Hypothetical JFF...

Updated on October 01, 2011
R.D. asks from Richmond, VA
37 answers

...although it's not so much 'fun' as 'WWYD'... what would you do... we need more abbreviations!! ;)

Okay, hypothetical question... you have a huge grocery shopping trip, huge meaning, you're going to fill the cart. Lot's of staples for the house, and some special requests from the kids and husband. Assume you have a 20-30 minute drive to the store, and you need this stuff by tonight. You only have 1 hour to shop, because you have other obligations later on in the day.

You get to the store... and realize you've forgotten your list.

What do you do? Do you wing it and rack your brain for any possible item on the list you might have missed? (Also assume you can't call home and ask someone to read you the list)... or do you curse yourself for being forgetful, rush home, grab the list, then go back and begin shopping?

Just wondering :)

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

So What Happened?

LOL Heather, I don't know, maybe you live in the country!... Actually, my grocery store is like 2 minutes away, and I STILL wouldn't go back and get that list!

Isn't that the worst when you forget ONE STINKING THING and have to go right back? Even worst, when you're already elbow deep making dinner, and you realize you forgot one irreplaceable ingredient and have to beg the hubs to go to the store and get it real quick?!

Featured Answers

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

I wing it...I'm a fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl so I would just fly with it and remember what I could....I usually don't forget what my list was...I guess this is one of my quirks!!!

if i have other obligations and this is my only time to shop - FLY BY THE SEAT OF MY PANTS!!!

4 moms found this helpful

A.G.

answers from Boston on

No way would I drive home to get the list, I would wing it and anything I forgot I would stop and pick up later in the week :)

4 moms found this helpful

T.K.

answers from Dallas on

Shop from memory. Then tomorrow, circle things on the list I forgot and pick up at the nearest dollar store or while running other errands.

4 moms found this helpful

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

E.S.

answers from New York on

I'd curse myself and then fill up the cart with what I remember the most. Usually those are the essentials. Then I'll bring the goods home, check the list and ask DH to pick up the rest on the way home!

4 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

H.P.

answers from Houston on

Um, I am a person who tries to force everything into one trip from the car to the house, so I would not be going back and forth like that. I would trust my memory and make do until the next trip.

(Why in the world is the store so far away?)

3 moms found this helpful

T.N.

answers from Albany on

Yeah, not so hypothetical! Forget my list all the time. Never go back for it.
Even when I DO remember the list, I sometimes forget things that are ON the damn list anyway.

So yeah, I spend a LOT of time at the grocery store, sigh.

:(

3 moms found this helpful

J.S.

answers from Jacksonville on

If the garage door has already shut, then the list stays where it is.

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.N.

answers from Chicago on

Wing it. Staples for the home are easier since I can think of things room by room. Things that are special requests, well, if forgotten, they can go get them themselves. It's about time someone else runs to the store.

2 moms found this helpful

S.H.

answers from Spokane on

The closest grocery store to me is 15 minutes away and I have forgotten my grocery list before! It sucks. I didn't go back home to get it, just did my best from memory.
I do live out in "the country" and there is no running to the store. I shop for 1 or 2 weeks at a time.

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

I'd wing it.

That has happened to me.
And I winged it.
Got most of it correct, just on memory.
Came home.
Had the cupboards filled again.
It was fine.
If I forgot something, oh well!
Just get it next time.

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.K.

answers from Houston on

I wing it. In fact that is normal for me!

2 moms found this helpful

L.U.

answers from Seattle on

I curse myself and then wing it!! I have a pretty good memory, but I ALWAYS forget something, list or not. Then, when I get home and I realize I forgot something I would call my husband to pick it up on his way home.
L.

1 mom found this helpful

A.G.

answers from Houston on

I wing it.....happens all the time.

1 mom found this helpful

M.J.

answers from Minneapolis on

me? I would go aisle to aisle throwing what I KNOW I need and what I think I want in there. When i get home I check the list. What didnt get gotten gets the HUSAND to the store later. LOL

1 mom found this helpful

T.L.

answers from St. Louis on

Seems like I forget my list all the freaking time. I always just wing it. I get more upset when I forget my ad match or my coupons.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.G.

answers from Norfolk on

I would try to remember my list the best I can. Hopefully my memory for grocery lists is better than my memory for names!:)

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

T.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

I would wing it, and my grocery store is 2 min away also :)

1 mom found this helpful

H.V.

answers from Cleveland on

Thankfully my store is like 5 min from my house. But honestly. I wouldn't turn around haha

