Should You Let Men Grocery Shop?

In this new evolved world with women and men working, traditional ‘home’ duties are shared with both partners. Men have learned to express themselves through cooking, which is great for all of us who never quite enjoyed the chore. But should they do the grocery shopping for the household?

Not if you want to manage your money according to Paco Underhill, who has created the science of watching and analyzing people’s shopping behaviors! In the supermarket you can watch men exhibit the “carefree abandon and restless lack of discipline for which the gender is known.” This quotation comes from his book “Why We Buy – The Science of Shopping”.

Men Over Spend

Paco’s company Envirosell noted in one supermarket study that almost all of the women came with lists, but less than a quarter of the men did. Without a list, anything, and too much, will likely end up in the shopping cart and blow the weekly food budget. Sending a man with kids is even more dangerous. Those wonderful little people are likely to get what they ask for right off the shelves with Dad at the helm. Paco attributes this to fathers fulfilling their self image as family providers.

If having your man do the grocery shopping buys you precious time or mental sanity, then perhaps it’s worth it. If you are pinching pennies however, you may want to take back the grocery shopping and give him the laundry. There is a much lower risk of money mismanagement – unless of course he ruins clothing.

Carrie Rattle is a Principal at BehavioralCents.com, a web site for women focused on the psychology of money behaviors. She has worked in the financial services industry for 20+ years and hopes to inspire women to better prepare themselves for financial independence. Thoughts always welcome: carrierattle@behavioralcents.com.