Poll: Do you go to the grocery store a lot more often now in retirement?

[Dtail]

I go about 3x weekly on the way home from Pickleball. Since we mainly don't cook, I can usually use the express lane.

 

[disneysteve]

No change here. I do our main grocery shopping once a week, same as before retirement. We hit BJs about once a month. And we pick up random items on Walmart, Target, and Aldi visits, all the same as before.

 

[Koolau]

I never had much time when still w*rking so went to the store as infrequently as possible. And now we buy many more fresh things which means more trips to the store. So, yes, I go much more often now.

 

[ModestNestEgg]

I am not retired YET, but this is one of the simple pleasures I am so much looking forward to, far more than the exotic things that retirees are "supposed" to look forward to. Being able to go at 8 AM on a Tuesday sounds wonderful, or I can go in the late afternoon if I want to feel the "excitement" of it.

 

[cathy63]

We live a few blocks from the store, so it's always been a habit to walk over and pick up ingredients for whatever I want to make for dinner.

 

[stepford]

When working I often would stop into the grocery store on the way home from work. So 3-4 days a week wasn't uncommon. Since retiring I do almost all my grocery shopping by bike and so prefer to carry relatively light loads (usually under 20 lbs or so). So that makes me lean toward multiple short trips rather than one big mega-expedition per week.

So just like before, 3-4 trips per week isn't uncommon, but the shopping experience is totally different than during my working years.

 

[More Cowbell]

DH likes to walk and does most of the grocery shopping. He has a foldable shopping trolley, much improved over the type his DGM used. DH gets curious looks as he rolls to the grocery store in our walkable neighborhood, because these are not common hereabouts. He also drives about 1x week to other food stores, so a bit more frequently before retirement. I go less frequently to specialty places (produce, bakery, etc.) or Costco.

 

[old medic]

Way less.... Working I would hit a store about every day. Now I'm might go once a week.
But then again up until a few years ago it was 25 miles to a town with a store selection.

 

[mystang52]

I am not retired YET, but this is one of the simple pleasures I am so much looking forward to, far more than the exotic things that retirees are "supposed" to look forward to. Being able to go at 8 AM on a Tuesday sounds wonderful, or I can go in the late afternoon if I want to feel the "excitement" of it.

You just reminded me of one of my unexpected surprises of ER. The lack of crowds, or more accurately the relative emptiness, at supermarkets made shopping a pleasure. Once in a blue moon we need to go to supermarket later in the day, and we despise that sea change in the crowds.

 

[sengsational]

(edit: The basil amazingly enough is one of the more expensive ingredients there. Might be an herb worth growing as it is $3.99 for a not very large amount at the store.)

Basil is super easy to grow. A couple of plants is too much. Not that I do any gardening, but I observe very well.

Just like groceries...I don't do anything except occasionally add an item to the Walmart order on my phone (using DW's account). She picks up curbside weekly and usually goes to the expensive grocery store for stuff that's no good from Walmart.

 

[Surewhitey]

I prefer the freshness of every few days for protein and veggies.

 

[Lorenzo]

DW has long done near-daily shopping for one item or another. Perhaps she can't shake the European mindset she acquired growing up. She isn't yet retired. To answer the question, now I accompany her to the grocery stores a lot more than I did before I was retired. Some of the stores focus on cuisines or ingredients I find interesting, such as the Asian and Mexican markets, and I like to gawk.

 

[MichaelB]

When I was working for the man I rarely went shopping. Once retired, I did a little, but DW is very specific so she chose to do most of the shopping. When Covid came that changed and then and since I’ve done most of it. I’d say we do 3-4 visits per week. Lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, and we live in an urban setting so there are many grocers within a couple of miles.

 

[Ronstar]

I go 4-5 times a week now retired, sometimes more to get things for MIL also. I used to go about once a month when I was working. DW did most of the grocery shopping solo back then.

