OT: inconsiderate shoppers

Only look at dates for short life products, < 7days. For most things I don't bother, nose and eyes work quite well.

Not checking dates caught me out on Friday last week, SWMBO'd found an item from that shop with "Use By: 23 Oct 2018". It's in the fridge, I'll be taking it back with the reciept. Different variety of same product bought on the same day has "Use By: 29 Nov 2018", so the product is well outside my checking range.

Lidl's cottage cheese goes off 3 days before the date. Perhaps my fridge isn't cold enough, I've turned it to minimum and will turn it up gradually if anything ices over. Although I've not had any other product from anyone go off before the date, but when I've seen "half price!" offers on the cheese in Lidl, it's not off on their shelves, so I guess I can try keeping it colder.

Since the shop is so small, I usually buy the whole shelf anyway, so picking the back ones isn't an option.

I just freeze anything that needs to be kept longer. And yes you can freeze most stuff that says you can't.

And what do you do about it?

I've had 3 litre containers.

It does that because people like you have removed all the new stuff, leaving only very old milk on the shelf. At some point someone only has the choice of milk that lasts 1 day.

If only they sold 1 litre at half the price of

You do realise how much packaging costs?

Probably areas with less selfish customers.

Probably because they have too much of one flavour. I often find everyone goes for one type, then takes the other if their favourite is out of stock. Especially in places like Aldi where they annoyingly have crates of equal amounts of two flavours, causing there to be no cola left, only orange.

On the subject of fat, what is it with the current trend of nobody should eat fat?! Cottage cheese for example is low fat everywhere except Lidl! The Lidl full fat stuff has about three times the flavour/texture.

We still have a few people stuck on checks. I don't use them much either. It is never at a store. My masonry supplier and a few other commercial places preferred them but they did not actually use the check at all. They just scanned the MICR line and it processed like a debit card, without the click charge for them. Credit cards come with a 2% fee, minimum. Some are higher.

I have seen a few young people using Apple Pay on their phone but it is not common.

Just another mindless food fad.

Don't buy it myself, but plenty of choice with fetta.

I keep one of those cheap indoor outdoor thermometers in both of my refrigerators. The "inside" unit is in the refrigerator compartment and the remote "outdoor" probe is in the freezer. Then I can tell instantly how they are doing.

I shoot for 36 or so in the fridge and the freezer cruises around -4F

I don't see the need for that. If the food doesn't feel cold, or it goes off prematurely, I turn the fridge down. If it ices over, I turn it up. And I can tell roughly how cold food is when I take it from the freezer. In any case I just have the freezer on full power - colder makes the food last longer, right?

I care about myself a lot more than I care about other people.

Oh yes, that sounds lie a fun idea. Can you just imagine?

Bill

I guess I am willing to spend a few bucks for a little more precision in how I store a few hundred bucks worth of food.

For the freezer, you can't damage it by it being too cold, so just run it full power. Although I guess that wears out the compressor.

For the fridge, where's the harm in just turning it down to almost freezing point?

Debit cards are dumb. Use a credit card that gives you a percentage back.

How do you know what is almost freezing without a thermometer?

So you are getting your knockers in a knot over a one day difference in pull dates?

... and also has significantly more consumer protection over a debit card. The only thing I use a debit card for is getting cash and that is not very often. You want to know what I have been up to, just look at my cash back credit card statement. I also have it on auto pay so I never give them a dime in interest.

Turn it down until some food forms ice on it, then turn it up a bit.

Or use your finger! Don't you have any sensory apparatus?

And end up in debt, no thanks. I prefer to spend money I actually have.