It was that time of the month again. Lots of meat frozen in the trunk freezer but nothing in the fridge to put a meal together with. It’s still going to be a little while until we can eat anything from our own garden so I had to make a trip to Lidl. It’s a discount supermarket chain here in Germany (comparable to Aldi for those who are familiar with them) and they have good produce and other staples at really good prices. I’m a thrifty grocery shopper and have even gone so far as to make a spreadsheet with the prices of everything I buy regularly so I can check if a “sale” is truly a good deal. When I go shopping, I take a long list with everything I need to make a couple weeks worth of food. I’m not particularly a fan of grocery shopping and now that I have Mack along, it just becomes a little bit longer process. One of the last things I want to do is spend an hour or two every week in the grocery store. Plus, the more often I go in to the store, the more impulse buys I’m likely to come out with!
Every time that I stand the checkout counter, I am amazed that I’m the only person in there who seems to be buying for more than a day or two at a time. They’ll put 5 or 10 items on the belt and be done with it. They’ll get a carton or two of milk; I buy a case (don’t worry, it’s pasteurized and lasts a few months – not like we drink 5 gallons of milks a week – although I guess our bones might thank us for that.) When something like ground beef or chicken breasts go on sale, I buy several pounds worth so that it’s enough for a couple meals in the future. They’ll buy one 600 gram package of chicken for dinner that night.
I know that Europeans are generally more accustomed to shopping in street markets and buying everything as fresh as possible. I guess some of them maybe have really small fridges and pantries at home too. But it just strikes me a little odd. They don’t even buy tomato sauce to keep on hand just in case they come across a recipe they want to try. I generally have almost everything I need at home to throw some sort of dinner together (aside from fresh ingredients) and I personally think that’s a good thing. Milk producers here in Germany are talking about going on strike again. We’ve had supply chain breakdowns in Europe before. Why don’t people give some thought to a little bit of planning and preparation? I guess they might start tracking me for hoarding food, but I don’t intend for us to be sitting here with no food when things head for the much worse (not just the worse that we’re in now.) And it’s all the more reason to become even more self-sufficient, not only growing our own veggies and fruits, but also meat, fish, eggs, bees and so much more.
Perhaps I’m just shopping in the wrong store, being too cheap for our own good. Maybe that’s all these people can afford. Hopefully instead of thinking we’re up to something here, they’ll just think I’m preparing for an expedition when I get out to the parking lot to load everything into the truck, a Land Rover Defender with roof rack and snorkel. 🙂
Are people near you looking like meal planners or do they only rely on convenience foods? Is that shopping cart full or are they just using a hand basket with a couple things in it? Am I just shopping in the wrong grocery store? 🙂
I remember my neighbors in Spardorf riding their bikes to the next village where the butcher shop was and getting their daily needs, then biking back to Spardorf…up hill! If you shop while riding a bike you certainly don’t over do! We also had a bakery truck that came through the neighborhood on Tuesday and Thursday. Of course the milking barn was around the corner and the egg farmer was the next barn up. Our frame of shopping must be that we had to stock the larder for rough times. So if you shop like an American, do you have an America sized refrigerator? All the neighbors wanted to see ours! What a novelty.
Janet
It depends on where the store is located, but maybe many shoppers arrived on foot or via public transport, and can only buy as much as they can carry.
I know when my wife was growing up, it was part of the daily family ritual that her father would buy groceries for the day on his way home for his lunch break. They lived in the city center, so he was on foot. They only used their car on weekends.
As you mentioned, many Germans do not have large refrigerators and freezers. Also, even if they do have an extra freezer, some tend to only buy in bulk for freezing if the items are sold at a deep discount (not just saving a few cents, but a few Euros per item). That is at least what I have noticed with my family.
P.S. I enjoy your blog very much!
Hi Tiffany- I know Aldi and even I think Kaumart had some food..? maybe. Sort of a big box store for groceries. You are right, pork steaks, yogart and a TV guide makes you wonder what’s for dinner! My next door neighbor used to buy staples about once a month or lass often. She had her vehicle loaded down. Maybe they are shopping for staples when you aren’t looking… :-0
Hi Tiffany
just found your blog!
I do try to become more of a homesteader here in germany , too and yes sometimes it does fell weird to load up a cart because it will have to be a weeks worth of stuff. i think meal planning is really more an issue for larger families here in germany.. (hopefully i don’t step on any toes now!)
I just started subscribing to a very nice monthly newsletter (new harvest homestead newsletter ) i do not know the webpage… It is christian oriented, but there are always tons of good homesteading ideas and tipps in it!
keep up the god blogging!
cheers
dagmar from around heidelberg
Hi Dagmar,
Thanks for the tip – I will check out that newsletter you mentioned. I think this must be the one: http://www.newharvesthomestead.com/
I agree that it seems that many more large families are focused on meal planning since there are a lot more meals you generally have to deal with and mouths to feed. But I find that it works great for our small family of two + baby extremely well. We do figure in lots of leftovers, but I also have our trunk freezer filled up with quick weekday meals too that just need to be thawed and thrown in the oven. They’re especially good when my husband takes a week of vacation and we’re doing so many projects around here that I don’t feel like cooking.
I’m starting to ignore the strange looks from people when my cart is full though. At least I know we’ll have food on the table if the food chain breaks down at some point…