Dithering - shall I keep a store cupboard?

milliemonster

I have a huge walk in pantry/larder that is overflowing! but yes I blame my food hoarding on my late mother bless her, I was born in the seventies but we never had a lot of money growing up and my mum was very thrifty!, she would only shop once a week, would not deviate from her shopping list, we had the same meals on the same day week in week out (so Mondays would be chicken pie, tuesday bacon and eggs etc), she would only buy 1 box of cereal each week and we wouldn't be allowed any other until this was completely eaten (so we never had a choice)

So yes I blame her for the fact I must have every kind of cereal known to man in my storecupboard and probably have enough food to last me 6 months if our lives depended on it lol!!!

BitterAndTwisted

A store-cupboard of non-perishables seems entirely sensible to me and you build one up unconsciously. Rare is the person who uses up every gram of flour, rice or dried legumes every time they buy some.

I like to keep a store of things for dire emergencies or the unexpected. I'm a temp who gets paid weekly and in the current climate I'm in serious danger of being laid off at a moment's notice and I worry about how I'll cope on £64 a week JSA so I'm currently stockpiling just in case when I find essentials on special offer

aliasojo

What's the difference between a pantry and a cupboard?

Pink.

Hi Athome1,

As there is a current thread discussing the merits or not of store cupboards I've added your thread to it to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

LilacPixie

i think a pantry and a store cupboard are the same thing... well they are in my little land

lambanana

I think having some stocks in is a good thing, my husband lost his job recently and whilst we've been VERY lucky and he has another now it has panicked us, probably him more than me and he wants us to work on building a good stock of food in case it happens again and either one of us is job-less for any length of time. We'd also like a baby soon so making sure we're covered during my maternity leave would also be important

soappie

I'm currently running down my food non-perishables store. My DS and his wife are due to fly the nest very soon and move to their own place. Most of what's in the tin cupboard is purely for their benefit! Once they've gone, I can fill it with stuff for ME and ME alone!

I do stock up on washing up liquid and other cleaning things when they're on offer (they live in the cupboard under the stairs or on top of the tumble drier) and I have a butter mountain in the freezer from when the ONLY butter I buy is on offer. I shall continue to do that.

But, I think the contents of my cupboards will change dramatically!

SuziQ

Great thread! My mum was a self-confessed lousy cook,in fact most of our meals during the week were prepared by my nan from stuff she had bought that day. What was in the cupboards or fridge if we got hungry depended on whether my mum was on a diet or not (she mostly was!) so that often there was only ryvita and weetabix,at other times there would only be spuds,but I got very good at producing great chips for my sister and myself (she was 3 years older!) if they had gone away for a couple fo days to our caravan and forgotten to get food in!
Once I had my first flat with my first husband I was always determined to have a storecupboard,which these days has escalated into full-blown hoarding! I have a thing about toilet rolls-I always have to have an unopened 9-pack in the cupboard at any one time,otherwise I panic! I also buy a lot of bogofs as I have a dd at Uni and I produce boxes of basics for her at the beginning and middle of each term. I do agree though that you can have a lot of money tied up in the stuff you hoard-I also have quite a lot of washing liquid and washing powder at the moment following some good deals and almost bought some mnore today before I suddenly remembered the huge box of powder I just opened yesterday,and the 5 large 'small and mighty' bottles I have stacked behind the box! What makes it worse,is that I use wash balls for most of my washing anyway!!!

Interstingly I have a friend who lives in Texas,and out there there is lots of talk of literally stockpiling in case swine flu really takes off and mutates this winter-they are advising it as a way for people to be out and about less in shops etc so less likely to pass the virus around. How this makes any difference if everyone is still going to work and school though I really don't understand!

I don't think I could ever completely give up my storecupboard as I love having no spend days,however this thread has made me think about using some of the stuff I already have here before I buy anything else.

smartandshrewd

I like to keep a stash of tins and packets even though I don't have the space. I spend ages on mysupermarket finding bargains and do a big shop maybe once every month.

Every 3 months or so I go through the cupboards to re-organise and check use by dates. Anything that needs using up within the next few months then gets put in an obvious place - beside the tea bags! - so I remember to use it.

I've found keeping a storecupboard useful, however I've also discovered some things don't keep so well, for example, laundry tablets become brittle over time and fall to bits when I finally use them so I end up with washing tablet flakes all over the kitchen floor.

mgardner

I am a self confessedf hoarder, but I find it pays off, I am still enjoying corned beef at 50p
large tins of John West red Salmon at a pound Ambrosia tinned rice 10p Princes Crab at a pound. All of these are now three times the cost. I have had a family crisiss for the last 5 weeks resulting in me having to find 30 pounds a week to travel could not have done this if I didnt have my stocks. I dont think of my store as cold cash sitting in the Cupboard I think of this as money in the bank, freeing up what cash I have to do what I have to do, i.e. travel and still eat