I Hate Shopping

I Hate Shopping

You know one of the reasons I was able to reach financial independence? I hate shopping. No, I really do. I was reminded of this today as my wife and I picked up a few things for our garden. We spent about an hour walking through isles as the sun poured down on our heads. Endless stopping and starting. Picking things out and then putting them back. The smell of manure. Waiting to maneuver around all the carts of the busy shoppers moving to and fro.

What is there not to like? For me, everything. Because of my extreme dislike for shopping, I rarely go out to buy anything. If I can help it. It keeps the budget low. No spur of the moment purchases. No enticing displays tugging at my wallet.

So why do I hate it so much?

I Hate Home Depot

There is no place I hate more than Home Depot. Or Loews. Or whatever big box fixer upper place. I will do almost anything to get out of pulling into the parking lot. Why do I hate shopping so much there?

First of all, I can never seem to find what I am looking for. I wander aimlessly for minutes, never quite reaching the right destination. And often the staff is scurrying away from me or just downright difficult to find.

Once I do find what I am looking for, there are like a zillion different variations, and I can never find which one is appropriate for my needs. Half the time I don’t even understand the intricacies that separate one variation from another.

And then when I do eventually find what I want, they only have one and I need four. The computer always says there is another box of them sitting around somewhere, but no employee can seem to find that box.

I swear to g-d every trip costs at least an hour of my life.

I Hate Target

What is there to hate about target? I hate shopping at Target because my kids almost always find something frivolous that they want, and it begins a never ending fight. I don’t want more crap in my house. Target is full of crap. Somehow, if I am not completely on guard, some of that crap eventually ends up in my car and then littered throughout my house.

It’s like they pump some noxious, invisible, consumer gas into the air. You are not allowed to leave Target unless you spend at least a hundred dollars. I hate shopping there, and always come home with more than I need. I really don’t need that much. Except when I see that red and white target sign, then I magically need everything.

I Hate Clothes Shopping

I never was a big fan of fashion. Sure, I want to look good. But I don’t want to spend hours at a time trying on clothes to make that happen. Let’s face it. My body is funny. Nothing fits correctly anyway. And so I am never that happy with the purchase in the first place.

What’s worse is those fifty percent off racks, and the endless sales. I spend hours of my time wading through hanger after hanger of deeply discounted clothes that no one in their right mind would want to wear. The sizes are almost ten times too big for me. The colors are off. And I usually am pushed aside by overly aggressive shoppers who seem to live for these sales.

Dodging in and out, I am just happy to get out alive with the clothes on my back much less anything new.

Once home, I pile the clothes in my bedroom closet, forget about them, and go back to wearing my old worn out stuff that I have been wearing for ever. A year later, I find my new purchases. Hanging in the back with the labels still on.

Oh well!

Final Thoughts

I hate shopping. I always have. It’s not about frugality, but it certainly helps me be frugal. Some in this community would call it a blessing. But, to me, it’s a curse.

Sometimes I wish I could just be part of this joyous consumer culture that everyone else seems to exult in. But, alas, it is not in the cards for me.

It will never be so.