Do you shop or browse?

[tedln]

I hate to shop! To me, shopping means I want something specific so I visit different stores comparing prices, varieties, sizes, colors, and other specifications. I am a browser. I love to browse for new and useful tools and gadgets. I went yesterday with my wife to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. She was shopping. I was browsing. I found something I have always wondered (why don't they have) about. I hate to buy and drink soft drinks from a pop top can. I typically drink half the can and pour the remainder into the sink. At BBB yesterday, I found a package of 1/2 plastic bottles. They are simply the top half of a plastic water bottle. They are designed to snap down over a soft drink can and convert it into a bottle of soda. You can replace the cap and place the can/bottle in the refrigerator for the next time you want a sip of soda that still has some carbonation. When the can is empty, you simply snap the bottle top off the can, place the can in the recycle bin, rinse the bottle top; and you are ready for the next can.

I think my second favorite browsing destination would be those "Dollar" stores. Every little town has one. It may be "Family Dollar" or "Dollar General" but when combined with a Dairy Queen (a Sonic drive in works in a pinch), all requirements have been met to designate your community as a town or village.

My favorite time to browse the dollar stores is in the spring when they put their spring gardening displays out. I always find a lot of gardening gadgets, tools, supplies, and seed. They always have some pre-packaged cardboard displays of seed. They simply pull the front off the display and set it on the rack or counter. The displays usually have the strangest varieties of flower and vegetable seeds. The best part is the fact they only cost five packets for one dollar. You can mix and match or buy five packs of some unusual seed for one dollar. I have grown a lot of garden plants from those inexpensive little generic seed packs over the years and they do great. Even if they don't do well, I was only out a buck for the effort.

Ted

[pepper4]

Like Marlingardener I hate shopping of any kind other then our local nursery and then I browse quite a bit. If I have to shop it is the $ stores. Not crowded, reasonable prices and you never know what you'll find there. When I have to shop I go straight to the department I need to, buy it and get out. My husband is thankful for that

[tedln]

My wife and daughter are SHOPPERS. Their idea of a great day is an entire day in a giant mall. I usually take a book and park myself on a comfortable bench with a back on it. I try to position myself as close as possible to a food court with coffee in one of the booths. I can spend the entire day, sitting, reading, drinking coffee, and visiting with other husbands doing the same thing as me. I keep my cell phone in my pocket in case my wife finds something and feels the need to call me to discuss it before buying it.

If Home Depot would place some benches around for an occasional break, I would spend more time there. I would browse a little and rest a little. I bet by the time the day is over, they will have sold me a full shopping basket of stuff I don't really need. I would consider that "Hardware Heaven".

Ted

[Kisal]

I'm not much of one to shop. In fact, except for food, I do most of my shopping online. I've learned to Google for coupon codes, so I rarely have to pay for shipping, and often get good discounts.

I do love to browse, though. Hardware stores, feed and seed stores, and stationary stores are my favorite places. I especially like the local True-Value hardware store. They have some really unusual items there. There is also a store in town that sells nothing but wheels and fasteners. They have stuff I never even dreamed existed! I've been known to buy a fastener or two just because of their uniqueness! They would almost qualify as objets d'art!

My son is just as bad as I am about tools and hardware stuff. I bought a faucet wrench once, because I was going to install a new faucet in the bathroom, but I just didn't have the strength to break the nuts loose. I laid the wrench on the kitchen table, intending to try again later. My son still lived in town at the time, and he stopped by to visit. As we sat at the table chatting, I noticed that he had picked up the wrench and was fidgeting with it. I asked him if he liked the wrench, and he said, "Yeah! It's interesting!" I asked him if he would like to own that wrench, and he looked at me and said, "Yeah! Are you giving it to me?" And I said, "If you install the new faucet in the bathroom for me, the wrench is all yours!" Sweet kid that he is, he installed the faucet for me.

[tomf]

I shop if I am getting some thing that costs a bit or when I am doing a big project. I do research on line and plan for things. But as far as shopping for fun or such H No,I like most men get what they want and get out. My wife on the other hand loves shopping.

[Runningtrails]

I hate shopping, unless it's a gardening center. I could spend all day in a gardening center. I especially hate grocery shopping. Hubby does a lot of it. He likes it. We shop so rarely for clothes, shoes etc. I can't remember the last time I was in a mall.

[gumbo2176]

Like Runningtrails husband, I do about 90% of the grocery shopping since I do about 100% of the cooking. My wife and I have a match made in heaven. I love to cook and she loves to eat. To look at her, you'd never think she eats the way she does, but she can put down food like a longshoreman and is still slim and trim. I HATE her!!!!! ))

When I do need stuff(clothing, shoes, etc.) from the mall or other outlet, I power shop. I know well before going through the doors what I need, have a good idea where it is in the store and I generally waste no time browsing.

