I used to enjoy shopping for groceries by myself, and was the cook in our marriage. It's been an on and off endeavor since my "battle" as it is called with breast cancer and adjacent issues. He learned to cook in self-defense and I coached him. Things came to a head during the times of covid, when it became a race in time to get what we might need and out of there without a deadly virus.

I continue to shop for groceries in survival mode. I now have a handicapped placard. When we shop, he gets a list for the perimerter of the store, and drops me off at the entrance for florist/produce/bakery. Ain't love grand...

My thoughts and feelings about grocery shopping apply to all shopping. It’s a necessity so I do it. I thought I might not mind it in my retirement because I’d have so much more time but I find that my feelings haven’t changed. We do jot a list of things we’re running out of so I have that as a guide for grocery shopping. I’ve never been a ”meal / menu planner” except for times when we’re having house guests or hosting a dinner. My husband goes grocery shopping with me both to grocery store & Costco. We go in, get what we need & get out. Other shopping maybe he comes with me maybe not - depends on the kind of shopping being done. My deal is that during our working lives both of us traveled for work & my husband was gone for extended times. My absences were limited to 4 -5 days mostly. When not on travel, my work day was long as was my commute. Because of that I hated having to spend time inside stores during my free time. I felt anxious if I was inside a mall for too long because I wanted to be outside in the fresh air and sunshine! My passion is working in the yard - not ”gardening” but putzing around watering my big flower pots & snipping a bit of this & that.

I do think of grocery shopping as a chore, definitely a more fun chore than cleaning the bathroom or vacuuming/mopping. I don't hate it and I don't love it. I don't mind it.

I keep 2 running lists on my phone - a separate one for Trader Joe's. I have regular items from about 6 various stores - pretty much all staples. There's an Aldi about 5 blocks away and I go there maybe 3X weekly - was just there again today. It's funny how I'll shop and when I get back, we've run out of something else 🙂

I still do curbside pickup @ Walmart - started during the pandemic - and lately I've actually gone inside to shop a few times, but that's one kind of shopping I find exasperating - big box stores where you must wander massive aisles in search of a product.

I still enjoy my grocery shopping, both at W-supercenter and at TJs weekly. When DH first retired he thought it would be good for him to come with me. NOT! He insisted on pushing the cart, but kept clogging the aisles, stopping in the middle and blocking them! And, being a doc, he drove me crazy reading the ingredients on everything!

I do it because it needs doing. I go with a paper list and always have the regulars in my head. You know - apple (green and red) bananas oranges carrots salmon cheese. My DH is not welcome when I'm grocery shopping because he hovers. And besides - he doesn't need to know my guilty pleasures (chocolate) that I hide at the back of the pantry. LOL

I go grocery shopping a minimum of once a day, so I guess I don’t hate it or I’d organize better!

Regular supermarkets are boring. We used to have a great chain that always had something new and interesting, especially within their extensive produce, seafood, butcher, coffee, and cheese sections. Heck there was even a separate counter where they’d hand slice from a broad variety of smoked salmon. I miss that store so much. We did get a closer Whole Foods which was a tiny bit of a consolation prize and is probably my favorite local store for general groceries.

When the children were young, one of my friends who was also a mother with young children and I loved going to the grocery store. We would go up and down every aisle, chatting as we went. It was our social time without the children. We also compared prices, explored new products, gamed out menu plans, etc.

These days, I have memorized a set list of purchases, but cannot buy all of the products at one place. Consequently, I stop at the appropriate venue when I happen to be in that area and on my way home. I rarely "shop" as in perusing the products for discovery purposes. I also don't do much in the way of price comparisons as I know which stores have the best price on specific items. I do know when prices increase (they never decrease, do they?). I don't plan my shopping around sales, but I'll pick up more than one of an item if it is a good sale price.

Anything to do with food, I enjoy. Browsing grocery stores has always been fun to me. When newly retired husband went with me he was grumpy until he realized I was on a gthering mission to find prices and availability of foods. Suddenly he enjoys shopping too.

I went to a "better" grocery store with one of the beloved helpers today and had a shock at the produce prices, which I reported in the gas thread. As I opened this thread, I heard my farm delivery being dropped off. I started with them during the pandemic, and have been pleased enough to keep it. It's weekly delivered organic produce from a consortium of local farms, with a lot of small maker, high quality other grocery items and the kind of non-produce things one might get at a farmer's market. Much better than a standard CSA where you have to show up at a school at the crack of dawn to get stuff they choose for you. The quality is excellent, and making my choices only takes a few minutes. But you do have to do a week at a time, and I can get in trouble planning things that I end up not getting to make, so I often am in rescue mode, and make use it or lose it stuff. Which can make for mighty fine meals... and--delicious--but purple soup. :)

There are some things one must buy, locally, however. We had fun. :) Except for the produce prices, which I declined.

