Are You a food hoarder?

wort

I’m like @OrkneyStar and just have 1 in use and 1 or 2 back up. I do have a 2nd freezer for gluten-free bread and pet food. Never had a problem running out of anything as I’m close to town and local shops. Not that I use them as I work in a shop! So during Covid got all my shopping there whilst working, there were no noticable shortages.

bargainbetty

I realised this about myself a few years ago. I had lost my job and had to really cut back while I found something else. I found that doing an inventory opens your eyes to how much of your shopping is done on automatic pilot.  My other downfall was household stuff and toiletries. 

I had four bottles of shampoo, three of conditioner and 37 toilet rolls. I lived alone, and last time I checked I only have one head of hair and one bum.  I try to keep more sensible levels now.

Still, I have so much rice and pasta that I could live off them for a couple of months. 

newlywed

I live in a flat so we have limited space.  I try and keep about a months worth of food (and have since before covid) even tho we live in a city (so lots of shop options within an hours walk) and we get supermarket deliveries twice a month.

this week the supermarket claimed to have no suitable alternative for loo roll… so glad I keep a couple of extra weeks worth of that.

I also try and have a one in use, one spare option for things like olive oil, soy sauce, most used spices etc. 

If I do decide I want something from a supermarket or shop then I am still wearing a mask and avoiding the busy ones and going for earlier visits and emptier shops. Walked out of a small coop last week because it was too cramped and people stood too close in the till queue. Decided I would rather walk another 15 min to a larger store that felt more empty/more spaced out.

have noticed some odd shortages though… massive gaps in the crisps aisles generally, and Kleenex also. Nothing I can’t live without though!

bellabella

Put simply yes I have 1 large chest freezer and 2 under counter freezers and 2 fridges all full  as well as cupboards full and still have a delivery every week from Mr T . In my defence we moved to my mums house after she passed last year and inherited some bits and the dogs food takes 1 undercounter freezer the other undercounted freezer has BBQ food in the summer and Xmas food in the winter. I think it stems back to when we had very little money a huge mortgage and 3 small children so i was always sure to make sure there was food in the house as a priority. I am away in March so on my return in April I am going to try to just shop local for fresh food and empty the cupboards and freezers to restock next autumn 

candygirl

Bargainbetty, I can totally relate to the loo rolls, but I've always been the same, even before covid 😀

Purple_kitten

This is a very re assuring read, yes also over here.

I have stocks of tins, so things like soups, beans, sauces we don't have just one off, chicken soups we have about 16, I noticed the other day we have a lot of tinned new pots, about 8 at last count. Dried pastas, rice and a dehydrator. I think we have more than one of most food stuff.

We have 3 freezers in all, one is a chest freezer kept full with animal food. The other 2 are mainly meat and rtcs,

phoebe1989seb

Definitely agree about rotating so the older stuff gets moved to the front and is therefore used before it runs past its best before date, whilst the incoming tins - or whatever - get stacked at the back! I was taught this by someone who worked in an old fashioned grocery store when they were young. DH has to be watched as he'll just bung the new stuff in front, lol 🙄

We also have tons of herbs and spices, decanted into little jars which are labelled on top and lined up alphabetically in a drawer adjacent to the hob (plus a second drawer for the overflow packs) 😉

And yes to keeping spare condiments/sauces and adding these to the shopping list once the spare in the larder is opened!

YorksLass

bargainbetty said: 

I had four bottles of shampoo, three of conditioner and 37 toilet rolls. I lived alone, and last time I checked I only have one head of hair and one bum.  I try to keep more sensible levels now. 

^^^^^^^^  Love it!  Nearly choked on my coffee though!

Like others on here I have a one in use and a spare or two of tins, packets etc and make sure I rotate them.  Freezer gets tidied regularly, usually when I'm trying to fit cram things in.  I have inventories for fridge, freezer and all cupboards which I found hard at first to keep up to date but it's become second nature now.  I also have two shopping lists, one for what I need now and one for what I will need soon.  That way I can look out for special offers on the need soon items and add them to the need now list, it saves some money.

phoebe1989seb said:

We also have tons of herbs and spices, decanted into little jars which are labelled on top and lined up alphabetically in a drawer adjacent to the hob (plus a second drawer for the overflow packs) 😉

Same system here but I don't have an overflow drawer and I have seriously pruned them down - I was buying them and using only a small amount once in a blue moon.  Now I only buy the ones I know I'll use.

So, am I a food hoarder?  Yes and no, depending on your point of view.

candygirl

YORKSLASS you sound very organised though .I think my problem is, I still think I'm cooking for everyon e, like I did for years , n I always had tons of stuff in , just in case .
Now it's blissfully just me n poochy, I could eat cheese on toast every day , but still do love cooking 😁
PHOEBE I'm afraid I'm just a,  bung it all in anywhere, kind of Gal 😇

GaleSF63

I'm not as bad as I thought I was, reading this! I have overflowed out of my quite small kitchen by only one basket of cans. Some household stuff spread around though. 

But I have got lazy about rotating what I have as it's so much easier to use what's at hand instead of going into the back of the cupboard for a box of earlier stuff. I need a proper sorting session.