Yellow stickers of shame.

Feb 3, 2012

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Browsing twitter the other evening, as I oh so occasionally do, I was surprised to see someone saying something along the lines of self service checkouts being a boon as they cut down on yellow sticker shame. (I’m sorry, I don’t remember who it was, and I’m assuming they’d rather not be credited 😉 ETA as MummyIsAGadgetGeek has outed herself below, I’ll give her a link here!)

Shame? I don’t get it. I view getting something with a yellow sticker on as an achievement. So I’ve been watching the 2lb christmas cakes with a best before date of Jan 31st like a hawk, and when their original yellow stickers of half price were halved again, I had two of them. Come on, fruitcake that is going to go off within a month? I think not. This stuff lasts forever, not that it’s going to get a chance in this house. We’re half way through the first one already – I knew I should have had more than two. I assume as they are past best before date the supermarket will have chucked them all out now 🙁 Waste of good food, but that isn’t what this rant is about.

Is it really shameful to try to get something on the cheap? Like many other families at the moment, we’re watching our pennies. So apart from the things which I *have* to buy, my first port of call in any supermarket visit is the reduced section. So we had rice pudding made with gold top milk on Tuesday night – the milk was reduced to 64p for a litre, which made just about enough wonderfully creamy rice pudding to satisfy my entire family and tasted way better than the best tinned brand, which would have cost way more.

Was that a triumph or should I be hanging my head and not mentioning it? Is it because it’s food – I regularly see ppl recount sale triumphs for other items.

Whatever it’s about I don’t get it – anyone care to explain?

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Comments

9 responses to “Yellow stickers of shame.”

Tech
3 February 2012
We are planning on doing lots of yellow sticker shopping when we are in the van! No shame here.
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Scottish Mum
3 February 2012
I hadn’t even thought about yellow stickers, they’re mainly red or white up here, but nobody bothers here. Maybe it is just where you are from.
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ella
3 February 2012
It was a triumph! I grew up with the waste not, want not mentality – I wish there were more of it about these days.
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Aroha @ Colours of Sunset
3 February 2012
I don’t get it either. And in the same vain, I was complimented on a pair of shoes once and I said, “Thanks! They’re my $12 shoes from Payless!” and I got SO MUCH ATTITUDE back. “Ugh, I hate it when people say that.” Then she proceeded to mimic me in a high pitched whiny voice. If you pay 10x what I pay for something that is basically the same thing, I am not the one who is the idiot!
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Mummygadgetgeek
4 February 2012
That would have been me then! Although, my tweet about it was rather tongue in cheek – I have absolutely no problem with yellow stickers in fact we were delighted to get a freezer full of meat for twenty quid. It was more a comment on the reaction of local, more upper class people and their reaction to my bulging yellow stickered basket.
Glad it gave you something to write about though 🙂
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Ailbhe
4 February 2012
Poverty is one of the things people are regularly, consistently shamed for, yes. Adults and children alike bully each other for it. Thriftiness – choosing the better-value option when you could reasonable choose an alternative – is generally seen as commendable, particularly among the reasonably well off, ie at an average income. Choosing the cheapest option because you have no alternative is pitiable or contemptible, depending on who’s doing the judging. This is particularly true for people who are at a lower economic level than their social peers.
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Kat @ iRant iRave
4 February 2012
Yellow sticker shame? It’s a trophy. There’s often time when 90% of my supermarket shop is yellow stickered which is great as then we can afford a treat too. Infact around here the discount shelves are often referred to as ‘The Vulture Pit’ as so many as squeezing in to grab what they can as it’s put on the shelf.
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kay wilkinson
4 February 2012
I agree with the above comment, I consider them trophys too, lol! I think some people might think it makes them look like they’re struggling financially if they have to grab ‘whoopsed’ stuff, and people can be very proud like that. Personally I think we’re all in the same boat and people can think what they like, we’re all a bit skint these days!
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Sarah, Maison Cupcake
8 February 2012
My son actually says “mummy you can’t buy that, it’s not reduce-ted”
I am making hay while the sun shines – we have a shiny new premium supermarket next to the Olympic site that will probably get replaced by a cheaper one after the games are over. Meanwhile I have been hoovering up MASSES of reduced stuff weekly. It would appear that knocked down stuff (I’m talking 80% off too) from this particular place is good to go for another 5 days+ – in fact I have took some of those long red peppers out of fridge this morning that I got for 29p instead of £1.69 nearly 2 weeks ago and they’re still fine.
People should really trust their own instincts with best before advice. You can save a heap of money when you realise much of stuff is fine for days and days after the date – or that if you cook reduced meat/fish immediately in a casserole you can freeze or keep in fridge for a few days.
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