How much of the extra 16 pints of milk and 5 loaves of bread bought just in case are actually consumed

I saw someone with 6x cases of Tenants and a couple of bottles of whisky yesterday, and had the same thought....

We don't buy milk throughout the year unless guests (or trades people) are expected as we don't drink the stuff. Occasionally I'll get some if it's required for a recipe, but as we've been living on a building site for the past year, there's no baking etc being done.

We're going to family on Christmas Eve, then there's just us two here on Christmas Day and Boxing Day so no milk purchased.

One white loaf (for sandwiches), a brown sourdough and some mini rolls (both to accompany starters etc) purchased which will last a week or longer, depending on the date. Otherwise it'll be frozen.

We do treat ourselves to some different food for the Christmas break - which seems to get harder each year as we have a roast every week in autumn/winter, and we're not fans of turkey, so it's difficult to find something a bit special. OH always buys a gammon and I chose a duck this year - although these will both be cooked in the airfryer as we currently don't have a working oven or hob.

I buy extra bread because my mum eats a lot of toast.

we do this year round as we have lots of freezer space and live miles from any shops

Maybe they freeze them, as I do.

We had our first proper Xmas dinner yesterday (12 people) then we have 16 on Xmas eve, 5 on Xmas day and 4 on boxing day. We’ve already got through 3 loaves of bread since Saturday and 6 pints of milk but we are not big bread eaters ourselves so I’m always surprised how much toast and how many sarnies others eat

Some of that will be used in cooking different dishes, not just consumed in the usual way.

I have 3 adults coming and I have bought 8 extra pints of milk, 3 times as many eggs, and I've got the bread maker out because I will need more loaves. But the Christmas desserts and baking and sauces etc will all need those ingredients and I don't make those any other time of the year.

You’d be surprised. I’ve got a houseful of visitors here for five days and the bread and milk disappear at an alarming rate!

The supermarkets are closed for one day. Just one day. Those very same people filling trolleys with so much food will be back for more on Boxing Day.
I worked Boxing Day and couldn't believe how many people lack the ability to cater for a few extra visitors. One customer in particular had spent over £200 on Christmas Eve and back again on Boxing Day spending another £200. I asked " have you eaten all that food already?" The reply was "no, we have visitors and can't give them leftovers so threw away the turkey, left over veg, potatoes, pudding etc etc?
As for the milk and bread, some care homes do a big top up as they have a lot of mouths to feed and usual delivery stops over the Christmas period.

Surely they go in the freezer and used when needed.

Hardly difficult.

My teens drink endless amounts of milk. 6 pints last less than 2 days because both have cereal and drink a pint of milk a couple of times a day. Tbh I'd much rather they drink pints of milk than alcohol. I fill up the door on my fridge Xmas Eve and will need more by 27th.

I buy extra because I don't want to go shopping during the holidays, but nothing is ever wasted.
People judge and mock others for piling their trolleys high, assuming they are greedy and stupid , but you don't know how many people they are hosting & catering for or for how long do you ?
When I was a child all the food shops local to me would shut on Christmas eve and only re-open the day after new year, so you had to stock up a bit, only news agents opened on Boxing day because there were papers to sell.
We didn't have much of a freezer back then either so we bought things like part baked bread rolls and bread mixes, long life milk, tinned milks and creams, tinned ham & salmon etc to tide us over. We even had a whole chicken in a can once and tinned sausage rolls! They were delish!

I saw someone in Aldi last Thursday with 16 X 6 pints of milk! That was all he had in his trolley. I thought 'What in earth are you going to do with all that? Bath in it?'.

When you have like an extra 6 people staying with you for the week, you can easily go through 4 pints of milk and a loaf of bread a day. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We have no Christmas house guests this year, but when I do, the food shopping for the week is easily £400-500+. Yes, that can include a lot of milk and bread because they eat enormous amounts.

Our closest proper shop (not a petrol station) is 30 minutes away.

But who wants to be going back to the shops over Christmas? It’s much easier to buy a few day’s worth of bread and milk so you don’t have to go again. The shops are busy all over the holidays and it’s bad enough having to go once.

We have 20+ for four days. Won't be going shopping in that period so extra bread, milk and everything is necessary.

even if it was just 3 home from uni and 3 off school/nursery we'd still need a bigger shop.

We did have an amusing moment last Christmas when one of our guests said "People get ridiculous - I saw a woman with five loaves in her trolley in Tesco. Who needs five loaves?" and then something clicked and he looked around the table and said "... probably someone with a family like ours..." 😂 He took everyone's amusement with good grace.

Also, for every person ‘stocking up’ there will be somebody else not doing a shop at all that week as they are going to stay elsewhere for christmas

We have gone through 8 pints of milk since friday evening (3 teens!) so our normal usage is through the roof!
christmas we will be double the people staying over the few days so 10 of us. Will need to ensure enough milk for hot chocolates, cheese sauce, custard, etc.

Breadwise i will need bread to make toast for pate, bread for prawn cocktail. Nice Breads for soup on christmas eve and then will get some par bake rolls fo boxing day leftovers.

I don’t want to have to pop to the shop every day (which for us would involve driving as only shop in village closing from 23rd until 29th. I want to be able to have a drink and not worry about running our of something.

Also I’ll do my last shop on 23rd and expect that to last through until 31st. I don’t want to be buying more and continuing to fill fridge in that period.

I like stuffing the fridge and then using every last bit in increasingly interesting ways

I’ll make a couple of bead/milk heavy dishes that I wouldn’t regularly over Christmas:

leeks in cheese sauce
cauliflower cheese
stuffing
bread sauce

(I’ve used two bloomer loaves just for the bread sauce!)

so definitely all gets used - in fact I might need to pop out for more

We use three of the 4 pint bottles a week, there's two sometimes 3 of us in the house.
we have 9 here for Christmas, so I'll buy our three bottles on Tuesday and if it all goes I'll buy more Friday. I won't buy loads of bread, I have a couple of bags of the bake at home stuff for extra. If we don't use it it has a long day so will be used by new year.

Why for gods sake?
Shops are only closed 24hrs.

Does anyone shop every day,

As mass consumers of milk in our house, we go through 3 plus pints a day. That goes up to 4 plus with some extra family, we just love it.

2 litres over 8-10 days is minimal. Clearly others are using much more than you so it will seem a lot higher than your really low usage. I personally go through about half of our 16 pints a week and that is mainly in coffee and to drink. No cereal for me.

Milk: bread sauce, trifle, custard- for 8 people - that will be 6 pints instantly, then all the coffee. Bread I wouldn’t use but if they were having left over turkey sandwiches they might.

I might look in your trolley and think ‘how the hell do they get through that much booze?’ - because I don’t drink alcohol. Everyone is different - or hadn’t you noticed?