Grocery Bills

absolutelynomoney

I'm a single mum with a 2 month old baby boy.

Do you think approx £50 as a weekly shop at Sainsbury's is excessive? (the only supermarkets where I live are Sainsburys, M&S and Waitrose!)

Trying to evaluate my spending and not sure what is over the top or reasonable spending.

I do tend to buy mostly fresh fruit and veg and some fresh meat so that bumps the cost up a bit as I don't buy the cheaper packaged cooked meats and ready meals.

Thanks for any help.

lilac_lady

£50 isn't excessive if it includes all toiletries and baby products. If it's for food only, I think you could reduced it to about £35 without noticing a difference.

absolutelynomoney

Yes it includes toiletries and any household cleaning products and things like that.

williacg

I shopped with Sainsburys for more than 10 years, but after reducing my working hours, I spent some time pricing checking their products against Tesco and Asda, and was totally shocked to discover just how expensive they were in comparison. I know that you said that you only have Sainsburys, M&S and Morisson in your area, but I also live several miles away from Tesco, and they do deliver - it is seriously worth making that transition if they do deliver to your area, as I have noticed quite a significant change to my shopping bill since switching. In fact, I found Asda to be the absolute cheapest (excluding discount shops such as Lidl and Aldi) however, the fact that they don't have a Reward scheme puts me off, as those quarterly vouchers come in handy.

geordie_joe

absolutelynomoney wrote: »

Do you think approx £50 as a weekly shop at Sainsbury's is excessive?

It really depends on what you buy. If I were you I would write down everything I buy in a week, then go online to asda and tesco and compare the prices they charge.

You can check asda prices without registering, but I think you have to register to see the tesco prices.

tessie_bear

i think that sum is ok as long as u arent chucking things in the bin...i find some of the value sainsburys basics stuff great...there is a thread on here saying what people think is good

rmiller

That sounds OK for Sainsbury's but I would suggest shopping at ASDA online and having it delivered.

Best of luck!

absolutelynomoney

Thank you everyone.

I hadnt thought about online shopping.

Found that ASDA doesnt deliver in my area but Tesco does.

nomoneytoday

Sainsbury's staff are polite, tills are manned correctly, they have some animal rights standards and are happy to deal with customer problems. Also a few nectar points for reusing bags is a bonus (as are Clubcard points to be fair)

In comparison, my local Asda didn't have any free range chicken on the shelf last week, usually has a queue to get parked at weekends, and longer till queues. I once had an argument with a till clerk at Tesco who refused to serve me at 9.01pm as she "finished at 9" - only serving once I said i'd leave the stuff on the conveyor instead!

That's got to be worth paying a small about more for IMHO?

the_cat

nomoneytoday wrote: »

Sainsbury's staff are polite, tills are manned correctly, they have some animal rights standards and are happy to deal with customer problems. Also a few nectar points for reusing bags is a bonus (as are Clubcard points to be fair)

That is a bit of a generalisation!
My local MrS is the absolute worst for queues, much worse than any in the area

chelms38

One way of not over spending on a budget is to make a list and not buy anything you don't really need.