Solving the big issues: how do you unpack your groceries?

Updated 3pm 27th Nov 2013: Hayley Rose has been chosen as the winner of the giftcard. Thanks so much for all your awesome comments it was so hard to choose a winner. Special mention to the following who made the Top 5: Emma Steedman, Stinkbomb, Geal & Domenica.

A sponsored post for Woolworths

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If the fact that you had to remember EVERYTHING that every single person in your family needed, travelled to the supermarket usually with a feral child or more, battled crowds and aisles and the mundane nature of grocery shopping was not enough to break your spirit, then the reality that you have to get all said shopping BACK home and into your cupboards and fridge WILL. Akin to the putting away of folded, cleaned washing, the supermarket unpack is one of my least favourite things to do. Whilst the filled fridge and cupboards are enough for me to get my Instagram on and smug levels up, the actual DOING of this stuff makes me cranky. I mean haven’t we done ENOUGH ALREADY?

I used to be a bag by bag kind of girl. Deal with one at a time, even if it meant moving between dairy and meat, cupboard, fridge and drawers. But its become apparent to me that this just won’t DO. I’ve started something new. I give you….the dump everything out of the bags and onto the bench scenario!

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Controversial I know! It’s going quite well. Sure there is a little double dipping going on here – I mean it goes from the shelf to the trolley to the check out to the car to the kitchen floor to the bench to its eventual home, but I am quite happy with the results. I get to do the fridge in one swoop looking across the bench like a hawk crossed between a crazy shopper from supermarket sweep. It makes sense to me. And of course that means CRAZY sense.

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I’ve been happy to see the last few visits to the supermarket the increased number of products in the Macro organic range at Woolies (it’s the purple coloured one). I’ve been rolling more and more products happy with the quality and the fact that they are certified organic and Australian made. I’m working on my own section of the pantry even (if I could be bothered).

Here’s what I pulled out from the weekly last shop:

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  1. Plain flour – for pizza bases, tortillas, baking
  2. Raw nuts – for toasting in spices for snacks and drinks
  3. Garlic paste – perfect for marinades, dressings and stirfries when I want something fast
  4. Passata – pasta/casseroles

The colour coding works for my OCD and helps with the hawk eye unpack when I scan things on the bench in the great unpack and there are more and more products in the range (and on special) each time I go shopping.

Woollies would like to shout you a grocery shop! Just leave a comment below to win a $200 Woolworths gift card. For giveaway T&C’s please see here. Giveaway ends Sunday 24th November 2013 10.00am and is available for Australian residents only.

Just tell me how you unpack your shopping!
Bag by bag or a strange complete unpack like me?
Anything from the organic range you’ve been impressed with?

Comments

  1. I’m a bit of both … bag by bag and the full unpack on the bench. It’s a job I like doing myself – food storage is not Mr SY’s forte. Oh … and I particularly like the whole process even better when it’s after a home delivery.

  2. This way of unpacking seems completely normal to me now. Used to drive me nuts that when you think you’d packed away all the cold stuff, you discover dairy in the last bag and have to open the fridge for the 12th time. Far more organised getting it all out then putting away (i think).

  3. Cold stuff first (I try to gave all my cold stuff packed in together at the check out) then it is a slow process that can span an hour as I try to entertain a 3 year old and maintain some enthusiasm for this mundane task

  4. Bag by bag here, with an attempt to get the cold stuff in the fridge first. It is usually a slow process as it seems no-one cares if there are bags of groceries at the end of the bench here, myself included!

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      How about how kids tend to just hover and help themselves? I ban my girls from the kitchen or try and do it when they are at school.

  5. joannawoutersz says

    we do it just like you – with a helpful five year old. And have quite converted to the Macro range too – especially the chicken which is totally the best for roast chicken and home-made chicken stock. And now Jamie Oliver is on-board with Woolies – very useful to be able to buy his products at the supermarket!

  6. Carla Da Costa says

    Well I used to do it bag by bag….maybe it’s time for a change!

  7. I unpack bag by bag and I can do this because things are already grouped together in the bag by where they are likely to be put away – eg all the cold/fridge/freezer items are bagged together, pantry items, laundry etc etc and this is possible because of how I shop, how I put things in the trolley and then how I load them onto the belt at the cash register – so they get bagged together [most of the time!] in a way that is convenient for me by the checkout chick/guy! What can I say, I’m a cross between organised and a tad OCD but the checkout people find me highly entertaining LOL

    I used to dump and then put away but much prefer the method I use now, mainly because everything gets put away A LOT quicker and I’m not madly dashing around the house!