While I love having my delivery just show up at my door, I don't mind shopping. I don't love it either. But I'd rather spend the time cooking...

My husband enjoys shopping. He’s a browser.

We keep two handwritten lists on the counter all the time. One is a Costco list, the other is an ”other” list. We both add to them.

The ”other” list is taken any time we go out for a drive. The Costco list is for when we have planned for Costco.

We both go in at Costco.

For the ”other” he usually just goes in, and I do the driving. It’s a win-win situation, as he likes to shop and I enjoy driving. I’ll wait in the parking lot listening to music. He can take his time and usually does.

Neither one of us are good shoppers when it comes to prices. ☹️ If we need it, or just want it, we buy it.

He’s a big supporter of buying locally and we stop the odd time at a shop that sells wonderful beef jerky.

We both cook.

We go to three places. I have a list for the mega store, which I forgot tonight. I hate shopping there and think it's a chore that needs to be done. I could walk to Aldi and I'm in and out in less than 10 minutes. I buy produce there ...all the different berries I eat every day... raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. He buys Brioche rolls, and that's it. I feel no way about shopping there. But then I go to Traders, and that's my happy time. I'm friends with four of the employees, and I love trying new things and always get a bouquet of flowers. I try NOT to look at their plants since I have bought so many since they opened four years ago, and none have died. Costco is not a weekly trip as it is with my son and son-in-law. It's interesting, and I do get my 10,000 steps and more that day.

The only thing I really enjoy about grocery shopping is having the refer and pantry restocked. I shop mostly at TJ's and our food co-op which is very well stocked with mostly organic foods. TJ's is more convenient and a little more efficient; the co-op can be very laid back, people clogging the aisles visiting, or volunteers stocking shelves, thinking their jobs are more important than the shoppers needing to get past them and around their carts. Sometimes too much pachouli, too, lol.

I hate shopping when it's crowded and my favorite time is just before closing. I often go to TJ's at 8:30 or 8:45. They close at 9, but if you are in the store before then, they are in no rush to shoo you out. They stay later to stock shelves, so are fine with people staying over closing time. Sometimes something will be sold out that time of night, but often they will already have new stock waiting to be put on the shelves, so if I ask if such and such is in the back, they always go check.

I used to travel to Seattle (1.5 hrs away) quite often and always tried to squeeze in a visit to Whole Foods, just because it was so fun to find things I couldn't buy in Oly. We don't have one here and the nearest is 45-60 minutes away, depending on traffic. Traffic is so awful between here and there that it's just not worth it to me to make a special trip. Now that we have TJ's, WF just isn't as thrilling anymore.

Nay. I don't enjoy any kind of shopping, including for clothes. I get all the boring stuff, dry goods, cleaning stuff, etc delivered every five weeks or so. Fresh produce is delivered by a local farm shop weekly. Quality is always excellent. Meat, cheese and bread are bought once a week at a farmers market. Fish once a week from a travelling fishmonger. Anything not delivered is bought on foot. We're very lucky to have good food shops close by and don't need to drive for anything.

The entire process is a chore. From the meal planning, list making, actual shopping CHORE. I am not a fan of waiting in lines, being caught in aisles behind people who don't know what they want etc. The inefficiency of most other people drives me batty. I shop at 6am when I can avoid most obstacles which makes the process tolerable. I should venture into the world of oder and pick up. I hear that is a fabulous way to make a dreaded chore tolerable.

I dread the once a month trip to Kroger. For one thing, I live in a very rural area and the store is nearly an hour's drive away. It's always combined with dropping off the recycling which is on the way and getting gas with the Kroger points discount. Once in a while I combine that trip with getting high quality, grass fed locally raised meat at a small market in the general area. I stock up and freeze the purchase but it doesn't last forever. But really quality produce, especially in summer, is 40 minutes in the opposite direction. I have my own garden but no longer grow potatoes or corn or onions, so there's that trip. Then there's the trip to get country eggs--several places carry those, most reliably the feed store. And then there's also the trip to the Mennonite store for cheese, dried fruit, nuts and assorted other items. And finally the trip to the woman who makes the magnificent sourdough breads--not near any of the other stores and I also buy a lot and freeze it.

