Realistically, how often do you go to the shops per week?

[ssd]

How often do you go to the shops, including if you pop in for milk one day etc

I mean if everyone in the family is healthy.

[Sexnotgender]

Never. Get one delivery per week. We’re shielding DD.

[Springcatkin]

I don't drive so can only buy what I can carry. Went to Tesco & Aldi on Sat, will probably have to pop in again this week to top up bread etc. Three times in a week is about our normal.

[livingthegoodlife]

Once a fortnight. Everyone healthy.

[Erictheavocado]

Pre lockdown, delivery every week to ten days with a small top up for bread, veg etc from the supermarket in between.
Since lo known, we are just making do with whatever we can get on home delivery. Both Dh and I vulnerable, so not willing to risk going shopping. A friend's father used to pop into his local supermarket as part of his exercise. No contact with anyone else. He caught covid and died. I'd rather stay in, even cutting back on food a bit of necessary, than take that chance.

[WombatChocolate]

Of course people's situations vary. Some households have more people or some families don't have a car.

However, the point is, are people doing as few shops per week as their household could manage on if they planned carefully?

If you have to walk to the shop and carry it back, you might well NEED to go 3 times. If you have 8 people in your house, your fridge might not hold enough food for a week and you might NEED to go more than once.

However, people with decent sized fridges and freezers and transport often seem to go several times. I'd suggest that some of them don't NEED to go so often but could manage with fewer visits if they planned ahead more and also if they accepted not instantly having every item they want right now, but just added it to the list and waited until the next shop. They could make fewer visits if they discussed as a family and individuals within it didn't pop out for an ice cream or a newspaper and co-ordinated themselves.

I think that lots of people have tried really hard to reduce their visits to shops and made some reasonable and manageable sacrifices in terms of not always or instantly having everything they want, but still having plenty to eat. However, some haven't really made adjustments to the way they shop usually - just thinking about a day or two ahead, and being willing to go to shops pretty frequently.

There is a difference to needing to go more often than once a week and just choosing to. Fancying an ice cream, or not planning ahead and so frequently forgetting items and then deciding to go and get them, or not being prepared to make any adjustment to what is eaten or to wait a while for specific things until the next shop, just seems a bit lazy and actually careless to me. It is the shop visits where human co tact happens even with social distancing.

If your household makes 6 visits to the shops between them, and another makes only 1, the latter has less chance of catching it but also less chance of spreading it to shop workers or other public. But I think in reality lots of people are starting to put their own convenience ahead of the impact of the spread of the disease.

I'm not saying no-one should go more often. Some people need to. But are people really only going when they NEED to and as infrequently as possible - that's the Q.

[WombatChocolate]

And if you go fairly regularly, it becomes the new normal and it doesn't even occur to you that you could probably go less often. That's the issue too I think.

[StraightAndNarrow]

DH does a weekly shop. I’ve popped out for top-ups twice since lockdown.

[Smithy01]

Everyone has a different situation which needs a different amount of visits for essential food. My issue is people making statements like if you planned better you could reduce your trips or do without things etc. It isn’t always the case.
I could sit waiting online for a delivery slot but couldn’t do it thinking I had taken someone in the vulnerable or even worse high risk groups chance to stay at home. Mumsnet has quickly forget the #bekind campaign running not so long ago. Stop judging, concentrate on you doing the right thing and leave others to hopefully do the same. Complaining about it on here will not change how some choose to live.

[GrumpiestOldWoman]

And if you go fairly regularly, it becomes the new normal and it doesn't even occur to you that you could probably go less often

Agreed.

Between DH and in we would be in a shop virtually daily picking up a few bits. We've been 7-14 day intervals since lockdown and at first it felt difficult but I think we've got out of the habit now and I'll be happy not seeing the inside of a supermarket now. I think it took us a good 2-3 weeks to break the shopping habit.

I'm actually enjoying it, I bake most mornings (just easy quick things to have with coffee) and it's actually appreciated by the family now that they can't just nip to Gregg's for a doughnut!

[HerRoyalNotness]

DH goes once a week for our food shop. I haven’t been in a month.

[EwwSprouts]

I've been going to the supermarket every 6 days, never seem to get quite enough bread, milk for a week. Only 'popped' to local shop for fruit/veg top up twice since lockdown. Had one takeaway.

[Fortyfifty]

28GrumpiestOldWoman

It can be a nice habit to break. Last year I wanted to know exactly what we spent on food in a month so we kept our receipt for every item of food we bought. Aside from discovering what we spent, it was astonishing to find we made 27 separate transactions in a 30 day month. What a waste of our time, particularly as have enough fridge and cupboard space to store a decent amount of food.
I changed toa fortnightly online shop and only needed to nip in for extras once or twice in that period for fresh fruit/veg or forgotten items. I'm finding it more stressful to do a fortnightly shop - alone - in the actual supermarket (Im fussy about packing) but persevering and managing on one or two top ups. I think we just get so used to nipping in as and when, it can feel strange not to. But, in non-restrictive times, it can free up time to break that habit if you don't need to.

[Fortyfifty]

Fewer opportunities for impulsive buying too, which I'm very guilty of, so saves money.