To wonder why people do "top-up" shops

[RedSkyAtNight]

Just as the title says really. I've read a few threads where people either mention a fortune doing a top-up shop or mention doing a top-up shop as a job that needs doing in the week.

We shop once a week and buy enough food for the week. We then don't buy any more food until the following week. Other than folks who have very little storage (or possibly very large families?) I can't really understand the need to do a top-up shop. I mean obviously if you want to go and get something different to what you have in, that's fine. But why do it if you see it as a chore?

Because I like shopping

Because salad stuff isn't nice 6 days later and the shops never have them out with that long bets before dates anyway.

The only issue with doing a top up shop is that if I'm not in a productive mood I can come out with about £10 of treats.

crusty french bread. Gavel.

I know it's v trendy but I don't like sourdough bread all that much. Too hard and too chewy. I like that French boule they do on M&S but am also v fond of pappy Warburtons.

artisanal sourdough delivered on a bike by a former newspaper poetry critic,

That's peak sourdough 😆😆

Fresh food is not something you can only do once a week.

But pappy Warburton's has to be FRESH!

Or it's only good for toast.

What is boak-worthy about a frozen sandwich? I would rather eat a sandwich I had made from fresh bread with butter and decent filling then immediately frozen than any of the crappy soggy things you buy in the supermarkets.

And you really cant tell the difference. DH was anti frozen sandwiches until he had them for a week and admitted he hadnt realised, that they had tasted just like the freshly made-that-morning ones he had previously had.

I live with a teenager! Shopping delivered on Friday and cupboards empty by Monday ( I think people sneak into my house when I'm sleeping and cook themselves 3 course meals!) I work next door to a supermarket so no big deal popping in at lunch to buy what I need usually fruit, veg, salad bread and dairy stuff.

I think it's amazing that anyone would be happy to buy food only once a week! I don't do top-up shops because I don't do a single main shop either (I will buy bulky items like pulses, tinned tomatoes, kitchen roll, drinks etc online every couple of weeks). Especially at this time of year when there is so much delicious fresh produce available, I would be very sad not to buy strawberries or raspberries or slim asparagus stalks (always seem to go soggy in fridge) and eat them within a day or two. Also bread and milk as others have said. I have never found a decent loaf of bread that lasts a week!

Oh and also, some people/families may not know what they fancy to eat & drink a whole week ahead…sometimes I wake up in the morning fancying something random for dinner, so off I go to buy it…

I must admit I do this more now I'm on maternity leave again; less so when I was working. A kind of top up shop although I've never done a full weeks shop in my life except for Christmas week, & I have a DH and 2 DC. This probably makes us bloody weird

Certain breads ( the ones we eat most of) cannot be frozen.

Baguette and Scottish morning rolls are an example,

They don't stay in their delicious form for even a day, even if wrapped.

The reason they are so nice is the distribution of moisture throughout the bread- a dry crusty exterior, with the moisture contained within the centre.
Break a fresh baguette in half and it will almost crack, the outside being a crisp shell, and inside soft .
Keep it a day - unwrapped it will dry out, wrapped and the moisture will have had time to evenly distribute itself within the loaf and crust, the whole thing will become pliable and rubbery you could even tie a knot in it.

That;s why in France you see so many people buying baguettes first thing in the morning for breakfast, a day old loaf won't cut it,

Scottish rolls are a similar thing, and is why many newsagents sell fresh morning rolls often piled up in crates beside the newspapers- well away from those horrible Warburtons things.
People buy their rolls in Scotland early, especially on a Sunday, they will be sold out by lunchtime.

I buy baguette or rolls most days.

asparagus always seem to go soggy in fridge

Hopsalong asparagus is a plant, cut the bottoms and stick then in a cup of water in the fridge. Just like flowers! They last for a good while that way

PyongyangKipperbang

You can freeze freshly made sandwhiches?!

REVELATION

redskyatnight

"not understanding why people spend time doing it unless they enjoy it."
Um...most people don't enjoy doing most household chores surely? They do them out of necessity not as a method of entertainment. If we all only did what we enjoyed most houses would be filthy

Yeah some things (like ironing) can be minimised, although I'd argue there will always be odd occasions when you do need something ironed. Likewise if you hated, say, mowing the lawn you could, money permitting outsource it or pave over the whole backgarden. But things like 'buying enough food to feed your family,' is not something you can just choose not to do because it's a pain. As lots of PP's have posted, some people don't have the option to only do a big shop once a week, for lots of different reasons.

And even if they could avoid doing top up shops but for whatever reason don't still doesn't mean they're not allowed to moan about it occasionally. People moan, it's normal. I could technically avoid paying the extortionate parking in the centre of town if I parked a mile away and walked there and back in the rain - just because I choose not to, due to time constraints, convenience, health reasons, whatever, doesn't mean I'm not "allowed" to complain at the price of the car park.

It's probably already been said but I imagine the op doesn't have teenagers, or unexpected guests, or fancy something that isn't in the fridge already.

I love bargain hunting and get bored with planning. So we generally have for tea whatever I got reduced on my way home from work. Adds interest to my life 😊

TBF I kind of agree re Strawberries, raspberries etc but I have a family member who eats with us at least twice a week who always brings round that kind of stuff. Thin asparagus is an outrage though

OhTheRoses Sorry to disappoint but actually I do have teenagers, sometimes have unexpected guests (surely if you have unexpected guests you are entertaining them and not popping out doing the shopping ...?) and am never so desperate to eat something that's not in the fridge that it warrants the hassle of going out to buy it .

Perhaps if I went past a shop on the way home from work that was easy to pop in to it would be a different question. As it is I value the time not spent doing extra shopping, the money it saves (both transport costs and extra food costs) and environment al considerations (again both transport and in wasted food) more than the perceived benefits of doing it. Other people clearly have different values.

I'm just stunned buying food at different times of the week has a name.

What is boak-worthy about a frozen sandwich? I would rather eat a sandwich I had made from fresh bread with butter and decent filling then immediately frozen than any of the crappy soggy things you buy in the supermarkets

And I'd rather eat a sandwich made with fresh bread and butter and decent filling...and then eaten rather than frozen.
YOU personally may not be able to tell the difference but I certainly can, as can most. Fresh fillings do not defrost into the same state as before freezing.

My apologies RedSkyAtNight. Our plans seem to change on a sixpence. DC announce x, y or z is coming for dinner, or eat double what was expected. Perhaps I'm just not as organised as you and perhaps we fall under the banner of foodies.

Doing a top up for me is part of life but on my way home from work I pass little Waitrose, little Sainsburys, budgets and co-op and drive past a Tesco superstore and huge Asda. Two minute detour to M&S foosball. All along the A3 and feeder roads. We live about 0.7 of a mile from the closest mini Tesco.

I guess cor is the facility to do it is just a way of life

Surely, only sandwiches with unexciting fillings would freeze well. A sandwich with any salad in would be vile if it had been frozen.

Well you just add a bit of salad after it defrosted over night. Not difficult and saves you having to run to the store daily for fresh bread as 'naice' doesn't actually keep for more than a day or so.
You really wouldn't tell if a bread has been frozen. Baguette yes but no one said baguette. Proper study loaves.