    I’ve tried a few things in the macro range and been very been impressed and the range is expanding which is great. If I’m lucky enough to win the gift card, I’ll try some more 😉

  8. Reannon Hope says

    Beth it starts at the check out for me. I put everything on the conveyer belt the way I want it packed. (Most checkout people understand that but some need some re-training in the packing department). So I get home & I have bags that are full of fridge/freezer stuff, bags with the fruit & veg, bags for the pantry & then bags of cleaning/bathroom/laundry. It sounds a bit mental but man it makes unpacking easy! I can palm a bag off the a kid ( or husband when he’s home) & it’s not hard to know where it needs to go. My superior packing does not make the unpacking any more likeable just faster 🙂

  9. I tend to go for the frozen goods first and then work my way to the dry goods as time permits. I’d enjoy it a hell of a lot more if I had a beautiful walk in pantry to store it all.

  10. Michele @ The Hills are Alive says

    I do it exactly like yours – all out on the bench where I can see it. So much easier than bag by bag. Oh and I (almost always) get it delivered so it cuts out all those other really annoying steps. If I do it the old way of dragging kids around the shops and then in the trolley, out of the trolley onto the checkout, checkout to car, car to home, home to bench, bench to fridge/pantry I am usually so knackered that nothing gets cooked for tea and we have toast or takeaway!

  11. Michele @ The Hills are Alive says

    Love the organic nuts too btw they seem to taste a heck of a lot better/fresher

  12. Sort at supermarket so bags have similar. When I do online order, it’s frozen and cold things first, then the rest as I have no input into the packing. I agree that some operators are much better than others. I mean to say, who would put a hot BBQ chook on top of butter in the same bag?? I had that happen and the packer could not understand why I protested.

    I like Macro stuff but I liked it a whole lot more when they had a huge shop of their own at Hornsby with all sorts of goodies and bulk products. Then Woolies bought them out.

  13. Like some of the other commenters, I too organise my items on the conveyor belt in groups of like products/frozen/meat/dairy, etc. When I get home, the OCD sticks around long enough for me to get the freezer and fridge items away safely, while the rest gets left on the floor until I can be bothered. I hate grocery shopping so much that I just can’t seem to manage the pantry items straight away. Sometimes that is my undoing, because I will forget to hide something that was intended as my secret stash and the kids find it when they get home from school. Damn.

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      Is there ANYTHING that women don’t think about?! Planning on the conveyor belt to the bags…we really are brilliant creatures!

  14. I get everything inside and put fridge and freezer stuff away first.
    Then I send the kids outside and sit and eat the chunky kit kat that I’ve snuck into the trolley with a cup of tea and a magazine- that is my reward for doing the groceries with small children!

  15. I do the unpack bags bench dump now too, I definitely find it easier. My least favourite part about shopping is when I do the Aldi part of my shop (I do Aldi first, then Woolies). Trying to keep up with the bloody check out person who is scanning my items at 100 miles per hour & me trying to get everything neatly back into my trolley without crushing or dropping things whilst keeping a 3 year old out of harms way is enough to send me into a flustered mess!!!

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      I know that rush! I beat the check out one time – still hold onto that memory! I’ve had broken jars in the process too!

  16. Whitney Sigler says

    Well as I unpack on the counter I sort. Frig frozen can box and then put away. Everything has a home.

  17. Well I live on a really big hill and have a mother of a driveway to contend with..so I do Woolies online shopping as I worked out that this mean the dear delivery man who is far stronger than I, has to lug all the bags upstairs! So when the dear delivery man puts the bags on my kitchen bench I then deal with them bag by bag…though I must say that I’m pondering your complete unpack method. As a librarian, and therefore already more OCD than the rest of you out there…I love sorting my groceries and classifying them into to pantry. I do indeed have an Organic section on the shelf. What can I say….my pantry is like my library…classified, labelled and regularly culled.

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      Soul sisters! Give the great unpack a shot and let me know what you think….we are out of area for home delivery…sigh…

  18. Sarah Owen-Green says

    Complete unpack, it’s the only way to do it. Although it’s a tad depressing seeing it all laid out on the kitchen bench, as you quickly realise that there really isn’t THAT much there, yet you managed to spend 300 bejesus bucks!

  19. I dump it all on the bench then sort it out as well. I am not usually this organised but I figure it saves time. Really hate putting the groceries away, it is just as bad as putting the folding clothes away!!!

  20. Grocery shopping on Saturdays ALONE is time I look forward to immensely! And therefore usually extends to a sneaky coffee and read of the paper at a café too 🙂 I’m a bag-at-a-time girl at the moment, but I can see the merit in your style. We have the walk-in pantry, however my husband and children do not understand the word “organised” and seem to see it as some kind of personal challenge to undone any organisation I attempt :-/ PS I do love the Macro range, their peanut butter makes a mean peanut butter and choc chip cookie!

