I do not know where to shop, Help?

sweetstudent

1carminestocky wrote: »

With respect, the OP wishes to reduce her monthly spend from £450 to £200. It's a big step and I'm not entirely convinced Waitrose Essentials would be the way to go here . This is absolutely nothing to do with their perceived quality, it's the price we are looking at here. And Sainsburys basics prices are far cheaper than Waitroses' equivalent, essentials (we have some experience of Waitrose essentails prices, btw, as we tend to pick them up for 50% off at the supermarket overstocks shop we use.) If you spend less at Waitrose than Sainsburys then I'm assuming you weren't buying basics brand?

Well in Sainsburys we got tempted by a lot of 'perceived' bargains and on other stuff that we did not need to buy, and if you went around Sainsburys a lot of the bargains were on items that although tasted nice were not the best things for you!!

With fresh produce, i found Sainsburys to be hit and miss, as with some of the fresh meat, several times we have bought chicken breasts/diced and the chicken has smelt vile, at Waitrose, although they have bargains on some unhealthy stuff, we are not tempted (most of the time) and the meat and produce has always been perfect.

Even though Waitrose if out the way for us the best thing has been that it is not packed to the extent that Sainsburys is and for me that is one of the deciding factor as i get claustrophobia.

Although i respect your view, i am basing my opionions on myself and my OH.

Where do you find these supermarket overstock shops from please?

1carminestocky

sweetstudent wrote: »

Well in Sainsburys we got tempted by a lot of 'perceived' bargains and on other stuff that we did not need to buy, and if you went around Sainsburys a lot of the bargains were on items that although tasted nice were not the best things for you!!

With fresh produce, i found Sainsburys to be hit and miss, as with some of the fresh meat, several times we have bought chicken breasts/diced and the chicken has smelt vile, at Waitrose, although they have bargains on some unhealthy stuff, we are not tempted (most of the time) and the meat and produce has always been perfect.

Even though Waitrose if out the way for us the best thing has been that it is not packed to the extent that Sainsburys is and for me that is one of the deciding factor as i get claustrophobia.

Although i respect your view, i am basing my opionions on myself and my OH.

Where do you find these supermarket overstock shops from please?

Ah, we shop online as it cuts out all the 'impulse buying'. We normally only pay £3.50 delivery (have it delivered on a Tuesday or Wednesday) so, to us, it's just not worth shopping in-store with all the time that entails (plus the simply ghastly danger of seeing someone you know who will keep you talking, actually LISTENING, for at least 30 mins :eek: , plus the fuel needed etc).

PS The supermarket overstock shop is a local one to us called Company Shop (in Tankersley, Yorkshire) but you need to work in certain professions to get a card/entry. The prices can be quite incredible, though, and the shop is often full of Waitrose stuff at half price or less. We went last week and they had 454g punnets of Waitrose 'essential' strawbs for the princely sum of 50p! :eek:

wendym

1carminestocky wrote: »

PS The supermarket overstock shop is a local one to us called Company Shop (in Tankersley, Yorkshire) but you need to work in certain professions to get a card/entry. The prices can be quite incredible, though, and the shop is often full of Waitrose stuff at half price or less. We went last week and they had 454g punnets of Waitrose 'essential' strawbs for the princely sum of 50p! :eek:

Any idea which professions qualify for a card?

Ex_Gas_Guzzler

We do our shop on weekday evening, our morrisons discounts most of their fresh bread, rolls, baps etc down to 1p in some cases but normally about 9p to 25p, we put it all the freezer and take out the evening before we need to use it the next day......saves a fortune...:j

Burlesque_Babe

staffie1 wrote: »

I would draw the line at the jar of curry 'sauce' at Asda for 7p though. I can't help thinking all you're getting with that is a jar of chemicals and god knows what other junk. I mean, come on, 7p? How can they make anything approaching decent for that?

I teach cookery and we did a session on making a curry from scratch this term to show that you don't need a jar or hundreds of weird spices that get used once and then get banished to the back of the cupboard. I bought a jar of this sauce and did an analysis of what was in it.

Surprisingly, there are no nasties in it......however........it worked out to be an approximate mix of pureed onion, garlic, bit of tomato puree and curry powder which totalled around 10%...........the other 90%? Mostly water

So, whilst there is nothing wrong with the sauce (I have used it since and tarted it up with chillies and a tin of coconut milk), it is basically a bit of pureed onion, a smidgeon of garlic and a bit of curry powder.

KimYeovil

Lightbulbmoment wrote: »

We were having Organic everything before and now I dont have that option! Is it possible to have cheap but tasty food?

£200 is perfectly reasonable for two. You don't need to cut out that much organic stuff. All you need do is switch to organic stews instead of organic steaks. And have sensible portions. Half a fillet of fish each is more than enough. A piece of steak is six portions, not one. Slice the scallop or tuna in half horizontally and you've halved the price. Buy quality dried pasta instead of fresh pasta. Etcetera.

You can go stock up cheaper 'value' added value ranges at cheap supermarkets if you like. But before resorting to that, why not try just buying naked ingredients and see how you fare that way?

minnie123

Personally I find Sainsburys very expensive. I used to use Tesco and Asda (two adults and a 13 month old) and when doing my shopping instore we were spending approx £350 monthly. I have now started doing my shopping online with Asda and I am finding it so much better. I spend approx £50 weekly and always get a free delivery code from the thread on here. Sometimes I struggle to get up to £50 online. I plan how many meals etc we need write a list then do it online - it saves on the impulse buys and it so much easier. It is working for me - give it a try.

paulwf

Some of it is learning what produce gives the best flavours and how to use seasonings to enhance the flavour.

In the example you gave instead of buying iceburg lettuce which is basically just water there are far tastier lettuces which cost the same or often less if on promotion. Also buy lettuces rather than prepared bags, you'll get a lot more for your money.

Potatoes can be transformed with various herbs and spices. For example we add some paprika when roasting potato wedges to give them a kick. Big bags of mixed herbs can be really cheap if purchased from the right place, and a bottle of chilli sauce lasts for a long time. You don't need millions of herbs, spices, vinegars and sauces, but a few in your storecupboard will really lift your food from bland to full of flavour.

1carminestocky

Burlesque_Babe wrote: »

I teach cookery and we did a session on making a curry from scratch this term to show that you don't need a jar or hundreds of weird spices that get used once and then get banished to the back of the cupboard. I bought a jar of this sauce and did an analysis of what was in it.

Surprisingly, there are no nasties in it......however........it worked out to be an approximate mix of pureed onion, garlic, bit of tomato puree and curry powder which totalled around 10%...........the other 90%? Mostly water

So, whilst there is nothing wrong with the sauce (I have used it since and tarted it up with chillies and a tin of coconut milk), it is basically a bit of pureed onion, a smidgeon of garlic and a bit of curry powder.

Not too bad when you consider its cost and the fact that we humans are approx 60% water.

1carminestocky

wendym wrote: »

Any idea which professions qualify for a card?

Hi, there's a rather informative thread about them here (including comments from people who work there).

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=215837