You’re probably shopping wrong. Going to the grocery store doesn’t necessarily mean you need to spend $100. Sometimes I’ll take a trip to the store to get a 40-ounce sparkling water or a honeycrisp apple. Ever since I got to college, I’ve turned grocery shopping into an experience rather than a chore. It combines everything I’m looking for on a break from an overwhelming day: getting off campus (even though you will see 100 people you know at the Olmos Park H-E-B), completing a task and even getting a drink to study with. An essential part of enjoying grocery shopping is matching the right store to the experience you need at that moment.

Not all stores were created equally. I don’t just randomly select which grocery store I’m going to go to. Every store serves a different purpose. Let me break down my top four.

Trader Joe’s:

My first love, Trader Joe’s. I choose to go to Trader Joe’s when I think my friends and I could use a pick-me-up. It’s a great store to grab a fun item for under $4 and share it with your friends. Trader Joe’s and I really connected when I realized they offered my favorite snack (any sort of “puff”) in flavors you could never imagine.

Trader Joe’s is responsible for one of my favorite gatherings to host with my friends: “dip day.” On dip day, I’ll go to Trader Joe’s and pick out a bunch of their creative dips, from their buffalo chicken, cannoli, caesar salad, sweet onion, elote dip, different kinds of hummus and whatever else they come up with that season. While arguably the most fun, Trader Joe’s isn’t marriage material, and for that, I would have to refer to a more serious and reliable choice.

H-E-B:

The overall best grocery store to exist for your everyday needs, H-E-B. I don’t think you really realize how lucky you are to shop at H-E-B until you leave Texas. H-E-B consistently offers great options for produce, dairy, meat, snacks and anything else you could ever need. Shopping at H-E-B feels like you are involved in a community. It is a very homey place where it seems everyone is connected — through a Texas-based grocery store. It’s like if a public library was a store.

I understand why, when my friends moved to Canada, the only thing they asked for was a packet of H-E-B tortillas to be delivered to them. Besides just switching up H-E-B locations, it’s important to branch out to other grocery store chains (even if you’re just looking around).

Whole Foods:

Whole Foods is where I go when I want to feel like I have my life together. When I walk through the doors of a Whole Foods, I am no longer a 20-year-old college student. I turn into a successful adult who doesn’t really blink at the Whole Foods prices. I feel like a snobby food connoisseur pretending I know anything about cheese when I walk through their lavish display. I always feel some sort of relaxation when I leave a Whole Foods with a random “natural” energy drink, a soap from their fragrant display in the middle of the store and some more motivation to study for my exams — free of charge.

H-E-B’s Central Market:

Central Market is the closest we may ever get to a farmer’s market in store form. They have some of the best produce, and some of the best pineapples I’ve ever had in my entire life. This is one of the best stores to go into and pick up 15 different kinds of yogurt to compare. They have great options for prepared food, including salad, sandwiches, wraps and their hot bar. The only obstacles to getting there are surviving the parking lot and the prices.

Final Thoughts:

If your first impression of the grocery store is dreading going with your parents, stressing about your chores for the week or being overwhelmed by the crowds, I totally get that. In fact, if you were to tell younger Maddy that she now looks forward to going to the grocery store, she would’ve been a little concerned. But having a college schedule gives me the unique flexibility to shop at 2:30 p.m. on a Wednesday when everyone should be at work, which has really helped with my perception of grocery stores. Some of these stores are definitely not the most affordable, but taking a trip to the store doesn’t mean you need to buy enough food for a family of four — sometimes just a drink will do. I will say, grocery shopping becomes a chore when I’ve already gone that day and simply forgotten an item on my list, but that will never get better.

I think the best part about adopting my view on grocery stores is that it makes a task I will have to do for the rest of my life exciting. It’s so easy to get caught up in the speed of a busy school and life schedule, so I encourage you to take 20 minutes and get excited to go to the grocery store. Maybe you’ll grow to love it as much as I do.