How much of the extra 16 pints of milk and 5 loaves of bread bought just in case are actually consumed

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Will be celebrating Xmas Day with my parents and a couple of their friends. Our milk and bread consumption is less than normal as drink Buck’s Fizz instead of coffee.

I see shoppers buying ridiculous amounts of milk and bread.

I reckon the extra 16 pints of milk and 5 loaves of bread, bought just in case - of what? Most will be binned.

I’ve done similar. 14 people for almost a week 😳. The amount of loo roll and butter was crazy!

I buy two or three 4 pint bottles of milk every week, but don't buy extra for Christmas. I don't buy extra bread either, but I will probably make a loaf at some point over the holidays (which I do quite often so not particularly odd). I probably buy more bits and pieces, like crisps and nibbles, breakfast pastries and some ready prepared things for a bit of a buffet. Otherwise it's pretty standard shopping, plus a turkey and maybe a ham.

I think most people have an eye on their budget - they aren't buying stuff willy nilly just to throw it away. The only reason I can think of for throwing stuff out is that half the expected visitors didn't turn up, the fridge and freezer (and shed and garden store and spare bedroom) were full and there was no space to stock any more and there are vulnerable family members so you absolutely dare not risk using anything even slightly out of date.

None of us are chucking stuff out voluntarily. It's too expensive.

Right, but lots of people host their friends and family at Christmas, so they need extras of all the basics. Milk for tea, coffee and hot chocolate, plus cereal/porridge. Bread for stuffing, bread sauce, toast, sandwiches (for leftovers).

DH and I don't host anyone but we still buy more than normal because a) neither of us want to go to the shops unless necessary and b) we're both off work for a fortnight so we're using more as we're home more.

Nothing goes to waste.

We regularly buy 16 pints of milk, DH has half a pint on cereal every day for starters. The only thing we ever wasted was one year the soft cheese had a very short date and as I had food poisoning from Brie when young I didn’t want to risk it. DS drinks huge amounts of milk as did his ex GF and juice, I used to joke they were like toddlers. I have 6 for a day and down to 5 for almost a week.

Milk lasts for ages and bread could go in the freezer – why on earth would it go in the bin?

I tend to buy lots of cream and part baked baguettes rather than milk and sliced loaves. It doesn't get wasted.

(We actually use less milk and sliced bread over the Christmas period, as we only have day guests not stopovers, and regular breakfast (which is our biggest user of milk and sliced bread) tends to be replaced with something more special).

That’s what I was thinking. Especially if you only shop weekly.

I never feel bad. I found out that Florence’s whites are often left out overnight! The shame!
Plus I look awful in a trilby.

That doesn't sound particularly excessive. A few mugs of tea/coffee and a couple of bowls of porridge would use a litre. If he drinks it, a glass is probably 300 ml on its own.

If you add two fishes you will have more than enough - enough to feed 5,000 and have twevle baskets of leftovers.

I buy 5x4 pints of milk every week (family of 5 who eat cereal and drink milk - dc are teens). Doesn’t sound excessive to me. Over Christmas, from Christmas Eve to the Saturday my mum will have 10 people staying in her house so she’ll have a lot of milk and bread 🤷🏻‍♀️

We tend to go through nearly a loaf of bread daily. And there’s quite a lot of breadcrumbs in the stuffing and Christmas pudding. Again, there’s milk in things like Yorkshire puddings if you have those and custard if you have that. I don’t think there will be much waste there, especially if there’s visitors to consider too. We plan our food out pretty well and in the past, our waste has tended to come from guests with dietary requirements, which can’t really be helped. I imagine your Mum will have bought a lot of bread and milk. And Bucks Fizz too by the sounds of it.

When the shops shut on Christmas Eve thats me done, shopped out and I do not want to leave this house for a week. totally had enough,spent too much and over stocked for every eventuality.....So I tell myself until Boxing day and I am going stir crazy and off again I go to the shops...Every bloody year for atleat 40 years I go through this charade discussion with myself!!!!

We go through 4 pints a day and 1 to 2 loaves of bread. That’s before the extended family arrive for Christmas so that will just go up🤷‍♂️

My theory is simple, it’s just 2 days! If needed the corner shop even opens on Boxing Day and the shop at the garage on Christmas Day. When I lived in the city, the international supermarket opened for 6 hours on Christmas Day, ideal for those emergency battery purchases. I’ve never over stocked up

But as I hate the taste of milk and am mildly gluten intolerant, bread and milk aren’t big on my hit list. For my nibbles I’m making lots of sushi!

That is truly heroic. Hats off to you for that one.

Jesus fed 5000 with just 5 loaves and 2 fish and had leftovers, so yes people are buying too much.

Me and DH don’t drink milk in tea/coffee. We use it as a family for cereal, kids will have a glass, to make sauces etc so we buy plenty but I wouldn’t say we’re a hugely milk dependent household.

I did NOT appreciate how much gets used up by heavy tea and coffee drinkers. Wow! A few days of houseguests plus relatives visiting and that’s a whole container gone in a day! And of course the stress over it to because we don’t live super close to a shop. I’ve learnt to stock up now for visitors

Thing is - if everyone is hosting hoards of people and no one is over catering then where are the hoards of people coming from ? Because I don’t seen anyone in the shops with a small basket

I live on my own and drink/use 16 pints per week (cereal, milky coffee, glasses of milk).

I can't face going to the shops after today (got a click and collect order to pick up this afternoon) so bought an extra 4 pints so 20 pints in total.

I reckon I will easily use it all in the next 7 days and that is just me living alone and not doing any entertaining.

For big families I can see how they might need quite a bit extra just with kids being off school and eating constantly.

I suppose milk and bread are also relatively cheap so if it goes to waste it does not matter so much. Whereas running out of them is a complete pain so I can see why people err on the side of caution.

They must have really big fridges though!

Have you thought about investing in a cow?

I live alone and I buy the supermarkets' own Cravendale. A 2 litre bottle lasts me about 8-10 days. I have cereal most days, but my coffees are strong with a drop of milk. I want my coffees taste of coffee, not milk.

I just buy the normal amount of essentials, perhaps a couple of pints of milk more if guest are coming, because I live 10 mins walk away from an Asda so I quite enjoy a walk on the 27th for a little top up shop