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Simplifying household stock and introducing routines

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  • phizzimum
    phizzimum Posts: 1,712
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    I have an awkward cupboard that I need a step stool to reach and that's where I store my "spare" food. I aim to keep a spare of all the foods that we consider basic essentials (e.g. Pasta, oats, marmite, tea, coffee, tin of tomatoes, baked beans etc). When I take the spare out of the cupboard I write it on the shopping list on the fridge door so I remember to replace it

    Generally the system works - I avoid having to rush to the shops, and can take advantage of offers. I know that if I kept the spare items in an accessible place they'd get opened and I can appreciate how frustrating that is!
    weaving through the chaos...
  • phizzimum
    phizzimum Posts: 1,712
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    I love that about Lidl and Aldi too suki!
    weaving through the chaos...
  • suki1964
    suki1964 Posts: 14,313
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    phizzimum wrote: »
    I have an awkward cupboard that I need a step stool to reach and that's where I store my "spare" food. I aim to keep a spare of all the foods that we consider basic essentials (e.g. Pasta, oats, marmite, tea, coffee, tin of tomatoes, baked beans etc). When I take the spare out of the cupboard I write it on the shopping list on the fridge door so I remember to replace it

    Generally the system works - I avoid having to rush to the shops, and can take advantage of offers. I know that if I kept the spare items in an accessible place they'd get opened and I can appreciate how frustrating that is!

    That's how I work things. If it's in use its either larder or fridge, otherwise it's in the store cupboard. Once an item comes out of store it goes on the list for next time I see it on offer If we run out before then, tough, we go without :)
  • This is a really interesting thread.


    I agree we have too much choice in the shops. It can sometimes work out costly for me as I buy one of each scent or flavour, but at other times I will just get overwhelmed by it all and not buy anything. A few years ago T opened a huge store on my way to work - I went in once. It was just too big, so I grabbed a pint of milk, paid and left. I never went back.


    I noticed that I have three opened shower gels in the shower for no reason at all - once I've used them I will put replacements out one at a time.


    This is the year when I will stop trying new toiletries and cleaning things. I always go back to my familiar toiletries and simple cleaning things as the new wonder item isn't.


    Monnagran, I think that most of us could tighten our belts quite a lot (in fact if I tightened my spending belt, my wearing belt would be a lot smaller). The thing that annoys me is that those people who keep telling everyone else such as politicians and the media never seem to be affected by any of this imposed "austerity".
    It is lovely to hear yours and JackieO's wartime experiences - I was born in the 50's so grew up during a relatively prosperous era. My parents were quite poor but we children never went hungry, although looking back, my mother probably did at times.
    Grocery challenge 2017 January £158.74/£200
    Grocery challenge February £100.91/£190
  • GreyQueen
    GreyQueen Posts: 13,008
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    edited 2 January 2017 at 12:51PM
    summerlady wrote: »

    I noticed that I have three opened shower gels in the shower for no reason at all - once I've used them I will put replacements out one at a time.
    :) If you liked, you could even speed that day by putting two of the three started shower gels aside to concentrate on using each one up in turn.

    I find bathrooms terribly fluffy places and by having only one shampoo and one bottle of bath jollop out at a time, I speed the cleaning process no end. Not endless arrays of dust-gatherers out. I use the shampoo, and wipe the shoulders and top of the bottle before putting it back, ditto the bath jollop. Takes about three seconds and ensures that I never have smeary dusty bottles around the place dragging down the mood.

    Re cleaning products, the fewer of them about the better. A dear pal of mine, a highly-intelligent and able lady, has permanant lung damage caused by inhaling accidentally combined toilet-cleaning products when cleaning her bathroom. One moment of carelessness when in a hurry and a lifetime of consequences......
    Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.
    John Ruskin
    Veni, vidi, eradici
    (I came, I saw, I kondo'd)
  • Sayschezza
    Sayschezza Posts: 744
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    *Jellie* wrote: »
    I also need to be careful about overstocking 'aspirational' foods- I'm going to eat more fruit and veg and before I know it I've got 20 tins of fruit in the cupboard and tons of fresh. Unfortunately I'll fail to improve my eating habits and have tins of fruit around for ages.

