Stock up vs Use up?

katiecoodle

I just freed up a whole drawer in the freezer by making blackberry gin for a friend of mine who gave me the blackberries about 6 weeks ago & has been really looking forward to her gin ever since. And once I've freed up the other drawer from all the surplus birthday cake next week (I'll take it to mums and tots when its my turn for refreshments) then i'll be getting all the offers in again!
It has felt strange to avoid buying frozen stuff, despite the special offers, just because I haven't had the space for it.

OrkneyStar

I like to have a good supply of certain things (flour, pasta, rice, beans, tinned veg, tinned fruit)- when I say good supply I mean at least 2 tins or 1kg of dry stuff.
I do take advantage of BOGOF's but rarely buy more than 1 plus the free one, and do also get whoopsied stuff, but again 1 or 2 things not loads. Why some people buy 20 I am not sure, the same (or similar) offer will appear again in not that long!
I also have the idea with things we use a lot to take one replace one- so we don't unexpectedly run out.
[STRIKE]I also buy Cravendale to last 1 week so that am not buying milk every day (DS goes through a lot, DH has it, we have in cereal too)[/STRIKE]- stopped buying so much Cravendale as it really is expensive!
Other than that I don't excessively stock pile at all- its not worth the hassle.
Like another poster said, my stocks have also been built over a time and not all in the last few months!
For Christmas we will buy the meat, maybe a bit more veg than normal, but the rest will be a normal shop as other posters said. Don't think I will even bother with the last minute reductions this time either- would rather relax and play with DS.
x hth

nesssie1702

Stockpile some stuff when it's on BOGOF, especially things like toilet paper (hate paying full price for loo roll )

moneypooh

I tend to stock pile BOGOFs, but only on things I know will get eaten in the next few months. (but never do I might add) I do stock up on toiletries though as they can be a good deal. Cereals too.

I'm starting to look at Christmas stuff now and already have a few bits.

I do have stock piling down to an art form though. A couple of years ago our fridge/freezer was dying, well that's what we were told by the engineer. So we bought another and put the old one in the garage to end it's days quietly. However it made a miraculous recovery a few months later and is still going strong. We already had a chest freezer in the garage so now we have LOADS of fridge & freezer space. It's brilliant when needing it like at Christmas but I can keep them all well stocked all year around if I'm not careful. So bring on the nuclear explosions/bird flu pandemics I'm ready for ya :rotfl:

Pitlanepiglet

We will be moving to a more rural area at the start of next year so I'm trying to get better at keeping my store cupboard up together as it'll be a 20 mile round trip to get things I've forgotten or the nasty Co-op that rarely has anything decent anyway! The last thing I want to then, or even now is have to go out especially to buy basics.

I do buy multiples of things when they are on special, I'm still using up Doves Farm wholemeal bread flour that I bought a couple of months ago, I know I'll use them up so I might as well buy stuff when it's cheap!

OrkneyStar

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

We will be moving to a more rural area at the start of next year so I'm trying to get better at keeping my store cupboard up together as it'll be a 20 mile round trip to get things I've forgotten or the nasty Co-op that rarely has anything decent anyway! The last thing I want to then, or even now is have to go out especially to buy basics.

I do buy multiples of things when they are on special, I'm still using up Doves Farm wholemeal bread flour that I bought a couple of months ago, I know I'll use them up so I might as well buy stuff when it's cheap!

We live in a rural area too, making the 26 mile round trip to the main town once (or twice) a week- there is a Tesco, larger Coop and Lidl there, plus small shops. In our town there is a Coop, decent butcher/grocer and about 10 miles (veering slightly from the direction of main town) there is another Coop. This is partly why I always like to have flour etc in, I do tend to stock up on certain things at Tesco/Lidl although also like to support the local butcher and Coop as you never know when you might need them!
Wish I had found Doves farm WM flour on special though....mmmmmm, it is so good, I cut the WM bread flour half and half with Tesco white brd flr!

nesssie1702

Likewise live in a rural area and a bit like Orkneystar have Tesco and the Co-op. No Lidl - yet, keep hoping though

I'm lucky, as I work in the main town where the shops are, so tend to tag the shopping onto a days work, rather than make the effort do come in on a Saturday (it's a 20 mile round trip)

My cupboard is always stocked with supplies of pasta, pasta sauce, some tinned fruit and veg, as well as beans etc. The chest freezer in the garage is full of bread and other things that have been on special that I buy up and use - handy in the winter months if the ferry hasn't been able to sail for a few days!!

rosieben

I'm in the country too, and no car now so I can only suss out the big supermarkets when I get a lift. We're lucky to have a butcher in the village (very good for cheese, eggs and some bakery goods as well as meat) and a good greengrocer but the local store is pretty much a waste of time and money.

I've stocked up on tins, dried stuff and just filled my freezer - I'm ready for winter now :j

I messed up one year as I let bags of pulses go badly out of date, so I'm careful now to list my 'extra' stock with bb dates so I can rotate properly.

I've started buying in a few little extras for christmas, and I'll be getting my turkey breast from the butcher within the next few weeks. Then it'll just be a normal shop with loads of fruit and veg for christmas week.

lilac_lady

One of my friends is a hoarder and when she (eventually) cleared out her kitchen larder she found tinned tomatoes and dried herbs from 1994. I made her bin them but I've a thing about sell-by dates! Would you have used them?

rosieben

lilac_lady wrote: »

One of my friends is a hoarder and when she (eventually) cleared out her kitchen larder she found tinned tomatoes and dried herbs from 1994. I made her bin them but I've a thing about sell-by dates! Would you have used them?

I think years ago tins were made of better stuff and would last virtually forever. These days tins are pretty feeble and I'm a bit more wary so I would have chucked them; my limit is a few weeks past date with tins now; the herbs would have no taste left so no good for anything.

edited to say - a couple of years ago I opened a tin of baked beans and forgot to empty the 'spares' into a dish. Literally a few hours later, the tin had started to rust and I was told by Tesco that its quite normal! so I don't take too many chances with tins these days