Keep it under wraps.

[MJC]

Many of us have had similar experiences with this. I was in the grocery store this week, standing in line to check out. There were two people ahead of me. The one at the cashier had a full shoping cart, I heard the woman behind her say "she ought to be ashamed of herself, bragging like that." I asked her what she ment by "bragging" and she said "I'ts like she's telling the world I have money, and alot of it by looking at her cart." We all need to be a little more careful about how we spend money, how much we buy at one time, and who's watching.

[610Alpha]

Wow, this person thought the lady in front of her was bragging because her shopping cart was full. If that is the case that lady had better not go to Sam's Club on a saturday because everyone would be a braggart by her standards. Sounds like she has the spirit of envy. Maybe that lady has a large family maybe she was buying for a soup kitchen or....IMO. Sorry its people like that that really tick me off. I guess all we can do is pray for that lady that thinks a full shopping cart is bragging.

[Denmother]

The problem is that sometimes it's hard to keep it under wraps. when you go to a place like walmart or whatever and you have a full cart, people are going to notice. usually it's the useless eaters that do the noticing. Or lord forbid going to costco or sam's club. lol. I have an excuse in that I live over an hour away from town and I stock up only once a month or so, but not everyone has that excuse. And winters can be BRUTAL here. however, unless you shop online (which presents it's own disadvantages) it's hard to hide that you are buying a full cart of stuff.

[crossbow]

they really notice when there are 40 people in the express lane and all the other lanes have 3-4 people with two carts full each and you have just 2 items.

[610Alpha]

Ask the checkout person what days and time of day are the slowest....Supermarkets have done detailed studies on this stuff. Go during one of those slow times or go more than once in a week (get a half cart each time or 3/4 cart each time). We only go to Sam's once a month and we end up with 2 carts, but we also have 2 kids in diapers so that takes up a lot of space. If there's a will there is a way. Go to more than 1 store, if that is an option. Go to more than one town is another option.

I don't concern myself with how full my cart is because when you buy 2 boxes of diapers and a box of wipes that pretty much fills up the cart :)

I do realize that living in a small town poses some privacy problems, my hometown is so small it doesn't even have a gas station nor a grocery store. I grew up in small rural towns where everyone knew you had passed gas before you did. That doesn't mean you can't go to a neighboring town to get your supplies.

If you have to drive an hour away you are probably pretty anonymous, if the nearest town is 15 minutes away then you might want to drive 30 minutes to do your bulk purchases. The farther away you get from your AO the more privacy you have and as always pay with cash.

It isn't easy but it can be done with some planning. Just gotta be sneaky :)

[Boyd]

I've heard that about me. Go to Sav-A-Lot with a kiddo, fill 2 carts full of food and spend 100$.... I am rich?! Not. I have too many kids to be rich, but folks are too nosy and judgemental.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

I had a similar experiance when I bought my pasta a while back to store. The clerk threw me right under the bus in front of everyone asking what I was gonna do with all them noodles. I never even thought anyone paid attention to anything at all anymore.

[610Alpha]

I would have said pasta art :) but I am a smart alec or I would have said none ya or its a secret and if I told ya I'd have to kill ya. I have found that if you make fun of the situation or question they usually drop it and get an embarrassed look on their face. Reminds me of the time I went to the store 4 times in one evening buying blackberries so my wife could make a pie to beat her boss at a dessert contest, we spent $30 on berries. The 3rd time the kid was like what is going on and I told him about my wife and he chuckled then he laughed even harder when I came in the last time. Granted I wasn't buying 20lbs of pasta.