Do You Over-Shop at the Market?
- Thread starter mish
- Start date
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GB
Chief Eating Officer
This has happened to me, but usually I stick to my list.
You must have great will-power, GB. The "super" market strategy is to get us to buy more...i.e. you need to walk thru the aisles to the back of the store to get dairy/bread staples. Along the way, they tempt you with all the other goodies like cookies, cakes etc. Thank goodness, I can walk past those items.
The checkout line is a hoot...candy, gum, tabloids. Fortunately(?), I linger in the deli/salad bar, seafood, produce sections. Then, think, okay, I'll buy two. One for when I get home & one for later.
The checkout line is a hoot...candy, gum, tabloids. Fortunately(?), I linger in the deli/salad bar, seafood, produce sections. Then, think, okay, I'll buy two. One for when I get home & one for later.
crewsk
Master Chef
I over-shop if I find something good on sale. I do pretty good at sticking to my list though.
Zereh
Head Chef
If you spend the majority of your grocery money on items found in the outer perimeter of the store you'd be eating well. =P It's the dreaded inner-isle stuff that we should try to have less of.
If I have a list I'm good about sticking to it. I'm also pretty good about just shopping enough for a day or two. But if I go the store with no plan it's always ugly. Weird, strange and usually very unnecessary stuff finds its way home with me. Shopping while hungry is also a huge mistake for me. Again, I find myself reaching for things then that I'd usually ignore completely.
So yeah, Mish. Sometimes that happens to me in spite of my good intentions. =P
Z
Edit: Shopping with children and / or friends is very dangerous! Gawds, the stuff I get talked into purchasing. =P I am always much more sucessful at sticking to my list when I'm alone.
If I have a list I'm good about sticking to it. I'm also pretty good about just shopping enough for a day or two. But if I go the store with no plan it's always ugly. Weird, strange and usually very unnecessary stuff finds its way home with me. Shopping while hungry is also a huge mistake for me. Again, I find myself reaching for things then that I'd usually ignore completely.
So yeah, Mish. Sometimes that happens to me in spite of my good intentions. =P
Z
Edit: Shopping with children and / or friends is very dangerous! Gawds, the stuff I get talked into purchasing. =P I am always much more sucessful at sticking to my list when I'm alone.
kitchenelf
Chef Extraordinaire
Did my husband tell you to post this? 
Yes, I tend to overshop - I'm a fresh produce/veggie junkie - I always buy too much and then have to scramble to make something before things go bad.
Yes, I tend to overshop - I'm a fresh produce/veggie junkie - I always buy too much and then have to scramble to make something before things go bad.
buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
me too elfie. i don't think i have ever just bought what was on my list, ever. then i find myself grilling in the backyard at 10pm to cook things before they're bad. (not allowed to use the oven so late in case the smoke detectors go off.).
they end up being some pretty good lunches the next few days. makes my co-workers that are on diets go a little crazy, tho.
they end up being some pretty good lunches the next few days. makes my co-workers that are on diets go a little crazy, tho.
Kitchenelf, you sound like me. A trip to the Farmers' Market out here in So. CA is overdue. Great way to spend an afternoon.
The one huge market I love, has the best deli/sammich/salad bar. It's very tempting when you're looking over the honey smoked turkey & they say, here, try a sample.
The one huge market I love, has the best deli/sammich/salad bar. It's very tempting when you're looking over the honey smoked turkey & they say, here, try a sample.
mudbug
Chef Extraordinaire
Happens to me all the time, mish. Worse if I send HH instead.
choclatechef
Washing Up
I confess!
Quit torturing me...! I am a hopeless overshopper...
I have this fear that someday, I won't have anything in the house to eat so I stock up like a grocery store.
Is there a 12 step program for this?
Quit torturing me...! I am a hopeless overshopper...
I have this fear that someday, I won't have anything in the house to eat so I stock up like a grocery store.
