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Will this change your shopping habits going forward?

31 replies

Makeitgoaway · 29/03/2020 12:44

I've always had fairly well stocked cupboards and freezer, when life gets busy it's good to have something in. I also like having the makings of a meal for friends or people round for a drink, a cake with coffee. I enjoy being able to rustle something up without shopping specially. However, I had got slack about keeping some supplies topped up especially wine

I think it will be a long time before I make that mistake again.

If you were someone who just buys what you need when you need it, will that change?

OP posts:
stargirl1701 · 29/03/2020 12:46

No but it has prompted me to seek out local suppliers. Now getting milk in glass, bread, fruit, veg, fish and meat delivered.

slipperywhensparticus · 29/03/2020 12:48

Yes because people are stockpiling my gluten free foods and whinging it tastes shit of COURSE IT TASTES SHIT I only est it because I HAVE NO CHOICE

NeedANewJob19 · 29/03/2020 12:48

Yes I will change my habits.
We shopped once a week, only buying what we needed for the upcoming week. We might have added a few extra tinned food if they were on offer but other than that nothing extra was bought.
Any leftovers would go in the freezer so we had a few meals worth of food in there.
We didn’t stockpile/panic buy when this all started and the last two weeks we have really struggled to get our usual foods in the supermarket. A lot of the things in the freezer needed accompaniments that we just couldn’t get (bolognese, chilli) such as rice and pasta.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 29/03/2020 12:49

No, I'll still just buy as and when I need it. There's only me and DS at home so we don't get through a huge amount anyway and I've actually managed to get everything I need anyway. I do live next door to a Tesco though so I can see when deliveries arrive. Grin

TheBenefitsPeople · 29/03/2020 13:08

I promise never to take cheese for granted again. All I want is cheese but I am trying to ration it so I don't have to go out. I just really want to gorge on toasties.

Makeitgoaway · 29/03/2020 13:09

Yes, we have plenty of food Benefits not always the right food, which is a non issue really, but....

OP posts:
TheFlis12345 · 29/03/2020 13:14

I think we will eat less meat. We have been having it in smaller portions as there has been less availability near us and they have felt like plenty so will try to stick to that going forwards. Shopping wise though, I never let cupboard/ freezer basics run low in case we are away at a weekend and don’t get chance to do the usual big weekly shop. I was also a low level Brexit preppier so that has meant we have good stocks of basics as well as non food items like shampoo and toothpaste, which has helped.

HundredMilesAnHour · 29/03/2020 13:15

I promise never to take cheese for granted again. All I want is cheese but I am trying to ration it so I don't have to go out.

@TheBenefitsPeople I feel bad for you. One of my neighbours gave me a huge vat of buffalo mozzarella yesterday (due to their restaurant closing). Really lovely of them and I'm going to enjoy every minute of eating it but I do now have an awful lot of cheese to eat before it's expiry date tomorrow (!). So the opposite problem to you. Blush

Egghead68 · 29/03/2020 13:17

Yes I think I’ll continue to get weekly or fortnightly deliveries of real food rather than pick up ready meals everyday.

TheBitterBoy · 29/03/2020 13:19

No it won't change my habits, but that's because I always have a storecupboard of stuff in case of emergencies. Obviously it was usually intended for when we have snow, or if we are too ill to shop, also handy when coming back from a couple of weeks away etc. I have always worked on the principle of one in the kitchen, some in the garage, for basics such as pasta, tomatoes, ketchup, part baked bread, cereal etc. I think this came from when I was a child and my dad was working away for a few weeks and mum fell ill with flu, and the memory of having nothing in the house and being 11, I was unable to get to the nearest supermarket on my own. It was a valuable life lesson, so ever since I've done my own shopping I have gradually worked up to having a store, all things we always use and always rotated into the kitchen as the previous one is used up.
I also have used the milkman and a veg box for years and this has saved us in the last two weeks when we had to self isolate because of symptoms.

YgritteSnow · 29/03/2020 13:24

Very much so. I used to nip in the supermarket or M&S simply food almost every day. Haven't been out for a week now and all has been fine. I have to go tomorrow morning for fresh groceries but then with a delivery this week may not have to for two to three weeks. I will definitely only shop once a week after this.

reasonsforwaiting · 29/03/2020 13:30

Yes, I'll use local suppliers & farmers' markets more in future in preference to largely supermarket only shops I've been doing lately.

middleager · 29/03/2020 13:34

Yes.
I will buy a chest freezer.
And a bread maker

I'm veggie and lived off tinned tomatoes, butterbeans etc. So will make sure I have those in abundance.

I don't drink cow's milk either yet found I couldn't get non dairy during the stampede (luckily I have a couple in)

I will buy locally and never allow myself to run low on stores.

