Do any of you ever pay over the odds to safeguard local services?

Penelope_Penguin

I use butcher, farm shop, and local co-op. I also buy half carcases direct from the farmer

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sellingmysoul666

We have a good local diy shop as well, its very handy when you run out of things 1/2 way into a project, so i dont mind paying a bit extra.
I buy local honey from a farm shop 200 yards from my house, expensive but worth it. We did try the fruit n veg a few times when we moved in but it wasnt very good quality!!
we go to another farm shop when we are passing, its only 70p for 6 free range eggs
we have a good local cake shop and a deli but only visit a couple of times a year as i try to avoid cake if i can
we have a curtain /bedding factory shop which we visit before going anywhere else
I also use the chemist (only when been to the doctors) spar,co-op, charity shop, health food shop and the library.
I dont use the car shop, 2 dress shops, craft shop, chippy, other cake shop, cafe, butchers (veggi)
There is an outdoor clothers shop which sells everything at full retail value (had been burgled twice since it opened)
A milk man (never used him as we have soya milk)
I am lucky having so many shops within walking distance but i cant afford to use them all the time, i wish i could, most of my money goes to morrisons or tescos, with visits to sainsburys or asda for special offers.

DCFC79

We have 2 1 pints of milk delivered 3 times a week at a cost of £14.88 a month, its considerably more than buying it form the supermarket but if we were to run out say in the evening its there on doorstep the next morning(if the next morning is when its delivered), it is from a local dairy or localish,

i also buy sausages from a butchers as they are nicer than the supermarkets plus there seems to be less fat when they cook as opposed to supermarkets own

Ches

We have just moved into a small town and I am trying to support the local shops. We have a butchers, fishmonger, wool/haberdashery, post office, ironmongers, optician, carpets, banks etc and a farmer sells potatoes. I do try to use these shops regularly but for groceries we only have Tescos Express, Spar and Co-op and these are too expensive so I have to travel to the bigger town for the rest of the shopping. I have noticed that my money isn't going as far since I started shopping this way and I decided today that I need to get more of a grip on the finances so I may have to go back to Sainsburys for everything.

Fiasco55

I would say I could do more to support my local community. I moved here a year ago and still don't know the area really well (I work a lot of anti social hours).

So far I have found, rate and use the local farmers market, independant chemist, post office and a few delis, bistros and an organic coffee shop.

I think getting to know my area should be one of my new year resolutions!!

rubytuesday

I visit the local Health food shop regularly and buy soya milk, billingtons sugar, dove flour, nuts and Rochester Ginger Wine. I have a free range butcher where I buy sausages but only once in a while as they are so expensive! I get a lot of veg from the Turkish greengrocer which is very cheap but needs checking carefully sometimes. I often buy Pide and olives etc in another Turkish shop. I get my cat litter from the Off Licence and also buy bits we've run out of from there too.
I use the Post Office and have started shopping in local charity shops again.
I've been considering going back to having a Milkman but it's 99p for a pint of organic milk and I really don't think I can afford it.
I've been avoiding Tesco like the plague recently getting deliveries with money off codes from Ocado and Sainsbury's for loads of cat food and special offers that I need. It's saved me a fortune as I have the first Tesco in the country five minutes from my house and I would shop there nearly every day!

tpsjrm

We live in a village that just has a general store/post office, but we are within 2 miles of a large city. So the city gets the bulk of our purchases - usually Tescos. We always use the village shop for its Post Office facilities and its papers and sometimes its bread, but not much else as it's terribly expensive compared to Tescos (or any other major supermarket, to be honest). But we definitely do try to use local craftsmen when we need, for example, plumbing, carpentry, or garden work doing. We have a monthly parish magazine which publishes all the local businesses and we always check that first, before the yellow pages.

Mothership

Hi there, any chance you could give me the contact details for the black pudding?

gastronomix

Whilst not always realistic for everyone it has recently been brought home to me how important these local resources are, especially for the elderly and less able. I can see a scenario in a few years when if you cannot drive and are unable to walk and carry items over a considerable distance it will be increasingly difficult to obtain essentials. The decline in public transport and social care are gradually making us more reliant on those services we can access.

beedeedee

Not exactly local - but we started to have a company selling tea and coffee at the door. We were intrigued at first and ordered some basic teabags and a packet of delicious peppermint tea. Two weeks later , they turned up at our door again and we requested two packs of flavoured tea bags. They only had one type available, but it was very nice indeed, so two weeks later we had a longish list ready for their knock on the door, as we deliberately hadn't bought any from the supermarket that week. Once again they did not have most of the types we wanted to buy, so have reluctantly had to give them the old heave-ho and return to the general supermarket. We were very happy to pay the extra to have good tea and also have it delivered to the door - but after the first flush - they seem to not be bothering and we need to have reliabilty when it comes to buying from a local company at the door, whether it be milk, tea or anything else.