MS Dilemma

Curv · 6 July 2007 at 8:37AM

I'd be interested to get your views on this:

I currently get my milk delivered by our local milkman... doorstep delivery, glass bottles, local cows - the works. My milk bill is around £25 - £30 per month. I started getting the milk delivered for two reasons:

to stop me having to pop to the supermarket when I run out, only to leave Mr T's at least £20 lighter :rolleyes:

to support local business

Since I started doing the Grocery Challenge, I've restructured my shopping so that I now shop twice a week and don't need to make any unplanned trips. I've worked out that if I bought my milk from Tesco, I'd cut my bill down by at least a fiver a month, maybe more. My improved planning skills mean that I'm far less likely to run out than I used to be.

I'm VERY into the whole MS thing, and so it feels wrong to knowingly pay 43p per pint for something I could get for 28p per pint. But I feel a bit bad about compromising my 'support local business' principle.

As I say, all views welcome

Curv x

trigger2 · 6 July 2007 at 8:54AM

i'm afraid our local milkman is so expensive we get ours from mr t ! budget is just too tight just now ! but i agree it is a dilemma & i would rather give more money to local business & farmers rather than tesco, but i'm afraid needs must just now. i do support other local shops though so this salves my concsience a bit !

Essex-girl_2 · 6 July 2007 at 8:56AM

I get my milk delivered also.

It stops me impulse buying when I would go into a shop to pick up milk.

As you say I like to support local business' and as I live in a rural area the milkman really helps the old people who cant get out often, he also deliveries butter cheese organic veg boxes etc

Its lovely at Xmas when I know I can order my cream extra milk without having the stress of going to a supermarket at that time of year.

I would only cancel this is I was so so skint that the money I saved really made a difference.

Debt_Free_Chick · 6 July 2007 at 8:57AM

If we think about it, being MS (or "green" for that matter) presents a number of conflicts, usually price vs morals.

Only you can decide which matters most to you. So, is the extra £5 a month worth paying, for knowing that you are supporting a local business (and the farmer) and avoiding plastic going to landfill/recycling?

angelavdavis · 6 July 2007 at 9:00AM

I personally do a mix.

I prefer organic veg - even though I could effectively save a lot more money just buying non-organic, so in order to save a bit I grow stuff myself and mix it with some Lidl produce too - to balance the cost implication out.

I also go for locally produced meat wherever possible - we have a butchers in Horsham that specifically sells Sussex produce. But it is a lot more expensive. However, I would much rather buy local lamb for example, than encourage the market for New Zealand lamb - because our farmers are suffering under the strain of price reductions and because of the cost to the environment of bringing it across the world. However, I realise not everyone can have that choice. That is simply my perogative.

All that said, I buy milk in Tesco - preferring to go for the locally produced milk, rather than the "who knows where its come from" brand. We recycle the container so I don't feel so guilty about that one either!

Is the milk locally produced?

Icemaiden · 6 July 2007 at 9:04AM

I've had this dilemma more than once so your not alone. My mum even inform me you can now get 2x 4pts of milk in tescos for £2.00. I personally like the convenience of it been delivered and not have to worry about never having any each morning, plus it arrives fresh come rain or shine, I also like to support our local traders. I get other things from my milkman aswell like sacks of spuds and trays of eggs which work out cheaper than the supermarket and are of better quality so the cost of the milk is outweighted by the savings I can make from him in other ways.

dannahaz · 6 July 2007 at 9:16AM

We get our milk delivered, and it's worth the extra. I know that every day I will have the pintas on the doorstep. If I want more, I just leave a note. If I want less (rarely, as I've got it about right) then I leave a note. He also delivers other stuff, such as my cat food. Brilliant. No plastic bottles to dispose of.

I prefer to spend my money with someone other than the supermarket giants,

In the scheme of what I spend on shopping, it's not a great deal more money, but its a great deal more convenient, and I feel better about it.

newmrslockwood · 6 July 2007 at 9:22AM

We do a bit of both. We have 1 pint of milk delivered every morning and buy top ups from local supermarket. we like to have the pint delivered as we always know we will have some for breakfast if we had forgotten to buy any the day before. It costs us £10 a month, the milkman rounds it down for us as we always pay on time, he doesn't do that for the late payers!:p

Hapless_2 · 6 July 2007 at 9:47AM

Our milkman is the village shop, and his milk comes from the same place as the supermarkets stuff, but dearer. It does not mean the farmers are getting anymore though.
We tend to buy Yeo Valley organic from Sainsbury's, because it is a co-op of westcountry farms from Devon and Somerset. (Personally I think Definately Devon can no longer be guaranteed to be local as it is now owned by Robert Wiseman and they have already closed one milk factory in Torrington)

moanymoany · 6 July 2007 at 9:53AM

One of the things about moneysaving OS is that it has to work for the individual. I don't get on with either bread makers or slow cookers, but they work for lots of people. The same with your milk. Home delivery works for you. I bet that if you stopped and bought from Tesco you would spend more than the £5 saved. I think there must be very few people who can walk through Tesco to the Milk counter and back to the checkout and not pick up something else. I can't, even DH who is the most singleminded of shoppers finds it hard.

So, I accept that my version of moneysaving OS is not perfect, but it works for me. I prefer to buy Tesco finest wholemeal sliced bread because it is fab, I could buy value, but the bread is important to us. Nearly everything else in the trolley is value.

Enjoy your home delivered milk.

kiwichick · 6 July 2007 at 10:10AM

Why not buy your milk at Tesco but buy their new range of "Local" milks which are locally sourced???

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MS Dilemma

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