Among Friends

[IMissSuperPoke]

I couldn't imagine buying produce, meat and dairy products then going out to eat all week and just throwing away once good food, spoiled because they just felt like shopping. Typically it isn't groceries shoppers love to shop for. Maybe they make great lunches and snacks, or breakfast, or feed friends when over?  People do need to eat.

I have seen hoarding shows when women had to have 100 paper towel rolls at all times and would replenish to maintain the stockpile.

[Moonchilde]

Two things strike me about the thread title and the Original Post -

Who is going to post "Me! I'm a wasteful person!"

Probably 90% of QVC customers "buy just to buy" a majority of the time. QVC isn't selling mdse that people need to live ;-) so asking customers if they buy just to buy is kinds of well yeah of course but they'd never admit it.

Just kinda made me smile.

[mollybgood]

yes, I waste paper products (mostly paper towels)

[just bee]

Frankly, I waste time.

[PamelaSue72]

We have two freezers in the basement. One contains meats, poultry, etc. It is pretty much stocked. I also freeze many leftovers for those nights when I'm really short on time and can't prepare dinner; soup with a salad and a muffin or yeast roll is better for us than calling for a pizza or running for take-out. I often bake ahead, so we have cookies, yeast rolls and breads, pizza balls, what-have-you in the freezer. Similarly, I do a cooking day from time to time and make big pots of chili or stew or pasta sauce, divide it up into containers, label and freeze. 

The second freezer holds the produce from our large vegetable garden. By the end of harvest season, it is packed with food. However, by the end of the winter, it can get pretty sparse. 

I should mention that I keep a running list of everything in both freezers; I have to, so things don't get "lost" in the shuffle. At any given time, I can pretty much tell you how many quarts of pumpkin are in the freezer, how many quarts of chicken corn soup are down there, how many pounds of bacon, etc. It's all well-wrapped and very well labelled. 

I love being able to plan almost any menu and know that I have everything I need to cook or bake. When our son first moved out on his own, he'd come home often for dinner. And he always "shopped" in Mom's freezers. He'd leave with soups, lasagne, pasta sauces, rolls, cookies or pies. He always came home for dinner and for his "grocery shopping".

We have five cats (down from eight), so we go through a lot of paper towels. Any time I can buy towels on sale and with coupons, I'm stocking up (I've been known to buy 30 rolls of towels at a time, if the price is right and I have the appropriate coupons; but then I won't buy any for several weeks at a time. Cats puke up hairballs and they puke when they're not feeling well sometimes. Same with toilet paper; I stock up whenever the opportunitiy is there. The above-mentioned son used to take both towels and toilet paper home, too. If he needed a can of dusting polish or a bottle of Murphy's, oh, he went to the store.....Mom's store (the basement). It never bothered us.

If the stuff gets used (and around here, it always gets used), then it works. 

[halfpint1]

1. Sorry to say-yes. I live alone and  i  buy and forget. I do have a freezer in the garage so it helps. I tend to buy too much clothes that are inexpensive also.                                                                                                                       

[lulu2]

I am guilty of being wasteful in so many areas and levels.

[silentgirl]

Not as a rule, no - but I can be-

Sounds like your friend finds comfort in her shopping-

Lately, I've been wasting a lot of my time - Does that count?

[blackhole99]

I'm a pantry cook so my pantry and freezer is usually well stocked. I also grow my own vegetables and bake my own bread so I need freezer room for that. We eat everything I grow, cook and bake and rarely throw food away. I do buy clothes and shoes I don't need though and I'm trying not to do that. I have tops I bought 3 years ago with the tags still on them and I'm going to weed through that stuff and donate it.