Stockpiling stuff from Tesco to beat price rises

[FreeLatte]

Is anyone else doing this?

Now I do have a bit of a stockpile of tins, long life milk etc as a just in case kind of thing. (bad weather, civil war, me getting sick).

However I am starting to stock up on stuff that I know I will use on the assumption the price will be higher in 6 months or 3 months or probably next week.

So just things like toilet rolls, washing powder, dishwash tabs, anything on special that can be frozen. I'm also doing it with things like hair dye - buying 6 boxes rather than 1.

Since prices are just going one way I thought this couldn't hurt.

Now there is a cost of this of course - your house being more cluttered for one and two no point doing it if you end up paying credit card interest so cash only. Even then of course you are losing interest on your savings but I still reckon it's worth it.

I am just getting so mad seeing prices go up and up. So Lindt 90 chocolate. Used to be under £3. Now it's £3.5 but on special in Tesco for £2.75 so I have 9 bars in my cupboard which will last a while.

I just wondered if anyone else is doing similar?

No. If I want a bar of chocolate then I'd rather pay the extra rather than have nine bars sat in a cupboard calling my name every evening. And in a civil war I'll just ram raid Tesco and get them for free. For colds and bad weather, I'll just stick with woosh.

No I’m not doing this as I can’t face the clutter but i get where you’re coming from. I’ve noticed the Lindt prices too. Crazy.

No, because I usually buy whatever's on offer.

Totally get your point and I can only stockpile the lindt 90% chocolate cos I won't eat the whole lot. I couldn't do it with other things that I would stuff down me in one weekend.

I guess I am feeling very unsettled at moment the way the country is headed as well and the budget is only going to squeeze people more or upset people more. The UK has a debt problem now and there is no easy fix without some pain.

In a civil war you definately would not want to be out on the streets. Okay hopefully not likely to happen but life would become very dangerous for many of us. Another reason why I am worried about our struggling police force.

I used to use whoosh quite alot but it is expensive and limited stuff too. I lived in Edinburgh during a week of bad snow and there was no milk anywhere cos deliveries couldn't get through. Centre of Edinburgh, shops on every corner, no milk.

Perhaps I just worry too much then but who would have thought the whole covid stockpile thing would happen and all it takes is strikes at oil refineries and lorries can't deliver food stuff etc

Yes the clutter is annoying but I live alone so it's only me tripping over it.

Prior to this I had actually started running everything down as trying to live more minimally.

It almost feels like gambling trying to beat the system and getting a high when I see a price going up and I have 10 of them already in stock.

Perhaps I just have too much time on my hands!!

I do this too if it's something I use and then I buy more of it as well.

For staples though like if you use the same toilet roll each month and you know the price is only going one way with everything then if I buy 50 rolls now I'm pretty sure when I next need it the price will either be the same or higher.

Persil washing powder was £7 for ages and I bought a bunch of them. Now the price is £7.5 but Tesco had a 10% off washing powder on so I bought another bunch of them cos £7.5 less 10% is £6.75.

It's honestly quite addictive trying to beat the system so to speak.

I'm only doing this because whatever things cost today, the price is generally higher in a month due to inflation just now. Thus everyone talking about increasing food prices.

I often think of doing this, but don’t just because I don’t have storage room. I have a good stock of pasta, biscuits, soup, tinned fruit and rice. Sunflower oil has gone down in price. I only buy chocolate when it’s on offer, but annoyingly I cannot get hold of the Lindt Orange flavour.

If you'll use it and it won't go off and it won't leave you skint then go for it.
It probably makes more sense than leaving money sat eroding in the bank.

I'm not stockpiling (dont really have the money to do that) however I do buy in bulk when on offer. This week i bought 4 tubs of gravy, 4 boxes of stock cubes and 2 multipack of baked beans. All things I regularly buy so save in the long run.
I also buy my toilet rolls from amazon (nicky), washing powder and toiletries in bulk and wait till they drop in price (which they do regularly).

Can I ask about why you’re worrying about the Police force. I understand your other points, to a degree, but not this?

That's a shame. I like the Lindt mint but I only buy the 90% dark as it gives me a hit of chocolate but I won't binge on it.

I don't really have the space either so my downstairs loo has toilet rolls/washing powder stacked in there. Still space to go to the loo but the wheelchair friendly bit that housebuilders have to comply with is definately no longer friendly.

I guess the price of things can come down as you say sunflower oil but in general I am only seeing rises and am shocked at how much it costs compared to before covid.

That's my take on it and it's quite addictive buying 10 bags of dishwasher tabs and then watching the price go up each week/month. Like a gambling win almost.

In 1997 I bought 4,300 first class stamps. I calculated how many I thought I would need over a lifetime based on letters sent, Christmas and birthday cards. The price only ever goes up and I had a bonus at work so I had some spare money. They were 26p so you do the maths....

good tip actually about the nicky toilet paper. I know someone who used it and it was totally fine and good value.

yes I can see there is still offers but in general the prices are still creeping up. Thus my lindt chocolate example. Soon the offer price is more than it was originally 6 months ago anyway.

But you can't use un barcoded ones now - did you get a refund?