I usually do my shopping at night when the kids are asleep. So i always just want it done. I've been really good about meal planning for the weeks to come so i usually end up getting the same things when at the store.
So the staples i.e tomatoes, onion, peppers, bread, potatoes, rice, etc
Ya know the stuff I can buy and use in a bunch of different meals.
Then I will buy the other stuff that is for specific meals.
Im usually pretty good about remembering my list. Except I always find a way to forget to grab the one thing my hubby asks for lol

1 mom found this helpful

R.B.

answers from La Crosse on

no way would I go back! I would just try to remember...

our closest grocery store is 40 mins away... if it forgot something it will have to wait until next week.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.B.

answers from Missoula on

I wing it. I have an especially good memory for things that I've written down, which is to say that if I had written out the list of say 50 items, I would be able to recreate the list and get 48 of them. Good thing too, because I can't tell you how many times I have done exactly what you described.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.K.

answers from Sacramento on

I have lost my list at the store before. I looked for it for a while swearing under my breath and then I just did my best to remember what was on it. Then at check out, I found it had fallen into the cart and I didn''t see it among some things I had put in there. Grrrr!!!!!!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.C.

answers from Dover on

Yeah, so THIS has happened.

I usually know when we are out of the must haves (i.e. - the kids are wiping with coffee filters) so I usually get what we can't do without and what can wait has to wait. I will not go back. We will use coffee filters for another 24 hrs before I go back.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.F.

answers from Utica on

I am horrible for lists. We usually always end up wondering aisle after aisle and spending way more money than need be so forgetting the list would be nothing for me. I like think though that because \i am in the grocery store so often that I am quite the savvy shopper when it comes to seeing what a deal actually is

F.H.

answers from Phoenix on

Well, I never make a list, I always "wing" it but I always tend to buy the same things anyway. I go up and down each isle, look at my faves, buy them if I need them but REALLY load up if I notice they are on sale like 10 for $10. So I guess if it were me I would just wing it. =)

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.S.

answers from Casper on

It's not often that I make a list, but when I do I can remember 98%. No way am I going home to get it!

T.M.

answers from Modesto on

I rarely make a list unless I have to have some special ingredients that I figure I might not remember if I dont write them down. I keep my list in my head for the most part. It's walking distance to a mom and pop store in my area so If I do forget something necessary it's easy to go get it.

M.M.

answers from Houston on

I shop anyways. There is nothing in this world save life saving medication that cannot be gotten at the store the next day.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.M.

answers from Chicago on

I'm with Heather P - why is your store so far away. First I would move... to a house closer to the store... that comes with a maid... and a cook - so why am I doing the shopping anyway!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously - my grocery list is in my phone. If I would ever leave the house without my phone I would go into some sort of combo withdrawl/panic attack and have to be committed immediately. Therefore my family would have to eat out that night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.T.

answers from New York on

I'd wing it. I could remember most things on my list. I would never go back for forgetting one thing, the supermarket is 13 miles away.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.B.

answers from Charlotte on

.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.S.

answers from Cincinnati on

I love heather asking why the store would be so far! my drive is 30 to 40 minutes! and no I don't live in the country. I live in the center of a town that has little to no buisnesses. And I have done this before! If I really need to go grocery shopping and have to wait till pay day (a day where my hubby works 8am-9pm) I have to wait for my husband to get home from his first job (if he can get hom in between them) because we share a car. Then I have to load up my kid. Drop my husband off at his second job. drive 45 min to the store (yes driving my husband to work tacts an extra 15 min on our trip) and then have to get the shopping done get home and unload it and be able to feed my toddler dinner before picking my hubby up at work! If I forget my list I try to do it from memory. One time I actually forgot my wallet and didnt reliese it till I got to the store! that time I did have to turn back. Talk about a waste of gas!

M.D.

answers from Washington DC on

I LOVE my lists, but I can wing it too :o). Granted, that means hubby is going out for whatever I missed later! LOL.

And a huge trip is one cart filled to the top? We fill two every two weeks!!!

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

I live about 2 minutes from an Ok store where I will pick up a last minute thing and 5 minutes from my favorite where I frequent daily.

I used to wing it if I left my list but now I have Grocery IQ and I keep a running list for Market Street ( daily), Costco ( a 2-3 month run), and the butcher shop.

The phone has saved me!! No I wouldn't go back for the list because I'd probably get distracted and end up screwng it all up!! I have too much going on to do that!!

H.G.

answers from Dallas on

Id be pissed! Even though I did it! Nope, if I didn't have the stupid list I would forget! I would suck it up and go back tomorrow :(

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I would remember what I could. I wouldn't turn around & drive 20-30 minutes, get the list and drive another 20-30 minutes back. I thought we only had an hour total to do the shopping?

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.L.

answers from Chicago on

Given your time restraints I would simply wing it LOL!!!!

J.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

People make lists?
Every time I shop I wing it. =)

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions