Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Mu parents have bought 48 tins of tuna

312 replies

CrinklyCraggy · 07/02/2022 19:56

It was on offer at a discount store, worked out about 50p a tin.

These are not poor people. One of their biggest concerns is inheritance tax (I say fgs spend it!)

They don't even like tuna much, but have been back for another 48 tins.

This absolutely will not be wasted. They will plough their way through 96 tins of tuna that they don't enjoy, just to be thrifty, which they don't need to be.

They've always been ones for stocking up when the price is good - in then70s they would buy a whole cow from the butcher for the freezer, but surely this is ridiculous?

What's more, I mentioned that we actually get through quite a bit of tinned tuna because it's about the only thing DS2 likes in a sandwich and they didn't even offer me a pallet Grin

Do you have examples of extreme and unnecessary thrift? I like a bargain, I'd stock up if it was something I enjoyed, but when you don't?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
BarbaraofSeville · 08/02/2022 08:51

@itsgettingweird

I need the tuna bargain!

Ds eats 4 tuna rolls a day as he's an athlete. We go through 8 times a week!

Same here. We have 4 of our own cats and 7 foster cats including a mama and 5 kittens and I've more or less stopped giving them their tuna treat due to the price increase but if I can get a case they can have some.

Going out later so will swing by a Lidl or two to see if there is any left which is unlikely because it will all be in the OPs parents garage.

OpinionatedToday · 08/02/2022 09:15

@Mumdiva99

I would buy that deal but my Tuna recipes don't extend beyond Tuna and sweetcorn mix (with peppers and olives if being posh) in mayo. Or Tuna with pasta and tomato sauce.

Inspire me Mumsnet....

www.mumsnet.com/food/recipe/350-Super-fast-tuna-patties
SpaghettiArmsMurderer · 08/02/2022 09:16

@marpelier

PLease don't donate to a foodbank. Just because you are poor shouldn't mean you have to eat cheap tinned tuna. Only half joking. And as pp's have mentioned , cheap tuna is terrible for the environment and full of mercury. Vom.
Tuna has the same amount of mercury regardless of how expensive it is, or branded or not. Tuna are wild fish and they are high in mercury because they feed on smaller fish and it builds up along the food chain.
Violinist64 · 08/02/2022 09:17

My husband has always been one for a bargain whether we need it or not. Toiletries are his main thing - we have enough toothpaste, shower gel and shampoo to stock a medium sized branch of Boots. He does buy food bargains too but he has to eat the vast majority it is often things that l don’t like. However, remember the great toilet roll scramble of March 2020? No problem for us - he had several years’ supply anyway. He was smugly congratulating himself on his forethought, totally forgetting how often l have complained about finding places to store everything.

THisbackwithavengeance · 08/02/2022 09:20

@harriethoyle

Completely missing the point but I'm going to lidl tomorrow to look for this deal!
Me too!
HoneyFlowers · 08/02/2022 09:36

Oh my FIL wouldn't pay £1-2 parking on our wedding day, would only park other end of town for free parking, would have meant everyone waiting half hour for him to catch up to venue so we could get married. In end the stress of it all meant we changed wedding location.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 08/02/2022 09:37
Shock
RachelGreeneGreep · 08/02/2022 10:05

@AliceAbsolum

Yes my aunties like this. Big house, hundreds of thousands of pounds in savings and they eat the cheapest food everyday. Basic white sliced bread, cheapest margarine, everything is cooked like they're on rations. But they're really quite well off. Madness
It's sad really when people won't allow themselves a treat, or even basic comforts. I suppose it, as has been said, can be a result of upbringing, growing up in really hard times and so on. And then they leave loads of money after them when they are gone.

They don't even like tuna much, but have been back for another 48 tins.
This absolutely will not be wasted. They will plough their way through 96 tins of tuna that they don't enjoy, just to be thrifty, which they don't need to be.

The fact that they don't even enjoy it has just struck me, on rereading it. If it was something they loved and would usually eat a lot of, it would be sort of understandable.

RachelGreeneGreep · 08/02/2022 10:06

@HoneyFlowers

Oh my FIL wouldn't pay £1-2 parking on our wedding day, would only park other end of town for free parking, would have meant everyone waiting half hour for him to catch up to venue so we could get married. In end the stress of it all meant we changed wedding location.
Shock I hope nobody in his family inherited his miserly ways.
DropYourSword · 08/02/2022 10:10

Are they actually just cats in a very convincing disguise?

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 08/02/2022 10:11

Perhaps they are going to try and reassemble them into a fish?

Like a giant 3D jigsaw puzzle Hmm

Maremaremare · 08/02/2022 10:23

@Vebrithien

I have a somewhat heartwarming one though. My dear departed grandfather never EVER wanted to wasted anything. Everything that could possibly be saved, was. I lost him in 1996.

At some point in the late '80's, my grandparents got a new, plastic set of Christmas fairy lights. My dear GF carefully unscrewed all of the metal screw bulbs, and kept them. Just in case.

When my beloved GM passed away, she left me all of her Christmas fairy lights. Carefully tucked away in the middle, was a little box I'd given my GF, with all of the spare, old bulbs safely inside. This was in 2014.

