To tell you that I haven't done a top up food shop once this week

[teateateatea]

We do a weekly food shop. I am determined to reduce spend as much as I can. With that in mind, I would like to shout from the top of the roof tops that I have not been to a supermarket or other food shop once this week for a top up shop. This is usually unheard of for me.

Now I just need to keep it up for as long as I can.

I actually loathe going to large supermarkets which I find are full of ditherers trying to decide what to buy. I find it really poor for my mental health and never want to step foot in a supermarket for as long as possible.

supermarkets which I find are full of ditherers trying to decide what to buy

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Shop online ! No dithering. No impulse buys, add up as you go along. Win win.

I do an online click and collect every 5 days, it can be amended up to midnight the night before - it has stopped us doing many many top up shops as its always just a few days until the next one

I've been doing online shopping for a while now (C&C), but every week I was still finding that I was needing to go to the shop as well, just to get what we had run out of/was unavailable on the shop etc. This past week I have not been once and it is like a breath of fresh air

Great stuff! What do you think has changed?

We're lucky in that we're not counting pennies too hard, but I still think that the budget we allocate to a weekly shop should be more than enough. And yet tge top ups happen. Not so much this week as I've been too knackered to go...

My new year's resolution is not not do top up shops. I always go with the intention of buying one thing but since I'm there I think I may aswell buu this and that and this is basically where all my money goes!!

If I am missing an ingredient I vow to just make do!

I also do one weekly online shop.

The thing I found that helps is freezing bread so there's always an emergency loaf (or part baked rolls in the cupboard), and cartons of UHT milk on standby. I know some people are fussy about this but if it saves you a few quid, stops you from going all the way to a supermarket and inevitably over-buying then it could help.

If you don't want to set foot in one, just have a home delivery. It makes it a thousand times easier.

Well done OP! We are attempting to do the same. It's all to easy to pop out for a couple of bits then end up with more, isn't it? I find menu planning is my friend, and it's a task I have set myself for this afternoon.

Home delivery isn't the magic solution - they often give short dates or miss essential items/offer ridiculous substitutions.
Lots of people want to choose their own meat/fish/veg.
It's great for getting washing powder and tins etc though, which saves time in the supermarket.

I'd like to shop less too - I honestly think most of our money just goes straight to the supermarket!

Trying to avoid shopping at the moment - have so much in the house post Christmas new year that needs to be used - keeping a very strict list

I've been working on this skill (since lockdown) it takes (for our household) a fair bit of concentrating on it, but it has reduced our food bill. Training teenagers that food is still there when they just see 'effort' is the toughest hurdle for this house.

Then you probably have angry family members who want their milk and cereal. Is it worth the saved fiver

My issue with shopping once a week is I overbuy because I think ‘I might feel like this’. Then I inevitably forget what I’ve bought and it goes to waste. Going to a shop and just buying what I need for that day would probably work better for me but I don’t have the time.

@Riseandshinee £5 a week is £250 a year.................

I plan very religiously, and make shopping lists based on the plan. It means that the only top up shops I need to do are for things like a bag of salad at the end of the week, for example.

I am a bit of a foodie, though, and I really like planning and cooking nice meals for my family. Some people absolutely hate it, and that's fine for them. TBH though, they are probably a good proportion of the supermarket ditherers!

Congratulations! I am inspired - it's a great resolution.

We had a delivery yesterday from our local medium sized Waitrose.
Apart from essential special offers, we needed vegetables, received a bag of carrots similar to what we would buy to chop up with a machete for horses feed,
big as my arm, ridiculous when there is no way I would have selected these had I been in store - this is why we need to shop in person, buy fresh fruit veg salad, not at the mercy of an indifferent picker, a complaint often read on supermarket Reviews
Apart from this we have been really imaginitive with leftovers, so many we forget the original dish, fry ups, bubble and squeak, fried rice, bottom of the fridge soup, all tasty and delicious, then there is the Pannetone…
We don’t drink milk and have an excellent bakers here a short walk, but always reserves in the freezer just in case.
In store I still meander around perusing, think I’ll just get one of these, overspend,
however it is galling to be fobbed off with mammoth veg, woody, turning black, not
the first time but will be the last!
It isnt true that we can go through the delivery at the door, the drivers are on a schedule, especially with flooded roads, they are behind with their deliveries, just want to drop and go.

It wasn’t his fault the picker sent us horse carrots.

Happy shopping one and all !

I did 2-3 weeks during lockdown and continued till recently. I also hate going to supermarkets but again since lockdown deliveries or click and collect are pointless as they miss stuff I need for certain recipes and so I end up going in anyway. Well done for breaking your cycle. I need to get back in check with mine and go back to weekly only. Sometimes I just get bored and like buying food :/

I have shopped, but have made a meal plan and a list, so it's been much more strategic shopping. We live remotely and shops don't always have everything so we do need to always have a few staples in the cupboard - if I have a smaller list then some weeks I'll buy a couple of store cupboard items.

I hardly ever do a top up shop . I hate supermarkets and find them very overwhelming. It’s just too much stuff and too much choice and takes too much time .

Very true. The last time I got fruit in my Asda shop the dates were terrible and we had to eat a tonne of fruit in about 2 days and had none for the rest of the week. Also they never ever have all the items you order available.

Well done! I’m trying really hard to do the same, it’s a hard habit to break.