  21. Liz Paganoni says

    Definitely a bag by bag operator! Am loving quinoa from the organic range…can’t wait to use the red, have only used the white so far!

  22. I throw the bags at the kitchen floor then meticulously tip-toe through them and pluck out the cold ones (only because I HAVE to) – Shove it all in the freezer/fridge then leave the pantry goodies strewn across the floor where they are and toddle off and do something much more interesting, like facebook or pinterest (I deserve it).
    3 minutes before everyone walks through the door, I sort and unpack those pantry bags like a crazy woman whose life depends on it, bottles, cans and packets go flying everywhere – I have become quite skilled at hiding my post-grocery dry goods laziness..
    I suggest to cover your procrastination, if unexpected guests arrive you can put your sunglasses on your head, answer the door with a bottle of tomato sauce in hand and pretend you just got home 🙂

  23. I shop at the supermarket and the Victoria Market for my fresh produce, so it’s twice the fun of unpacking for me. Thankfully, only living with one other person means there is never that much. And we shop and unpack together, thankfully! Being a lazy university student has it’s perks haha.

  24. Emily Furlong says

    I’m like you Beth, but I don’t just dump on the bench, I collate on the bench first and then I put it away. If I don’t organise every step of the process (even down to meal planning and re-writing my shopping list once complete) it becomes a nightmare and unreasonably stressful!

  25. Emma Steendam says

    Ok so our grocery shop is quite often epic…and there’s just the two of us! But because we live in a remote location, yeah it can get epic. We try to only go to the supermarket once a month, if not longer, 6 weeks or so, it’s an hour drive and an hour back so we often put the camping fridge in the car for things like ice-cream. We have a big walk in pantry and freezer (and get meat on-farm so I’ll often have a few lambs frozen) and try to buy in bulk where we can. When we moved to where we are now we were coming from being nomadic gypsies for 15 months, so we had NOTHING – no flour, sugar, cleaning products, glad wrap, just general STUFF you take for granted when moving from one house to another. So our first shop upon getting a home again…was something like $900…for two people. I kid you not. I am also an unpacker hater, haaaaaater. I hate mostly the commute from car to kitchen, our back door always bangs my shins, it’s just a lot of hatred. I unpack bag by bag, but generally put bags for pantry in the pantry, bags of cold things by the fridge etc. and then go go go. I’m also a bit of a nazi at the checkout, I do love it when I get a good check out chick (or chap) who knows the business of a well packed bag. That makes my day. In a small town supermarket scenario I am getting to know most of the staff and can choose an aisle accordingly – ha!

    P.S. Is that macro garlic Australian grown? It’s often hard to find Aussie grown garlic, apparently take up of garlic farmer in the past five years is something like up 200% – next big thing I tells ya. I do love a bit of macro, we buy quite a bit from that range.

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      I do like you know your staff – clever clogs! The garlic was Aussie – almost certain of it as I looked when I got it. I’ll let you know when I get another one though x

  26. Melanie Scott Burnicle says

    I sit with a cup of tea and the TV on and watch my husband do it after he completes his weekly pilgrimage to Woolies 🙂

  27. Vange Asuncion Langford says

    Hate grocery shopping more than the unpacking but I love cooking/eating so it’s a necessary evil. I put things in trolley according to type so it’s pretty much already grouped by the time I get to checkouts. I also bring my bags so all cold stuff go on the conveyor belt first then they also get unpacked at home first. I put everything on the floor in front of pantry & fridge which thankfully are next to each other and is also next to fruit bowl come to think of it! So unpacking is relatively easy except for laundry stuff which get to linger in the kitchen because our laundry is all the way downstairs kinda separate from the house. I also never shop with the kids, it’s hard enough as it is. It is my alone time every week mostly late afternoon Saturdays or Sundays and hubby can look after everyone for a change. I sometimes make a cheeky phone call whilst at the grocery to remind him to heat up dinner if I’m running late. Because I’m by myself I tend to look forward to grocery shopping even though it’s a chore 😉

  28. Amanda Garven says

    When I get it out of the car, I always put the bags with the cold and frozen things down the end of the bench closest to the fridge/freezer. And then, when all the groceries are out of the car, I put all my cold stuff away first, straight out of the bags.
    Then i dump out all my fruit and veg and do that next. And then finally, when there is only pantry items left, I dump it all out of the bags and put that away.
    I am a bit manic about it, and it has to be only this way. God forbid anyone who tries to help, lest they muck up my system. It’s my system that makes it bearable. If I have to do the shopping, then I’m going to put it away right too.

