do you find it cheaper to buy groceries 'as you need them'?

I found going to the local market allowed better purchasing, cheaper cuts, good establishing relationships and the chance for genuine adult-to-adult human interaction.
It's often a place well served by public transport in the centre of towns and cities.
2/3 times a week was great!
And a reduced risk of buying crap!

We also bulk buy toilet paper/kitchen paper/tissues/stock cubes/tinned tomatoes/ tinned beans etc from a warehouse place. Saves us an enormous amount of money.

Pollycat wrote: »

WOW!

You're really organised and it sounds like you buy some really good stuff. :T

I think its more down to getting into a routine. Good food has always been an important part of my life. Yes, you can pour a £2.10 jar of Loyd Grossman's Tikka Masala Sauce over some chicken when you want a curry BUT you could also toast a few pennies worth of spices in a frying pan make a curry paste and have something that'll be blow your socks off good in just a short a time as using the so called convenient yet bland pre-made stuff. The money I save goes towards poulet fermier.

keza wrote: »

yes sorry I described that wrong there I'm already a mum of a toddler who works full time and studies so I am the busiest of busy let alone when baby comes along. i think i meant more to go for a walk to the shops with baby to get out rather than being indoors all day

I guessed that was what you were thinking. As others have said, it depends how disciplined you are with yourself and which shops you're near when you go for your walk. I do a weekly shop in Aldi but there are still things I know are good value elsewhere. So if I'm near the local shops for manicure /library or whatever I'll go into Farmfoods or Iceland or Sainsbury's or Waitrose and buy ONLY the items that are better value than Aldi or can't get them elsewhere.

anotheruser wrote: »

You do realise it's Aldi don't you?

Thanks so much for bringing that up. I'm glad it's not just me that's bemused by the weird and wonderful spellings you see on here. I'm not sure whether it's a literacy issue or whether people really do have nicknames for supermarkets. :rotfl:

I always meal plan but do look out for reduced bargains.

On my menu for tonight was tuna risotto to use up some of the massive value bag of red & green peppers I bought for for 30p and then Gorgonzola pasta tomorrow to use up the rest of the crème fraiche that I bought to add to the goulash I slow cooked on Sunday (again to use up the peppers).

But.....yesterday I bought some new potatoes in garlic butter from Mr T (10p instead of £1) and some carrot batons (10p instead of £1) so my menu for tonight is chicken breasts (hurriedly yanked out of the freezer this morning) in Gorganzola sauce with the potatoes and carrots (plus some green beans that I froze last week) and tuna risotto for tomorrow with the addition of half a large red onion (bought for 20p for 3) plus some of the spring onions I bought for 5p and the rest of the spring onions will go into tuna & mayo for jacket potato fillings at the weekend.

I feel quite exhausted after working all that out. :rotfl:

I spend far less by shopping as and when instead of weekly. Next to no waste, and using the little local shops and markets keeps me away from the big supermarkets with all their temptations. It also forces me to cook from scratch because they don't sell ready meals.