    This is me and I do it with fresh fruit as well. We never eat it all so I am better buying singles of everything and replacing only after it's eaten.
    All that clutter used to be money
  • The trouble with too much choice is that it leaves people feeling as if they're missing out: if there is only one option, you have that, if you have a choice of two things, you have one and not the other, but if there is a choice of 20 things, that's 19 you're not having - so many things that could be better than the one you chose! No wonder people get so stressed about what to choose. I too avoid huge supermarkets and the accompanying angst!
    Happy new year to everyone.
    Fashion on the ration challenge 2023: 66 - 2 = 64 - 1.5 = 62.5
  • Hi
    Thanks for all your comments.
    I am looking at my tinned food today and found a selection of soups of various types. I bought 6 different ones when on they were on offer, however we prefer tomato soup. Therefore the chicken noodle soup has been knocking around in the cupboard for months becoming less and less appealing. I am still not sure why I bought numerous tins of chickpeas?
    I will concentrate on food items for now and try to use up or let go of the stuff cluttering up my cupboards.
    I must have thrown away more melons than we have actually eaten so unless there is a plan to eat fresh food straight away I am not buying for later in the week.
    :j:£12,000 / £28,000 Mortgage free date planned May 2023 Actual mortgage free date June 2030
    Retirement date planned May 2023
  • Tiddlywinks
    Tiddlywinks Posts: 5,777
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    edited 2 January 2017 at 3:49PM
    When we moved towns, we went from shopping in a h-u-g-e flagship Tesco to a local Morrisons - I remember the first time I went in and thought how dark and small it was... now, 7 years later, I love it... it's cosy and easy to run around for the odd bits every now and again.

    Anyway - back to organising and stock control.

    I have racking in my spare upstairs bedroom and downstairs utility room. This stuff is easy to build (even on your own as it has no screws and just needs a mallet) and light in weight to lift when under construction BUT takes a massive weight so can hold tins etc:

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01L20YXZE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Amazon delivers them so no worries about struggling from the shops.

    I use the shelves for cans, pasta, flour, toiletries etc. I buy canned tomatoes, beans, spaghetti hoops, sweetcorn etc in bulk from CostCo or Amazon. I keep two of everything downstairs and the rest of my bulk buys upstairs - I mark the shelves with a chalk marker (which washes off) so I can see the contents and mark the use-by dates in bigger print (again with the chalk marker) to make it easier to rotate and use up shorter dated items.

    I use large plastic boxes on the shelving as drawers to make stock rotation easier - pull out the 'drawer', put most recent cans at the back, job done!

    The shelves also make good use of the 'footprint' of the space as they are tall (so use all of the space in between the floor and the ceiling) and you can even stack bulkier but lighter stuff (loo rolls or whatever) on the uppermost shelf.

    It's the cheapest non-construction shelving I've found that actually takes the weight - before that I did try some plastic ones that were advertised to take the weight but they started to bow in the middle so I sent them back.

    These shelves work and you can always cover them with cloth or a blind if you want them to look less utilitarian.

    This way you can buy staples (like tomato soup) etc and then spend less time shopping for bits and so less temptation to buy varied products.
    :hello:
  • suki1964
    suki1964 Posts: 14,313
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    Hi
    Thanks for all your comments.
    I am looking at my tinned food today and found a selection of soups of various types. I bought 6 different ones when on they were on offer, however we prefer tomato soup. Therefore the chicken noodle soup has been knocking around in the cupboard for months becoming less and less appealing. I am still not sure why I bought numerous tins of chickpeas?
    I will concentrate on food items for now and try to use up or let go of the stuff cluttering up my cupboards.
    I must have thrown away more melons than we have actually eaten so unless there is a plan to eat fresh food straight away I am not buying for later in the week.
    Can't help with the soup as I never buy it, but chickpea and spinach curry is lush
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