Shopping Bags

Reusable shopping bags. You see them for sale in almost every store. So why do I look around and see hardly anyone using them? I'm guessing it's because the dinky plastic bags they provide are free, so why waste money on buying bags you will never remember to use? That's what I thought. But seriously, I think it's worth it. If you are happy with the options that you see in the stores, then go ahead and buy a handful of those, but remember you can always shop around on the internet for different styles and prices. Pick one of your bags to hold all of your other ones, then remember to put them in the back of your car as soon as you are done unloading them. If you make this a habit, you are less likely to be stuck at the store, realizing you forgot the bags at home.

Here are the types of bags I use and my personal reviews of them (with links to Amazon in the name):

Grab Bags:

Pros: 
1. They can hold A LOT! Not only a lot of space, but a lot of weight. The description claims up to 40 lbs, but I've never weighed my groceries. I can fill them pretty full and not have issues with carrying them. In fact I can usually bring my groceries in from the car in just one or two trips now (but I'm only shopping for two people and a dog, not a big family).

2. They have a flap with Velcro to close up the tops (unless they are so full that they don't have space to close). This feature has prevented food from spilling out and rolling around the back of my car, which used to happen all the time.

3. They are very sturdy. Even if you can't close it to secure the top, I am fairly confident that my food wont fall over or roll around. It keeps everything securely in place They are more wide than tall, so you can fill them up without them becoming top-heavy and falling over.

4. They fold up really nicely when not in use (see photo at the end).

Cons: 
1. They are a bit awkward to fill (especially if you have a confused bagger that's not sure where to put stuff). They are advertised as being able to hook onto the sides of a shopping cart for easy filling, but their base does not go all the way down to the bottom of the cart, only about half way. This means when you fill it, it is not on a solid surface so once you start putting heavier stuff in it, it strains, and dips down so the cans you just put upright fall over....

2.  If you do attach them to the cart, then you can only fit about two (maybe three with some fussing) into a standard size cart, with wasted space underneath them.

3. So yes, you can fill them without attaching the sides to the cart, putting them right on the bottom. But then it bunches up a bit at the top, with nothing holding it open, which also makes filling them little awkward.

Overall, I work around the cons because I find these bags so handy. Because of the space they take up in the cart, I only have two and I don't plan on buying more. I use other, smaller bags if I need more space.


Insulated Grab Bags:













 Pros: 
1. Same as the standard Grab Bags
2. It is insulated to keep ice cream, meats and more nice and cold!
3. They stand open on their own

Cons:
1. Same as the standard Grab Bags except that they stand open on their own

Yes, I recommend this bag! I only have one of them and I think that's all I need.

 Travel Bags:
I just purchased the cute dog bag, but it has not arrived yet so I can not review it. The idea is that I will keep this bag in my purse at all times, so when I realize last minute that I need to buy something, I will always have a bag on hand. There are so many options out there of bags that fold up into cute animals, fruit, or just colored squares. You can find the first two pictures in the link above. The remaining options have their own links below. The problem with the last two examples is that they are only sold in groups and I only wanted to purchase one.

Colorful travel bags:

Fruit travel bags:

I also use one of those very large, standard reusable bags (from AC Moore, gifted), a medium size standard reusable bag (gifted), as well as a smaller one (I won in a contest from my vet). I often use the small one to carry just the eggs so they don't get crushed. As you see, not all reusable bags have cost you money. If you know someone who would like to start using them, but is worried about the price (or just hasn't gotten around to it), then there is your next gift idea! I gave a gift to my mom once that was wrapped up inside a nice reusable bag instead of using wrapping paper; win-win!

Here are some photos of my bags for size comparison. I hardly ever need all of them for one shopping trip (since I'm only shopping for two humans and one dog).

This illustrates how the green Grab Bag does not stay open on its own for easy filling, but the blue insulated one does.

Feet next to Grab Bags for size comparison.

They fold up really nicely.

Close-up of the Grab Bag clips for attaching to the shopping cart. They are sometimes annoying.