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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

aibu to think Xmas food shopping is panic buying?

237 replies

DragonMama3 · 22/12/2023 19:33

In Asda. people buying food like the world was ending! WHy?

Shops reopen in 12 hours?

OP posts:
MysweetAudrina · 22/12/2023 20:07

I'll have 6 extra people to feed Christmas Day. 6 extra on Stephen's day. I'll will be cooking completely different food to normal and I have no intention of setting foot in a shop until at least 28 Dec. I imagine I am not usual in this.

Autumnleaves89 · 22/12/2023 20:07

Believe it or not OP, the vast majority of the country are cooking a big meal consisting of mostly the same stuff on the same day of the year. It’s not about how long the shops are shut 🙄

Rudolphtherednoseddog · 22/12/2023 20:07

Well presumably OP you were also in Asda, and presumably shopping? Exactly how were these other customers different to you?!

I bought a trolley load today. Food is freely available in the shop, I’m buying it, it’s being paid for and it’ll all get used/eaten. What exactly is the issue with that? There was plenty still there for others.

Isseywith3witchycats · 22/12/2023 20:10

i dont panic buy i have 8 of us for christmas day dinner so obviously i have to buy enough meat and veg for all of us plus nice things for starter and dessert and we like to eat nice things as well as the normal food i write a list each year and we buy more booze than normal so i can offer guests the drinks they like plus im off work all week and dont want to spend my off work time going in supermarkets its the one time of year i buy lots of nice picky food, different cheeses , luxury desserts as well as the food for in between that we would normally buy,

Lilithlogic · 22/12/2023 20:11

Missingmyusername · 22/12/2023 20:01

Ridiculous. Most of it gets binned.

I have 3 6ft hollow legged, hungry horraces, none of it gets wasted

GonnaNeedABiggerBag · 22/12/2023 20:12

I find it all very overwhelming - especially the mammoth amounts of food I’ve seen people buying. Can't wait for the whole thing to be over.

But I like the fact many people stay away from the supermarkets - less busy and I can shop for my food in a more peaceful environment.

Randomsabreur · 22/12/2023 20:12

I've not bought extra as it's just the normal number of people here for Christmas. If I had 3 times as many people in my house than usual I'd likely be buying 3 times as much because we'd eat 3 times as much...

Basic maths really.

Yes I would have to buy at least some of the things relatively last minute because I need to have eaten the normal food in my fridge to leave space for the extras for the extra mouths visiting.

Hosting more people = more food bought and it's more noticeable at Christmas/Easter because everyone is hosting at the same time so the shopping is less spread out.

Anniversary and Birthday parties don't tend to fall the same weekend for everyone...

Beezknees · 22/12/2023 20:13

Christmas stuff runs out quickly. It's taken me days to find turkey gravy. There was no Baileys left in Asda when I went in earlier.

I don't have guests for Christmas so I don't overbuy but I'm working on the 27th, 28th and 29th so I don't want to be shopping then and I don't want to be shopping this weekend so I've done a week's shop today.

Snippit · 22/12/2023 20:15

It’s complete madness. Thankfully my Asda order came today with reasonable replacements. I popped to Lidl the other evening for a few different bits, wasn’t really impressed to be honest, I’ve seen better.

Some people go absolutely mad, it’s only one day. My mum used to do Xmas dinner for 1pm, then a buffet in the evening, it’s traumatised me for life, I can’t be arsed, 🥴

sprigatito · 22/12/2023 20:17

Missingmyusername · 22/12/2023 20:01

Ridiculous. Most of it gets binned.

Does it? I think you're doing it wrong 😂

Nothing gets binned in this house. Everything is planned and wanted, and everything gets used. Even the turkey carcass makes a month's worth of frozen soup portions.

I do enjoy these threads, though. People getting all unnecessary about others' profligate shopping habits and gluttony. Some people clearly have a deep-seated need to pop every balloon they see and shit on the festivities...it's a guilty pleasure for me. Can't wait to see the ones on Christmas Day about "waste" in every conceivable form, I read them out for DH in bed. Great fun.

LeggyLegsEleven · 22/12/2023 20:18

The thing is they will be totally rammed again on Boxing Day. I don’t believe everyone will have run out, it’s a compulsion to shop.
In lockdown one woman on the checkouts said loads of people came every single day, just for something to do, sometimes just to browse.

Creational · 22/12/2023 20:19

Missingmyusername · 22/12/2023 20:01

Ridiculous. Most of it gets binned.

I'd say it's less ridiculous than your comment. 'Most of it gets binned' - you've just made that up.

Terrrence · 22/12/2023 20:20

I don't not any more food at Christmas than at any other time if the year but the thing is I have to go to the shops 2 or 3 days before Christmas because I don't want to be serving up old shriveled vegetables and rotten meat. Everybody else had to do the same thing so we are all at the shops at the same time.

