there will be a Whole Foods as well. Be that as it may, I don't think I can give up going to Costco. It remains the most economical place to shop: a box of Keurig cups is half as expensive on a per-cost basis compared to Target.

Good thing those cups don’t need to go into the fridge, because mine is absolutely full.