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I like the Safeway mini-baskets as well. So does the boyfriend, since then he doesn't have to carry the heavy basket! :)

I've never really thought about my cart phobia until reading this post. I think it has something to do with freedom of movement, but I always use the baskets. However, I have been known to send my husband for another basket when one got too full half-way through the store.

Definitely a basket if I'm walking or taking public transportation home so I don't end up buying more than I can carry. But if I'm driving and have a long list, I'll grab a cart, although I hate getting into traffic jams with them or having to leave them somewhere to squeeze into a crowded aisle.

I like the small, double-decker carts at Whole Foods. They're easier to maneuver in tight spaces than traditional carts and the two areas let you separate heavy items from things that would be squashed, like bunches of herbs.

When you are only cooking for one or two its pretty easy to get away with just a basket. Especially if you run to the store on a regular basis for fresh produce etc.

Also I have found it helps me keep me from buying stuff I don't really need if I have a basket rather than a big over sized cart. When faced with the idea of having to lug guilty pleasures like ice cream or soda in a basket they loose almost all of their allure! Ok so sometimes I swing back and grab one or the other as I'm about to check out but it certainly curbs it...

Once in awhile when I am restocking on items I buy in bulk ill grab a cart, usually i'll grab the S.O. as well to push it around for me too!

I don't know how to drive a car, and that seems to translate into complete incompetence using a shopping cart, so it's basket all the way. Except when I can't find one, which is reasonably often in my pedestrian-friendly neighbourhood.

I love the tiny carts too! Theyre turning up in a ll our grocery stores her in the city - as if the grocery store people have figured out that not everyone is shopping for 4.

I prefer to use only a basket, but sometimes that's impossible. Making more frequent trips would allow the use of a basket, but then sometimes I end up coming home with more anyway. I guess that's my fault though. I wish stores had more of the smaller carts.

I like carrying a basket, but usually buy heavy enough groceries that I need a cart. When the store is extremely busy, I'll take a cart regardless, because I've been pinned by other shoppers' carts enough times to know I need the cart for defensive purposes.

I bring my own shopping cart with me for shlepping the groceries home. So as I'm shopping I put the heaviest, non-fragile items straight into it, and carry a basket on top of it for the smaller, more fragile stuff.

on my own - i use basket
if i'm with my husband and we're doing a big shop then i make him drive the shopping cart - I used to be a "Courtesy Clerk" (grocery bagger) that helped people to their cars with the groceries and that is where I developed my aversion to pushing carts.

It's always been baskets for me, for years (especially in very crowded Fairway), but now the grocery store where I live has introduced the tiny carts, and I'm addicted to them. Best of both worlds.

I use a shopping cart, but always leave it at the aisle's end-cap and grab whatever I need from the aisle unencumbered by the cart. This strategy helps me avoid getting stuck in cart traffic within the aisles.

I figure that if I can carry the basket in the store, I can carry the groceries home. But this is only a strategy I've adopted since living in New York.

Hee, I thought I was the only one with an aversion to shopping carts! Basket. Always a basket. I figure if it doesn't fit in there, I don't need it.

I like baskets at Trader Joe's because at ours (Pittsburgh) the pasta/oil/staples aisle is too narrow for two carts to pass! It's the busiest aisle in the place, too! However, I like the mini carts at our local chain (Giant Eagle) except I always bang my shin on the crossbar! I can't win. :)

I always shop using a basket, because I have to carry what I buy home on my back.

Basket. I shop for my groceries weekly so I really don't stock up on items.

depends on my shopping list and also depends on if I have any kids with me. Usually use the cart though.

Anyone who carries a basket is a sucker. As soon as one puts a thing of milk in the basket, one immediately regrets it. Carrying around that much weight when the cart is easy.

Mini-carts are the way to go! Yay for stores who have realized some of us don't have 8 people to feed!

If I know I'm getting a lot of canned goods and booze, I go for the cart, but I try to go for the basket as much as possible. I love the maneuverability, and I know it prevents me from having a dozen bags of groceries to unload.