 

[aaronc879]

I virtually never eat out whether I have a job of not so I go to the grocery store the same, job or not. I usually go once a week

 

[hmrambling]

Be careful what you pick up these days. Every quarter, we analyze grocery stores for competitiveness and have found that some stores aren't even being competitive with their own stores. Imagine a retailer having multiple stores and charging so much more in one area of town that they're not even competitive with their own stores. Will be done with this quarterly comparison when I retire on 1/2/27. Until then, grocery store shenanigans are glaring at me. tsktsktsk.

IMHO it's literally a test for consumer tolerance and they're attempting to charge the maximum of consumer tolerance. Folks can argue that's exactly what capitalism is but raising grocery prices as much as the consumer will tolerate causes government programs to spend more for those groceries, too. However programs like WIC only reimburse up to a certain amount which means the grocery store is eating the cost between what WIC will reimburse and their dream price for the consumer to pay.

 

[Car-Guy]

Never thought much about it but yes, we go more often. Not sure why.

 

[Koolau]

You just reminded me of one of my unexpected surprises of ER. The lack of crowds, or more accurately the relative emptiness, at supermarkets made shopping a pleasure. Once in a blue moon we need to go to supermarket later in the day, and we despise that sea change in the crowds.

The lack of crowds sounds really nice. There are very few times that we experience a lack of crowds (last time was during our flooding event a month ago). Otherwise, week-days are crowded and week-ends are super crowded. Just the nature of the beast in the Islands. Oh, and "pay-day-Friday" is another crowded day which happens twice/month.

 

[Doolish1]

I am not retired yet, but one of my fantasies is that I would go almost every day to pick up fresh food for that night's dinner, compared to now where I get frozen vegetables and foods that stay a long time and are easy to prepare for after work.

 

[pacergal]

Weekly while working, 1-3 times weekly in retirement. Shorter, more frequent shopping during quiet hours--mid morning usually, VS once a week, huge cart full, on the weekends while working.

 

[kgtest]

My folks are always making a run. Not FIREd yet, and busy as heck with kids, so sometimes we order delivery. Especially on days where activities are double-booked and we needed something sooner than later.

This is maybe 12x a year, once a month.

Otherwise its the staples as needed maybe once a week and a half or so.

 

[Midpack]

No real change. Once a week most weeks before and after retirement. We ate out twice a week while working, three times a week now that we're retired - so our grocery shopping needs haven't changed much.

What has changed. Most of our working years we got all our groceries-HBA-other at the nearest grocery chain store. Now we mix it up between a grocer (weekly) strictly groceries --- plus Target, Trader Joe's and Costco for HBA, other and some groceries as needed (less than weekly).

 

[ksr]

When I was working I typically went once a week. Now it seems like probably 4 or 5 times a week, plus a run to Costco every couple of weeks.

We live within walking distance of our grocery store so we often go for a walk and pick up just a few things to carry home. It's a much more enjoyable experience now.

 

[Sunset]

I go more often, as now I can go during the day when it's less crowded, and I split my shopping up amongst 4 stores in order to purchase things I like or best price at each store.

For the grocery stores, it's never stagnant, each week one or the other will have meat or vegetables on a sale that makes getting those items there a no brainer.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Be careful what you pick up these days. Every quarter, we analyze grocery stores for competitiveness and have found that some stores aren't even being competitive with their own stores. Imagine a retailer having multiple stores and charging so much more in one area of town that they're not even competitive with their own stores. Will be done with this quarterly comparison when I retire on 1/2/27. Until then, grocery store shenanigans are glaring at me. tsktsktsk.

IMHO it's literally a test for consumer tolerance and they're attempting to charge the maximum of consumer tolerance. Folks can argue that's exactly what capitalism is but raising grocery prices as much as the consumer will tolerate causes government programs to spend more for those groceries, too. However programs like WIC only reimburse up to a certain amount which means the grocery store is eating the cost between what WIC will reimburse and their dream price for the consumer to pay.

Where I live, this has always been the case with Walmart. They charge a couple dollars more in a nice neighborhood for the detergent tide than they did in a poor neighborhood. Once we learned that we shopped in the cheaper neighborhood.