How do your grocery and clothes shopping styles compare? - YouLookFab Forum

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How do your grocery and clothes shopping styles compare?

anne

Veteran

Here are a few parallels with mine

I grocery shop once a week and will stretch all items to avoid going again (exceptions made for tea,milk and loo paper and when we have guests)/ I prefer to clothes shop at the beginning or middle of a season and then have several months with no shopping.

I only go to one supermarket that I know my way around and watch out for its cheapest deals and specials, but don't frequent markets or other shops just for a better deal / I don't usually do the op shop clothing round looking for clothing bargains.

I don't really like food shopping, but enjoy cooking, reading cookbooks and eating / Clothes shopping is far from my favourite leisure activity but I like having a nice wardrobe and YLF!

Over to you!

Shopping

21 replies

Latest reply was from Raisin

deb

Veteran

I do not like either so I guess I am 'balanced'

Diana

Veteran

Hmm, well I try to make healthy choices in both groceries and clothes (at least for my body, not necessarily for my wallet)... so fresh veggies and comfy shoes. But one needs candy once in a while too! I'm not into deprivation and I like a lot of variety. I hate eating the same thing for too many meals in a row and I hate wearing the same item two days in a row too.

On the other hand, I almost always go to the closest grocery store because I can walk there and I don't have a car. It's more expensive but that's the price I pay for convenience. I comparison shop a lot more for clothes and the internet has made it possible to quickly search for the best price. I have not yet resorted to buying groceries online!

Oh, yes, and it freaks me out when I can see the back of my fridge or the back of my closet. Both are very well-stocked.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

Commonalities:
I make lists for both and follow them but also make impulse purchases.
I like a good price and deal but will not sacrifice quality for them - both for food and clothes.
I need variety in both eating and dressing.
I am very willing and brave enough to try new foods and new styles as mood strikes and opportunity presents itself.

Differences:
My return rate for clothing is much higher

Thistle

Veteran

I like Sveta's comments and find myself following similarly, except for the list for clothing!

DH actually does all the grocery shopping. I make the list, and he goes and gets it on Saturday night while I am putting DD to bed. Interestingly, I care little to nothing about food sales. We buy healthy foods for the most part, and those just cost more. We buy fruit and veggies to the list, with the "grab a couple of sale items" as the sale items are usually what is in season, so the tastiest. Mmmmm, the strawberries were divine the last week or so, we had to stop mid-week to refill!

hmmm, I think I need to apply some of my food shopping habits to my wardrobe!

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Well I like leftovers and I like to repeat successful outfits. I tend to buy the same staples when I go shopping and be more sensitive to sales for household products. I am fairly picky about vegetables and fruit. I like to stock up on favorites. All the adventuresome stuff is DH's department. But he is a pretty risk adverse dresser, whereas I have been known to come up with some "interesting" outfits. So I think we have complementary and opposite clothing/grocery styles!

rae

(website)

Veteran

Welllll, I spend most of my newly-small income on clothes, so grocery shopping takes a serious backseat. The only parallel would probably be that I'm trying to eat better quality foods - organic/not processed - and also buy better quality clothes. However, while I shop constantly and drool over new and exciting clothing, I grocery shop once a week and rely on the same old staples that are cheap and tasty.

anne

Veteran

Interesting reading.

Thistle- my DH used to do all the food shopping too. I just found it too stressful. I took over last year when he started working 2 people's job. Actually I don't take much notice of the supermarket specials - I never read the catalogues. But say if it is summer and stone fruits are on special, some week plums will be cheaper, sometimes nectarines so I'll just go for the cheapest. And I bulk buy kent pumpkin when it is cheap (we eat a lot anyway - it is our main orange vegetable) to make soup with. Our shopping hours are different in Australia too - no supermarkets open on Sat nights here!

Sveta - interesting point re lists. In both clothes and food I am almost too rigid when it come to sticking to the list. So sometimes I miss out on things that would have been great additions to the wardrobe.

anne

Veteran

Some of you wrote while I was writing...
Shevia wrote "Well I like leftovers and I like to repeat successful outfits" - me too, totally.

Rae - I can imagine your priorities. I am pretty budget minded with food too. (My luxuries are things like broccolli rather than cabbage, lean minced meat not standard, and chicken thighs or breasts not wings) But with a family of five I can't put off too much!

DonnaF

Veteran

DH does the cooking so also does most of the food shopping. I buy the fruit, however. If I did the food shopping and cooking, I would scan the specials and build meals around the specials and otherwise pay attention to prices. DH buys according to mood and goes to the store every day or two.

I try to buy clothing on sale in line with what I need/want. Lately, more of my purchases have been full price with the fervent wish that they will go on sale and that I can get a price adjustment. My purchases are in dribs and drabs, mostly online. I never ever make a ton of purchases in one fell swoop, just as my husband could never make a weekly shopping trip.

And we eat a of leftovers, and I repeat outfits! I used to wear stuff two days in a row, but now I space things out, just like we do with leftovers.

Deborah

Veteran

Clever thread!

Let's see. I grocery shop fortnightly (with DH). I like the clothes shop all the time. DH keeps us with the supermarket specials, I don't. I am very aware of clothing prices and sales etc. We shop at two supermarkets. Aldi first which has most of what we need and is definitely a cost saver and then Coles for the items that Aldi don't have. I shop a variety of stores for clothes, not so much for price but more for variety.

I think it's fair to say that DH actually 'drives' our household shopping, not me

anne

Veteran

I'd love to food shop fortnightly! But I just can't fit enough food for my bigger family in the fridge. We go through over 15 litres of milk a week.