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      So much to think about…I am amazed at what clever people we are! Always one step ahead…imagine a man doing that!!

  29. I hate the putting away of the shopping too. It is just too much double/triple handling of the food:/ So, now we all pitch in (myself, my husband and the two kids) and all bring it in from the car and all unpack together. One person is in charge of the pantry items, one for the fridge, one for laundry and animal food and one pulling the stuff out of the bags and passing it to the right person to be put away. This way it is done in no time and keeps me happy.

  30. I sort my groceries at the checkout. Cold stuff together, fruit and veg together etc etc. Then when I get home I put them all up on the bench in groups and unpack that way. I really, really like to be left alone to get on with this. Hubby and kids not allowed to help as they put things in weird places!

  31. Firstly, when I get to the check out, I try and put all my cold and frozen products up first so they go in bags by themselves. That makes it easy when I get home – one or two bags can get put straight into the fridge and freezer, no sorting. Then fruit and veg into the fridge. Panty/store items into the duh, pantry. Bathroom products to the bathroom or linen press if they are spares. Job done! Of course, it helps that I shop nearly daily. Yesterday I shopped for milk and bin liner bags (SA outlawed plastic carry bags so now I have to buy them!) and a bit of veg and meat for dinner. Today will be dinner stuff and I need peanut butter and laundry detergent. I hate planning a week of meals up front. I honestly love grocery shopping more than clothes shopping. Perhaps I could do that in my retirement – Joolz Can Shop For U!
    I like the Macro Basmati Rice and their Nibble Mix of nuts and seeds too!

  32. Oops, *pantry … not panty!

  33. I come home with about 15 heavy bags hanging tediously on various about-to-break fingers. I somehow have to open the door balancing the bags and powerlifting them to the height of the doorlock. I open the door and dump those goddam bags in the hallway. By this stage my fingers are usually purple and white so I have to wait until they have blood and feeling before I can begin the putting away process (one bag at a time). It’s about now I think.. Why can’t my husband do this!!!!!!!

  34. Melissa-Lea Meyer says

    I do it bag by bag but all my cold stuff is together so there isn’t much going back to a section once i’m done. Also I love the organic range! I get so excited when i spy a new organic product on their shelves!!!

  35. How appropriate. I am sitting here getting sidetracked by this post when my shopping is strewn all over the benches and floor!!!!!! I like to unpack it all to the bench then sort all the bulk meats into separate freezer bags then put all the cold stuff away. The it’s onto the pantry stuff which I get sidetracked doing other things such as this!!!!!!!!!!! it gets done eventually LOL

  36. Rebecca Simunic says

    I HATE doing it!!! I unpack bag by bag by bag!!!! It makes me cranky too. I always turn on the coffee machine before I unpack the first item. That somehow makes me feel better !! haha

  37. Lisa Mckenzie says

    I unpack by cold or frozen first,then I do all the other unpacking all on the bench and then goes the cleaning stuff,the pantry and then the shuffle of the fridge and fruit and veggies.I love the macro range too,I like the quinoa flakes and the wholemeal flour and the pasta range.

  38. Polly McDougall says

    I don’t hate unpacking shopping but lordy do I hate schlepping those bags in from the car!

    Not such a fan of the ‘macro’ brand swag though as it’s more supermarket own-brand product which seems to be taking over the shelves at both of the big two. But at least it’s Australian made.

  39. scissorspaperrock says

    My OCD usually kicks in when grocery bag unpacking is happening. I start with the cold bags first and run through a similar process every single time, leaving the kid’s snacky packaged things last. I kinda like the job though – something calming about a full pantry and restocked fridge {I’m a looser I know!}
    As for the Macro stuff – I LOVE IT.
    My Husband started a really strict diet a few months ago, which a Sports Doctor set for him. And the Macro brand has been awesome for this. I get the different Tofu’s, the nuts and the pasta for the kids. And I am completely addicted to the Macro Corn Chips {Original flavour} in fact I just devoured a bag before typing this :))
    Claire Chadwick x

  40. Melissa Goodsell says

    bag by bag, but maybe I should try your way, my pantry looks like a bombs hit it with everything shoved in willy nilly………… next week

  41. Before I leave I give the fridge a once over so it is ready for the items on return – so when I am super exhausted after a couple of hours of negotiating with twin 3 year olds at the supermarket (no we don’t need another fucking glitter glue stick), I can at least come home to one job done 🙂

    My OCD truly starts at Woolies. First I unpack everything onto the checkout in categorical order so it is easier for the staff member to pack fresh fruit and vegetables in one bag, cold items together in one bag, meat together in another, bathroom and cleaning products in one and so on. Then, when I get home it is easy to put away. I do put it on the bench to save my back bending, but it is already in categories so much easier to put away quickly!

