Hey, we haven't had one of these for a while ...


http://shopping.guardian.co.uk/news/story/...1347213,00.html

So, how often do you shop (for non-groceries)? Do you enjoy it? Do you do a lot of online shopping?

I hardly shop anymore, except on holiday. I buy few new clothes, don't go into town that much and have successfully tried to cut down on CDs, DVDs and books. Although I don't buy clothes online, I do use Amazon quite a bit. And I plan to buy nearly all of my Christmas presents online - apart from the ones I brought back from holiday.

Whenever I do have to buy clothes, I go to the same few old shops and don't take that long. I particularly find shoes difficult to buy because I don't like high heels or flimsy soles, so the prospect of having to buy new winter shoes or boots shortly is annoying.

I tend to do all of my DVD shopping online, becuase most of the time it works out cheaper.

If I have to buy something out-of-the-ordinary, I'll research it online but I still like going and buying it in person.

At the moment shopping for clothes is equally parts frustrating and exciting for me. Its exciting because the number on the label size is decreasing, but its frustrating because I'm in between sizes and nothing fits "just right".

I would say I find the experience of shopping enjoyable 70% of time, sometimes there is nothing better than just having a potter around the shops, but sometimes I juts want to get the frilly heck outta there.

I hate shopping. Especially clothes shopping. I hate the getting sweaty while changing repeatedly part, mostly.

I enjoy shopping but definitely have my limit. I have a bit of an obsession with Target stores and often just wander around Target on my lunch break when I need to get away from the office. I like to look and touch all the pretty, shiny things. On the flip side I've gone "hard core" shopping with friends who will just tear through clothing stores in a whirlwind. That kind of shopping I don't enjoy. I guess I'm enjoy window shopping, but not shopping missions.

I despise grocery shopping.

Ever since I bought the "What Not to Wear" book I've enjoyed clothes shopping more because I only try on clothes that mostly follow the rules, and because of that they're more likely to look good on me.

Also, I have a Nordstrom Rack and a Kohl's, where I go when there are sales, which is pretty much the only time I shop. I tend to look for something specific, like if I need slacks, and then browse a tiny bit on the way to the check out. In the last 6 years or so I've been pretty good about not buying things I don't "need," so I can feel good about the shopping.

The only shopping that frustrates me is bra and swimwear shopping, because they always show my back fat or don't fit big boobs right. I swear I took 1.5 hours at Kohl's during the last sale, shopping for bras, and it was torture.

I don't mind grocery shopping, but that's because we go with a specific list, derived from 5 or 6 meal menu after I choose what dinners we're going to have over the next week. We're in a grocery groove now, with pretty much only 4 stores that we use: Costco, which has all the meats, cheese, toilet paper, etc. in bulk; our local health food store, Henry's, where I get the vast majority of the produce and grains; Albertson's, where I shop only if I can't find something elsewhere (like Jello or fennel), because it's a large chain store and I avoid those if I can; and Trader Joes, which I don't have near me, but that has my cat litter and cool stuff like good mushrooms and cheese.

Getting Ron to shop for clothes is quite difficult, and requires two things: him not having anything else to do at the moment, and me offering to buy. If there's a sale and I can use that to create a sense of time-urgency, that helps. I'm convinced that the sole reason he has anything decent in his closet is because I've used the above tools. I don't understand how someone with such a great body and beautiful grace can hate to shop for clothes, but maybe that's just a girl's perspective, coming from decades of societal pressure to hate our bodies, and the "grass is greener" thing.

The only other shopping I do if for specific items like household stuff like tools, paint, plants, etc., and for that I always have a specific list.

I really like grocery shopping. Maybe I'm just greedy. All my food is bought from very local shops (no car) and I'm quite chummy with the staff so it's pleasant. I only go to the supermarket maybe once a month or six weeks, and even that is only a 15 minute walk away. Since I've been living on my own I hardly ever buy tins or frozen food so I don't really have heavy things to carry, anyway.

Oh that's such a pain in the ass. Trying to find clothes while in the process of weight loss is exremely frustrating. Two weeks later the stuff is too big.

I love shopping for beauty products and toiletries and stuff like that, something I've had to clamp down on because it was getting out of hand. Now my rule is: You can not buy any product that you already have, even if the new one is supposed to be better. I enjoy grocery shopping too- I try to join my mom whenever I can.

