@PrettyShiningPeople we are on cable/virgin and corded phones work fine, you just need a socket to plug them in, same as where the base unit of a cordless handset for your landline goes.
I'm on holiday at the moment so not active organising, but this is what I learned over the last few months:
Garlic in a tube (probably Aldi) is not very nice but ok for stews in small quantities. Home made pickled garlic (I had a few too many heads that were looking a bit sad) is a great success. Really pungent and sharp, like raw, just with a bit of added vinegaryness, so better for stirfrys and tomato-based sauces. Recipe from Abel&Cole web site. Made it in March, it sits in my fridge and is still good.
I can't really tell the difference between premium Idahoan buttery mash and Sainsbury's own brand. The flavoured ones, yes, are worth the premium price.
Frozen eggs worked for us, only used in cooking and baking, not scrambled. Texture is a bit weird.
Sliced Gouda freezes well from a texture point of view, Lidl brand better than Aldi, which goes a little bit crumbly.
Tinned peas are nothing like the ones I remember from childhood ('Bonduelle' can you get them in UK?), only work in stews and bakes. My memory may be warped though!
I had no idea tinned thick cream it would not be liquid when it came out of the tin. Will not be trying that again. Found UHT cooking cream in my local Italian deli and from Ocado. Will be buying some of those instead, so much easier to use.
My kids do not like UHT milk, premium organic moo milk makes no difference. I guess they might change their tune if we ever really ran out of milk.
On the other hand I can easily put TVP mince in my Bolognese or chilli and nobody bats an eyelid! This is a great permanent switch for us.
I had stored things mixed up, so most locations had some tins, some dry goods etc, stored as I bought them, but it made management really hard. I was not very disciplined when using stuff, though I had very detailed lists to start with, so when I was trying to find something specific recently I had to look in several places before I found it. I think I'll go with all tins together, all pasta etc. this time.
I already make all our bread and the flour I had stored lasted until now, so my estimation was spot on. I still have some wheat grain for grinding, it keeps better like that but is more effort than opening a pack of flour.
Sorry this got a bit too long... Right, I'll start sorting and shopping in earnest when I get home next week.