Mu parents have bought 48 tins of tuna

[CrinklyCraggy]

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

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?

@OhFuckBloodyHell

DM tells of clearing her great aunt's house when she died. She had built a wall of bags of sugar behind the sofa, incase rationing came back. Apparently it must have got damp at some point and was completely solid, a whole wall of sugar, completely unusable.

What do you mean unusable? That’s how it comes in some countries you just whack a chunk off and put it in your tea.

Waste not……😉

She had built a wall of bags of sugar behind the sofa, incase rationing came back.

I wonder if there's a notable difference between a hoarding instinct and a fear of food insecurity that never leaves some people (depending on their experiences).

I have to say, since I stopped being a parking miser, my quality of life has improved no end.

Hundreds of years ago sugar was sold in huge lumps. Each lump was called a sugarloaf. Sugar was so expensive at first that it would be locked away and only the mistress of the house would have the key to the sugar cupboard. When sugar was required, it would be taken out and some unfortunate skivvy or other minion would have to exert great force on it with a special implement to get a suitable sized lump off the main lump, and then it would be pounded in a mortar to make a fine powder.

So yes, the sugar mountain could have been used! I expect it would have lasted for decades. What fun for all the family.

As much of a bargain it may well be only two people in my house eat tuna (my mum and my stepson) and limited space in the kitchen to keep it so half of it would be donated to the foodbank.

Thanks to this thread I couldn't stop thinking about tuna all day - made tuna mac and cheese for dinner! Alas, not bargainous Lidl tuna, I'll have to go and check my local one tomorrow. Thanks OP!

Friend of mine filled his entire airing cupboard with 2 litre bottles of Dandelion and Burdock. He hated the stuff. Quite rightly.

My mother loved a bargain and we used to find all sorts of things tucked away.

She once bought twelve dozen bars of soap, of a type nobody would use except her. They were lovingly stacked in the airing cupboard and went in a skip when she died. To be clear, these were not normal bars but some odd type, about ten inches long and three inches across. Full of animal fat too.

I knew a guy recovering from drug addiction who had a bit of a shopping problem -- his cupboards were stuffed with canned goods.

He figured he was doing well, if all he did was store too much canned food and buy a few more pairs of shorts than he needed. Everything is relative.

We work hard for our money. We saved hard and are mortgage free. I hear some saying they have big mortgages or high rents or can’t afford whatever - but still have coffee out daily buy their sandwiches and everything they buy is the best. If you don’t save then you can’t have.

Tuna if it’s cheap, we’ll why not!

I’ve seen it at £5 for 3 tins 😱. That’s £1.67 a tin. Ridiculous prices these days.

@RagzRebooted

Is 50p a tin cheap for tuna now?

Tesco last week £4.25 for 4 tins of John West. So yes.

I’ve just been quizzed about why I’ve got a large plastic sandwich bag on washing line. I’ve washed and recycled it to put frozen bread in. There is method in my madness! They cost money. It’s less plastic in bin. My welsh granny who saved bits of string and brown wrapping paper would be proud of me.

We love tuna but lidl tuna is shit so I passed by that offer with barely a glance. Not really much of a bargain when most of the tin is liquid

I ran out of cat food last week,i have three cats, so opened a couple of tins of tuna for them, and all three cats sniffed their dishes of tuna,and walked away in disgust !

i think your cats might be broken :)

*My daunt was very frugal. She died ast year and we cleared her house. Found a bag of wool and needles she had stashed from various charity shops, plus half a dozen knitted squares she had managed before she got too ill. I took the wool and the squares and enlisted the help of my ndn lovely mum and turned that thrift wool and squares into a hand knitted blanket for my lovely cousins new baby. They had gone through 6 years of IVF and found out they were pregnant just before daunt died. Daunt was so excited, it would have been her first grandchild.

So her thrifty ways meant that her granddaughter gets a hand knitted blanket from her nanny*

This and the Christmas lights story are two of the loveliest things I've ever read on MN. What a great thread.

After my mum passed away, I found a huge locked metal box at the back of the cupboard under the stairs, which transpired to be full of boxes of Leo dried peas. In my entire life, I had never once seen her use dried peas. Habits from the war/rationing must die very hard, but it was such an odd thing for her to have chosen to stockpile. My dad knew nothing about them.

Had she perhaps inherited them?

@spiderlight

After my mum passed away, I found a huge locked metal box at the back of the cupboard under the stairs, which transpired to be full of boxes of Leo dried peas. In my entire life, I had never once seen her use dried peas. Habits from the war/rationing must die very hard, but it was such an odd thing for her to have chosen to stockpile. My dad knew nothing about them.

Actually a really logical thing to stock pile. In the whole stockpiling sense. You can soak them for cooking or rinse and get them to sprout into pea shoots on top of some compost. Fresh greens and a decent amount of protein from the soaked beans. I buy the boxes of dried peas for sprouting and use the pea shoots in salads and soups.

Thank you for all of the lovely comments about my Grandad's Christmas lights. He was such a sweetheart, and loved Christmas, a big kid at heart. He loved malteasers and chocolate covered marzipan. I still miss him.

I also have his mallet, and the gin/sherry glasses that were his great aunts. Both get used regularly. To be fair, the bulbs were kept for purely sentimental reasons, but I'm so pleased they will be used. Especially as the PIL and I haven't always had the easiest relationship, and they were so touched that I offered them.

I have bought the cheap Lidl tuna .......I don't mind the odd tuna mayonnaise sandwich but it was bought mainly for my cats who will sell their soul for a bit of tinned tuna, so it is going to be a treat for them every so often.

@CrinklyCraggy

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

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?

I bought 60x 50ml tubes of toothpaste for £1.99. 12 x Clean and Clear Face wash for £1.00 & 24 x SPF Moisturiser for 24p

I also currently have 2 x 5kg bags of Kelloggs bran flakes in my cupboard that cost me £3.99 for the 10kg.

I LOVE LOVE a bargain and I'll always stock up on these kind of things when there's a bargain to be had!

@ABitOfAShitShow

Usually I add it to vegetable soup or stew.

Love a bargain and stocking up like this I do it when things come on offer I drink a particular almond milk in my tea as milk gives me heartburn, has been on offer at sainsbury's for last two week 60p off so yep stock piled that one as I go through a liter bottle a week easily just on brews and making 1 portion of strawberry and banana smoothie!

Lidl, one of last weekend's offers.