ChocolateCinderToffee · 22/12/2023 20:21

I’m not going shopping again until the end of January cos I’m broke!

Xmasbaby11 · 22/12/2023 20:21

It’s making things special and having twice as many people in the house for 4 days. Also I don’t want to have to go shopping again even if the shops do reopen on Boxing Day! Last year we had to top up every day so I’m better organised this year.

Pickingmyselfup · 22/12/2023 20:23

The last thing I want to be doing is food shopping on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day so I buy as much as I can in the days leading up.

We aren't having people over but because we are all at home I'm making sure we have meals and snacks for all of us. I am making an absolute feast on Christmas Day but I will have the leftovers or freeze it so it doesn't matter if I have bought too much.

If people have big families they will be doing a big shop this week because they likely won't want to be shopping unnecessarily on Boxing Day. I've already been shopping twice this week because I've had extra time so I've been able to space my shopping out. Dry goods and alcohol or stuff with a longer shelf life got bought Tuesday and the fresher stuff today. Some stuff is already in the freezer and some bits I need to get on Sunday so they stay fresh.

I have enough stuff to last until at least Thursday morning, will need milk and bread Wednesday but I'm back at work Wednesday, husband has the kids so neither of us want to be doing a full shop.

I don't think people panic buy because the shops are shut for one day, they buy what they need to last them until they want to yo shopping again.

I have plenty of flour for my Yorkshires and sauces so I haven't needed to buy that and I have tons of toilet roll since we bulk buy. No pasta buying because I always get a big pack everytime I go and I have plenty even if I need to cook some this week.

I did put a cat food order on yesterday though because it was payday and I buy monthly every payday. I thought I asked for slow delivery because I don't need it until after Christmas but it's coming tomorrow I think!

There is only me, the husband, the kids and the pets over Christmas so I have only needed to buy food for us but if I were having people over my trolley would be a lot fuller.

Do people really have 3 whole trolleys stacked to the brim with food though? I can't imagine how many people I would be hosting over the next week to need that much food..seems a bit much.

Gowlett · 22/12/2023 20:23

You don’t have to do Christmas. Or buy any of the food.
But, it’s fun. Have my Baileys Whipped Cream. I’m happy!

EcoCustard · 22/12/2023 20:23

There’s a few of us at home (big family) & plenty of visitors too. We don’t go out much over the Christmas period and other than milk and bread from the village shop we won’t go food shopping until the kids go back in early January as it’s a 20 mile round trip, and want to be doing other stuff. I buy lots in the lead up to Christmas but my shop tomorrow will be like a regular one with a few extras. It’s always a big trolley and I get plenty of sarcastic comments. No panic buying and some shops might reopen but I won’t be heading to them. I worked in Somerfield years ago and loved working Christmas Eve and the days leading up to it, it was chaos but lots of fun.

alwaysmovingforwards · 22/12/2023 20:23

Just checking... is 'panic buying' the same thing as 'stocking up so I don't have to go food shopping until after new year'?

Birch101 · 22/12/2023 20:24

Making sure you have enough bits to be a good host and then to avoid the shops for as long as possible afterwards.

Reesescheeses · 22/12/2023 20:26

We will do a massive shop tomorrow. We have 5 of us plus 11 guests for Christmas. It’s not panic buying to buy enough food for 2 days.

Hedjwitch · 22/12/2023 20:26

I think its much better than it was. I remember 30 years ago the checkout queues were up to the back of the shop

Aposterhasnoname · 22/12/2023 20:27

Or, or, hear me out here. People who are normally feeding two people are now feeding 12 for a week, and in that week there is at least one big meal and a party planned.

Just a thought.

LolaSmiles · 22/12/2023 20:28

3 trolleys of stuff... mental
It depends on what their festive celebrations are surely?

It isn't rocket science that if a family shop is one trolley, then hosting additional families over the Christmas period will mean more food.

If a couple have their adult children, spouses and grandchildren over that could easily be another 6-8 people to feed for half a week.

StragglyTinsel · 22/12/2023 20:29

The same smug lazy argument comes up every year. Sneering about how the shops are only closed for 24 hours etc.

Just completely ignoring that people are buying food and drink for a feast day (where they may well be hosting large numbers of people), plus also doing a big shop for an extended period where everyone is at home (plus guests) and no one wants to be going to the supermarket etc.

Many people doing the big shop today are likely doing it to take them through to the 29th or 30th - so it’s a weekly shop with lots of extras (and a £50+ turkey in the mix). They’re not panic buying for an apocalypse. No one is stockpiling bloody loo roll (we all remember how that went!). It’s just a big shop because the Christmas period is a traditional time of socialising, feasting and drinking at home.

But keep sneering about how pathetic everyone else is if it makes you feel important.