Is this really worth the hassle though for the amount you’re saving? Say baked beans go up by 20p and you’ve stocked up on 10 cans you’re saving £2? Just doesn’t really seem worth it to me.

No I don’t stockpile, but I do go to Costco so buy some things in bulk (have I just contradicted myself?).

Also , if I do see a good offer, I may buy double but I don’t stockpile for the sake of it.

What did you do when they switched to barcoded stamps? Did they exchange them or refund you? Did they refund at today’s prices?

I'm worried about the police force because having known someone who was in it and having watched lots of current affairs programmes it does not seem to be in a good way.

So response team which is who you get when you dial 999 is a terrible stressful place that most police want to escape from as they are dealing with drunks, drug addicts, suicides, gangs, abuse, being spat on and kicked, being filmed and put on you tube. I watched the person I know struggle horribly with his mental health and he was the most calm person I had ever met. It was also shocking to realise how few police there are to respond to emergencies. That's why so many calls are not dealt with till weeks or days after. Only the most urgent and ongoing danger get an actual policeman out.

Also they are sending out policeman single crewed (ie on their own) to some jobs that definately need two of them as a minimum.

They are also not given enough protection or weapons although I see there is some enhanced taser now. My friend had to deal with someone being held at gunpoint and it took armed police hours to arrive so he was there on his own trying to talk down an armed man holding someone hostage. He was as high as a kite that night on adrenalin.

Then just general stuff like shoplifting is rife and no punishment. That just pisses off law abiding people who are paying for it.

The police have dropped their standards quite alot to try and recruit - thus why you now see policeman who are short, overweight, beards and tatooes. All things policeman never used to be/have. Even then they have trouble recruiting. The job is just too stressful and the pay is not enough. The pension used to be really good but that is being watered down now as well.

I for one do not want to live in a lawless society where someone can steal my stuff, assualt me etc and nobody comes to help.

Also standards in general just seem to be getting really low in society. I mean did we have feral kids throwing fireworks at police 30 years ago like they do now. I don't remember it if they did. However I think there was more staff to deal with it and more punishment. Now the police are dragged over hot coals for trying to do their jobs and god forbid they get caught having a bit of dark humour to try and cope.

Since the UK has a huge debt problem and can't afford to pay high salaries to attract higher standards and fix the punishment system I do feel anxious about the way things are going.

Civil war once seemed a ludicrious idea for the UK and whilst I do still think it is unlikely it feels less unlikely than it used to.

I'm also worried about the NHS but I can get round that by paying private GP and private treatment. Not ideal but doable. I can't pay for a private policeman when I am in danger or need help. (could hire a bodyguard I suppose!!). I also can't pay for a private ambulance if someone needs once desperately and there is none to come out.

Wow, extreme and quite brave.

No. I will do a little bit of stock piling as in I will make sure I have 3 days worth of meals and some UHT milk in at this time of year just in case snow delays my TESCO delivery.

This is so delightfully strange and clever at the same time 😁

I don't tend to do it for things like baked beans which are quite cheap anyway. i do it more on things that are expensive like washing powder, dishwash tabs, toilet rolls, shampoo, multipacks of tuna etc

Also sometimes I buy diced venison which is cheaper than venison steaks and if tesco go out of stock of the diced stuff then give you the steaks for the same price. I bought 20 packs of the diced stuff a few weeks ago and got 13 packs of diced and 7 packets of venison steaks. Price difference is £7.50 - £4.25 so quite alot per pack. So I saved like £24 on that alone.

The steaks are nicer and higher quality but they are expensive. I find I only get these really good substitutes if my shopping bill is high. Like over £200.

It's not usual for me to spend £300 and having 'savings' from deals and substitutions of £60 odd pounds.

do you find costco alot cheaper than Tesco say? Are the brands the same?

Yes @FreeLatte I do this.

I don't live in the UK though, not that it matters to the topic really, but moreso that generally we have more space to store items.

I don't know why, but I feel very out of sorts if I do not have a back up supply of certain items. They are items that are usually quite pricey (bear in mind I live in another country and really, things are much more expensive here) and I have a fear that I will run out, and will not be able to find a good special on the items. So usually on Black Friday I will buy out bulk in certain items. I have managed to find some exceptional specials at a certain store here this month, so I am feeling quite content as I now have:

1 year supply of washing powder and liquid
1 year supply of fabric conditioner
6 months supply of coffee
6 months supply of toilet roll
3 months supply of rice and oil
Other cleaning supplies like washing up liquid, cream cleaner etc for a year.
Toiletries, I have for probably a year.
And I am now in the process of getting together items for Christmas holidays (we have our 6 week break then), so cold drinks etc,
And some other general jar items for the grocery cupboard.

I only get items that store well, nothing perishable.

I find it so much easier then when doing a weekly/monthly shop that I never have to think about these items, and only buy food.

I am a single parent on a really tight budget, and for me it just makes financial sense. If I look now, a 2kg bag of washing powder is now double the price it was last year. Like a lot of other things on the list, ie oil. It may not seem a lot to some, but to me it makes a big difference and I just feel better knowing I am not going to run out of these essentials.