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22 July 2016

Shopping Lists | What Do They Say About You?


I'm planning on heading into the *big city* of Stuart this weekend to go shopping at Walmart. Yes, I know Walmart. Say what you will about it, but their prices are cheap and if I had a middle name, it would be cheap. Okay, maybe it would be frugal as that sounds much classier than cheap. I actually don't have a middle name, which is really unusual for an American.

As I was writing up my shopping list, I got to thinking how odd it was that the first item on it was dielectric grease. I didn't even know what dielectric grease was until last week when I became a certified auto repair mechanic. (If you follow our Facebook page, you'll know that I fixed our car myself, something I would have never imagined doing a year ago.)

At the crucial moment of car repair, I realized I didn't have any dielectric grease and borrowed some from my friends Bruce and Michele on Sailing Wind Spirit. Now that I've experienced the exciting properties of dielectric grease, I figure I should get my own tube of the stuff for future electronic repairs. Plus, I think it could double as hair gel when my hair gets too frizzy and out of control. If you live on a boat, every item should ideally have more than one purpose.

I'm also in the market for other weird and wonderful items for our boat - like ear plugs to keep nasty things out of our ears when we're underwater cleaning off the hull or our boat and a large strap wrench for changing our other fuel filter (I've already changed our Racor filter and bought a smaller strap wrench for that one). And of course, more Ziploc bags. You can never have enough Ziploc bags on a boat in my opinion. They're great for keeping moisture and creepy crawlies out of things.

Of course, while I'm at Walmart, I'll stock up on food. Do you ever find that when you write up your shopping list you try to pretend that you're only going to buy healthy items? Like cheese. Notice how I put *low-fat* next to it with a picture of a heart. I like cheese, and while the full-fat stuff is delish, it's not great for my health. Should we take bets now to see if I follow through and get the healthy low-fat cheese or break down and buy a block of extra sharp cheddar with alarming amounts of saturated fat? And, will I manage to get through Walmart without buying any chocolate?

I'm also on the hunt for a male-female connector. Sounds either like a dating service or something a bit kinky. It's actually to connect my water filter to my water hose so that we can filter out icky stuff when we fill up our water tanks in beautiful exotic locations which may not have the best water supplies. Of course, given the issues with lead in water supplies in the States lately, we don't necessarily have a great track record these days either in terms of safe drinking water.

It's really strange to think how much my life has changed in the past few years - all evidenced by my shopping list. Other people think shopping lists are fascinating too - check out these folks who analyzed shopping lists folks left behind in their carts.

What's on your shopping list this week? Do you cross items off as you go? If you have one, what's your middle name?

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29 comments:

  1. We did all our grocery shopping last Wednesday. We had fresh veggies, meat, Lean Cuisine meals and some other stuff that I don't remember right now.

    My middle name is Louise.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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    1. Lean Cuisines are great because you don't have to think about it, they taste pretty decent and their low cal. If I had a freezer, I would probably have a few of those on hand for times when I didn't want to cook. Louise is a great classic name.

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  2. I can't eat "low fat" cheese, it's one thing I can't compromise on. I say go for it, cheese and chocolate! We use a shopping app on our phones, and then electronically check it off. Our shopping list is boring, milk, eggs, cheese, creamer, orange juice etc. Bill has a construction list, I don't share that.

    Weird that I remember a Sesame Street jingle that my children used to watch when they were young. (many years ago) It was a segment about a kid going to the store for his mother, and she wanted him to remember all of the items. They were: a loaf of bread, a stick of butter, and a container of milk. This plays in my mind every time I go to the store.

    Middle name: Kathleen
    Donna/Denali Rose

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    1. I always have C is for Cookie going through my head when I go down the cookie aisle at the store :-) Donna Kathleen has a nice ring to it.

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  3. I don't consider myself cheap, but I have a very tight budget so my shopping is done a lot in dollar stores! You know, toothpaste, hair brush, soap, shampoo, laundry detergent and even some food such as rice and pasta. I shop at thrift stores a lot, as I enjoy it and it is amazing and fun to find some beautiful things at such great prices. :)

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    1. Dollar stores are fantastic places to get some real bargains!

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  4. Oh, and my middle name is Susan. :)

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    1. Susan is a great name! I've got a family member named that :-)

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  5. On our list this week is more WetOnes for our son's diaper bag and decaf coffee for yours truly :o)

    I prefer to check off items as we go but I never seem to have a writing surface or pen handy so I usually just tear or fold the paper hoping I'll know what I mean haha

    My middle name is Katharine :o)

    Oh, and congrats on the auto repair skills! Way to go!