  42. I chuck it all out on the kitchen bench then let the teenagers put it away – one does the fridge/freezer, one does the pantry and the other does the laundry/bathroom stuff – it is amazing what hungry teenagers will does for chocolate or donuts 😉

  43. Carla Moulds says

    Love Hayley’s grocery unpacking, you made me laugh but we have all done it that way at times, any time you are stressed and dealing with kids.

  44. Janelle Spear says

    I come home and place the bag with all the cold stuff in it near the fridge and unpack straight away so nothing melts and then I do what you do; unpack everything and leave on the bench until I am ready to deal with the putting away. Could be as little as sitting down having a coffee or as long as until the kids get home from school. All depends on how I am feeling!!

  45. My husband does all the grocery shopping, and we usually unpack together, in a totally haphazard manner, things flying everywhere, the fridge beeping because the doors been open too long, canisters being washed and dried to fit new stuff, and usually a couple of things left on the bench for a day or so, because we can’t figure out where to put them!

  46. Linley Simons says

    Wherever possible I dump the bags on the kitchen bench and leave it to the husband to do. Unfortunately he quite often sooks about this. Strangely I seem to unpack fridge stuff item by item (bag by bag) and cupboard using the bench unpack method.

  47. Of course! Dumping it all out is the way to go, i like to then put fridge/ pantry things together for a little extra ocd 🙂 Sometimes I then like to sit with a cup of tea & yell at my 6 year old….vegemite- fridge etc. yes love the macro range & that’s its really not expensive. Though I am fond of wooliesonline = open door holding baby, driver puts grocerys on bench, dump & order others to put away hehe:)

  48. In my part of the world, we have a dedicated bag packer. At first the inefficiency of having two people doing the job of only one in Australia used to frustrate me, then I realised the quality of the bag packing. When I get home everything has been already sorted into areas, plus meats have been double bagged. I don’t know if I can return to the hotch-potch ways of Aussie check-out chicks! 😉

  49. I sort my items at the supermarket and load them onto the conveyor belt into groups. We take our own cold bag so that’s the fridge items sorted. Then if the check out chick / guy is any good the goods get packed together in some sort of order. I’m all about the efficiency.

    I must admit that when I get home I put the cold stuff away and then I have a little break. The dried goods usually wait until I can be bothered.

  50. I pull everything out the way you do, but go a tiny step further and organise the stuff into categories on the bench. Dry goods, frozen, stuff for the fridge, laundry, bathroom etc. Then it can all be put away.

  51. Rebecca Mossuto says

    I actually laughed out loud at this!! I hate unpacking so much!!! Especially when I have the three kids and hubby circling around the bags like seagulls to see if I’ve brought any goodies! I still do bag by bag – feel like I’ve run a marathon by the time I’ve finished though :-/ another of life’s necessary evils!

  52. My little system starts with the order to place items at the check out…..cold items first, then heavy to light and fresh produce at the back. All bags straight on the bench and grouped in cold, heavy, lighter, fresh per last point. It is then pretty efficient to get them packed away swiftly. UNLESS, narky 3 year old is hungry and starts rummaging through the bags or melting down because he. has. to. eat. now!

  53. Susan Hargadon-Niksic says

    Im the kinda girl who is OCD with her shopping, even bunching it all together at the checkout for the bagging! I like it in the house, on the bench and put away in minimal time….
    Sorta similar to hanging out and taking in the washing!
    Have bought the beetroot Macro chips…bloody hell they delish….

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      Oh my stars aren’t they AMAZING?! Even my step dad said to me “what are these delicious chips?” he almost died when I said beetroot!

  54. I like your thinking but I too have shopping OCD and it has to be unpacked like this:

    fridge stuff
    Freezer stuff
    Cereals,potatoes and onions (weird but they live in the same cupboard)
    Dry goods and tins
    Any other crap I have fill my trolley with

    Or I just dump it and get the big man to put it away!

  55. Lately my 2 year old has shown a keen interest in the great unpack – he happily lugs the bags he can (and that I check for precious items such as eggs and those special treats for Mummy and Daddy’s chocolate stash enhancement) to the appropriate places in the house and putting items away where he can a) open doors and b) reach. This is AWESOME progress.
    I just have to think like a 2 year old when I need to find the packet of couscous I know I bought!

  56. The big question here Beth is actually how you PACK the groceries into the bags! If you get that right, unpacking is a breeze (she says smugly) because everything is already sorted 🙂

  57. Grocery shopping is either my most favourite or most loathed activity, depending on whether I’ve shopped on a Saturday (horrendous!) or late on a Friday night (I live a bangin’ life.)

