Does anyone manage not to do endless top up shops?

[Redlorryyellowduck]

With the rising cost of absolutely everything I'm trying to reign the food shop in a bit.

I've got an Asda mid week pass, so try to use that or go to Aldi. Inevitably Asda miss something, or Aldi don't have something. We run out of lunchbox things too soon as there is seemingly another person living her I've never met who eats all the snack things.

I'm going sometimes twice a week to top up, and it'd costing a fortune.

If you manage not to do top ups share your wisdom, what day do you shop, where, how do you get through the week?

I'm happy to buy bread and milk of course from the little corner shop, but its the £25 top up I'm keen to avoid.

I used to pop into our Tesco Local at least 4 times a week on top of our twice weekly deliveries. Lockdown meant we just had to make do, which means I no longer make any top up shops. I estimate that I am saving about £150 - £200 a month by not popping in to pick up bits and pieces which I now realise we didn’t even really need.

We do the weekly bug shop in Aldi on a Monday/Tuesday then a bread/milk/fruit top up on Friday/Saturday. Any thing we need (read want) in between goes on the list for the week after. We live in a village with the world’s crappiest excuse for a shop, and I cba driving 30 mins for bits of shopping.

Big shop not bug shop (sounds crunchy ).

Going without what we have run out of unless it is something really essential or missed off my delivery or I forgot to order it. Otherwise I end up spending more than I went in there for.

If we are low on fresh milk I give it to my dc and use powdered milk for me, I keep some in the cupboard in case of emergencies.

Meal plan - most fruit and veg lasts the week and meat can be frozen

If snacks are eaten they get no more. I’m not nipping to the coop for snacks, I buy enough for the week and maybe a couple of extras.

Finally, if you do run out of something important then you NEED to train yourself into only buying that one item. Honestly this has saved me a fortune. It sounds obvious and easy but it makes a massive difference

We've got a big larder cupboard and an American style fridge freezer, so I never do a top up shop. And I don't meal plan either.

What I always do is one massive shop at the beginning of the month so I've got cupboard ingredients like herbs, spices, coconut milk, all sorts of tinned lentils/beans, tinned tomatoes. And I keep all meat in the freezer, never in the fridge so there's little waste. Weekly shop then consists of mainly fresh stuff for the fridge and a veg box.

The whole household know if it's not on the list on Thursday morning, there won't won't be any until next Thurs evening.

I don't ever get top ups. I have a well stocked store cupboard and freezer. We might be out of people's first choice but no one's going to starve.

We rarely do. Maybe fruit once a week.
We get a veg box, milk delivered, and we make our own bread as well as getting a wonky bread box. So we probably don't save anything!

I manage, but kids have school lunches and I get milk delivered. Meal plan and keep bread in the freezer.

I just do two smaller online shops a week, trying to keep each one at around £40. It's not too long until the next shop then if something doesn't arrive. I always keep emergency meals in the freezer or ingredients to make stuff in the cupboards so even if a shop doesn't arrive or gets delivered to the wrong address (thanks, Tesco) we' can still manage. Doing the two shops is better for me as it means the fruit and veg we have is always fresh.

I can do without a top up shop but DH loves a top up shop.

I get an online delivery 1x week. We also tend to get most of our meat from a butcher who delivers. We get milk delivered.

We have a small chest freezer which helps with keeping bread, plus there would always be something knocking around in it for food. I am fairly able to store food, so now buy big packs of rice, pasta, teabags etc. Always keep at least 1x UHT milk.

It's perhaps a good idea to have 1x big shop and factor in a top up shop, rather than feeling guilty about doing one.

My top tip, if you do have to do a top up shop, still try to stick to a list and if you can NEVER pick up a basket or trolley. If you only need 2-3 items, you'll only be able to carry 2-3 items. If you get a basket.....

I am out every 3 or 4 days doing a shop. It's tedious. I hate it.

I meal plan. So I know exactly what I'm eating every day. I check the cupboards and fridge before I go to see what I'm running low on. Then buy everything that I need in one go.

Two smaller online shops per week, with meal plans that I stick to. It works really well doing it this way and we never do any top up shops any more.

I label things (with masking tape) if they are a 'meal ingredient', otherwise my bottomless teenagers would hoover the entire kitchen...

I have my shopping delivered every Saturday I never top up during the week

I buy extra bread and freeze it. I keep UHT milk for when we run out. Anything else has to wait until our next shop.

Get as much as possible delivered. Fruit and veg ia fresher as a delivered veg box - Riverford’s lasts ages. Milk man, who also delivers milk, butter, bread and cheese. Meat box for the freezer monthly. Virgin wine delivery occasionally for wine. Not setting foot in a supermarket means we eat better quality, no crap, and spend less overall.

We get milk from milkman

I get a Sainsburys delivery every 5 days. We use wholemeal bread as that lasts 5 days so no food waste. Massively cut down on snack purchases and buy myself lots of soup as that has a longer shelf life.

I find milkman good, only cat and I, so 2 pints max, I hardly use it, so often cancel a pint, shop as I need, currently not driving.
Find online too expensive , buying more expensive stuff than lidl/ aldi

Could never go from one Big Shop to the next without multiple top ups UNLESS we are purely freezer stuff at the end of the week (which we don’t do but should because we just end up ordering takeout instead).

I shop online twice a week. We have enough food in our pantry and two freezers to last approximately 6 months. I find it bizarre (unless struggling financially) that people only have enough food for less than a week.

MyDcAreMarvel you say you find it bizarre that people only have food for less than a week but you yourself shop online twice a week.
Maybe you meant twice a month or what you've said makes no sense!

Shopping more regularly shouldn't cost more than once or twice a week. I also wonder how families are able to shop only once a week and get everything in the fridge, especially considering how much veg most Mumsnetters say they eat. We probably don't quite make '5 a day' and there's only two of us, yet our seemingly averaged sized fridge is absolutely stuffed if we buy a modest amount of veg.

If you end up spending £25 on 'bread and milk' then you should be able to spend less on the next shop to make up for it?

What do you mean by things having different use by dates? Most veg is fine for the best part of a week, often more for peppers and onions for example. Could you freeze some meat and fish if it's not got enough date on it?

What about trying to plan for 3 days at a time and buying 2 medium shops a week instead of one big shop and a top up. Your plan for a midweek Asda delivery and a Friday Sainsburys click and collect might work. Plus each time you do either order, do you look at basic supplies (bread, milk, fruit, sandwich fillings) and add what you need to the order?

Something else to consider is if you can have something other than sandwiches for lunches, eg tuna pasta salad, or wraps. Obviously pasta lasts for ever and wraps often have a date of a few weeks, so can be kept on standby without using freezer space up.

That’s the problem with top up shops - they do cost more than shopping once per week because every time you walk through the door of the supermarket, most of us buy more than just ‘bread and milk’. And I would imagine a lot of it is stuff you don’t really need.