It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

OrkneyStar

London_1 said:

Popped to my local Tesco Metro for 2 pints of milk. as I went in by the door there was a large rack of reduced bread and rolls. two women were almost coming to blows over them. This was 2.30 this afternoon.

 1st. woman " I need this bread and rolls for my childrens packed lunches " this was said as she was shovelling them as fast as she could  into her trolley 

2nd. woman " Leave some for the rest of us " 

1st woman "My kids need it for their packed lunches more than you do"
 
2nd .woman  "I need some for  packed lunches as well"

1st woman "You look too old to have kids at school, so jog on, my need is more than yours "

What has the world come to where women are argueing over bread and rolls because they are reduced  !!! I could hardly believe it I left as the security were being called It looked like it was going to develope into fisticuffs

Is this what we shall  be looking forward to come the winter, ?  folk fighting over bread ,its absurd and extremely sad they were two fairly well dressed women as well and didn't look as though they were short of cash but who knows.

I only wanted milk for my cuppa's this week needed nothing else at all

JackieO xx

I do think it's a shame that people are so stressed and worried that they are resorting to behaviour like this, however I also never find it helpful to conclude whether someone looks short of cash (or not) based simply on the way they are dressed!

OrkneyStar

timehastoldme said:

We've got Covid for the first time, did an online order as soon as my husband noticed his persistent cough. I've not ordered online for a good while and  it was an eye opener. We're good at meal planning and budgeting, but the Rona is so unpredictable I thought I'd get extra fluids and easy to cook stuff. The basket total took me by complete surprise. Expensive being ill. 

I am ill just now and so cannot get out (literally physically too weak to do so), luckily I bought a few bits just before I got ill, and we do have a decent cupboard stock, but any perishable things we need will now have to be bought locally (by son or hubby, one at school all day, the other at work all day, so not practical to go into town) - that means the Coop, and while the staff try their best (and it's bigger than the store we used to have) it's really not cheap. One of the reasons I really want to get better is to be able to get through to Lidl again! I feel pretty awful with it too, hope you are not suffering too much! 

Flugelhorn

OrkneyStar said:

London_1 said:

Popped to my local Tesco Metro for 2 pints of milk. as I went in by the door there was a large rack of reduced bread and rolls. two women were almost coming to blows over them. This was 2.30 this afternoon.

 1st. woman " I need this bread and rolls for my childrens packed lunches " this was said as she was shovelling them as fast as she could  into her trolley 

2nd. woman " Leave some for the rest of us " 

1st woman "My kids need it for their packed lunches more than you do"
 
2nd .woman  "I need some for  packed lunches as well"

1st woman "You look too old to have kids at school, so jog on, my need is more than yours "

What has the world come to where women are argueing over bread and rolls because they are reduced  !!! I could hardly believe it I left as the security were being called It looked like it was going to develope into fisticuffs

Is this what we shall  be looking forward to come the winter, ?  folk fighting over bread ,its absurd and extremely sad they were two fairly well dressed women as well and didn't look as though they were short of cash but who knows.

I only wanted milk for my cuppa's this week needed nothing else at all

JackieO xx

I do think it's a shame that people are so stressed and worried that they are resorting to behaviour like this, however I also never find it helpful to conclude whether someone looks short of cash (or not) based simply on the way they are dressed!

I remember having a good laugh in Sainsbury in Lancashire just before the beginning of lockdown - a woman was piling tins of beans into her trolley, she looked a bit sheepish and said "they're not for me, they're for a friend who can't get out"

I asked her if her friend actually liked beans and she admitted that they didn't but felt that had to have lots of tins at home. 

London_1

OrkneyStarvery true but to see and hear two rather well spoken women argueing the toss over some bread rolls seemed so sad  certainly not what one expects on a peaceful Sunday afternoon in a tiny Tesco Metro, but then who knows what their situation is. Personally I would feel far too embarrased to do it myself, or even think about it. maybe its something that will become more prevelent as times get tought

JackieO xx 

Spendless

I went to a well known frozen food store today. I picked up 2 bags of chicken strips which said 'any 2 for £5'. Only when I got to the till they weren't, they were individually priced. I queried it with the cashier and offered to put back (because I was only buying then due to the offer, otherwise they could wait). I believed I must have read the shelf edge label wrong. Only I hadn't and unknown to me the cashier had followed me back tot he freezer, saw the same offer I did and told the Duty manager, who said to let me have the items for the offer price but the tills must have changed. That's how frequently items are being put up, the tills are changing before the staff are aware to move the labels. 