    If it’s a Saturday shop I unpack as quickly and as belligerently as possible. I resent unpacking, I mean didn’t I just battle the grocery store and carry 15 billion bags up the stairs (only one trip from the car thanks!)?!?

    Friday night shops are sweetness and light, I buy delicious food, I float up the stairs (with my 15 billion bags) take my time unpacking (but always cold items first), I tidy up my pantry, I clean out my fridge, all with a glass of wine handy.

    Ideally though I’d have a housekeeper to do the unpacking for me 🙂

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      Friday night shopping is where you need to be! I’d even come along..it sounds fabulous! Do you sing along the music in store too?!

  58. My husband rolls his eyes when we go shopping and/or the great unpack of said shopping. I am anal with ny shopping list, dividing it into the sections of the store; a little too competitive when loading the belt (trying to beat the service assistant as well as grouping things); and then mildly happy when I get home to some sort of order of my groceries. I like order though, so kind of enjoy grocery shopping somehow…

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      I love it! I try and write my list too in order of the shop…at least I know my crazy is not just confined to me!

  59. I am also an obsessive conveyor belt sorter…suspect it is the Virgo in me. Once everything is sorted & packed to my crazy standards, unpacking is a bit of a breeze. I just hand everyone in the family a bag & let them go to it. It’s so easy that even the man of the house & 2 year old can manage it. Funny thing is, I suspect the obsessive sorting thing may be genetic…I inherited it from my mother, & my 10 year daughter already has the system down pat. She looks horrified when she sees other ‘normal’ people’s shopping loaded willy-nilly on the conveyor belts.

  60. I like to see if I can carry EVERY bag in at once hanging them all off my arms then always get to the door and have to put everything down because I can’t actually lift my arm up high enough to put the key in the lock. Then I unpack everything so I can see it all on the bench and put it away in groups. This is how my mum always did it and she would allocate us kids jobs once everything was on the benches. I HATED freezer duty and I still hate freezer duty. Funny how I have just naturally picked up her habits and never thought to do my unpacking any other way!

  61. Honestly? I open bags, and then shove contents into fridge and pantry at eye height, until the eye height level gets full, and then it starts to spill into other areas. Drives my husband insane.

    I do try and sort groceries at the checkout though, so at least things are going in somewhat related bags, which makes it easier when I get home.

  62. I actually do the complete unpack! I group items together for fridge, freezer and pantry and put away in order :p Sometimes I even leave the pantry stuff on the bench for later when I can face it!

  63. carrie george says

    I’m actually a converted Woolworths shopper solely because of the Macro range, it is fantastic! We unpack the same way you do – everything out of the bags and strewn across the counter. I group them as I go though, cold stuff down one end (nearest the fridge), pantry stuff in the middle and bathroom/laundry/cleaning stuff at the other end.

  64. Sarah Binley says

    My OCD starts with how I load the shopping on the belt at the register! They get packed into the bags by cupboard/shelf…..the I get home dump the bags on the floor feel sorry for myself and unload into the pantry, fridge , freezer etc!

  65. We grocery shop once a month. It is always huge, and the whole family helps put stuff away. Of course I need to put anything still on the shelves to the front (First In First Out here!). Generally unpacking also coincides with a big clean out of the fridge. The kids rifle through the bags to see what ‘good stuff’ we have got. Unpacking is always horrible, but the satisfaction of a well stocked pantry is worth the effort!

  66. Depends who packed the bags !! Me – I always put cold stuff in one of those Aldi thermo bags and everything else just gets jammed into other bags so with unpacking i do it a bag at a time (cold stuff first).. if my husband packed the bags his love of cadets at school shines brightly, he cadet-boy packs the shit out of those bags then pretty much categorizes the fridge and pantry via expiry date and which items “belong” together… then of course i can’t find anything ! He unpacks them so quickly due to bags being packed according to where the the belong, his eyes glaze over and he is “in the zone”…

  67. Natasha Andrews says

    I do a complete unpack on the bench – mainly because I make the kids or hubby help – so their job is to unpack and pop it on the bench and then I redistribute from there, we have a freezer in the laundry and a second pantry downstairs so it is good to have gophers.

    I have started getting more of the Macro products as I am trying hard to buy Australian Made where possible as I think it is vitally important that we all do what we can for AUstralian producers and farmers.

  68. Natalie Prue says

    Freezer, fridge then dry goods 🙂

  69. I think my shopping style has changed a bit since a shop was built just a two minutes walk away. Apart from my big fruit and vege shop once a week, I tend to just walk up daily and grab a couple of bags full. But with my f & v shop I just bring in a few bags, unpack and then return to the car…which is in the garage that has a door into the kitchen. So boring after the previous, hilarious comment. Ahhh, when you have food obsessed pets, there is no chance of leaving it on the floor, longer than 2 secs.

