Grocery shopping-anyone else?
I currently do 99% of my grocery shopping online. My stepdaughter is talking about shopping in store more. With online shopping there are various links to click to get to different sections and then choose. I have something of a set pattern of doing things which works for me.
However in store shopping is something I struggle with. I am bad at organising myself to get what I need. I struggle to make shopping lists , and tend to shop haphazardly . I think this is to do with executive functioning difficulties.
I wondered whether this was a problem for anyone else. How are you at in store grocery shopping?
I found the most helpful thing for me was firstly getting used to the layout of the shop i.e. knowing where everything is.
Then I would write a shopping list , then I would re-arrange the shopping list in the order in which I would come across them e.g. I would write vegetables first as that's the first isle in my supermarket.
I used to take a pen so I could cross things off my list.
I'm now at a stage where I can shop with a list in any order but occasionally miss something so have to go back on myself.
For me the biggest problem is my anxieties which makes all rational thinking go out the window. My anxieties haven't changed much but with practice I forget less and found coping mechanisms that make shopping less painful - don't get me wrong I still hate it but at least I am capable despite feeling like crap before , during and after
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Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury. Raise the double standard
I hate to be that guy, but for some reason I can remember exactly what I need in my memory and than shop for it. But it isn't totally because I have an amazing memory or anything.
When I shop, I always use the same grocery store and I always take the same path. Since I have no creativity in terms of what to cook, what I shop for is mostly repetitive. I wish I could break that habit, but so far no go. So I'll go to a certain section of the grocery store such as the milk section and than check a mental inventory of how much milk I have left and if it isn't enough I'll just add it to my cart.
The good part about this is I can add new things to it as I go along and my brain will remember those new items in the future. That way I can at least get a little variation out of my shopping.
So my advice is to take set patterns through the store and keep a mental inventory of items you need. When you get to a certain section of the store, use that as a visual cue to check your mental inventory to see if you need that item.
I only buy what we need. That should make it easier. Stick with what you eat and keep buying that. I also look at what else they have and look at their prices. We have always shopped at the same store and would take the same pattern in the store while shopping but now I am using a different store because the food there is cheaper but the food brand always changes because its a grocery outlet place.
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Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed.
Daughter: NT, no diagnoses.
My mother does the grocery shopping but when she is sick I might have to go. My anxiety tends to get in the way and I might buy the wrong thing, not pay attention to prices, or forget what I'm suppose to get.
It gets worse when I go to the checkout, when I have to talk to people because I tend to freeze up in social situations.
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Autism is a disorder not a personality trait!
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
and Wisdom to know the difference."
I mostly shop online too. SaveFerris's suggestion seemed practical. I'm going to try it next time I have to go to the supermarket. My supermarket is open 24/7 and when I do go, I go during off hours. They're usually only a couple of people there in there when I go, and they dim the lights after a certain hour.