Here's How to Get a Free 2-Week Instacart+ Trial

It pays to check out this program and see if it's right for you.

In the early days of the pandemic, many people took to ordering groceries online to avoid having to set foot in stores. And many people also realized how convenient services like Instacart are. 

With Instacart, you basically send someone else to the store to do your shopping. Your items are delivered to your door so you never have to leave the house. 

If you don't have a car, using services like Instacart makes a lot of sense. And even if you do have a car, if you have a busy schedule or just plain don't like to shop in person, paying for the convenience may be worth it to you.

But when you use Instacart, you pay extra for the items you want to purchase. And you also have to pay delivery fees. 

But if you sign up for Instacart+, you can avoid paying those fees for orders over $35. And right now, you can sign up for a free two-week trial of Instacart+ to see if the program is right for you.

A world of benefits

With Instacart+, you get unlimited free delivery on orders above $35. And if you look at Instacart's website, it claims that a membership, which costs $99 a year or $9.99 a month, pays for itself in as few as one to two orders per month. That assumes an average savings of $7 per order, which Instacart seems to think is reasonable. 

If you've never used Instacart before, or you're wondering if unlimited access to free deliveries is right for you, then it pays to consider signing up for a free two-week trial. You can do so in the Instacart app or on Instacart's website. If you decide that Instacart+ doesn't offer you enough value to justify the cost, you can simply cancel and avoid having your credit card charged. 

Is paying for grocery delivery worth it?

If you don't have a car, and you can't do your food shopping without having to pay for a rideshare home every time (because let's face it -- you can only carry so much with your hands), then you may want to compare the cost of paying for an Uber or Lyft versus using a service like Instacart. You may find the cost is similar, only with Instacart, you don't have to leave the house. 

Otherwise, grocery delivery is something you may want to limit if money is tight. It's okay to treat yourself to grocery delivery during a uniquely busy week. But if you have a car and relatively easy access to a supermarket, and you don't have health or mobility issues that limit your ability to shop for food yourself, then you might as well not spend the extra money on Instacart+ and put that cash into your savings account instead. 

That said, there is an exception. If you're self-employed, it could pay to use a service like Instacart even if you have a vehicle and a supermarket right around the corner. If it takes you an hour to shop, that's an hour of income you might lose. So in that case, it's a lot easier to justify the cost.