why do you keep a storecupboard/stocked freezer etc

ifonlyitwaseasier

it tends to be for the same reasons as everyone else, so that if we couldn't get out or money was tight one month we could still eat well/stay clean etc without worrying

that and if sthg is a great bargain (again tinned toms, beans, bread etc etc) then that saves money in the long run

sparrer

Similar reasons as most here, plus my first husband (long, long ago now) was rather domineering and dictated what we bought/ate :mad:. Later after I'd left him things were tight so I cooked for the children (never did tell them that the chicken casserole was really rabbit given by a beater friend ) and I ate jam on toast. Now past retirement age it still gives me a thrill to see my cupboards flowing over with what I choose to buy, and my children think I'm really strange when they ask what I'd like for birthdays/Christmases and I tell them supermarket vouchers!

Btw I don't like jam on toast any more :rotfl:

Bronnie

Shall I be the odd-one-out then?

My thinking has changed radically now I no longer have responsibility for putting 3 meals a day in front of a family! Whooppee! Liberated! Now, I like to live 'light'. The thought of being surrounded by cupboards jam-packed full of hoarded stuff doesn't suit me at all. I shop, use and buy freshly again. We do eat good quality foods we love and eat well and healthily, but I don't feel the need to have lots of stock hanging round in my cupboards or freezer forever and a day.

Of course, I keep a moderate amount of the store cupboard basics oils/herbs/spices/dried stuff etc for cooking, but DD and I eat simply , we're both out at work, have easy access to a good array of shops across the whole price range or could shop online(although rarely), I supermarket once a week/once a fortnight...it depends..... and once or twice a week, while I'm out or on way to work will make sure I pop into a £shop or into Lidl or to the mobile greengrocers van for fruit and veg. I'm definitely an 'underbuyer' ....like that word!

I rarely run out of things, in fact, it probably makes me use things more economically, thinking I've got to make that washing up liquid last for the next couple of days etc. If I do run out, I mostly tend to just adapt what I still have till I next shop. Squirt of stardrops instead of washing up liquid, loo roll instead of tissues, no cereal... eat toast, no coffee... drink tea!

I do run my fridge down to next to nothing. I definitely spend less this way and am then more creative about making up meals out of 'nothing' and be a bit more ingenious and money-saving!! . The fridge is pretty low atm, but yesterday I had home-made mushroom soup for lunch with left-over mushrooms and frozen HM chicken stock and made DD and I a vegetable pasta bake with few leftover veg and a home-made cheese sauce. If I had a fridge full of goodies all the time , I'd definitely be tempted to eat more and more lavishly , but as it was a day's meals for next to nothing. Cake/ biscuits / scones etc can always be made freshly in a few minutes if needed.


There are always bargains to be had in the shops. I don't feel so devoted to any one brand in general, (except for my Percol Colombian ground coffee), that I couldn't easily find a quite acceptable substitute on offer elsewhere when I needed it, so never stockpile.

There is truth in the 'dead money' argument, although I know how helpful it can be if you do actually then use up your stocks if the next month is a lean month as it's unlikely you'd have managed to otherwise earmark that cash!

Butterfly_Brain

I have kept a store cupboard since I was first married. My parents did it and it was a godsend in the 70's recession. So it was natural that I followed their example and I'm so glad I have.
My DH has been made redundant four times in the last 23 years but I have always had enough food and stocks to keep us going.
It is also very handy when I get an unexpected bill in - at least I know that I don't have to buy food apart from fresh to eke out the month.
I always start stocking up for Christmas in September and so far I have all the Sweets and biscuits plus toilet rolls washing powder, softener, toiletries and pickles that I need plus a christmas pud, marzipan, etc for baking and in the freezer I have Gammon steaks, chicken, beef, pork, lamb, stewing steak, mince, cheese and onion rolls, 2 quiche and a gateau.
Not much left to get in now for Christmas so for the next two months I will be getting stocking fillers and pressies so when December comes and everyone is rushing round I can sit back and relax.

Outdoorlass

Interesting thread.

I used to stockpile, or "squirrell" as I used to call it;) I used to do it, because my mother used to do it, my dad worked for a large car manufacturer when we were growing up and they used to often have mass walkouts/strikes, this is why mum used to squireel as these strikes could last quite a few weeks! I started to do the same squirreling until a few years ago, when I discovered to my horror, tha absolute sheer waste of food that was going out of date, before having chance to be used:o My OH was not happy at the wastage, so I changed my squirreling habits, I don't ever let the cupboards go bare, but I make sure I am just not hoarding foods to then be chucked out a year or so later when the date has ran out. I find the way I do things now, far better tbh. I do sometimes, overbuy stuff though and have to have a word with my inner squirrel:rotfl:

THIRZAH

I like to keep a good store cupboard. We had a couple of weeks last winter when it was difficult to get the car out and the pavements were solid ice so I could do very little shopping so my stores came in very useful then.

Also I married in the mid seventies when we did sometimes find it difficult to get various things due to strikes. Sugar was certainly in short supply at one time and then there was the lorry drivers strike and the supermarkets did start to run short of tins etc.

Only a few years ago there was a blockade of petrol depots and the petrol stations ran out of fuel. The situation was resolved before there were shortages in the shops but it could happen so I like to keep well stocked up.

Baileys_Babe

I keep a store cupboard for many reasons:

• being able to cook and bake
• I find it cheaper to buy in bulk (ie 25kg of sugar)
• convenient as I'm not always able to get to the shops
• being able to advantage to offers

Triker

I too keep a good stock cupboard for many of the reasons outlined above.

If I had more space I'd stockpile more, I'd love a chest freezer, a walk in pantry and an extra storage room/shed.

I cannot tell you the feeling of security and satisfaction that having full cupboards means to me. I spent a lot of years with very, very bare cupboards.:o

[Deleted User]

ChocClare wrote: »

I am not a Mormon myself, but their teaching is that every family should have a year's supply of food, water, money, clothing, toiletries and medicines (I think I've got this right) in case of hardship.

:eek: I'd never get in the cellar! I wonder what a years supply of water looks like?

rosieben

My store cupboard habit started years ago after a very lean period when I hardly knew where the next meal for my family was coming from; then the strikes and shortages of the 70's convinced me that a store cupboard was essential and now I'm a wrinkly I don't like venturing out in bad weather soI stock up for all those reasons.

These days I manage my stocks differently and tend to keep less. I keep a list of whats in, always make sure I put new to the back of the shelf and keep an eye on dates.

I'm using up stocks as I'm possibly moving house in the next few months, and when I'm settled I'll rethink what I'm going to keep at hand but will definitely be keeping pasta, rice, cereals, dried milk, sugar, flour and baking items, tinned veg and jar items like jam and chutney etc., toiletries and medicines*. Those are what have proved very useful to me over the years.

* and marmite of course!