It always involves running all over the place and I do my best to combine with other trips or with other people, especially now with gas prices skyrocketing.

Eating quality food is important to me both for health and for great taste, so I make it work.

Not my thing. Fortunately DH loves it. He goes to different stores to get different bargains, follows the flyers religiously and goes frequently. He will peruse the store to see what's what. Me, I go in and bag exactly what I need and get out. Especially at one large store in our area, the self check drives me crazy as I can never get through without help...it won't read my finger or knuckle, it complains about my bag, it won't read my swipe, etc. I do go to one smaller store regularly as their sandwich meats are superior, so I make the trip. The people there are very friendly, there's no self check and I get through very quickly...my kind of store.

When DH retired, he started going with me. It annoys me to no end. He pushes the cart, leaning over the handle with his back bent and behind thrust out, strolling slowly along like the old man he is. He’s either right beside me blocking me from what I want to see, or a couple of aisles away when I’ve got my hands full of items. Plus he picks up lots of snacky stuff we really don’t need.

*sigh* How do I tell him that I wish he’d just stay home?

I love grocery shopping, but only after I get blitzed. Wandering around the supermarket in a cannabis haze is better than Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory. I get creative when suddenly coming upon an ingredient I'd never tried before. Selecting fruit and vegetables while totally focused on the task insures that the food I bring home will be of the highest quality, especially after going through every head of lettuce, inspecting each tomato as though it was the clue to a heinous crime, and checking every orange for the perfect degree of ripeness.

Trust me, campers, the pathway to perfection is paved with cannabis seeds.

I can't say I enjoy it, but I wouldn't want anyone else doing my grocery shopping for me either. I want to make the decisions about what I eat based on what I see in the store (quality, price, etc), and will make changes in my ideas based on those things (the eggplants are on sale, the oranges smell overripe, there are small sized pork tenderloins available, etc). I don't have a list, but I generally know the things I like and have a current taste for.

Occasionally I'll be in the mood to shop, and I will wander the aisles, looking at things I don't normally look at, seeing if there's something there that I've never heard of, or something that catches my imagination. Most times, I go for the things I either know I need (like peanut butter or salad dressing) or things I generally need, but not specifically have mentally chosen (i.e. some veg or meat).

Although I buy a lot of produce at Costco, that's a store I don't shop around in - I get what's on my list and get out - I can be an impulse buyer occasionally in grocery stores, but exceedingly rarely in Costco.

I enjoy grocery shopping for a lot of the same reasons hobbittmom does. I especially enjoyed shopping at the produce market when I lived near one -- there was such pleasure in going to the market, buying fresh produce and making meals from it all. Alas, I don't have a good produce market where I live now (the one is town is overpriced with lousy quality), but I occasionally stop at a good one when I'm in the city for work.

What I hate is shopping when it's busy. I avoid shopping on the weekend if at all possible, unless it's very early in the morning and the store is practically emply. What I doubly hate is shopping when there's a lot of kids around, especially if the parents allow them to "play" in the aisle or they're running around. Add to the very irritating list: Couples who want to decide on every purchase together, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they're IN THE WAY of others. I mean, really? You have nothing better to do together than go to the Kroger and analyze which can of soup is a better deal?

In other words, even though I enjoy it, I am a matter-of-fact grocery shopper, I don't want to dilly-dally, there is no purpose for me to be there other than to purchase things. It is not social time. It is not coffee time (what is it with ladies leisurely strolling down the aisle sipping chi-chi coffee?). It is not couples time. It is not a night out with the kids time. It is GROCERY SHOPPING time, and I have no patience for people who treat it like anything but that. (old people get a pass -- that's not on purpose).

I too, shop from a list, but add stuff to my cart based on what's on sale or if something catches my eye that looks particularly good.

I used to enjoy grocery shopping, more or less, but there were things about it that bothered me. One of my "leftovers" from having Lyme is photosensitivity, and being under fluorescent lights ranges from uncomfortable to intolerable, depending on whether or not the lights are producing any flicker. Also, my spine issues started making walking a problem, and standing even more of a problem.

So when the pandemic came I started picking up my orders at the stores. As time went on and my spine issues got worse, I transitioned to having Walmart deliver my orders. This has been working out very well, although like everything else it's a trade-off. If they're overly generous with the grapes, I share with my daughter-in-law. If the romaine is turning brown I get my money refunded. Of course, this leaves me without romaine, but I do have other sources. My daughter-in-law and I go to a little Mennonite store every week, and that's rather fun. Much of the food is heavily discounted, and the people are super nice. Plus it's a farm, and in spring and summer a lot of the food is home grown.