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    1. Decaf coffee? I would think you would need lots of the regular stuff to keep up with the kids :-)

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  6. When I compose my grocery list I separate food and non-food items. I even arrange them in away that makes sense like all pharmacy stuff, house cleaning items, diary, etc grouped together. That seems sensible and understanding. No one can poke fun at my list, right? But, yours made me smile. I love how it's not in order and even you found humor in it! My current grocery list has nothing out of the ordinary and hardly worth sharing. I normally do not cross things off as I go, but I do make a new list after I get home. I don't know why I bother because the same things get put back on the list most of the times. lol I have a middle name; it's Lynn. Thanks for making me smile and for visiting my WW post.

    Stupidity #humor #celebrate #fridayfillins

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    1. I always start out with the idea of grouping my items into categories but it quickly becomes a free for all and things are randomly put on there. It does make shopping a bit more challenging as I'll get to the end of the list and realize there was one more thing I needed all the way back in the produce section. Lynn is a very nice name :-)

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  7. When you go to Walmart can you please take some photos of the people who are dressed strangely. I seem to have those pop up on my FB timeline every now and then and it's hilarious!

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    1. How funny - I'll keep an eye out to see if there are any strange ones lurking about :-)

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  8. I keep a shopping list in the kitchen and add things as I think of them, then cross them off as I shop. It seems to work. My mum writes her shopping list all at once in the order they will be in the shop, but refuses to cross them off as we go. We still miss things, but will she listen to me?

    Well done in your mechanical achievements! And I avoid low fat versions of anything - they never taste right. If I'm going to sin, I might as well sin big.

    Middle name: Christine - after my mum. Anabel is after her sister, and my sister is called after two of my dad's sister. No imagination.

    Ok, that's more information than you ever wanted to know!

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    1. I think family names are nice - a sense of continuity through the generations. And Christine is a lovely name :-)

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  9. Such a funny post! Congrats on becoming an auto mechanic. Go you! I'm with you on the ziploc bags. Love those things! Good luck with the shopping and I hope you find the non-dating, non-kinky, male-female thingie. lol

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  10. The older I get, the more I rely on lists. Shopping lists have been important all along, since we only try to buy what we really need. The best way to be frugal. No distractions! Of course, that was easier in the tropics, where the stores didn't contain much. Here, in the US, grocery stores are too overwhelming and even though we still eat healthy, the many choices mean we buy more and spend more. :-( In remote areas, collecting water on the boat is a safe and yummy bet. In Belgium, we have two middle names. I have been using the initials of those as my "middle name" in the US. Everything is more complicated when your roots are elsewhere... :-)

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    1. It is really overwhelming to shop in the States. I'd have to agree that there are way too many choices.

      We'll need to figure out a way to collect rain water on our boat. I've looked at a few ideas, but can't decide what will work best.

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  11. I have a friend who has this to say about Walmart: I love Walmart because it is the only place where I am overdressed and underweight! (Sorry, had to add this.)

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    1. The one I go to has a lot of retired people shopping at it so I always feel young.

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  12. I'm a big list maker myself and do my best to stick to it, not only to save money but to remember to buy everything (taking a trip into the closest big town can be an all day ordeal). I do the Walmart thing myself for the same reasons, but my number one store is Costco because their prices are excellent and they treat their employees so well. I do raise an eyebrow or two when I'm provisioning for the season though. I guess most people just don't normally buy 20 cans of diced tomatoes at a time.

    Cheers,
    Stephanie (Ann) @ SV CAMBRIA

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    1. Costco is also a great place to save lots of cash which we've belonged to in the past. Diced tomatoes are probably are #1 provisioning item. We eat a lot of them so I can relate to buying 20 cans at once :-)

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  13. I love to make lists and cross things off. I think I could even make a list of lists to make.
    I'm having a tea party this week to celebrate Beatrix Potter's 150th birthday. The invitation list includes children's writers, librarians, and teachers. The shopping list is long!
    My middle name is Annette - Claire Annette - get it? My dad had a great sense of humor.
    Here's a post I did on lists: http://afieldtriplife.com/?s=wallace%27s+lists

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    1. I love your dad's sense of humor - that's a great name!! Have fun at your tea party - that sounds like it will be a lot of fun with a lot of very interesting guests.

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  14. I was just thinking the other day... to take a picture periodically of my grocery list and what is inside my refrigerator. I wonder how much the ingredients change over the years... and what they say about me and my lifestyle.

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    1. That would be an interesting experiment! I'm sure what I buy at the store in terms of groceries has changed considerably over the years.

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  15. Pasang Filter Air Bandung

    We gave out water filters to approximately 30 families. Many of these families have little or no access to clean drinking water

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