What Does It Mean to Dream of Shopping?

What Does It Mean to Dream of Shopping?

Shopping in your dreams is great because you can buy whatever you want without straining your actual bank account. The view your shopping dream gives you into your desires may also have rich symbolic importance.

Shopping Dream Summary

Shopping Dream Symbolism

Shopping in your dreams can symbolize your efforts to acquire the things you need and want. A shopping dream that feels good could show that you are succeeding at nurturing yourself physically and emotionally. However, a shopping dream with a negative emotional atmosphere may reflect that some situation in your life is not really nourishing you.

While many shopping dreams emphasize what you are acquiring, like food or clothes, some shopping dreams emphasize the money you are spending. A shopping dream that emphasizes money could reflect how you see your financial status. It might also represent other things that money can be associated with, like power or self-worth, as described in money dream symbolism.

Common Shopping Dreams

  1. Dream of grocery shopping
  2. Dream of shopping for clothes
  3. Dream of shopping for a book
  4. Dream of a shopping mall

Shopping Dream Symbolism

Needs

You do need things like food, clothes, and other basic supplies. A dream of shopping can show that you are making an effort to meet your basic needs. Especially in the case of a dream about shopping for food, a shopping dream could be about how you nourish yourself.

Wants

When you go shopping in your waking life, it can sometimes be a challenge to tell the difference between what you really need and what you just want. Is it bad to just go for what you want, though?

A dream of shopping for something that is more a want than a need could be an opportunity for you to look at what you really want in life. Sometimes it is easy to say yes to small impulse purchases when you feel like all you ever hear in regards to your bigger dreams is no.

Identity

Marketers work hard to convince shoppers that buying a particular product will make them look cool. Your dream of shopping could similarly symbolize that you hope to change how the world sees you. This could especially be the case for a dream of shopping for clothes or a car.

Common Shopping Dreams

Dream of grocery shopping

Dream of grocery shopping

Your grocery shopping dream meaning could have to do with your need to nourish yourself. What, specifically, you buy in your grocery shopping dream might symbolize what you need more of in your life.

If you are buying healthy food in your grocery shopping dream, and this is not shocking to you, this may reflect that you are good at nourishing yourself physically and perhaps emotionally too. However, if it is shocking to you that you are buying fruits and vegetables in your dream, this could show that you are becoming more attentive to your needs and learning to take care of yourself better.

If your dream about grocery shopping has you buying junk food like ice cream and chips, but you feel good about this, this could symbolize that you need to have some fun, within moderation. You are probably doing a good enough job meeting your basic responsibilities that you have space to relax a bit.

If you feel bad about buying junk food in your grocery shopping dream, though, this could symbolize that you know some situation in your life is not really nourishing you. You might be involved with a person or group out of habit or reluctance to rock the boat, but it isn’t meeting your needs.

A dream of shopping for junk food that feels bad could also be a more literal message that you need to be more attentive to your physical health.

Dream of shopping for clothes

Dream of shopping for clothes

Clothes are a big part of how you present yourself, so your clothes shopping dream meaning could symbolize that you are considering making changes to how you present yourself. This could include a change in social or professional status.

If there is a specific article of clothing you are shopping for, you may need to look at its symbolism. For example, shoes in dreams can symbolize protection and practical action toward your goals, so dreaming of shopping for shoes could symbolize you are taking steps to move forward in your life.

See also hat dream symbolism and dress dream symbolism.

Dream of shopping for a book

As described in book dream symbolism, books in dreams can symbolize authority and information. Dreaming of shopping for a book could therefore symbolize that you are looking for someone else who can give you the answer to a problem you are dealing with.

In some cases, shopping for a book in a dream might mean that you are too quick to look to others to tell you what to do instead of trying to work things out on your own first. However, if you really are in over your head, your book shopping dream meaning could be that getting advice from someone else is exactly what you need to do.

If you feel intimidated by the task of shopping for a book in your dream, this could symbolize that you feel insecure about your intellectual capabilities. If you find shopping for books in your dream thrilling, though, this may show that you are comfortable with the intellectual side of your life.

Dream of a shopping mall

Dream of a shopping mall

Dreaming of a shopping mall could be more about the idea of getting out in public than about buying specific items. This dream might symbolize that you crave variety and stimulation.

However, if you don’t enjoy the shopping mall in your dream, a negative shopping mall dream meaning could symbolize that you are frustrated with people around you seeming to be shallow and focused on things that don’t really matter.

Conclusion

The hardest part of dreaming about shopping might be buying something really cool in your dream and not being able to have it in your waking life. Shopping dreams are generally not among the more difficult or disturbing dreams a person can have. However, they can give insight on what you need to acquire in your life.