OrkneyStar

London_1 said:

OrkneyStarvery true but to see and hear two rather well spoken women argueing the toss over some bread rolls seemed so sad  certainly not what one expects on a peaceful Sunday afternoon in a tiny Tesco Metro, but then who knows what their situation is. Personally I would feel far too embarrased to do it myself, or even think about it. maybe its something that will become more prevelent as times get tought

JackieO xx 

Of course it's not good that people are having to argue over such things, but as well as not judging folk by their clothes it's also not helpful to judge by how 'well spoken' they are either! 

YoungBlueEyes

Spendless - I always challenge that when it happens to me. If it’s advertised as 2for£5 and I’ve got 2 of the right thing then I want them for a fiver! 

I always follow the staff member when they go to check too, for exactly the reason you stated. It’s not my fault (or the till girl’s fault) that the label doesn’t match what the till beeps it up as, but I’ll not lose out for it. I always get it too, but then I’m always polite and lovely about it. 

The worst place for this IME is Superdrug. They’ve started putting up more of a fight about it recently. But I’d leave the items too if they didn’t back down. 

Brambling

Co-op use to be bad at this especially the one that was close  to my office, they would add the new offer labels on the shelves and not update the tills, several times i made them go and check the shelves and would get the cheaper prices usually on their buy two and get so much off.  I was once told by someone who works in a co-op that this isn't unusual.  I tend not to go into co-op now I'm working from home as I'm not impressed with our nearest one.

EssexHebridean

YoungBlueEyes said:

Spendless - I always challenge that when it happens to me. If it’s advertised as 2for£5 and I’ve got 2 of the right thing then I want them for a fiver! 

I always follow the staff member when they go to check too, for exactly the reason you stated. It’s not my fault (or the till girl’s fault) that the label doesn’t match what the till beeps it up as, but I’ll not lose out for it. I always get it too, but then I’m always polite and lovely about it. 

The worst place for this IME is Superdrug. They’ve started putting up more of a fight about it recently. But I’d leave the items too if they didn’t back down. 

A slightly less confrontational (or possibly perceived as such) method here is to take a quick shot of the SEL for any offers on your phone - then if they ring through wrong at the till you can mention you've done that "if that helps" which means if the instruction to the staff is that they're meant to just remove the label and claim you must have been mistaken the checkout operator or customer services operative can be aware of that before they embarass themselves. Sometimes once they know you have that they don't even bother to go and check before sorting the issue out, so it can make things quicker, too! 

sammy_kaye18

London_1 said:

Is this what we shall  be looking forward to come the winter, ?  folk fighting over bread ,its absurd and extremely sad they were two fairly well dressed women as well and didn't look as though they were short of cash but who knows.

I only wanted milk for my cuppa's this week needed nothing else at all

JackieO xx

Its sad isn't it. 
I follow a group on Facebook that is bargains and yellow stickers etc and there are people on their posting thier hauls to feed their family and I can almost guarantee that one of the first comments will be about how greedy they have been etc when in fact its someone trying to feed themselves and yes they may have taken one or two packets to pass on to another family member or to freeze but I don't find it selfish in the least. 

I know when I worked in the Coop - it was actually scary doing the reductions because people would be literally ready to pounce on your when they saw you with the reducing gun. I hate going into shops for that reason. The only time I have gone reductions shopping now though is boxing day on new years when I know there will be a lot of meat at cheaper prices in bigger supermarkets but I am not one to raid the yellow sticker - I just look for stock on the shelves. 

I have been speaking to my MIL about food this winter - she is building a small stockpile/store cupboard like me - she is using an old sideboard in her conservatory and I am clearing cupboards in the kitchen to make more space. My mother in law has a bread maker so I have been stocking up on things like yeast and bread flour so we can take it in turns to make a few loaves and share them but I do have a bread tin I can make with if need be. Im also planning on doing a big collection of things like blackberries when they ripen so I can make jam for us both and put it away in my stockpile which should keep us nicely through winter. 

Theres also a lady near my sister who has an orchard and she always leaves bags of windfallen apples outside her gate for people to take as they please so I may see if my sister can grab a few bags and I will preserve and freeze some of them too for desserts etc this winter.