Shopping and becoming… my mom?

I hate shopping. I can’t stand malls. I’m that guy who gets Christmas shopping done online or in the mall for as short a time as possible. But there’s a but. I love grocery shopping.

I can spend a good two hours going up and down every aisle and considering and reconsidering everything I am getting. I’m by no means a foodie and really don’t cook that much, I just enjoy comparison shopping and trying to save (as outlined in my bestselling book The Official Guide to Being a Winnipeg Cheapskate).

But I shop without a list. That is where my challenge comes in. I go to the store knowing I need toothpaste but I get lost in the experience and spend over $100 and come home without the toothpaste.

It has happened where I need dog food – absolutely need it – and as the dogs stare at me while I unpack everything I shout, “Crap!” and have to go back. (Funny that I remembered to stop at the liquor store right next to the pet store.)

Though as of late I have experienced the opposite, as noted by my overstocked cupboards and closets.

Thinking I am out of toothpaste because the tube in the bathroom is almost empty, I make a point of stopping at the store and buying two overpriced products. When I get home and put them in the hallway closet I come to find I already have four because I doubled up the last two times I forgot I still had.

Ditto for deodorant. I have three brand new sticks in the closet and don’t think to check my storage area when the current stick in the bathroom runs out. I justify it by saying that these are products you don’t have to replace on a daily or weekly basis so it is easy to forget what and how much you have. True, the smart thing would be to scope out your supplies and see what you actually need before leaving the house.

Then it sunk in. I am becoming my mother.

She is notorious for having 30 jugs of laundry soap, both from forgetting what her inventory levels are at home and picking some up because it is on sale.‎ So I really should smarten up and just give her a call when I am in a pinch and don’t want to trek to the store to get something. She delivers.