  70. I have managed to employ the (man) technique of doing something rather badly to get out of having to do it anymore. My partner can’t stand the way I load the conveyor or how I unpack the groceries. So he does those jobs and now everyone is happy.

  71. Kelli Stevens says

    I will admit that currently I still have about 3 bags lying on the floor from Sundays shopping trip… it is now Tuesday night. Normally though I unload everything and put away in sections or if I’m lucky, my husband stands there with me and I hand him stuff bag-by-bag and make him run around to put it away. 😉

  72. Nicole McMurtrie says

    I love having things match match, too. Even the groceries. I’d love to win a grocery shop in time for christmas.

  73. Unfortunately I am living in temporary accommodation and the kitchen is smaller than the grocery shop – normally I do exactly what you do Beth but right now I tend to have a trail of ‘stuff’ from the kitchen to the boot of the car, not to mention having to step over 3 kids, 1 dog and smile (like a lunatic) at the computer bound husband who just looks at me as I struggle with 10 bags hanging off each arm, while trying to put the car keys in the green box because god forbid I forget to put the car keys in the green box (apparently that is where the car keys live in this temporary accommodation)…. unfortunately I am neurotic and as much as I would love to open up my pantry and see rows and rows of neatness and labelled canisters, in my temporary accommodation my pantry is a shoe box so its all stuffed in to explosion point and I live in fear that one day my 9 year old will be found underneath the contents of my pantry after it explodes – I have no idea what is in there, I just keep buying more… in my new house, the sane version of myself will re-appear and I’ll unpack like a stepford wife..

  74. I don’t mind the shopping part but am usually over it by the time I get home. I usually dump the bags on the floor, put the cold stuff in the fridge, then get distracted by something far more interesting and hope my husband puts everything away when he gets home 😉

  75. I do what you do! Because I can put things away in their “area” all at once, rather then going back and forth. Unpacking groceries is up there with doing washing for me… A loathed but necessary chore! If only we didn’t need to wear clothes, or eat…..

  76. Karen Ryan Leschnik says

    I used to unpack the groceries bag by bag. We now live in a house with less kitchen bench space so we’ve discovered that by unpacking all the bags onto the dining table we have a great view of what we have bought & it is so much easier to put away. I am also making the change towards more foods from the organic range, in an effort to reduce food additives in our lives. Not going too gung ho with it yet, but small steps add up to big ones. There is an organic spaghetti sauce that Woolworths stock (not macro brand) which has been a hit with my family. Am keen to explore their Macro range. I am not entering the competition as I work for Woolworths Petrol, making me ineligible, but thought I’d share what I do anyway!

  77. My unpacking begins when I’m loading my horde onto the conveyor belt, all related items (frozen, dairy, meat, veg, dry goods, bathroom / laundry etc) MUST go on together so that they get bagged together and I DO hover watching to make sure that no item gets left behind or what I think should go into 1 bag does not go into 2. This way when I get home and my 4yr old is pawing at the bags for a 3rd special treat and the 6month old is crying to be fed / changed / soothed I can quickly unload each bag into its relevant home

  78. Chelsea De Luca says

    I dump all of the bags on the kitchen bench. The forage through them for the ‘colds’ and pop them away in the fridge and freezer. Then I put away the pantry items and stack the toiletries and cleaners on the end bench so I can take them down to the bathroom and laundry when I pass that way.
    It’s at this point when I realise there is a bag missing – usually the chocolate stash- and RUN to the car, tossing through the rubbish in the boot desperately trying to find my Cadbury’s.

  79. Liz Morrison says

    I usually like to unpack bag by bag, but only so the remainder can stay perched high on the bench, away from prying eyes and go go gadget arms of my 4 kids.
    They like to hover like vultures and snavel any stray items , on the off chance they are strawberries or chocolate.
    The whole shopping and food scenario is a joke. And so much work. Why do kids need to be fed anyway , right?!

  80. Madeleine Morris says

    I, too, am a bench dumper. The fridge and freezer stuff goes away pronto, but I put the rest away in dribs and drabs…usually while I’m hoovering something from a packet I’ve just bought, in between playing jenga w the pantry contents. MUST clean out the pantry.

  81. Another $200 worth of groceries to agonise over and unpack, (pausing and thinking, mmmmm)……..yes please!!!

  82. Belinda Carpenter Catt says

    Grocery shopping for four teenage sons. Purchase as many items as you possibly afford every week and break your back getting them in the trolley then to the register then in the bags then in the car then in the house then in the fridge. If they are not consumed by teenage sons as you are entering the house and they are not helping only eating you pack away what’s left and maybe get one thing to eat if your lucky and then do that again next week, lol lol. Living the dream.