Fast forward to this Christmas, just gone. We visited DH's parents. They had their tree, with the original fairy lights that they had got for when DH (in his late 30's) was a baby. They were sadly lamenting that if another, single bulb went, they would have to get rid of the set, as they just couldn't find any replacements.

AND MY GRANDAD'S BULBS FIT!

There are enough to light their tree for many, many years, and I find it so lovely that, although my GF never got to meet DH (they would have got on), something he did , so many years ago, as a frugal instinct, has made my PIL and DH so happy.

Love this story so much!!!
MrPenguinsPoppers · 08/02/2022 11:01

Must confess, when the boiler went into the loft and the airing cupboard became redundant it was repurposed as my 'Costco Cupboard'.

I have all sorts in there from tissues, kitchen roll, toilet roll and dog food to shampoo, dog food and coffee mate. It's just easier to buy it that way when I go to Costco, or if something is on offer.

I do draw the line at 48 tins of tuna though, mostly because nobody here really eats it.

senua · 08/02/2022 15:27

Yay! I now have 48 cans of tuna. Normal size (145g) with a BBE of 31.12.2024
Thanks MN Smile

JuergenSchwarzwald · 08/02/2022 15:32

Tuna. Bleugh.

Nutgirl · 08/02/2022 16:13

I am really enjoying this post and don't want to stop the fun but I can't help thinking that if everyone who is hoarding so much food gave some away to food banks then it could really help people who are struggling. Seems ridiculous to have so much surplus food sitting in people's cupboards when there are other people out there who are genuinely going hungry due to the cost of living crisis.

BogRollBOGOF · 08/02/2022 17:09

My user name can be summed up by the word Costco, and I did go slightly ahead of schedule in Feb 2020.

I am still working on the pack of Imperial Leather soap that I bought then... 6 bars used/ in service... 10 to go. Sorted until 2025...

If I'm going to town for small/ light things and don't need much, I'll save the £3 for a stinky car park and the aggro, park for free a mile away at a park and enjoy a pleasant river walk in. But I'm not thrifty enough to do it lugging something heavy or in terrible weather as a point of principle.

DM is a hoarder but not thrifty. With a WW2 childhood, she was a teenager before she really experienced life without rationing.
It's definitely a false economy with her because she's got little concept of what she has and it's not managed/ used.

PostThenGhost · 08/02/2022 17:10

Please don’t feed cats tuna too often. It can be addictive, lead to taurine deficiency and cause health problems.

Tuna contains small amounts of mercury, eating large amounts or frequently eating tuna can lead to mercury poisoning in cats. Mercury poisoning can cause muscle weakness, vision impairment, memory loss and lack of coordination
www.tuxedo-cat.co.uk/can-cats-eat-tuna/

FoggySpecs · 08/02/2022 17:41

TBH maybe your parents aren't being stingy about the parking, it is the hassle of actually finding a parking spot. I feel like this but I do live in London.

Buggersticks · 08/02/2022 17:56

@CrinklyCraggy

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

PetuniaT · 08/02/2022 17:58

Good for them! Maybe being thrifty like this enabled them to buy their own home - cf the moaning Minnie's on the Kirstie Alsopp thread bleating on about giving up unnecessary items like take aways, gym memberships and Nextflix until they've got their essentials sorted. It's all about priorities

Esspee · 08/02/2022 18:03

My OH has given away £160K to family in the last year in the hope that he lives long enough for the gifts to avoid inheritance tax yet he won’t pay for parking. It just makes me laugh.

harrystylestaylorswift · 08/02/2022 18:11

@Vebrithien

I have a somewhat heartwarming one though. My dear departed grandfather never EVER wanted to wasted anything. Everything that could possibly be saved, was. I lost him in 1996.

At some point in the late '80's, my grandparents got a new, plastic set of Christmas fairy lights. My dear GF carefully unscrewed all of the metal screw bulbs, and kept them. Just in case.

When my beloved GM passed away, she left me all of her Christmas fairy lights. Carefully tucked away in the middle, was a little box I'd given my GF, with all of the spare, old bulbs safely inside. This was in 2014.

Fast forward to this Christmas, just gone. We visited DH's parents. They had their tree, with the original fairy lights that they had got for when DH (in his late 30's) was a baby. They were sadly lamenting that if another, single bulb went, they would have to get rid of the set, as they just couldn't find any replacements.

AND MY GRANDAD'S BULBS FIT!

There are enough to light their tree for many, many years, and I find it so lovely that, although my GF never got to meet DH (they would have got on), something he did , so many years ago, as a frugal instinct, has made my PIL and DH so happy.

I love this story
Clytemnestra2 · 08/02/2022 18:26

The comments on this thread on saving money on parking are exactly what my parents used to do.

Despite having enough money to pay for parking so many day trips involved parking a long walk away from where we were actually going, in order to avoid parking charges. Cue my brother and I then being tired and fed up by the time we actually walked wherever it was we were visiting and so not really enjoying the day out anyway!

Another classic of my parents was to go after lunch to somewhere that would have been best as a full day trip. So that we could have lunch at home beforehand and ‘save money’. The fact that we then only got 2-3 hours rather than 6 hours or whatever at the place we were visiting - and so not getting good value on our tickets - was seemingly lost on them.

Mirw · 08/02/2022 18:26

Your parents shop in Lidl! I thought about it but since my partner doesn't eat fish....