Why buy?

dronid

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

Sounds just like mine! Except when I manage to get a good haul of yellow-stickered meat for the freezer, it's all fizzy water, lime cordial, tinned tomatoes and kidney beans, and loo paper :rotfl:

(It's a good job I don't just fill my trolley with beer, as I know dronid doesn't live a million miles from me and it's probably my trolley he's been looking into )

I shall keep a close eye.

Mine tends to be full of gin... still not healthier but classier!:D

rosieben

fizzy water, tins of tomatoes, toilet rolls - what, no lentils?

I love crisps too, and I bought 2 tubs of humous in lidl today ....... hmmmm crisps and humous ...........

Peartree

I love looking at other people's trolleys but with a bit of a stern reminder to myself about not judging people until you've walked a mile in their shoes before I think about tutting! And I'm horrified to think what others might think of my own basket sometimes. Amazing the strange array of stuff you can end up with when you only popped in for pint of milk but those BOGOFs were too good to miss! I'm also fascinated by the strange bulk buys you see - I often seem to end up behind people with a trolley full of white sliced loaves and several giant packages of cheddar thinking that if it is for a party it is a pretty poor do!

I'll confess to being a consistent bags of ice buyer. It is my luxury and for less than a quid a time not that bad! I'm addicted to it and like all my cold drinks half full of ice. You try keeping on top of making enough with those little trays - and as for the plastic bags, I've never used one without getting wet feet!

I can cook, I know good food and will often have bulk cooking from scratch sessions. However, I can't cook small and, when the freezer is full, buying pre-prepared helps me avoid a lot of waste. I like to balance time and money. If you put a nominal price on your time, some of the preprepared stuff looks very good value, especially if you are cooking for one.

What really gets me tutting though isn't the convenience food, it is the basket full of branded products. I'm a bit anti-brand as I hate the thought of paying for all that marketing! I like to read ingredients labels and will pick what I think is best for the price whether it is branded, value or taste the difference - and it is revelatory when you do that. Although it is getting a bit more difficult with the ageing process as the print is SO SMALL!

Just going slightly off topic, my tutting really comes to the fore when I see people buying branded ibuprofen, paracetamol, anti-histamines, etc, for about five times the price of the generic versions that are exactly the formula! I did once say to a lady in the supermarket who was popping a remedy in her basket that the one I was picking up was exactly the same formula and several pounds cheaper. However, she said she knew that only too well but was taking it home to her elderly father who, despite all her efforts, simply would not believe her!

On a final note, you know you're in trouble when the cashier looks at your basket full of treats and says 'are you having a party love?' and you're just buying for a quiet night in after a horrid week at work!

Peartree

Isn't the point of this, though, that it isn't all or nothing? It isn't as though anyone posting is spending their time reclining on a chaise longue every day. Everyone is busy in the home or out of it and it is silly to judge people on their food preparation choices.

Sometimes, I like nothing better than a weekend day cooking, from scratch, my own version of ready meals for the freezer. Sometimes, I just want something quick so I can spend my time on something nicer instead. I don't think it is fair to suggest that, even after a long day, one should ALWAYS be able to cook a simple meal from scratch and it is somehow wrong or lazy not to - and I appreciate that posters aren't REALLY saying that if they reflect on it.

Today, I was up at 4.30 am to go to Newcastle for work and have spent about 8 hours travelling there and back. Yes I am capable of cooking a simple meal but actually, I've got a convenience meal in the oven because, what I choose to do with my time is catch up on the forums and call a few friends rather than get all the stuff out and rustle up an omlette and salad. I don't think I'm going to get scurvy as a result. Tomorrow, I'll probably cook from scratch.

And actually, some convenience foods are full of crap but others arent', you're just paying for the convenience - you can't say a preprepared bag of carrot batons or the like is full of crap. You are just paying a premium for the time-saving and it is up to you to balance the price against what you'll gain from your leisure time. Anyway, I'd be amazed if no-one here will admit to at least one 'full of crap' guilty pleasure!

And I do feel for poor Lilac_Lady, who was just being light-hearted about what we all do if we're really honest! We might not agree on what we don't like to see but we all judge the person in front of us in the queue on the contents of their trolley! For goodness sake, how would we amuse ourselves in the queue otherwise!

lauren_1

I like jelly pots, they are handy for lunchboxes although we do refill them when used with more jelly.

I wouldn't say buying jely pots is the worse shopping crime of the century

lauren_1

Pre made scotch pancakes is my bugbear, they are so easy to make!!

OrkneyStar

lauren_1 wrote: »

Pre made scotch pancakes is my bugbear, they are so easy to make!!

Lol I can make really complicated stuff (:D) but really struggle with HM pancakes and HM scones . The pancakes are never quite right and I don't know why.
I suppose we all have our strengths and weaknesses lol.
x

OrkneyStar

Originally Posted by Peartree
And actually, some convenience foods are full of crap but others arent', you're just paying for the convenience - you can't say a preprepared bag of carrot batons or the like is full of crap. You are just paying a premium for the time-saving and it is up to you to balance the price against what you'll gain from your leisure time. Anyway, I'd be amazed if no-one here will admit to at least one 'full of crap' guilty pleasure!

No, but I can say they are all dried out and bendy 9/10 I have looked at them in the shop!:p I see your point re convenience foods not all being 'full of crap', many are though- this is fine in moderation but it is worrying for the ones who do eat them everynight (not saying you do as you clearly don't ).
x

Caterina

Whoah, this is becoming a bit intense!

Not that it is going to put me off trolley-watching, mind you, as Peartree says I'd be bored stiff queuing and simultaneously averting my eyes politely from my fellow queuers' excessive and unnecessary purchases :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Seriously, it seems to me that a lot of us have gone "yeh aren't they the terrible spendthrifs (sp?)" and a few posts down we confessed of buying the selfsame things that other OSers consider "unnecessary"? Also, let's remind ourselves that somewhere on the OS forum there is a thread where people can go and 'fess up about their non-OS habits (a bit like bad mothers websites etc...)!

This is all part of the fun in the OS forum, some of it is dead serious (people in real dire needs asking for help etc) and some funny and lighthearted (like this thread should be IMHO).

Caterina

Caterina

OrkneyStar wrote: »

No, but I can say they are all dried out and bendy 9/10 I have looked at them in the shop!:p

....and when you buy them at reduced price they always smell funny like they are rotting in the bag! :eek:

Caterina