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?

You should, ideally , only buy enough veg for a couple of days so it's really fresh when you eat it.

No, ideally you should grow your own.

Throwing out stuff because you think the vitamin content will have gone down is extremely wasteful.

Im the same as you Barbara - don't really do a large shop just top ups so rarely run out of anything, just replace things immediately as they run out or are getting low, this works for me as I only spend small amounts, so if I see something I regularly use buy it in bulk on special offer. Bread is the only thing I end up throwing which annoys me - my son doesn't like it frozen, if I buy a lot everyone goes out and it doesn't get eaten, if I buy less it runs out

I never do a big shop; I shop daily!

I also don't understand what you don't understand.

People shop according to their requirements & resources. And saying "why do you do it if you see it as a chore" ?

Laundry is a massive chore, but it still needs doing!

Not everyone has the space or money to do a huge shop & like previous posters, I have 5 children in my household who are like locusts. If I can keep their hands off the packed lunch items throughout the week I consider myself lucky. Following a downsize last year, I no longer have the fridge or freezer space to accommodate a large shop.

It's not that the salad stuff is inedible after 6 days but if you are passing a shop anyway..

It would be different if we struggled to finish things. For me it is easy to pick up a midweek basket, or go to the a shops and see what is on offer. Or I see if the butcher has something a bit different as I'm passing on a Saturday.

Food shopping like that isn't a chore like stocking up on washing powder and tins of beans!

We don't throw much away ever doing it this way and I'm not tempted by extras I didn't plan for. So it's no stress.

Tbh I hate my food habits. I think nothing of food waste, I actually remember last week bringing home a huge wrap from work and dp had already brought food Home , and I just threw the whole thing in the bin without a thought :( I feel really bad about it now, and realise I actually throw a lot of food out, buy a lot of food that goes in the bin also.

We shop weekly and don't top up - but tbh that's because i put the effort into menu planning / list making that others might put into top up sops!

We freeze a LOT - milk, meat, anything ready made like a quiche, herbs, bread rolls. Very little of our freezer is long-term storage or pre-frozen items: we will start the week with a full fridge and freezer, and finish it with an empty one (apart from peas, sweetcorn and emergency frozen fish and chips!), then repeat.

I menu plan everything - so perishable fresh fruit / veg is always planned in for the day or so after the main shop, longer life things for towards the end of the week. So strawberries, cherries and raspberries were on the menu early in the week, the 'ripen at home' nectarines and apricots are being eaten in the next phase, then there are always apples and oranges for the final day or so. Similarly veg will tend to be fresh salads, stir fry etc early in the week, peas at the end!

We do have a bread maker, and also use those 'part bake' baguettes - so early in the week it is fresh rolls / wraps for lunch, later it's the frozen bagels, then we bake our own loaf, then it's the pre-bake baguettes on the last day...

We do have 'unlimited / non-planned' food - both home made and shop-bought - but for main meals we eat what is on the menu.

I like list making, and hate shopping!

I cook from scratch, have at least 6 portions of vegs a day (usually fresh), we use plenty of herbs such as coriander etc...
We do a once a week shop.
Vegetables do keep for a week on most cases, milk is frozen, meat is kept in the fridge or frozen.
Bread is from our bread maker.

We don't need to top up during the week and our diet is nowhere near beige (we are foody type of people).
Our only issue is the fridge being often not quit's big enough when the shopping has just gone in so some vegs might go in the garage for a day or two (carottes, courgettes ...) It settles down quickly though.

SugarnetMum be honest with yourself, and write down the cost of everything you've chucked out over the last month. What could you have bought with it instead? That should kickstart you into changing your habits.

For the record, I make a menu for the upcoming week. I buy stuff from the shopping list for the menu as well as staples bread, milk, juice, fruit + veg (which also have to go with the menu - i mean sweetcorn and lasagne just doesn't work for me ). I buy household stuff if required bin bags, kitchen towels, etc. I buy a treat for DH and/or DC

Last month, I spent last than £300 on groceries and I go to a butcher too. Spending so little on groceries is unusual for me. I've just been sticking to the list - a kitchen extension is a great incentiviser.

cantkeepawayforever did you mean to sound so patronising? I "put the effort" into meal planning too, but as I can't walk or drive, I get my shopping delivered monthly.

