On a whim, I decided to try using Instacart for the first time yesterday to save a trip to the grocery store.

I've avoided one of my favorite stores, Aldi's, since mid-March because I didn't like the idea of brushing past other shoppers in their narrow aisles. So when I saw they made home deliveries by partnering with Instacart, I jumped on it.

I have to say, the Instacart interface worked flawlessly, was a breeze to use and offered way more flexibility than I'd anticipated.

I downloaded the free Instacart app on my phone, which provided some conveniences I'll describe later, but I placed my order on my desktop computer.

I took my time browsing Aldi's products on the Instacart platform, which were organized by type (bakery, frozen, fresh produce and so on). I decided not to buy any frozen or refrigerated items because I was worried about how long it would take to get the delivery, and we've been having temperatures in the 90s here. So I settled on about a dozen items, mostly fresh fruit and a few other items.

My total, Instacart told me, came to $34.66.I was able to choose a day and one-hour window for delivery. I chose 7-8 pm on the same day I ordered because I knew I would be home and I was hankering for some watermelon.

After placing my order, Instacart let me know I still had time to amend my order with either additional items or to delete anything I wanted. That's when I deleted my refrigerated hummus, and Instacart instantly deducted that from my total bill.

Since I had loaded the Instacart app and given permission for them to text me updates, I got my first update about an hour before expected delivery, informing me that "Courtney" would be my shopper. I had already indicated when placing my order whether I would accept a substitute for an item should it not be available, or whether I'd prefer a refund, and I could watch in real time as Courtney made her way through my list and then made one or two substitutions of items, as well as one refund.

Courtney sent me two brief texts, the first one saying she couldn't find the golden kiwis and the last one indicating she was stopping for gas and then would be headed my way. I could actually track her progress with GPS and watch as she traveled rom Aldi's to my home (!) so I knew exactly where she was and when she'd be here. Amazing.

She arrived here on time and was so pleasant that I sent her off with two zucchini from my garden. As it turned out, she lives in my hometown, had been planning on running to Aldi's for her own family and decided to do an Instacart run while she was there. I'm pretty sure Instacart part-timers get paid a flat fee for each customer order they fill.

Courtney did make one small mistake: I had ordered a box of green kiwis ($4.09) and a 2nd box of golden kiwis ($3.29). While she was shopping, she indicated via the phone app that she couldn't find the golden kiwis and refunded me for that item. When she got here, she told me she DID find the golden kiwi, and I saw after she left that I was missing the green kiwis. But the refund I got was for the golden kiwis. (Note to self: Keep it simple.)

I loved the entire customer experience. Everything worked really well. But there was the matter of the price. I've shopped Aldi's for several years, and when I scanned the Instacart itemized list of what I'd bought, the prices seemed higher than expected. I kept wondering if Aldi's had increased its prices since the last time I had been there.

Courtney left the Aldi's receipt with the food. (Instacart later confirmed this fact with an actual photo Courtney had taken of my front steps with the food sitting there), and it was then that I realized Instacart pads the price of each and every individual item you purchase. I'd assumed they'd charge me a delivery fee (they didn't, I think because this was my first time) and a service fee for the driver (they did), but I didn't consider they'd inflate the price of my food.

So I could see that Aldi's charged me a total of $24.02; my Instacart total, as mentioned above, was $34.66. A difference of $10.64 may not seem like much, but that's actually a 44% increase! It kind of defeats the purpose of shopping at a cheap grocery store like Aldi's.

Aldi's had NOT increased their prices. But, for example, Instacart had charged me $5.49 for a whole watermelon that Aldi's wanted only $3.29 for.

If I planned to avoid grocery stores entirely during the pandemic, well, this just wouldn't be feasible, and would have inflated the nearly $5,000 I spent on groceries last year to $7,200! (Yep, I spent a lot of money on food, and I don't even eat meat.)

I could see the value of using Instacart in certain unusual situations, like if you were home recovering from surgery and couldn't get around. Otherwise, it seems like a very pricey, but seductive, convenience.