I didn't think you were going in a wasteful/hoarding direction. My family is not like that, but we all enjoy grocery shopping. As others have described, my parents were very thrifty and shopping sales and menu planning around inexpensive food was the norm growing up. My brother sister and I still like to check out the sale flyers, go to the store, check out the merchandise, meal plan. It's a whole thing.

Even when i travel internationally if it's easy and right there I will definitely check out markets. It's fun.

When I was a kid I hated it. We'd get out of church and my parent would want to stop by the store to see what meats had been marked down or what pastries were just past or reaching their sell by.

Anonymous wrote:I'm realizing I know a few people who shop too much for groceries go to many different stores to shop to "get out of the house" as ones person tells me. Then they can't eat all the said food and it goes to waste. I don't know how much money they're wasting but all of them are on a fixed budget and shouldn't be wasting it on food they can't eat. Do you know anyone like this or are you like this?

Are you sure that food goes to waste? They don’t freeze it or utilize some other way? The fact that someone on fixed budget would go to many different stores makes sense, since they can get cheapest prices for different products.

My mom does this and ends up throwing most of it out because she can't eat it all before its expires.

My dad but it's a social experience for him: he lives in a charming smallish town and loves going to various stores and chatting with people. He also gets very enthusiastic about new products at the larger supermarket, finding the best fruit, best cheeses...

That's my husband's main activity to get out of the house. Beats his main in house activity, drinking.

Anonymous wrote:Ha, this one got me, my kids were just teasing me that I go to the grocery store because I'm bored. I work from home so the only time I left the house today was to take out the trash. Tomorrow I'm envisioning a trip to the store to stock up before the rush before the store. I can't hardly wait.

I should add, I don't hoard, I don't buy stuff I already have, I just run to the store every time I need something. Lots of runs to grab just a couple items instead of waiting a week and filling up a cart.

My FIL was like this, somewhat earlier in life but it really ramped up in retirement because he didn’t have a lot else to do. My MIL is still using Tide that he bought and he died five years ago. Totally a product of going hungry during the Depression. My DH has some of this and I have to tell him the things NOT to buy when he grocery shops because we already have a Costco level amount in the house already.

I have a friend who loves grocery shopping so much that she got a Walmart Spark job and also does Instacart for grocery orders too. I mean, I guess if you love it as much as she does, it's a fun way to make some extra cash.

I order my groceries using Harris Teeter pick up, Target drive up, or Walmart+ delivery as much as possible because I hate grocery shopping.

Ha, this one got me, my kids were just teasing me that I go to the grocery store because I'm bored. I work from home so the only time I left the house today was to take out the trash. Tomorrow I'm envisioning a trip to the store to stock up before the rush before the store. I can't hardly wait.

Anonymous wrote:Buy things and give to pantries

Ha! I’m the poster who’s throwing away close to $1,000 in food a month.

If I did this after one of my husband’s hoarding grocery runs he would freak out and buy even more the next day. I’m already angry at wasting nearly 1K a month AND having the kitchen be unusable because it’s too full. Hoarding is truly revolting. No easy solutions.

Buy things and give to pantries

My husband does this. He has hoarding tendencies and suffered from deprivation as a child in a war torn country.

My husband is like this. He always wants to buy tons of food and can’t turn down a deal. Even though there are 3 different flavors in the Costco pack of granola bars and nobody likes raisins and the kids are indifferent about peanut butter. Then there’s artificial scarcity over the chocolate chip granola bars and nobody wants to eat the other 2/3 of the pack that ends up rotting in our pantry so he could get a “good deal.”

I hate it.

When he travels and I can clear out the fridge and pantry, I finally feel like I can breathe. I cook a lot more when he’s away. I just can’t handle playing Tetris with a stuffed fridge to find food. It grosses me out and I would rather not eat. The fridge food ends up getting thrown away anyway because he also doesn’t cook, but likes the idea of an overflowing fridge. I estimate we waste at least $500–$,1000 in food to appease his anxiety. It’s a disgusting way to live.

Everyone is welcome at my house for dinner any time.

People do need to get out of the house. Buying too much, wasting food, that’s not good but having a place to go, walking around, feeling purposeful, those are all important. What’s it to you?