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Original poster

To wonder why people do "top-up" shops

549 replies

RedSkyAtNight · 30/06/2017 09:01

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?

OP posts:
Original poster
RedSkyAtNight · 30/06/2017 11:56

we freeze bread, buy long life milk and meal plan so that items that go off quickly are used soon after the shop. And yes, we cook from scratch.

Some of you like to shop differently - that's fine. Just don't know why people do it who see it as a chore (clearly some people here are quite happy to do it) as there are clearly alternatives?

A bit like those who hate ironing and don't ... not understanding why people spend time doing it unless they enjoy it.

OP posts:
Vonklump · 30/06/2017 11:57

Fruit and vegetables predominantly. Or if I shop at Aldi/Costco they might not have everything I need.

Original poster
RedSkyAtNight · 30/06/2017 12:00

tellitlikeitis
As I'm not lowering myself to your level I will simply point out personal attacks are not allowed on MN.
And yes, I do feel that makes me a better person than you. HTH.

OP posts:
littlebird7 · 30/06/2017 12:00

Fresh food doesn't tend to last all week, so I do get extras of salad leaves, cucumber, carrots and a few extras. I always have to do a top up shop

LookMoreCloselier · 30/06/2017 12:02

Bread, milk, fruit and anything that's been forgotten.

Igneococcus · 30/06/2017 12:02

I like shopping for food. I don't mind going to several shops to get what I want on a Saturday and to pop into a shop during the week once or twice on the way home. Some things are also nicer fresh, like bread.
I utterly despise shopping for pretty much everything else though and think internet shopping might be the greatest invention ever.

Lucysky2017 · 30/06/2017 12:04

For years we ordered via tesco on line - children would add stuff to the on line basket too and it was delivered when the cleaner came once a week so she would put it away. Worked very well.

Now the oldest children have just left school we tend to pop out when we need stuff as we all cook and eat separately.

People just differ and things change over time. When the youngest go to university this year I will probably shop differently again (and I am expecting it to cost massively less than now!)

steppemum · 30/06/2017 12:11

I shop once a week. The milk lasts easily all week.
The bread we freeze.
Most veg lasts all week, I meal plan the meals with short shelf life veg for the beginning of the week.

But there are some thing swhich we do as top up.
eg, if we have a BBQ, the rolls are always bought on the day, I don't freeze them.
I sometimes buy more fruit, especially in warm weather.
My freezer doesn't have enough room for pizzas for everyone, so if we have pizzas, I go and get them etc

Mcakes · 30/06/2017 12:11

I buy food most days (sometimes even shop twice a day) because I am a hopelessly disorganised slattern who is incapable of planning anything from one minute to the next.
Is that what you wanted to hear to hear about us top up shoppers OP?

Mcakes · 30/06/2017 12:14

Oops cross posted!

CuntTrollingRs · 30/06/2017 12:25

i love popping in to the supermarket when I'm passing, sometimes more than once a day to see what's being reduced and I'll base meals around that. I like shopping on foot as it keeps me fit (we live on a hill) and with 4 teens we get through a lot of food.

It's not a 'chore' though. Chore is such a depressing word; it turns the normal activities of daily life into some sort of punishment.

AndTakeYourHorseWithYou · 30/06/2017 12:36

Some of you like to shop differently - that's fine. Just don't know why people do it who see it as a chore (clearly some people here are quite happy to do it) as there are clearly alternatives?

Your alternatives are not for everyone. Long life milk and frozen bread are not options I would ever pick.

Fruitcocktail6 · 30/06/2017 12:45

Surely better to pop to the shop once a week than drink long life milk on a regular basis?

I don't understand the problem with top ups, op? I do it on my way home from work and it's not a chore.

bananafish81 · 30/06/2017 13:05

The salad and fruit we buy from the weekly shop doesn't last all week. If we bought enough fruit and veg to last all week, half of it would have gone off by the time we came to use it.

Where's your miracle fruit that lasts for 7 days from?!

We pretty much ONLY top up shop - the Ocado order is just for the basics and heavy stuff.

We don't know at the beginning of the week how many evenings I'll be home for dinner (working late, meeting friends, gym - often just not hungry and don't want dinner). We can't have kids so no one to meal plan for. No point in cooking proper meals when it's just the two of us anyway.

If we bought a full shop then we'd end up throwing lots of stuff out for dinners we never made.

When I place the order on Saturday I don't know what I'll want to eat on Thursday!

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 30/06/2017 13:10

I've started doing 3 smaller shops each week,it's the only way to ensure hungry teen ds who is growing at an alarming rate doesn't eat everything in one go Grin

SandyDenny · 30/06/2017 13:11

Why do you have to buy long life milk?

Where do you shop that doesn't sell milk with a sell by date more than a week away

ThouShallNotPass · 30/06/2017 13:16

Um... stale bread doesn't make nice sandwiches. And It's awful frozen. Never the same as fresh. Milk also goes off.

And we shop monthly so top up shops are essential as we would have the fresh stuff for just 1 out of 4 weeks.

Do you plan every single breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack? Is it all pre-decided?

plominoagain · 30/06/2017 13:17

Because when you have 3 large teenage sons plus two younger DCs with a fruit habit , if I buy it all for a week on a Monday , it'll all be gone by Thursday . Ditto milk . Plus if I go as part of a round robin trip to school or elsewhere , depending on the time , I get a few goes at the reduced shelves , which I do quite well out of .

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 30/06/2017 13:17

How the hell can fresh fruit sit in storage for a year??

Have a read up on how fruit is stored, apples can be months old by the time they reach the shops plus they're sprayed with all sorts to stop them rotting.

Hillarious · 30/06/2017 13:22

By not doing "top-up shops", the OP has too much time on her hands so starts threads such as this.

OP - you need to get out (to the shops) more!

Lucysky2017 · 30/06/2017 13:22

We are just all different. I don't even drink milk - no one does in the house. I don't eat bread. That doesn't make me some kind of better person. We all just have different personal tastes.

sparechange · 30/06/2017 13:24

I would sooner crawl over broken glass to the Co-op than have long life milk on a regular basis

bananafish81 · 30/06/2017 13:25

I don't see top up shopping as a chore. I see a weekly shop as a chore as how do I know what I'm going to want to eat for the week ahead?!

I find cooking and tbh eating a chore. So having to plan meals I don't then want to cook or eat is a massive waste of time and energy. Top up shopping is much easier. I walk past a massive sainsburys and a waitrose on my way from the tube, so it's so much nicer to pop in and pick up something I fancy than to buy a weekly shop and force myself to eat something I guessed I might want to eat

VladmirsPoutine · 30/06/2017 13:27

This thread is very: 'I don't understand why someone lives their life differently over a major non-issue.'
Peak MN.

SpitefulMidLifeAnimal · 30/06/2017 13:29

I go to Tesco about 3 times a week. It's only a 15 minute walk so I prefer to go on foot and get my exercise in, rather than use the car. There's only so much I can carry but I don't see it as a chore. I like going to Tesco and the walk makes me feel all virtuous . Plus, I usually bump into someone I know.