Now, like Tomf, when buying a tool I need or getting something that costs a bit of money, I do my research and a lot of shopping on line. I'll support the local stores if their price is close and the product is in stock to save on time delays. However, if I'm not in a hurry, I'll buy on-line since a big ticket item generally is shipped free and there is no sales tax to pay and that equates into a pretty nice savings. I've bought a lot of woodworking tools on-line and saved hundreds of dollars doing so.

[tedln]

I've been looking at "netbook" computers for about a year with the wireless contract. It drives my wife nuts. I've been looking for a year and still haven't bought one. She would have driven a hundred miles and forced a bank to open on a Sunday so she could withdraw money to purchase what she suddenly decided she needs.

Ted

[petalfuzz]

I like the idea of Lowes or HD putting in resting benches. Those stores are too big for browsing...

I hate shopping! I love going to the Dollar store (called Dollar Tree here) but don't go anymore due to lack of funds .

I make out a list and usually can't afford everything, so everytime I shop, I have to make tough decisions. If my husband decides to come with, I have to keep telling him "No" and "Keep up with me" like he's a little kid (not too far off, actually) which makes shopping that much more like work.

[Gary350]

I only go to the store to buy what I need. I can be in and out in 15 minutes. I am on a mission to get the things I need then get the heck out of there.

My wife can shop all day. She use to ask if she could go with me when I go to the store she would get lost in the store and I could not find her for hours. Once I abanden her at Wal Mart she called me at home 5 hours later 9:30 pm wanted me to come and get her. I told her to take a Taxi cab. Now days we both know better than to go to the store together.

[lorax]

I hate stores and love markets; this has the following impact on my purchasing.

Fresh veggies and fruit are market items, so I browse and chat with vendors and generally enjoy myself.

Meat, cheese, and milk products are store things. I have a list, I get in, I get out, as fast as possible. I even go so far as to arrange the list in the order in which I will encounter the items in the store, just to save time.

Clothing, on the other hand, is another market item. I'd never go to the mall if I needed a new shirt - I'd go to the wholesale market, which means I could browse and shop it all day if I wanted to. Again, this is a social event - one goes for a shirt, sure, but also to haggle and laugh and generally enjoy oneself with the vendors.

[applestar]

Is haggling a generally accepted (or even required?) when shopping in Ecuador? Some people are good at it. I, alas, am not....

I would shop more if there was a "search engine" at stores. I do most of my pre-shopping (or is that pre-purchase) research on-line.

I don't like big box stores because they're too big and you have to walk miles to get anything even when you know exactly what you want and where to find it. Even asking an employee doesn't always help. Either they'll take you for a stroll around the store or what you're looking for is invariably at the opposite end of the building. I tend to go to local hardware stores and independent garden centers/nurseries more for some items.

Grocery shopping -- I can't seem to make it to the cash registers without filling up the cart.

Don't like malls - they give me a headache....

[lorax]

I'd say that haggling is expected and although not legally required, the vendors will have less respect for you if you don't haggle. It's part of the social activity of shopping, because friendly haggling opens the door to conversation. I'm very good at it, largely because my grandfather taught me how to trade horses fairly early in life; it's the same skill, applied to other things.

So I might find the perfect shirt in the market, then spend an hour haggling and conversing with the vendor before paying $1 over the agreed price, because it was a good haggle but I concede that I drove her down too far. Now I have somebody I know in the market, and who I will buy from again. One of the biggest compliments you can be paid in a market here is for the vendor to tap her elbows after a deal - the meaning is that you drive a hard bargain but are fair about it (the words that accompany it are usually "sharp elbows, lady!")

[tedln]

I love grocery shopping. I do most of it. I can spend an hour in the vegetable and fresh bread areas alone. I love to shop the Mexican markets here in the states. They always have a vegetable or cut of meat, or type of bread I've never seen. I have to learn all about it, so I find someone who speaks English and try to get an education. I've always wanted to eat plantains in the South American style, but we don't eat fried foods. I want to try black beans and rice in the Cuban style, but there are little cultural tricks to preparing it that I haven't discovered. I find some amazing sweet breads and desserts. I've wanted to eat the prickly pear cactus but I don't know what to do with it. They also sell it in plastic bags like carrots already cut into little cubes. I guess other cultures intrigue me. Everything else I buy is in a grab, pay, and run mode.

Ted

[lorax]

Pan-Fried Platano Dulce is actually a very low-fat option, Ted... Come over to the dark side.... We have donuts....

Tuna (prickly pear fruit) is eaten, when green-fleshed, with a bit of salt and chili powder. When red-fleshed, it's eaten like dragonfruit, all on its own. Nopal (prickly pear leaves) are a vegetable, much like zucchini, and usable where you would normally use zucchs. They're also very good dredged in cornflour and lightly pan-fried.

The big trick to black beans and rice Cuban style is to cook the rice and beans (which are soaked together in saltwater for 24 hours minimum, then drained and rinsed with fresh) together in chicken stock, with a bit of cilantro.