Why buy?

rosieben

Caterina wrote: »

I buy my lentils via a wholefood bulk shopping and last year the small brown lentils (organic) cost £6 per 5kg bag, then last month catalogue had them at £9something, and I still ordered them, but by the time my order was through, the supplier called me and ....

Caterina, do you find it cheaper to buy like this even though you presumably pay [STRIKE]postage[/STRIKE] delivery charges? I 'd be interested in the name of the catalogue please?

OrkneyStar

Caterina wrote: »

Sorry OrkneyStar, no offence meant - I meant, of course it is not the people who buy the packets that are not OS, but the PRICE of lentils - it has gone through the roof.

I buy my lentils via a wholefood bulk shopping and last year the small brown lentils (organic) cost £6 per 5kg bag, then last month catalogue had them at £9something, and I still ordered them, but by the time my order was through, the supplier called me and said they have now gone up to £12 (£12!!!!!!!!!) per bag :eek: . I still bought them because I really needed them, but will only be buying split peas (thanks for the idea!) from now on! Locally grown and more environmentally friendly choice I suppose!

I suppose I was having a go at the lentils price, not the OS people here!

Caterina

:grouphug: thanks lol.
(really am off now, just waiting for DS portion of the soup to be cool enough for him ).
x

tinkerbell84

lilac_lady wrote: »

When I see people buying ready made jellies in little pots at 38p-54p each, :eek: I want to tell them they're wasting their money. What do you see in other customers' trolleys that make you want to do the same?

Well, I buy those little pots of jelly because they are very low carb, I only have them as an occasional treat, and I couldn't make them cheaper than that!

(I buy the Hartleys ones and not the Rowntrees ones )

aliasojo

OrkneyStar wrote: »

If we do not know anything about peoples lives we have no right to comment on them! I agree with Rosieben that tips and stuff is nice, but we must also respect an individuals choice of how they live.

Well said.

I sometimes (quite a lot at the moment) buy convenience stuff, including jellies in pots. Am I daft to do so? Lazy? Or just dont think about it? Nope, none of those. I am chief 'do-er' in our house. I'm the one who has to build walls, put up door frames, plasterboard ceilings and the like.

If I buy food that needs preparation, it costs me less at the supermarket but costs me more at home as I then have to have my housewife hat on to prepare and cook and this cuts into the time I have to work. If I can't get the stud walls built because I have no time, I have to employ a joiner at a ridiculous hourly rate to do it instead.

If I buy ready made foods, it costs me more at the supermarket but then I dont need the joiner which saves me a lot more money.

I read in an earlier post about how this thread isn't really heavy and serious, but as an outsider sticking their neck in the door, it shrieks of judgementalism upon those who dont do as you do. I'd really like to see one of you trolley watchers in action, it's nice that you are able to spend the time noting other people's buying habits. Do you tut a lot and purse your lips? Perhaps the next topic for discussion should be 'Old Style Living - Has it achieved cult status and do it's followers lack insight and tolerance?'

Judging by this thread and the 'daily thread' discussion of the other day....then perhaps the answer to this is 'yes'. :rolleyes:

Apologies to the nice OS peeps btw.....I do know there are still loads of you left. I was just so irritated by this thread that I couldn't sit on my hands and shut my face. I'll leave now and prepare to be deleted. :rotfl:

Idiophreak

Afraid I have to echo the sentiments of Chika and Smashing, here...

This thread is probably the closest to snobbery I've come across on the OS board (not that I'm a regular hereabouts) - and is rather unappealing, really...

Just a few thoughts, anyway...

Taste the difference - sorry to say it, but I *can* taste the difference...Get the TTD medium-rare roast beef, then the value sliced beef - if you can't tell the difference, there's something *very* badly wrong. If I have a TTD product and it doesn't seem markedly better, I won't buy it again - but most of them, to be fair, do justify their higher cost.

Yorkshire puds/instant roasties - these, actually, I think are a really nice idea, actually...whatever anyone thinks, whipping a couple of bags out the freezer and chucking them on a baking tray takes a lot less prep time than doing these things by hand - and makes a lot less washing up...if it means you have a proper roast dinner more frequently, I don't see anything wrong with them as short cuts.

Instant custard - don't really see this as any more lazy than not making your own ice cream tbh...it's not as good as "manual" custard, but if you just wanna have banana and custard for desert, it's a 5 second job.

Other things like pizzas, (shock, horror) pies, oven chips, things like that - are extremely cheap, easy to cook and, again, require little or no washing up...If people chose to invest their money, rather than their time (as Caterina suggests), that just seems like their choice to me...and I don't see why I'd feel the need to judge anyone for it...

Bargain_Rzl

In all fairness, aliasojo, the OP did make it quite clear that since asking the question in the first place, she thought better of it. The majority of posts on the thread have been reasoned arguments in favour of various types of convenience food, and only a minority of posts have shown the judgemental attitude to which you refer.

I don't think it was an inherently judgemental question, though I agree that some posters seem to have been paying an awful lot of judgemental attention to other people's shopping habits!

aliasojo

lilac_lady wrote: »

Reading all the explanations, I won't think the jelly pot buyers are lazy now. Perhaps trolleys should have covers on them so that they're not judged by other shoppers.!!! (especially MSE-ers!)

Granted Bargain Rzl, the OP did change her view somewhat but suggesting trolleys have covers only stops the items being seen.....it does nothing to change the judgemental attitude at source.....which is needed more than a cover imo.

phizzimum

sorry, I didn't mean to sound judgemental. Most people who've posted on this thread have admitted to buying things that are perhaps labelled as convenience items. I really don't spend my whole day looking in other peoples trollies but we've all stood behind someone in the checkout and watched what they put on the trolley- and this goes both ways. as I said in my previous post - I would love to know what people make of my purchases.

DKLS

Gees I never knew this went on, If a trolley watcher approached me about the contents of my trolley they would get short shrift and be sent packing with a flea in their ear to mind their own.

Then again it doesnt tend to happen in M&S

Bargain_Rzl

The only occasion on which I ever really noticed what somebody was buying was a few weeks ago. I was in Morrisons and the lady behind me at the checkout loaded up the conveyor belt with about 20 packets of chocolate-covered ginger biscuits (among various other grocery items). She seemed a friendly type so I said "I'm sorry to be nosey, but I've got to ask... are they all for you?" expecting her to say that they were for an event or something - but she replied that they were gorgeous, she was addicted to them and they were currently on special offer for a third off, so she was stocking up She was so evangelical about them that once she was through the checkout she gave me one of the packs as a gift, in the name of "spreading the word" about them :T

Edited to say they were Border's Dark Chocolate Gingers

(and OMG they were gorgeous!)