Most efficient way to shop?
Discussion
Over the last 12 months or so I've experimented with ways of trying to keep costs down with our grocery bills yet I'd like them to be cheaper still!
For a while I was doing a big monthly shop, spending around £200 at whatever supermarket took my fancy, as long as I didn't give into expensive ready meals etc I found Tesco/Waitrose/Morrisons to be about the same. The trouble with this was that invariably we would run low about 3/4 of the way into the month and have to start stocking up again.
I then tried Aldi/Lidl, I was surprised to find that it wasn't that much cheaper and given the more limited range I ended back at my usual haunts! Still, the random selection of foreign hams are mighty tasty
Recently I've been trying to shop once a day with a £10 budget, some days we spend more, some less but I think it balances out, the downside being that the cupboards are always bare and I'm getting increasingly sick of popping into Tesco daily!
Myself and OH are very strapped for time, both getting in after 7pm, this makes making meals from scratch a pain as well as making awkward to pop to local butcher/grocer etc.
Interested to hear how other people do it
For a while I was doing a big monthly shop, spending around £200 at whatever supermarket took my fancy, as long as I didn't give into expensive ready meals etc I found Tesco/Waitrose/Morrisons to be about the same. The trouble with this was that invariably we would run low about 3/4 of the way into the month and have to start stocking up again.
I then tried Aldi/Lidl, I was surprised to find that it wasn't that much cheaper and given the more limited range I ended back at my usual haunts! Still, the random selection of foreign hams are mighty tasty
Recently I've been trying to shop once a day with a £10 budget, some days we spend more, some less but I think it balances out, the downside being that the cupboards are always bare and I'm getting increasingly sick of popping into Tesco daily!
Myself and OH are very strapped for time, both getting in after 7pm, this makes making meals from scratch a pain as well as making awkward to pop to local butcher/grocer etc.
Interested to hear how other people do it
Sainsburys online about once a month.
Pick up bits and bobs when needed throughout the month from small branch of Waitrose or Sainsburys on the way home.
Costco every couple of months for nappies, bog roll, etc.
We used to get fresh veg delovered from Able and Cole every week but were being a bit slack with cooking so that has stopped for now.
Pick up bits and bobs when needed throughout the month from small branch of Waitrose or Sainsburys on the way home.
Costco every couple of months for nappies, bog roll, etc.
We used to get fresh veg delovered from Able and Cole every week but were being a bit slack with cooking so that has stopped for now.
After calculating the cumulative cost of buying new DVD releases VS cheap half or one third price releases, a GREAT many film purchases (a hobbby of mine) from Tesco over a number of years... I now point blank refuse to buy new releases on principle. And will save a fortune by not being such a tit. A good film is just as good several months after it was released.
Thankfully we have many freezers - This helps enormously when frozen goods that are genuinely half price are spotted. The same goes for tinned goods. If something is on a genuinely good offer, we will buy in huge amounts, and look like OCD shoppers when we reach the checkout
Most folk have a mate with a business. Why not do them a favour in exchange for them using their business to get a cash and carry account. Bookers give you three 'sign in' cards upon sign up, they can give you one, no questions asked. We bought £10 of very nice toilet paper there on special offer this month, which we calculated would cost £40 in Tesco. Plus dozens of other savings, on cleaning goods, booze, meat etc.
Plus the obvious one, never to shop when hungry...
Thankfully we have many freezers - This helps enormously when frozen goods that are genuinely half price are spotted. The same goes for tinned goods. If something is on a genuinely good offer, we will buy in huge amounts, and look like OCD shoppers when we reach the checkout
Most folk have a mate with a business. Why not do them a favour in exchange for them using their business to get a cash and carry account. Bookers give you three 'sign in' cards upon sign up, they can give you one, no questions asked. We bought £10 of very nice toilet paper there on special offer this month, which we calculated would cost £40 in Tesco. Plus dozens of other savings, on cleaning goods, booze, meat etc.
Plus the obvious one, never to shop when hungry...
Edited by Mobsta on Wednesday 16th November 23:40
Melman Giraffe said:
Prepare and freeze meals in advance. For example make a large batch of ragu and this can be transformed into spag bol or even a cottage pie. So bulk buy and precooking is the key!
+1 to this.buy yourself a huge amount of cheap meat.veg, throw in a slow cooker and freeze it in batches
raf_gti said:
I then tried Aldi/Lidl, I was surprised to find that it wasn't that much cheaper and given the more limited range I ended back at my usual haunts! Still, the random selection of foreign hams are mighty tasty
The trick to Aldi/Lidl is to go with an open mind - if you buy like a British person it isn't much cheaper (except Pepsi at 25p per can - it's like I'm 8 all over again!) but if you think like an eastern European consumer, you can eat quite cheaply.Freezing meals does definitely help. When I was a student I used to go to Iceland and refuse to buy anything that wasn't on offer. I also worked out calories per £ but I was exceptionally tight fisted.
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