Is there such a thing as a "grocery club"?

bluphoto7

We've been trying to tighten our purse strings after discovering that another mouth to feed will be arriving around Christmas and we're going to need to extend the house over the next year or so to cope!

So we've looked at our outgoings, and like many other families, our major outlay is groceries.

So rather than scour the supermarkets for savings every week, I was wondering if it might be worth starting a grocery club, where people post their shopping list online, and others suggest cheaper alternatives - not necessarily even from the same supermarket.

After a while, we could take it a step further and build a "common" shopping list for different groups of people. eg, one list for people living alone, another for couples, a third for families with one or two young children, and maybe a fourth for families with a houseful of teenagers.

Then we simply "pick" a list, print it off and head to the supermarkets in an evening to see if we can pick up further cost savings.

Personally, I find grocery shopping a major hassle and I think if we worked together we could come up with a "common" grocery list - even if it's just for meals - which would suit many struggling families.

rgds
Guy

Barneysmom

Have you looked on the Oldstyle Moneysaving forum, there are tons of cheap recipes and money saving ideas for groceries and meals?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

Coopdivi

That's the sort of idea people think up when they're stoned. It sounds brilliant at the time but in the cold light of day you realise how rubbish it is.

If we all lived in Inverness we could bulk buy and nominate one person every week to go and pick up in a very large car. But we don't so that's hit that idea on the head.

Common shopping lists are a waste of time because us humans have things called taste buds and we're all different

Just go to MySupermarket to compare prices across 4 supermarket chains then buy online.

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/

Then get a cookback like this to show you how to cook on the cheap.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nosh-Students-Student-Cookbook-previous/dp/0954317939/ref=pd_cp_b_0

Or go to the BBC Food website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/

bluphoto7

Yes Coopdivi (Coup DeVille? Nice!),
Buying a big grocery shop for a group of families at a time is a non-starter for people living all over the British Isles, you'd have to be pretty far gone to think that was a good idea - in fact you'd have to be pretty far along to think that's what I was even talking about.

I guess it might work in a city like Inverness, as you suggest (or any other city for that matter - not sure why you chose Inverness), but nationally, I agree that your idea wouldn't work.

Mine, on the other hand, might.

That said your suggestion of a site which compares grocery items is a good one, though that particular site would do nothing other than compare prices. I prefer to get up off my backside, save the tenner delivery cost, get out of the house and shop manually rather than wait around for two or more deliveries from different supermarkets, so shopping online woldn't cut it for me I'm afraid. I'm actually talking about other people making alternative suggestions to the specific items I put on my list... recommendations even. To include places like Iceland and Aldi's, Costco, Co-Op etc.

I want somewhere I can simply upload an excel spreadsheet of groceries and I get something back about each line that says...

try sainsbury jaffa cakes instead of mcvities, they are just as good and half the price.

or

Iceland sells this German make of frozen chicken pieces which is just as good as the stuff on your list from Asda, but costs less.

or

Dont use tesco value mince - it is real grissly (an example only - it may or may not be, I don't know)

Then eventually, other peoples shopping lists might start to include the "better" choices, rather than the more convenient ones. Yes, humans have different tastes, but for people struggling for ideas, time and/or motivation a pre-configure shopping list would be a real godsend (unless you're fussy and put getting exactly what you want above saving money and ease of use, which for some people, even many people, might be preferrable.)

I can't remember, when I was growing up, ever having much of a say on what I ended up with for supper. I just had what the rest of the family was having, like most of the unspoiled population of the British Isles I guess. I guess there were the odd few that "got what they wanted" all the time, but not us. If I'd had to tell my parents what we were having for tea every night, and where best to get the ingredientes from, I would have been one stressed out kid.

I figure a shopping list (or at least a list of staple meals / ingredients) that say, a couple of dozen other families across the country are using, would save a lot of people a lot of time, and hopefully money. After all, isn't that what this place is about?

katskorner

bluphoto7 I think your idea is a good one for getting ideas from other people - not sure how a spreadsheet might work - logistics and all that!

I buy Jaffa Cakes for my kids and fine the Sainsburys Basics to be just as good as the branded Jaffa for AT LEAST half the price.

I am sure that there are plenty more that people can add

I have a family of five so I always need to cut back and get the best deal if I want money in the bank

xbrenx

Generally, as you do your shopping you will learn where you prefer to get the basics from. Then as a bonus people in this forum often add threads about which supermarkets have which offers on, you just have to watch out for them.

Everyone's tastes are different so you can't really expect to agree if someone says a different shop's food is better/worse, it's personal choice.

Be willing to read through the mine of information thats already on the forum and you won't go far wrong

julietiff

Yes, lots of threads about 'whats good/bad' at certain
supermarkets, just a case of looking.

geordie_joe

bluphoto7 wrote: »

I want somewhere I can simply upload an excel spreadsheet of groceries and I get something back about each line that says...

try sainsbury jaffa cakes instead of mcvities, they are just as good and half the price.

or

Iceland sells this German make of frozen chicken pieces which is just as good as the stuff on your list from Asda, but costs less.

The problem with that is people are different. Just because one person thinks an item is good it doesn't mean someone else will.

What do you do when you buy a packet of shop biscuits because someone said they are just as good as top brand ones, and you think they are not? Do you add a comment saying they are not as good, so the next person is no better off, because one person is saying they are just as good, and another is saying they are not.

chelms38

All jaffa cakes taste the same whether brand or supermarket own.

bluphoto7

geordie_joe wrote: »

What do you do when you buy a packet of shop biscuits because someone said they are just as good as top brand ones, and you think they are not?

I eat them anyway, learn from it and decide for myself if they are good enough value (ie quality vs price). I'd like to think others would have the sense to do the same. I don't have to think something is 100% as good as the best possible brand to be able to get it in my belly.

Right now I'm eating my first bag of Tesco value prawn cocktail crisps. Are they as good as Walkers? No. Are they good enough? Well, thinking about it, crisps are a snack for me - eating them is just a bad habit. Are Walkers any better for me than tesco value? I doubt it. In that case, they fill me up, they don't taste awful and eating them instead of walkers saves me money, so are they good enough value for me? Yes.

Of course, any particular shopping list would just be a starting point. I'm not talking about people being arrested if they buy a different brand of toothpaste to what's on the list! Common sense would obviously prevail (though granted it does seem a little thin on the ground these days)

It's just that I'd like to be able to look on the internet and download in one simple click "meals for a week" - job done. Five minutes tops - probably less. Either that or select a bunch of dinner meals and a bunch of lunches from a "menu" then hit "go" and out pops a shopping list, including where to go, what brands & pack sizes to get etc.

I get it, I really do... this isn't "timesavingexpert.com" I know, but in the words of a well known supermarket slogan.. even the little things help a bit.

PS, I'm really not all that keen on Jaffa Cakes whoever makes them.

geordie_joe

bluphoto7 wrote: »

geordie_joe wrote: »

What do you do when you buy a packet of shop biscuits because someone said they are just as good as top brand ones, and you think they are not?

I eat them anyway, learn from it and decide for myself if they are good enough value (ie quality vs price). I'd like to think others would have the sense to do the same. I don't have to think something is 100% as good as the best possible brand to be able to get it in my belly.

You only read, and quoted half of what I said. I wasn't asking if you would eat them or not. I was asking if you would then tell others that you thought they were not as good. Thus having two comments on the biscuits, one say they are good and another saying they are not. Which would be of no use to anyone.