Is there a 12 step program for this?
texasgirl
Master Chef
I do if my son is with me
He's small, but, he eats like a horse.
Wish I still had the metabolism that he has
He's small, but, he eats like a horse.
Wish I still had the metabolism that he has
Dove
DC Grandma
Always!! I don't use a list..just look at all the items in the store..I use a cart and Paul often has the same things in his basket and one of us has to put ours back..I never fell out of shopping for a month at a time when he was in the Military and the Allotrment check was used for food..now I have to store some of what I buy in the RV..LOL when we are out of something in the house he goes out to "the other store" and brings it in.
htc
Head Chef
My lists are usually huge and encompass every possible little thing I need, so for the most part I build over shopping into my weekly system.
Mish, it happens every saturday Since I have the whole gang here every sunday, I shop on saturday and sure enough I always find something else to fix so they can have something "NEW" Don't know if it's mother love or the yerning chef in me trying to get out
kadesma
Since I have the whole gang here every sunday, I shop on saturday and sure enough I always find something else to fix so they can have something "NEW" Don't know if it's mother love or the yerning chef in me trying to get out kadesma
jkath
Hospitality Queen
I made a master list of everything I'd ever but at the grocery store, and put it into categories, including a few blank lines in each category in case I need a seasonal item.
It's in my computer's memory, and every week I print out a new one and put it on the frige.
As I run out of things, I use a highlighter on those items. Then, I check to see what things I need for recipes, and highlight those, and on the back of the list I write what meals I'll be making.
Then, I go to the grocery website I like that tells me which items at my store are really cheap, or free (at least 2-3 per week) by using the coupons in the Sunday paper. I add those to my list and grab the coupons.
I can stick to my list really well, and if I bring the kids, rather than ask for things not on the list, they like to "hunt" for those things on the list and see how fast they can find them and bring 'em back to the cart. If they've behaved, they get to go to the "nice bakery lady" and get their free cookie she hands out.
It's in my computer's memory, and every week I print out a new one and put it on the frige.
As I run out of things, I use a highlighter on those items. Then, I check to see what things I need for recipes, and highlight those, and on the back of the list I write what meals I'll be making.
Then, I go to the grocery website I like that tells me which items at my store are really cheap, or free (at least 2-3 per week) by using the coupons in the Sunday paper. I add those to my list and grab the coupons.
I can stick to my list really well, and if I bring the kids, rather than ask for things not on the list, they like to "hunt" for those things on the list and see how fast they can find them and bring 'em back to the cart. If they've behaved, they get to go to the "nice bakery lady" and get their free cookie she hands out.
AllenOK
Executive Chef
I bought a small clipboard years ago. It just perfectly fits a Jr. Legal Pad. I got some adhesive-backed magnets, and put some on the back of the clipboard. Load it with a pad, add a pencil (pens don't always work good writing on a vertical surface), and slap it on the fridge. When I'm running low/out of something, I write it down, and use the list to buy things on the weekly grocery trip. That, or course, was when I was single. I try to stick to that now, but I'm usually NOT the person buying the groceries. I've had a hard time convincing PeppA to use the list, as she just buys what she feels we need.
Now that we live in a place that has a large pantry, I try to keep a minimum par count on a lot of things, like ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc. I even started dating items that come in, with the day they arrive into my inventory, so I can easily rotate stock.
When I would go shopping, I can usually stick to the list pretty good. I usually leave some leeway in my budget to allow for some "impulse" purchases, or "steals", when I catch something on sale that I can use in a month or two.
Now that we live in a place that has a large pantry, I try to keep a minimum par count on a lot of things, like ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc. I even started dating items that come in, with the day they arrive into my inventory, so I can easily rotate stock.
When I would go shopping, I can usually stick to the list pretty good. I usually leave some leeway in my budget to allow for some "impulse" purchases, or "steals", when I catch something on sale that I can use in a month or two.