Chrisinthemorning · 29/03/2020 13:37

I had a Brexit stash which I am grateful for. I will now always have a crisis cupboard.
I will never let myself get close to running out of loo roll.
I will always have a milkman. He’s been brilliant.
I will shop at local butchers and farm shops more.

Redcrayons · 29/03/2020 13:40

I think so. I used to meal plan for a week at a time, and always have extra of basics stuff. But the number of top up shops have been increasing and I had been buying stuff pretty much every day.
I’ve realised that I can manage with just one shop per week, with just one top up for extra fruit.

MadisonMontgomery · 29/03/2020 13:53

I have always been a low-level prepper and am so grateful at present that I am that way inclined! I plan to buy a chest freezer as soon as they are back on the market and am considering having a veg patch.

SansaClegane · 29/03/2020 13:54

I've always been a low key prepper - not a bunker full of food, but have tins, frozen veg and bread in the freezer, long life milk, rice/pasta, cleaning products and loo roll in the store room. Even hand soap and sanitizer. All I need to shop for is fresh foods.
In fairness it was the thought of Brexit that had made me ramp up my game a bit before January, but I'm really glad I did. It never hurts to have long-life items at home!
So I'll definitely continue as I have.

SansaClegane · 29/03/2020 13:54

Lol MadisonMontgomery almost the same opening lines Wink

Moonsick · 29/03/2020 13:57

I'm going to continue having a store cupboard and growing my own food. I'm going to make sure everything has a buffer because I was winding down my Brexit stores.

I will now support all the local businesses who have done an amazing job at delivering fresh stuff to isolated people. So so grateful and the meat and veg is much higher quality than the stuff I was getting from the supermarket. Worth the extra effort and cash to me.

There are a couple of shops which price gouged desperate people and they will never get a penny of my money, no matter how convenient or well stocked they are.

Graphista · 29/03/2020 14:04

@HundredMilesAnHour can you freeze it? Cooking it into some dishes would prolong for storage in fridge too be a shame to waste it

Thanks to the preppers I wasn't completely blindsided but there are certain items I plan to stock when things ease which I hadn't even considered would be a major issue stupidly (paper products, cleaning products - I have ocd, I was thinking more Brexit/bad weather not everyone panic buying the products I use normally meaning I can't get them!)

There are certain companies I will never use again because of how they've behaved during this. Not only to customers but staff too.

Bouncingbomb · 29/03/2020 14:04

Not really - I have always kept too much food in my house - product of always living ten miles from a shop until two years ago.

I felt a bit daft having a full pantry and a full freezer and was planning on running it all down and shopping daily on my way home from work.

Pleased I didn’t get there nowadays I only need fresh fruit and veg.

Lots of the wholesalers are now delivering to homes as their business has dried up from restaurants so I have booked fortnightly orders from them but I will go back to shopping how I used to once this is over as I will be back at work full time and Ocado will continue to be the most convenient option for me.

PowerslidePanda · 29/03/2020 14:11

Yes - I'll definitely keep a much bigger supply of non-perishables. We're a family of 5 and two are currently babies. It's been a nightmare trying to get enough formula and nappies (not least because the item restrictions are sufficient for one baby, but not twins...) - but at least the remaining 3 of us can get by within the limits. If the babies were older, we'd struggle to feed us all with only 3 tins of tomatoes per shop, etc - so will make sure we always have a good supply of that kind of thing in future.

PowerslidePanda · 29/03/2020 14:14

There are certain companies I will never use again because of how they've behaved during this.

Yes, good point - I'll be avoiding certain companies in future because of this too.

housemdwaswrong · 29/03/2020 14:15

Yes. Definitely. It was a real eye opener how selfish/panicked people were. I'll get a stock in, and have cleared out space for it. I'm not going to go mad, but over the next few months without a doubt, I will build up extras of paracetamol (I use a lot and couldn't get it anywhere), other OTC painkillers, cleaning &personal hygiene, and dried and tinned food.

It was a joke here. I haven't (properly) been out for a fortnight and there seems to be more in stock online The day the lock down was announced, tesco car park was like armageddon (needed milk so went into petrol station).

Never again am I going to be stuck for blinking toothpaste and soap.

helpasisterout · 29/03/2020 14:22

It's really heartening to see multiple mentions of local businesses such as farm and small corner shops, butchers, direct milk suppliers and markets.

In among the panic of supermarket emptying behaviour they alongside farmers have steeped up production and output as well as many around me putting themselves at risk to deliver to the vulnerable to offer us all hugh quality produce at reasonable prices.

Due to my location my preferred shopping method is a mix of supermarket and local businesses but I will be making an effort to recommend the local businesses who I have seen helping the vulnerable at this time.