The Simple Grocery Shopping Tip That Will Save You From A Messy Mistake

We all know what it's like to head to the grocery store to stock up your refrigerator and pantry for the month. Not only do you need your list and to remember reusable grocery bags or bins, but also find (or sometimes fight for) a convenient spot in the supermarket parking lot. (You could use these grocery store hacks to make your shopping trip just a bit easier.) Since grocery shopping can already be a hassle, you don't need anything to happen that's going to make your trip even harder, or worse, regrettable. That's why you should never put glass items in the child seat of your grocery cart. 

As everyone knows, the part of your grocery cart where you might keep your toddler has leg openings. But if you don't have a small child with you, and are storing items in this area, the openings are wide enough for some items to slip through. Always use the leg-hole cover to shield those openings, because glass items can fall out of your cart and onto the floor, or even on someone else, which can be messy, dangerous, or costly. If you need the extra space and are using this area, avoid glass items.

There are many items stored in glass that you'll find sold at a supermarket. Condiments, soda, wine, sparkling water, pasta sauce, and pickles, to name a few. If you store these items in the child seat of your grocery cart and they fall out, they may cause a huge, smelly mess that the grocery store employees will have to clean up. The aisle will have to be mopped, and other shoppers will have to avoid it while it dries. Plus, if the jar or bottle shatters, there will be dangerous shards of glass on the floor. You or someone else could get hurt.

Fallen glass items from the child seat of your grocery cart could cost you money, too. The liquid or sauce could spill onto your clothes or shoes, causing stains that might need to be removed at the dry cleaner. If they spill onto someone else's clothes and cause tough stains, that person may ask for compensation. This is why you should use safe storage techniques in your cart, such as the hack for safely storing wine bottles in your Costco cart.

To prevent a messy, dangerous, or costly spill, store items in the child seat of your grocery cart that are unlikely to slip through, or that won't spill or shatter if they do fall. Some of the safer items you can place in the child seat are bags of chips, boxes of cereal, cookies, and cakes, packages of cheese and meats, frozen dinners, and loaves of bread.

Just because your grocery cart may have a child seat doesn't mean that you have to store your grocery items there at all. In fact, it could be more convenient if you simply closed the compartment, giving you more space in the rest of your cart. This may make it easier to store bulkier items such as large packs of paper towels and toilet paper. But if you do have to use the child seat for storage, always cover the leg holes, and try not to put any glass items in there — just in case.