No Aldo's here in the west, but I have heard of them

DH and I were talking just the other day with his parents about shopping with one's DH. I often see couples do it, but we practically never do. I guess it feels inefficient - it takes the same about of time with 1 person as 2. Prior to YLF I used to drag DH on shopping trips for clothes because I was so indecisive - but he would get impatient. Now I can ask everyone here!

Lantana

Veteran

Great thread Anne. I am very frugal but I love to splurge on something special now and then. That applies to clothes and food. I make quite a few of my clothes, similarly, I cook meals from scratch, bake, preserve fruit from our garden, make jams and jellies, keep chooks, all that old fashioned stuff. So when I buy clothes or groceries an internal voice is muttering" what! X$ for that, why I could make it myself for a song. "

anne

Veteran

Lantana - another chook owner here, and also make most things from scratch (not bread). My chooks are moulting though, and not laying, so I'll probably have to buy eggs in a week or so, which seems unfair when I am still feeding them. Not a jam maker though, but I have an Aunty who makes more than we can get through.

You are a much better seamstress than I though. Mum sewed most of my clothes when I was young, and I used to make some in my teens and young adult years when I lived with her to help me out with it. I was give a sewing machine myself a few years ago, but have been disappointed in a fair few things I have created, though it is great for alterations.

Lantana

Veteran

My sewing skills have benefited from spending time on sewing blogs. They have great tutorials, worth a look when you have a chance. My chooks are off the lay too.

amiable

Veteran

I'm with Lantana. I'm actually overly frugal with both food and clothing. I've been developing my food-snobbery though for several years (home-grown eggs, home-ground wheat, everything cooked from scratch, etc.) And I'm just beginning to develop my clothes snobbery (another big purge in my closet took place this weekend).

And also like Lantana, I can't resist thinking "What?! I could make that for so much less!". Currently I'm thinking that about mesh sweaters - on a great sale at gap, but I'm quite convinced that I could make it for much less still.

Lisa

Veteran

I enjoy clothes shopping and will browse and shop multiple times a year. I loathe food shopping, go every week, and try to get in and out as fast as possible. I clothes shop with a loose list, I have items I want to purchase and I am willing to stray from the list quite often. I also food shop with a list but I do deviate from it.

Karie

(website)

Veteran

I like to shop for groceries (I love to cook and bake) and will use coupons when I remember them, but I am mostly a three-store grocery shopper (my hands-down favorite local market, Hannaford, nationally known Trader Joe's, and Sal's, my local butcher shop). When clothes shopping, I will shop everywhere and anywhere - leave no retail store unturned! I do like a good bargain, but I am more concerned with paying a fair price for a well-made garment.

I am also big into eating natural, healthy foods, and during the warmer months I frequent the local farmer's markets and grow my own veggies organically in a big raised-bed garden. I have not been so concerned about the man-made chemically laced fibers in my clothing, although I probably should be, and have been recently to a certain extent. Since joining YLF, I have become pickier in my clothing choices, both in quality and fit.

rachylou

Veteran

Hmm. An interesting question! They're sort of the same. I hunt and peck in all sorts of stores. Go with a vague budget for what I want to spend that trip (but don't pay attention to the yearly sum, which I should). The one big difference is, there's a farmer's market every Sunday across the street from me. I will always have bread, milk, cheese, and leeks. For clothes, it's a trip. A big long ordeal of a trip always.

Lyn D.

Veteran

I have similarities-
I always try to buy sale items in both food and clothing.
Have lists for both but will buy other items if the price is right.
I have a budget for both, but don't always stick to it .
Prefer to shop alone and have control over how much I spend and the brands I buy!
Differences-
I will go without lunch when I am clothes shopping by myself.
I consider food shopping a chore, but clothes shopping relaxing and fun!

Mander

(website)

Veteran

We tend to do most of our grocery shopping at Aldi, simply because it's about a 5 minute walk away from the house. If you've ever shopped there you know that it can be somewhat limiting -- fresh veggies are usually ok and more or less in season but their frozen selection is pathetic (mostly a hundred different kinds of French fries and an assortment of pizzas), and some things they just don't carry. Because we do everything on foot we tend to shop a few times a week (that is, I send DH with a short list). If we want something they don't carry then we mount an expedition to a bigger supermarket further afield, but as it's a 5 minute walk vs a 20 minute bus or train ride we don't do it that often.

This is analogous to my clothes shopping -- mostly I shop on eBay, or one of the very small number of shops downtown or supermarket clothes departments that carry plus sizes. If I want something in particular I have to take the train to the mall, where there are a few more options, but if I want something really special I generally have to wait until my next visit to the US.

Raisin

Veteran

I never really thought about this but there are a lot of similarities!

I read and check the label on everything at the grocery store (my husbands hates going, I take forever), and I look at every single garment and go back and forth between stores when buying clothes.
I buy as much high quality, organic food as I can afford. I also buy high quality clothes when I can afford them.
Materials matter to me. I like good material in clothing, silk, wool, cashmere, leather. For food I am very picky about having no added chemicals, sugars, hormones, antibiotics, etc.
I do a major food shop once every 2 weeks and then pick up odds and ends when needed as we run out. For clothing I also do major shopping about twice a year in the "big cities" and pick up odds and ends through online shopping or local stores throughout the year.

That's all I can think of for now. It makes sense though that our shopping tendencies would overlap from grocery to clothing. Interesting topic!