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?

Don't you keep your milk in the fridge, Wimple?

InvisibleKittenAttack I think you might be into something.

Maybe a poll of shoppers would reveal differences between townies and country dwellers. I am surrounded by local shops so for me it's a 5 minute job to get off the sofa and pop to the local shop to get fresh stuff.

I probably wouldn't bother if I had to specially get into the car, drive there, park up etc.

I don't really do top ups. I resent shopping once a week enough!

Agree on the townies point

I walk past a large sainsburys and waitrose on my way home from the tube every day

If I get the bus home it stops outside a Tesco

There's no hassle to buying food during the week. It's just 5 mins longer between the tube and my house - I carry a tote bag in my handbag so I just sling anything in there to bring the shopping home. I'm not doing any kind of special trip out

The townies/village point is a good one.

I live in a village but work in a city 10 miles away. On my drive home I do not pass a single shop. Not one. So I can't quickly grab stuff until I get home. Them I stop at the village shop which has a very limited range of food compared with a supermarket, but I can get fresh veg, salad, bread and milk.

If we didn't have a village shop I'm not sure what I would do. I'd have to drive on a further 3 miles to get to a supermarket. I'd still need to do a top up shop mid week because lettuce, bananas, bread etc don't last a week and we haven't really got enough fridge space for all the milk we use during a week.

When we lived in a city centre we did a bulk shop every two or three weeks and then I popped into the greengrocer, butcher, Co-op etc every couple of days. That was before on-line supermarket shopping was introduced.

Sat or sun idll buy everything meat wise veg etc...by wed need another milk, more fruit and veg so walk to sainsburys. I surpose thats top up

I think the OP's life must be extremely dull..... firstly, to have so little imagination or appreciation that others may live differently,
And secondly, to live a life that is so regimented and orderly that nothing ever changes during a week that requires a top-up.

There is no competition at all. Just people explaining what suits them. Any competition is yours.

have you actually read the thread? Lots of snide comments about what people eat/ ready meals etc

I think it is also different if you are constantly passing supermarkets. I'm not, to visit one at the wrong time of day (ie when I realise I've run out of something cooking dinner) results in getting stuck in the must godawful traffic. So it suits me to invest time in a once a week delivery that works for a week.

A top up shop is when I have been to Aldi and there a few things I can't get. I then go to
Tesco and buy requisite items plus a lot of s**t I don't need.

I do the 'big' shop late on Friday evening. I get food for Saturday, Sunday and Monday, plus DDs lunch ingredients for the week. It's also when I buy the non-food stuff that DH doesn't think about.

DH goes most days to get stuff for the evening meal and on a Wed might get extra fruit etc for DD. She has 3 different fruits every day in her lunchbox and I try to vary them - so stuff does tend to go off. He also indulges her croissant obsession and they need to be bought fresh.

I generally spend between £50 and £70 on the 'big' shop, DH spends between £5 and £10 on the top-ups.

Shopping on a Friday suits me as I am out, close to the main supermarket, every Friday night. Shopping in the week suits DH because he goes near to the small supermarket every day when he walks the dog. We'd still be going to those places even if there was no shopping to be done, so there is no extra effort involved.

What a strange thing to 'wonder' about OP.

I do quite a lot of 'Top up shopping. Ill list some of the reasons below.
Myself and my husband work full time.
We both get paid monthly so to us it makes more sense to do the nain shop monthly
We dont drive so get our monthly shop delivered and pick up a few other bits on way home from work if needed.
Some things i want to get from a different shop.
Sometimes i dont realise we are low in something when i do the monthly shop.
I enjoy going round the shops without a four year old.
We go through a lot of milk and fruit.
I love to see what's available in the reduced section that i can freeze for later.

I hope this gives you a bit of insight into how other people do things and how its not really an issue.

I don't meal plan. The very thought bores me to death. My 20mo ds has new favourite meals every few days so what I need for him can chop and change. Fresh fruit like berries don't last a week. I usually do a Sainsbury delivery once a week and top up a couple of times in the week.

I don't do a weekly shop anymore as I find I waste food. I tend to go x2 per week for a really quick shop for 2-3 meals max.
I spend a lot less and don't throw food away as much.

They give all the non-asshole avodados to coffee shops that charge you £12 for half a decent avodado on ONE teeny slice of sour-dough

I know this was said in jest but DP is a bit of a jack of all trades in the music festival industry and one job he has done was running for a caterer, which is basically food shopping on a semi industrial scale - as well as having to walk into the nearest Asda and come out with a trolley full of double cream and baguettes, he's been sent to high class greengrocer wholesalers, whose speciality is perfectly ripe fruit and avocados etc.

The supermarkets want a massive scale, consistency, quality the public will accept (which isn't always the best, it just needs to look good) and prices they can make a profit on. Hipster coffee shops and caterers want produce they can reliably use today. They don't have time for high maintenance avocados.

orange - I don't meal plan either.

I never know how many people are going to need fed in any one day or what we would like to eat, or how we feel, or what the weather is like.

Could be a hot Tuesday and dinner for 5, or a wet Thursday and a meal for 2. None of that I know in advance.

Exactly caille. My appetite varies a lot. I have no idea about what and how much I'll eat next weds...

Milk and fruit and rolls for lunch that's why!
I couldn't fit our milk for the week in our fridge?!?

That's a good point @busyboysmum. We live within walking distance of 4 supermarkets and an all night garage, and my husband and son work within walking distance of another 2 each, so I have maximum 10 minute walking access to 8 supermarkets. When I worked, I walked past 2 on the way home, so it was a 5 minute detour to get what I needed.

My PIL live in the arse end of nowhere without any shops closer than a 20 minute drive. It's a complete pain if you realise at 11pm you haven't got enough bread for breakfast, especially if you've had a drink, so they always have frozen bread and long life milk in the house.

I work full time in a preschool from 8/9am, then childminding till 6.30, and live 15 minutes drive from a supermarket. I have a 3 week meal plan, and do a big shop at the weekend. As much as I'd love to buy what I fancy every day, it's just not possible. The only things I find that don't last long are strawberries, these need to be eaten within a day, otherwise everything keeps just fine. Bread gets frozen, but no problems with anything else staying fresh.

Second the fact that the weather is a factor. If it is unexpectedly nice weather, you don't want to have to cook a casserole just because it's Wednesday. You might have planned to have the MN chicken tonight, but then you fancy a barbecue instead.

Regimented meal planning eliminates the "just because" and "I could just fancy".

I had a 70s childhood and the meal planning was zealous. I can still tell you that it was roast beef on Sunday, cold roast beef with a baked potato on Monday, casserole on Tuesday, chops on Wednesday, sausages on Thursday and (eeeerrrggghh) bloaters on Friday. On Saturday it was omelette or spaghetti bolognese (big mound of flaccid pasta with can of pasta sauce on top with long-life parmesan.

You meal planners: your dcs could well be on this thread in the future groaning about the meal planning of their childhoods (and the measly portions of chicken...).

Tinsel - I'm not in the UK, but I think Tesco sell frozen avocado halves

I shop most days as some things don't stay fresh for long. Bananas only last a few days as do strawberries. Bread does not stay fresh for long and tastes horrid if put in the freezer.

We top up milk and bread. My fridge just isn't big enough :)

Because we need more bread, milk, fruit & veg.