I'd really like to pick out my own produce all year round, but the supermarkets are a minimum of 10 miles away, and most of the time it's not worth the effort.

Grocery shopping is the only kind of shopping I like, which is why I like shopping at Costco because I can get clothes as well as food.

I’ve always liked it as long as I’m not rushed and/or it’s not crazy busy. IDK, there’s something about TJ’s especially. Walking in just makes me relax, but I almost always go at the least busy times. Also, they’re just so on top of customer service. I can’t think of another place with every check stand open, busy or not.

When DH was working, with some traveling, and I did all the cooking and shopping, I had a routine. I had subscribed to menu-planning service where every week I received a list of menus for the week and recipes, and a shopping list. On Wednesday I went shopping, and my cart changed from basic and boxed to mostly produce and other fresh not processed. I really enjoyed feeding my growing boys with one trip plus a refill trip for milk, bread, and bananas.

That was the thing: I knew what I was getting, what I was going to do with it, and what kind of leftovers DH could expect to take for lunch. I had a routine to my week, shopping on Wednesday. In and out in half an hour.

But I do not like having someone with me, or going with someone to shop. I am task-oriented there, i don’t do your task, don’t comment while I’m doing mine.

Now that DH is home all the time, and he likes cooking, he does the shopping. I don’t like the store he goes to, and I don’t like the mansplaining about how to shop. I miss my routine.

Big nay from me. Ill put off grocery shopping until Im down to one shriveled grape. There is every possible kind of grocery store within a short drive. I can walk to one. Cooking has become a chore so Im always looking for the easiest things.

I worked in chain grocery stores part time during my school years. It was hard and heavy work (restocking shelves, sometimes in the middle of the night) but it kept me in shape. I got grocery business residue under my nails and it remains so I do like going into stores.

We don't much plan ahead and have a mostly empty pantry and freezer so we shop every few days. Our meals get planned on a whim from what we see that looks interesting. Or, we'll think we haven't had X for awhile and we'll go to get that. Stores of all varieties are nearby.

Specific item placement can be so random and vary from location to location and store to store. I don't have the patience to wander up and down aisles looking for some little this or that. Online order and pickup solves that problem. Especially with the Search and also the Buy Again features the sites have, I can complete an order in 10 minutes or less.

For the things we want to pick out ourselves, produce and meat/seafood - these are left out of the pickup order and we do those separately. Usually first, then drive over to the pickup area to get the packaged things.

Trader Joes doesn't offer pickup service, so going in there for what we want is the only option. We have specific things we get there, and many things we avoid (like their mediocre produce and dairy), so that doesn't take long.

Shopping of any kind IS a chore, not a recreational activity. It doesn't need to be unpleasant but I understand how it is for some.

So, okay, the downside of not doing the produce picking is one might receive a five pound green cabbage. OTOH, I was planning to put it in soup, so I can either make more soup or use the bigger leaves for stuffed cabbage... Sometimes it's fun playing the mystery ingredient game. ... Of course, a giant cabbage is how I ended up with a giant pot of dark purple soup...

I love grocery shopping at a few independent stores near me (Berkeley Bowl has been written up in the NYT) but Safeway etc - no. I joined Costco recently (used to belong decades ago pre empty nest) and after visiting once and buying nothing, I found it so crowded and ugly that I requested and received a refund, lol!

When my boys were tweens and teens, I belonged to Costco and Sams. The huge stuff was great. That was when I kept 3 gallons of milk at a time. One open and two backups. Breakfast, for them, was one box of cereal and one gallon of milk. They are in their 50’s.

We no longer need that much food. I also do not use much frozen or canned meals.

I used to enjoy grocery shopping, but I haven’t shopped since 2020 to 2026. When Covid became a word previously unknown to us, DH insisted it was his job to do the shopping. He is semi retired and works from home. I worked in a small office of seven and he thought I would have fewer opportunities to contract Covid.

He also did most of the cooking, so it made sense. Since I retired (2/13/26), I thought things might change, but I’m just as happy to let him continue shopping.

Pre-retirement, I set my weekday alarm at 4:30 and usually made it home from work at about 5:00 or 6:00 pm. Later cut my hours when I couldn’t bear to drive in the dark, then changed them back when the sun became my friend again. I wanted to chill, but I did laundry and other chores on weekends and sometimes did the cooking then.