  83. I take DH (well ok he takes me because I dont drive). He works out the cheaper options for me and loads the groceries on to the conveyer belt with colds/frozen together. I then load it in the trolley while he pays. I unlock the door while he brings it inside, what wont fit on our small kitchen bench goes on the floor while I start unpacking, cold things first hopefuly without his help because his idea of organising is totally different to mine.

  84. Depends completely on my mood but the latest way to get the groceries out is just leave them on the kitchen floor and my 15 month old Sweet Pea brings me items one by one over the course of the day!

  85. StevieLauren says

    Well to begin I am not yet in the position of having wee little munchkins pulling on my clothes or requesting the toilet mid-way through the weekly shop – but I do however have a pretty solid routine for the time being! After planning the weeks meals, I trod off to the supermarket and proceed to mosy up and down and back and forward amongst the ailes and I am usually the person who knocks a bottle of lee kum kee of the shelf, or notice fellow organised shop nerds who are meticulously crossing items off their list. With my falling apart green bags in tow I line my items up on the checkout in a round-about-ordered way, i.e fruit & veg, cold items, jars/spices/pantry, toileteries etc. Always whack a strawberry freddo or two in at the end, therefore they will be packed last – and easy access for me on the way home. If my check out plan has indeed gone to plan and things are organised, it makes a dream for unpacking into said fridge and pantry, while clearing out any bogus items that may remain. And voila! Done. Until next week…

  86. I love the organic range – especially all their grains and healthy stuff. If I had to pick just one it would be the quinoa, and its so reasonably priced too!!
    I am a terrible shopper, I pop in most days and come home with only a bag or two. Oops. I then usually cook with what I have bought from these bags and pack the rest away as I go. I must get better at the weekly shop 🙂

  87. michelle rees says

    Groceries…umm hate doing it, hubby dear always does, and if I’m really lucky he will take at least one of the three kiddos with.
    The unpacking is all mine, and believe me its crazy, I unpack and dump bags in the middle of the floor, everything out on the counter, snacks get dumped out of their boxes and into various snack spots, bags get opened and nuts get dumped in nut jars, flour and sugar in big old tupperware stuff. The the fight starts with finding spots for the meat in amongst the icecream and frozen pizzas in the freezer, in theory all that remains is bathroomstuff and fruit and vegies. Enter the kiddos – they dump and run to the bathroom for me, for those ice-creams so I have space for the meat, and fruit well, depends what we buy it might not even make the fridge if I plan it right!

  88. The bag, by bag trick works for me. If I did what you did my 2 toddlers would have it all over the house. A bottle of sauce in my shoe cupboard is always a nice find! The macro banana bread pkt mix is yummo!

  89. astephanides says

    I’m totally OCD while still in the supermarket! I make sure I put the items in the order of how I want the bags packed while on the conveyer belt so when I get home I unpack freezer stuff first, then shelf fridge stuff, then fridge draw stuff, then pantry, then bathroom/laundry… if my husband tries to help, I wait till he’s gone then re-arrange! Ha! (Re-reading that makes me realise what a boring old OCD fart I am these days!)

  90. Now that I’m retired … Oh such joy!!! I shop nearly every day. It sounds crazy but I love it. I have a Woolieworths just up the road and I buy fresh each day what I need for dinner. No big unpack of loads of groceries. When I was working and caring for my mother, I used the Woolies online and had a huge man deliver my groceries right onto my kitchen bench. Heaven! No lugging heavy bags from the car to the kitchen. It was worth the minuscule extra cost.

  91. There is disorder tantamount to a ransacked kitchen; cats scurry outside and children disembark for their rooms. There’s cans rolling, jars dropping and milk moaping. It’s chaotic, frenzied but efficient.

  92. Melissa Sayers says

    I unload on the bench first but also section the bench off. Fridge in one section, cupboards in another and so on. Then pack away each section, all OCD like

  93. I have zero method. I just unpack the bags at random, grabbing whatever is closest and shoving it away. Toiletries or laundry products usually stay on the table or the bench until I remember to do something with them or the hubby gets sick of seeing it there.

  94. Saw the bottles of soda water and wanted to say – buy a soda stream – you won’t look back. Now I just keep a couple of bottles of water chilled in the fridge and I fizz as I need it. Less fridge / pantry room needed PLUS I don’t have to lug the bottles home each grocery shop. For a bottle of plain soda water (1L) a day I get a solid couple of months out of a gas bottle!

  95. Did u already pick a winner is it too late to enter?

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