It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

D&DD

Thanks for all your lovely comments re the 'Black Hole' :rotfl:

Nanna I keep the paper goods in the attic bulk buys of Bounty,loo rolls,cat litter and suchlike.Can't go too heavy as it's a bit awkward to get in to.

Sophiesmum I'd lurve a cupboard that size :T Very neatly stored too

Gales lemon curd was on at 26p a jar,supercook stuff was piled up at 6p a throw,dried goods/beans eg.pearl barley etc has been on offer between 22p and 32p,breadmixes were 26p,popping corn was 29p for a huge bag as was the ground almonds,couscous and cornmeal.
Pasta was 19p a bag for a while...this is how I usually stock up and only on the things we use anyway

sophiesmum_2

D&DD wrote: »

Thanks for all your lovely comments re the 'Black Hole' :rotfl:

Nanna I keep the paper goods in the attic bulk buys of Bounty,loo rolls,cat litter and suchlike.Can't go too heavy as it's a bit awkward to get in to.

Sophiesmum I'd lurve a cupboard that size :T Very neatly stored too

Gales lemon curd was on at 26p a jar,supercook stuff was piled up at 6p a throw,dried goods/beans eg.pearl barley etc has been on offer between 22p and 32p,breadmixes were 26p,popping corn was 29p for a huge bag as was the ground almonds,couscous and cornmeal.
Pasta was 19p a bag for a while...this is how I usually stock up and only on the things we use anyway

That's the way I do it too D&DD - most of stuff in stores was bought at really good prices but only stuff we use anyway. Like the skinless/boneless red salmon for 99p a tin which is now £2,98 ( had about 30 tins but dated 2011:D )
PS it's only tidy cos everyone else is banned from going in there - that is my warehouse - stuff is moved to kitchen cupboards as and when needed - one of everything in use in kitchen.

D&DD

I think it was only this year though I discovered the world cuisine aisle in Tesco.com and it has saved us a pretty penny.
I suppose the products aren't made by household names so they don't attract such high prices.

Sophiesmum I tend to do the same,I have a larder cupboard in my kitchen with all the everyday use stuff in it and also a baking cupboard.I top these up from my stores as there's not enough room to keep it all in there.

I'm glad I managed to get quite a few bags of sugar before it went up so steeply too.

I have had to change the way I shop in the last few months though as I usually bung 2 of every staple we use in the trolley as habit...as the prices have increased my weekly shop has actually shrunk :eek:
I just hope they have specials on what I need before my stores start dwindling

Reverbe

Man I wish I had more room so I coudl stockpile and store cupboard... that's where you can make real savings...

Pretty hard in a one main room flat with 2 adults sharing and a kitchen the size of a pub/train toilet

sophiesmum_2

D&DD wrote: »

I think it was only this year though I discovered the world cuisine aisle in Tesco.com and it has saved us a pretty penny.
I suppose the products aren't made by household names so they don't attract such high prices.

Sophiesmum I tend to do the same,I have a larder cupboard in my kitchen with all the everyday use stuff in it and also a baking cupboard.I top these up from my stores as there's not enough room to keep it all in there.

I'm glad I managed to get quite a few bags of sugar before it went up so steeply too.

I have had to change the way I shop in the last few months though as I usually bung 2 of every staple we use in the trolley as habit...as the prices have increased my weekly shop has actually shrunk :eek:
I just hope they have specials on what I need before my stores start dwindling

I just got 30 bags of sugar from costco - £7.95 for 15 bags think it works out about 53/54p a bag - I use lots in baking and preserving so bargain.

JoolzS

Don't forget about odd places around your home where you could store food (or anything else). I live in a smallish flat, and have done so for around 15 years so I've got used to finding any useful storage space that I can. One place I always used to find useful (although I can't use it any more) is the space beneath the bottom drawer in a chest of drawers, if the bottom drawer itself is easy to remove. Top of kitchen cupboards is fairly obvious, but sometimes overlooked. It is also possible to buy little shallow drawers that go underneath kitchen units, attached to the plinth. I also have a tiny pull out thing that fits in the front of the false drawer below the kitchen sink where I keep dishwasher tablets.

Food doesn't just have to be kept in or near the kitchen. There's no reason that tins and dried food can't be kept in just about any room. Stick some tins of beans into the empty suitcase on top of the wardrobe, or loo rolls underneath the shoe boxes in the bottom of the wardrobe, etc.

One very useful thing I did is to put a tall, deepish set of bookshelves on the one wall in my kitchen where I couldn't fit any units. It only cost me £40.00 from Argos and in my completely refitted kitchen I think it's my favourite thing because it holds so much.

It's also worth looking to see if changing the heights of the shelves in your cupboards could make a difference. I haven't had a kitchen professionally fitted, but I can only imagine that they automatically stick the shelves at certain heights. When my DH fitted our kitchen I had the shelves put at the heights that would be most useful to me.

The fold-up plastic boxes that can be bought just about everywhere now can be very useful for storing things as they are very strong and stack easily. They are also exactly the right size to fit lenghtways into a standard kitchen base unit. It's a lot easier to cram a lot of food into a cupboard when it isn't all falling out everytime you want to get to something. The boxes mean it's possible to just pull the box out, rummage around to find what is needed and then push it back in.

Julie

rosieben

frosty wrote: »

I found this www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/14/retail-supermarkets-suppliers-credit-crunch

I found this quote from that article very puzzling -

Supermarket chain Asda, led by Andy Bond, is working on 'worst-case scenarios' across the board - combing its supplier base and examining alternatives to them. 'Suppliers are under a lot of pressure and there will be casualties,' said a senior executive at another store chain, which has already stepped in to pay troubled suppliers ahead of schedule. 'We need each other, it is not a zero-sum game.'

For some reason they're very happy to mention Asda who are the ones refusing to sign up to the plan for an Ombudsman and yet they don't print the name of the company who are already paying suppliers early in a bid to help them stay in business??? I know which I would rather know the name of

cw18

They probably can't name the other one, 'cos if shareholders thought they were paying suppliers earlier than they have to (therefore not having as much capital invested to earn them interest to help pay dividends), then the share-holders would probably be up in arms

D&DD

It was Sainsburys I was watching questiontime a few weeks back and the CEO was on there saying just that

rosieben

CW I wondered about shareholders being upset too, but I would think its very good PR for the store. Thanks for filling in the blank D&DD, I think they are to be applauded for that.