I hate shopping for clothing, with a fiery burning passion. Aside from hating to try things on, (some sweaty, frustrating, bra-shopping trips have nearly ended in tears) I have no patience for browsing or waiting on line, or any of it. I also have a very hard time finding clothes because there aren't that many clothes out there that fit my three qualifications: Decent quality, decent price, properly modest. *Everything* right now is boatnecks and funky open fronts and cut off shoulders, and if you can actually find skirts, they're all an inch or two too short. I prefer online shopping where I can check skirt length and everything is sorted the way I like it. It's a risk of course, but I generally buy from places that have stores close by so I can return stuff without the hassle or cost of shipping, and I try to take advantage of online stores' free shipping promotions.

I love to shop for groceries, books, and craft stuff. I used to love shopping for shoes. I still do, sometimes, but I have to be in the right mood and at the right stores. As for clothes shopping, once I started shopping at stores that actually have flattering clothes in my size, I stopped hating it quite as much. I used to be one of those teenage girls who could spend the whole day at the mall. Then again, I used to be a wee, little bony thing and pretty much everything looked good on me. These days, I find that my patience with the mall is extremely limited.

But I've also noticed some other weird trend. I shop when I'm with other people, but I'm more inclined to buy if I'm alone. It's like the shopping has more purpose when done as a solo expedition.

I enjoy shopping online, but I'm more likely to buy in person. Other than those times when I can get an exceptional deal, or an item is hard to find locally, I mostly use online shopping as research.

I hate shopping. Cannot stand it. I tend to do as much of it on-line as a I can.

But when Christmas time comes, I prefer to do it in person. I just like the experience of Christmas shopping. The decorations, the carols being played over the loud speakers, the lights. It puts me in such a good mood. Which makes me weird I guess since most people I know who like to shop hate shopping at Christmas.

I like Christmas shopping too, although sometimes it's more of a pressure than a pleasure.

I suppose overall I'm pretty pro-shopping. When I do it, I really enjoy it, and I often go shopping with my female family members as a fun activity. The thing is, I almost never buy anything, because I'm picky to excess and something has to be perfect for me to get it. I think that and the sudden change in financial status when I moved out here contributed to me ceasing to buy clothes entirely. I just stopped, and except for the occasional urgent staple, I didn't really start again. Although that also has to do with the fact that my clothes-buying is season-conditional. There were a couple of fashion seasons (right in the Season Three Buffy era, if you recall those clothes) that were just me, where I loved everything, and I bought and bought. Since then I haven't liked things as much... ugh to the 80s revival and that Buffy Season Seven bizarre shirt period. I like warm-weather clothes better and years where clothing is all feminine and glittery and pretty and lush and textured.

Shoe shopping I hate, because I'm even pickier about shoes and I can't stand uncomfortable shoes. So I have a lot of shabby and shameful shoes that I wear into the ground... because I can't find satisfactory replacments. Similarly, I'm starting to notice that a lot of my clothes are getting on the old side and need a lot of mending. Oh well. Basically, I fall in love with a thing, and then I want to go out and find an exact copy to replace the thing. Fat chance. If I could have one superhero power, it would be to be able to see the future and know which purchases would become my beloved ragged staples, so that I could buy three of them when they were new. Or, like, ten.

I find myself having to grocery shop too much these days. I go about every two weeks and load up massively... I suspect this is because almost every meal I eat, including my lunches during the work week, comes out of my pantry. I don't dine out much. Grocery stores in California are one of my greatest pleasures in living here, though. I love the big massive chain dealies with the double coupons and the low prices and the dazzling selection. Quite a change from the dank New York supermarkets the size of a garage, where everything is marked up double and past its expiration date, aisles you can't fit through, a single brand of peas and a dimly lit meat department that smells.

I used to hate grocery shopping in my old apartment. I had two choices for grocery stores in that town: one supermarket, where everything was cheap and fattening and I couldn't get good cheese, good produce or meat in anything less than a family pack; and a Meijer Thrifty Acres, which is something like the worst things about Kmart, smooshed together with a grocery store which is just more of the same thing I got at the other store. My current apartment is equidistant from two excellent grocery stores, with great produce, a wonderful wine selection, and a genuine, honest-to-God meat counter. Knowing that I can buy one steak, or a half pound of ground turkey is incredibly liberating. Plus, one of the stores actually has a champagne cooler with real champagne kept at optimum temperature, and a walk-in beer cooler. So, in reality I can satisfy my champagne taste and my beer budget (I get a bottle of Pommery Brut Rose at least once a year). It's awesome!