Life must be constantly perplexing if you can't wrap your head around the simple idea of nipping to the shop on a Thursday for some potatoes and chops

less than not last than

For fresh bread, fruit and veg. I go to a main supermarket for a big shop then top up at Aldi/Lidl. I'm sure it's cheaper overall than getting it all from the main supermarket.

Fwiw where I am very organised re meal planning etc... my mum is the opposite.
For years, she has done a weekly shop, stopping on the way back from work to buy whatever we needed for the evening.

So she buys for one meal (quicker, you can change your mind), I buy for the week (a bit longer but much easier with internet shopping and then I don't have to think about it for the whole week. Bliss on my pov)

What I find a bit of a waste of time and effort is to spend 1h30 doing a big shop in the week only to have to do another two top ups during the week. You could have bought all the things you needed with a bit more organisation in the same amount of time it takes you to do the weekly shop anyway. And then avoided more trips in the week.

Stopping to see what the greengrocer or the butcher has when it's on your way to xxx is different IMO.

Dh goes to the allotment on the same day as the big shop so any allotment produce (soft fruit etc) has to be eaten first. We eat a lot of vegetarian meals so often want fresh vegetables towards the end of the week.

We do food plan carefully and rarely throw food out. But what meals we can cook each day has to fit in dh's and my work schedules (both work late hours) rather than what food goes off first.

Also (being foreign) ds and I drink milk, rather than just putting it in drinks or on cereal, and if you do that you can really taste if it has been frozen or is going off.

YY about it being cheaper with Aldi/Lidl.
My routine for a weekly shop is shopping at Lidl and a much smaller inetrenet shop with a supermarket (for things I can't find at Lidl).

I still don't go back for top ups though.

I don't like being bound by a meal plan so I will often pop to the shops mid week. I think doing one big shop is a peculiarly British thing.

We meal plan, quite carefully, each week.

Part of the meal plan is also a little list planning our top-up shops, and notes on when I need to marinate for the next day's meal, etc.

So, for example, if we have planned a curry for Thursday, I note that I need to defrost and marinate the chicken on Wednesday. If we then want to BBQ on Friday, I have a note on Friday to buy fresh bread.

Soft fruit and salad also needs to be topped up. We have salad almost every day and in summer, the children have soft fruit/berries in their lunch boxes every day. The season is short, we don't buy out of season, so we make he most of it while it lasts.

Then of course we have situations like 'mmuuummm, can X come round after school on Friday?' which is a request I am loathe to refuse. X then needs food, according to their tastes, and I make sure there is enough for a snack, and even a little treat, all of which necessitates a trip to the shop.

Top-up shopping is most certainly not a sign of poor organisation.

The shops are on the way home and I enjoy going with DS after nursery. So we go for a lot of "top up" shops, sometimes just for milk/bread/one or two veg. Also, we don't have a car and there is no way I would manage to get a full shop home by my massively pregnant self!

I love shopping daily, why eat fruit that has been in the fridge all week when you can eat fresh every day?

IMO the once a week shop is quite old fashioned. I have 3 good shops and a butchers within walking distance, I tour them all over the week and save money by buying the offers.

Ocado also deliver once every week or 2, I have also been know to get top up shops from them too because plans change and suddenly you need a picnic or dinner for friends.

There are 4 of us, so a lot of the time I end up needing milk, bread, fruit and sometimes yogurt top ups, but then again I live a 5 min walk from a Tesco Express, so top ups are easy for me.

I am careful not to waste food, and when I have meal planned I've found that things have had to be thrown away. Because not every family is totally predictable! E.g. Dh has just told me he's going to see Spoon tonight. Do I tell him, "Oh, no, dh, no you don't. There's a cos that'll be off by tomorrow." Also, do people never "just fancy" a takeaway or ready meal because they're tired/can't be bothered to cook.

Meal planning is easier when dcs are young/no one ever goes out, but for many people it's easier - nay, less wasteful - to be a bit more short-term on the shopping.

Throwing out stuff because you think the vitamin content will have gone down is extremely wasteful.

No. It's better for your health.

And if you have paid for it anyway, does it matter whether it ends up in the bin before it's eaten, or in the sewer after it's been digested?

Milk? I wouldn't have enough room in the fridge for all the milk i buy each week. And bread - when its a week old it would probably be mouldy.
Salad??

Compleetly agree if you have a chest freezer and mainly eat tinned food though