how to stop people stealing your food?

adindas

Yes small fridge in your room, is the way to go. You could buy it from car booth sale or second hand shop if you want it very cheap. In the meanwhile you could give your house mate a lesson.

For instance Put a lot of hot chillies on your meal but conceal it so noone will notice it. Put salt on your milk. You will could then rofl when you see your lazy house mate are falling into your trap.

pippaaaaaaa wrote: »

right, this is slightly mse as it is costing me a fortune in lost food.

basically i live on a corridor of about 35-40 people, with a shared kitchen. we have cupboards that can be padlocked (and mine are) but the fridge and freezers are communal. someone keeps stealing food, and i've had 3 meals pinched in 48 hours. i literally only keep butter and milk in the fridge now. i don't want to be in the habit of only buying food each day, because then i'm going to wind up living off ready meals, as it's impossible to buy single portions of fresh ingredients, and i resent having them stolen!

so, does anyone know any way around having food stolen? has anyone seen any lockable food storage containers i could put all my food in for the fridge & freezer?

no one's figured out who the food thief is yet, and i think they're stealing food at odd times of day/night when no one's around so as not to get caught, so confronting them isn't an option because nobody knows for sure. with so many people on the corridor i also don't know half of them because i never see them, so i can't talk to everyone individually i'm hoping for cheap solutions!

adindas

And your housemate who get offended will fart and then spit into your milk while you are away .....

Good luck then. You will be tasting one of the most delicate milk in your life ......

marleyboy wrote: »

Derivative

Thankfully noone in my halls seems to be a fan of Tesco Value food so my stuff is mostly left alone.

My grocery cupboard is basically an advert for Mr. T. 10p mushy peas? Go on then.

I tend to leave stuff like cereal in my room.

ska_lover

OOh that must be infuriating OP. I'd leave any dried packet food in your room OP. As for the mini fridge idea, definately look into that. Check freecycle and ebay - you may pick one up cheap.

Good luck

thegirlintheattic

I second (or is it fifth) the mini fridge idea. Even if your halls ban them (most do) I've never been caught with one whilst living in halls and even when the stewards came to check rooms no one batted an eyelid. Most people I know have similar experiences. This (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Husky-CARLSBERG-Carlsberg-Fronted-Fridge/dp/B003L5UE2A/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1329180709&sr=8-12) size though not at that price - was great for a months shopping. You can get them new for about £50 if you find the right deal but there are many used for sale about.

You might try one of these (http://www.geekologie.com/2009/11/dont-touch-my-string-cheese-fr.php) if you have room in the communal fridge. Not sure where you buy it from though.

If neither of these suit then I suggest keeping veg, fruit and dried food in your room and only buying meat on the day of use.

londonTiger

tip: make sure the fridge does not make any noise, would be really annoying when trying to get sleep at night

thegirlintheattic

londonTiger wrote: »

tip: make sure the fridge does not make any noise, would be really annoying when trying to get sleep at night

Actually you tend to get used to it very quickly. Mine kept me awake for the first night but after that I didn't notice it anymore.

dibuzz

If you do go down the doctored food/drink route, make sure you remember you've done it and don't fall into your own trap!

adindas

I have seen quite times a few smalll fridge on the Carbooth sale for about £15.00. Yes correct it is £15.00 and the seller guaranteee it is working or you could bring it back the following week. There is not any safety testing lebeling on it, but If you are using it yourself who care all you need is, it is working properly no need for the testing lebeling

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

I second (or is it fifth) the mini fridge idea. Even if your halls ban them (most do) I've never been caught with one whilst living in halls and even when the stewards came to check rooms no one batted an eyelid. Most people I know have similar experiences. This (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Husky-CARLSBERG-Carlsberg-Fronted-Fridge/dp/B003L5UE2A/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1329180709&sr=8-12) size though not at that price - was great for a months shopping. You can get them new for about £50 if you find the right deal but there are many used for sale about.

You might try one of these (http://www.geekologie.com/2009/11/dont-touch-my-string-cheese-fr.php) if you have room in the communal fridge. Not sure where you buy it from though.

If neither of these suit then I suggest keeping veg, fruit and dried food in your room and only buying meat on the day of use.

fatballs

Just to remind everyone that poisoning your food (eg lactulose) on purpose for someone else to eat is illegal even if they are stealing it! Food colouring, on the other hand, is not illegal. I had green milk for some time!

I agree, mini fridge, or padlock your stuff inside a box in the communal fridge. Also, decant things into less exciting looking packaging. I shared a kitchen with 7 other girls and we had a girl who basically went a whole year without going shopping. She was the only problem, everyone else was very respectful and we all knew it was her, confronted her about it and she just laughed it off and continued!!

Also, powdered milk was ok, but she didn't seem to be interested in my soya or value UHT milk so she'd steal someoene else's normal milk instead. I know it wasn't getting to the root of her thieving behaviour but it made it someone else's problem for a while. Didn't stop her eating an ENTIRE loaf of my bread (I noticed day by day it was getting shorter and shorter, and I hadn't had a single slice, and when I went to get some, there was just the two end pieces left!!)