Inevitably, though, I end up with about thirty pounds of wine and canned tomatoes weighing down one end, a precariously balanced dozen eggs hanging off the other, and a six pack of beer in my free hand.

We had some of those double-decker mini carts at the local Price Chopper for a while, but it's near the headquarters, and they've re-allocated them to other stores. :( Hannaford has smaller versions of the regular carts, which are a very good size. They're about 4" shorter in height and length, and narrower, as well.

you captured exactly my feelings! I *never* use the cart. And, if basket are missing, sometimes I just juggle stuff on my arms... not always a brilliant idea

I'm a huge fan of the little basket carts that allow you to roll around with two baskets in the cart. When I go to trader joe's I have a basket only policy - that store should NOT have regular carts!! On the rare occasions I make to a regular grocery store, I never buy enough to actually need the cart so it works out.

Sigh, I wish my Whole Foods had mini-carts.

usually a basket, a cart if I'm... carting a heavier than usual load

Whole Foods out here has small carts---their top compartment is slightly larger than a basket. That's what I always use.

when i'm in nyc a basket
when I'm in texas - a cart! there is more room in the store compared to tiny grocery stores here in the city.

Basket. I hate grocery store cart-traffic (and stroller traffic when the strollers are 5x the size of any human) so I refuse to contribute to it.
I also know that if it doesn't fit in a basket I will either not be able to fit it into my backpack to carry home, or will have to use a credit card.

i hate baskets b/c they get heavy. I hate carts b/c I tend to want to fill them up and they are hard to maneuver.

Has anyone considered taking their own shopping cart? I have one i got at the container store that folds up and rocks b/c it's lightweight. I figured if I have a little cart, I can't bring home unnecessary items, and not have the weight issues that you would w/ a basket. :)

I love the stores like Whole Foods that have the convertible basket/carts. They're basically just slightly deeper baskets, with wheels and a telescoping handle like a suitcase so that you can either carry it, or pull out the back long handle and pull it like a cart.

They're super convenient because they fit a tiny bit more than an average basket, you can carry them when the store is crowded, and you can set them down and roll them if you throw in a milk and a few canned goods and realize you don't want to lug that much around the store.

The mini-carts are great too, but I prefer the rolly-basket just for versatility.

I use a basket for two reasons:
1. I am only shopping for one person and therefore
2. If it doesn't fit in a basket then I can't afford it all.

Added bonus: carrying my groceries gives me more of a workout while I do my shopping :)

Fairway is always sooo packed that it is always whatever is smallest and will allow me to squeeze through the crowds. I've been to known to suffer serious arm cramps after packing the basket full of canned tomatoes, milk, cheese, oils you name it! Carts and cars.. a luxury us NY'ers can't afford!

I use the double decker carts-- you put a basket in the top and bottom and go. I hate maneuvering a big cart, and carrying a basket with milk and veggies is just too much.

I'm on a budget and cooking for 2. Using a basket USUALLY ensures that I leave with a bill of under 30 bucks!

Nancy
http://testkitchenette.wordpress.com

i pretty much always use a cart, so that i have somewhere to dump my purse, reusable bags, and coat (seasonally), and somewhere to set down my list and pen. I rarely use a basket, mostly because those seem to be the times i run across a great sale on a canned item and need to pick up 4 or more of them.

I tend to shop during the non-busy times, so managing cart traffic isn't a problem for me.

Basket all the way. I shop pretty frequently, every 2-3 days, so the basket is the right size. If the basket is too heavy, i'm buying too much/the wrong stuff. when the basket's full, it's time to stop shopping, so it helps keep the grocery bills down too.
Our local Metro store has new larger basket/carts with the telescoping handle and wheels. I find they are too tall and not wide enough, things end up getting piled on top of everything else, too much getting squished. Plus you end up bending right down to the ground to put stuff in them.

I've considerd taking my own basket to the store, one of the aluminum/nylon market baskets. I figure that way i'd save on the need for bags at the end.