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?

Sliced meats and cheeses of course freeze and defrost perfectly.

Defrosted bread is always either slightly soggy at the corners, or a little stale and hard, where the soggy corners have dried out. The same applies to the bottoms of rolls.
I know this from years and years of eating defrosted bread, sandwiches and rolls.
I will never use frozen/defrosted bread for anything other than toast, and my sandwiches will be frozen when hell freezes over.
So there. 😋.

Mars If you defrost the frozen bread in a bag this can be avoided.

It never tastes as nice imo.

I don't understand how you manage all week without fresh bread, milk, salad, fruit or veg.

Bread that has been frozen is only suitable for toast, as for frozen sandwiches, yuck.

I have a small freezer so that limits my food storage.

I often top up on fresh things. If the weather is nice I might find I've eaten more salad than normal so go for extra.

We also eat a lot of fresh fruit so I regulally need to pop in to Tesco on my way home from work for banana's and apples. Sometimes we need more milk too if the kids decide to drink it instead of just on cereal.

I don't top up on staples like pasta, potatoes & meat etc. That's bought once a week/fortnight and split & frozen.

Before kids I never needed a top up.

i read it as top up shoes aswell how weird.

Tell you what, I'll nip on this thread if ever I feel tempted to nip into Waitrose on my way home from work and double-check with you if it's OK for me to get a few last minute scrummies, just because we fancy it.

Seems like there's a new law that escaped me, where we have to seek validation if we deviate from the approved weekly shop.

(Hangs head in shame and sneaks off...)

I did a "big shop" today, I always pick the longest expiry dates I can find on the shelves. None of the perishables had dates longer than wednesday! So unless we wanna eat non perishables for half the week, we'll have to top up, as it's less wasteful than buying stuff that'll go out of date before we get to eat them at the end of the week.

Also, it's summer OP!

I don't like soggy fridge bread, and bread doesn't last long in bread bins in hot weather, so we buy less bread more often in summer than we do in winter when a bigger loaf will stay mould free all week!

Is that all right with you? Or can we only have bread until wednesday?

Oh and just so it meets the MN approval jury, we do cook from scratch and we always use hessian bags never those ghastly plastic Bags for Life, the heinous and eco-destroying things

Preens virtuously

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)

No OP, you are not mor environmentally conscious than top up shoppers, you just do it a different way

Top-up shoppers can shop more locally and walk/carry their shopping home Vs people who drive to do one big shop which can make top up shopping more environmentally friendly

Smaller Top-up shops can mean less waste. It doesn't mean that people are buying 25% more food than you! it just means they buy their weeks worth in a different pattern to you!

Do people throw out a lot of food then I presume? Even if it's 2 slices of a loaf but you don't like how it tastes after 6 days?

Also am I the only one who refrigerated their bread after opening? I find it keeps the bread fresher. And strawberries normally get eaten way before the week is up, grapes tend to last a week, bananas I buy when they're green or just turning yellow so they last longer, apples stay fresh for over a week in the fridge, milk tastes FINE if it's in the fridge for a week, ditto eggs, and my lettuce/tomatoes/cucumber are all fine if kept in the salad drawer of the fridge.

Does no one do any of the above or similar? I hate food wastage, not to mention the money wasted too. Buying bulk makes things cheaper so I don't think you would save anything by buying singular stuff.

You really wouldn't tell if a bread has been frozen

Again, you may not tell. But then some people can't believe its not butter.
If you like it, that's no-one elses business. But please don't insist there is no difference from fresh, because that simply is not the truth.

Because sometimes I probably ought to go to aldi but can't be arsed so I pick up something for tea and whatever we've run out of.

We do stop up shops because there are 7 of us, bread and milk lasts 2 days if we are lucky. We don't drive and can't carry enough home or have anywhere to store a weeks worth of milk and bread. So we go to the local supermarket 2-3 times a week. It's a mile away and the walk is good excersize.

Freezer bread is no good for anything but toast, and even at that it doesn't make quite as nice toast as a fresh loaf! Fridge bread is gross (same for fridge cake) but I know that some people don't notice/mind! (I can ALWAYS tell if someone's cake as been refridgerated!)

You can buy smaller loafs/less and have yummy fresh bread, it's not heavy so you can pick it up it doesn't need a car boot for transportation. It's really not that borgouis to have fresh bread at the end of the week LOL

We freeze all out bread apart from one loaf to be used. Tastes no different. Nobody in the history of my life has ever commented on it. I often make DC packed lunches using frozen sliced bread. Keeps their lunch cool and is just right by lunchtime.

How many people are eating your bread to comment on it? your family are used to it so they wouldn't.

Well before we had a family we didn't as didn't buy so much so DH and I would notice.

It really doesn't matter whether you notice or not, other people can and your tastes make no difference to anyone elses. The only thing you can say is that it tastes no different to you, not that it tastes no different full stop.

Exactly, it's us that matter and we can't tell so all good.

Nobody in the history of my life has ever commented on it.

If I went round yours I wouldn't comment on your inferiour freezer bread, I just woudnt reach for a second slice like I would do if it was delicious fresh bread

Can't beat fresh bread! I luffs it.

Not everyone is fussed, some people only like fresh pasta and I'm not bothered by dry. I am under no illusion that my dried pasta is "just as good" as fresh though!

Because most people like their food fresh. Frozen food is just not the same. Baffled at why you don't understand, each to their own eh!