Now I can do whatever chores I want/need to WHENEVER I want. I’ve gone grocery shopping with him a few times but it isn’t enjoyable. Apparently I’m doing it wrong. That’s okay. I love him dearly. And he still does most of the cooking. I’m easy to please when it comes to meals. I just let him know when I need something for a dish I want to make and he picks it up for me.

And I kid you not. He told me he wants to get a start on our CHRISTMAS shopping!

Donna, buy him an old tractor for Christmas. 😉

I really enjoy food shopping. I think it's all part of the process of choosing, preparing and cooking the food.

To add to my joy, I've just ordered an electric tricycle -(can't ride a bike, and it has a huge basket on the back for the shopping. It's my retirement present to myself!). I go alone so I can inspect everything, but without the benefit of the canabis LOL, especially now as you have to check the prices like a hawk. When I worked, it felt more like a chore but now I can spend as long as I like staring at fish, comparing cheeses and picking fruit.

I keep coming back to the cooking forum trying to find my inspiration. Cooking is just a chore that must be done these days. I rarely even get hungry anymore. I would have thought for sure that in retirement with all the time in the world, I would have embraced my inner chef. No such luck. LOL

My adventures food shopping match that current vibe. I miss working near Wholefoods and TJ but I can make do with my local stores. My SIL stuck with the curbside pickup since covid. She even joined Costco but only does delivery. She never sets foot in the store. That is so funny to me because I like to wander around looking for random finds. Just this week I found Harry Potter butterbeer hersey kisses on clearance 😂 Just what I need 3 pounds of butterscotch chocolate. Thats the downside to aimlessly browsing.

What I have changed up is that I switched from a paper list to the electronic notepad on my phone. This is super handy! I have a running Costco list and an all other list. I get a kick out of erasing the item as I place it in the cart. I used to cross it out with a pen and now I use the back button. We have a chalk board in the kitchen where DH and Mom will write down what they have finished. Sometimes if the list is large I will just snap a photo on the way out in case I stop at one of the stores. The upside of a smart phone is that it is always with you. So easy to add things to the list without even getting off the couch.

After typing this reply I was inspired to get dressed and go to our weekend market to buy something homemade as a treat. Maybe some empanadas. I could cook my own but I am just not feeling it.

Ah, but Islay. You are shopping in France. A whole different experience.

I grocery shop because I like to eat and it is a chore to get hubby to go out to a restaurant. He can live on Mtn Dew, M&M’s, Cheeze It’s, and strawberry ice cream. Throw in some fried chicken nuggets or a hamburger, and he is good for a month.

Sure wish I was shopping in France!!

Same as Joan, I really like using my Google Keep app for shopping lists - when I check something off, it goes to the 'completed' list, and it's super easy to return it to the list, rather than starting over every time. I can also add things to the list from my desktop, since the app syncs across platforms

I use a fisrt generation Alexa. I tell it what to put down and it shows up in the devices as a list with checkboxes, without me having to put down my work and clean my hands, forgetting what I wanted o add. And it does multiple lists. It keeps trying to organize by category, though, which I used to be able to turn off. Now I have to change it every time. ;( It does it wrong. :)

As you may or may not remember, my second job, my fun job, is at a grocery store. Every time I'd come back with stories of the fun times I have during my time there. Daughter joined up and she has a good time. Couple months later and her boyfriend now works there. I thought he was just convinced because we have such a good time doing it, but there was so much more. He has a disorder that keeps him from focusing very well, and his mother would use the grocery store as a time together and get him to focus on making plans for the meals and making him come up with the details on how it could happen. When he first moved back with my daughter, I would dread going to the grocery store because he would go in there and compare every single item by picking up two of each thing and weighing each of them and looking at each of them... And I never knew why. I've never seen anyone linger over every single item at a grocery store! But he is so passionate, every manager has come up to me and said he is doing such a great job! It's only because he loves it. I too love the grocery store, but not with his passion 😃 it is fun to plan and dream and have fun with it. Food is such a social thing

@fawnridge (Ricky) how do you get between home and the store if you're in a cannibis haze? Do you have a driver?

@Olychick - the supermarket is across the street from our condo building. I walk. If I'm going to one of the other local supermarkets, Carol drives.

Oh, lucky you!! Thanks for explaining.

Yes. I can’t drive anymore, macular degeneration. My nusband is bedridden for now. Our neighbor, who is a retired nurse helps us out. He lives right across the steet. I want to get out and do my shopping. I need the exercise too.