What grocery items do you never buy?

[AmberTurnerCo]

I would
Alcohol
Crisps apart from Pringles

The thing with Iceland, Aldi, etc. is that they tend to build their stores in low-income areas, and their advertising strongly emphasises cheap, high-fat pre-prepared party food and ready meals.

I'd never been inside one until this year, because until I moved house this year I'd never had one within reasonable travel distance. They sell good stuff but I wouldn't buy the kind of products the ads focus on.

Cheese
Anything pickled
Vinegar
Cereal
Bread (make our own)
Alcohol
Tea (only drink coffee)
Cabbage
Sprouts

@boltzmannbrains Have you ever been to Aldi? Doesn't sound like it based on that comment.

Ridiculous suggestion about Aldi and Lidl. Many of their "deals of the week" are fresh veg and fruit etc. I see Lidl always advertising "award winning" meat, wine etc. I dont live close to one but always used to stop in one on the way home from work.

Vinegar never made our fabrics softer, my kids had to put up with stiff terry nappies. Fabric softener did work but it works out as expensive so I gave up after a few purchases.

'Superiority signalling', yes it's exactly that. Made even more ridiculous that it's obvious that half the replies are from people who've never been anywhere near Iceland etc.

See also all the 'I'd never go to Spain, an all inclusive hotel, on a beach holiday because reason that has nothing to do with Spain' type comments on threads about such holidays.

Sakura7

I agree- doesn't sound like ns, my ALDI at all.

I am not on a tight food budget, but seek out ALDI to shop.
On the way to my nearest store I have to drive past a Tesco, a Morrisons, a Sainsbury's and an ASDA.
Aldi is my shop of choice- so many products that I love.
I don't buy ready meals, and not much high fat stuff- unless you want to count the Goat's cheese, Spanish Manchego or Roquefort that ALDI stock, which I guess technically are all high fat foods.

I think you mean Iceland and Farmfoods boltzmannbrains Aldi is not like that at all.

Tinned pies like Fray Bentos. Tinned burgers, hot dog sausages and all that Jazz. Full of eyeholes earholes and arseholes.

Was served tinned burgers in gravy as a child at a friend's house. Never had tea there again. I think I cried. They were boak.

Of the things I know people but regularly never buy (or less than once a year for biscuits and alcohol)

Fabric softener
Air fresheners
Alcohol
Biscuits
Bottled water
Instant mash potatoes
Instant porridge/porridge in little packets
Cleaning wipes

I use fabric softener in pretty much every wash. Very hard water area here, and white vinegar makes no difference to the softness.

I don’t buy:
Tinned fruit
Tinned veg (save for tomatoes and baked beans)
Frozen veg (save for frozen peas)
The tubs of ice cream that were a staple when I was a kid (tend to buy individual pots but more likely to be magnums and ice lollies)
Microwave rice (stopped during lockdown due to lack of availability and am enjoying the coat saving)
Pet food

Also bottled water

boltz oh good grief.
Iceland sells plenty of branded foods both frozen and non frozen. Items I regularly buy from there include
Kingsmill Bread
Flora
Heinz sauses
HP sauses
Robinsons squash
Birds Eye products
Kellogs cereals
Dolmeo sauses
Alberto Balsam shampoo
Walkers crisps
Cathedral City Cheese
Loads loads more that I can't even think of right now.
Amazingly all those branded products will be exactly the same as the ones sold in Waitrose.

We live in a soft water area, fabric softener is unnecessary and I don't like the strong artificial smells.

Oldbagface what on earth are tinned burgers? Never heard of those in my life.

Tinned burgers were a treat for me as a child.
But you haven't eaten my mother's cooking..............

Breakfast cereal, white bread, baked beans

Ready meals
Instant Mash
Beer

Pringles
Packet soups
Ready meals

Processed meat - sausages, burgers etc.
And mince - I always worry about what it is made from....
[I mince my own meat though - from a recognisable cut!!!]
Anything spicy.

Agree with you @BarbaraofSeville, on both counts. And tbh at least staff in Iceland get a proper living wage, unlike the permanently rotating pool of new graduates on minimum in the artisanal bread/deli shops and the like in our town. Similarly, the guy serving you drinks in your hotel in Fuengirola has EU protections re wages, working and living conditions, unlike your maid in, say, the Dominican Republic. Oh, and he's free to actually sit on his own damn beach as well.

It is interesting, the things that people choose to use to signal their superiority and virtuous living with.

Anything containing aspartame.
Cheap eggs.
Value meat.
Dutch or Danish bacon.
Margarine.
Offal.
Imported strawberries or asparagus.
Loads of fruit and veg in the wrong season.
Anti bac cleaning products.

[right on emoji]

We've recently started buying pre grated cheese and freezing it, I stock up when I see a good offer or go to Costco, I realised that we only eat cheddar grated these days (we're both watching our weight) so it's waste free, saves time and cost effective. I watch what's in it, my usual brand has a little potato starch which I'm fine with. Saves meal prep time which is a bonus, I also buy frozen chopped onions and garlic for the same reason which I know is controversial on here.

Iceland I go to maybe every other month, I stock up on frozen vegetables mainly, again, as a small family there's less waste than buying fresh with some vegetables and I like to have things like frozen spinach to add to sauces etc. for a bit of extra veg.

I'm not a prepper by any means but as a single parent I like to have at least 2 weeks worth of food in the house, and food DD can easily prepare just in case of illness, being snowed in, car trouble .....

@bookmum08 just search tinned burgers and look on images. There's a whole selection to look at. I've just discovered they sell them in brine as well as in gravy. Decided to skip lunch, I feel billious.

Oldbagface oooh I am definitely going to Google now. I am very curious