1 big shop or pop to the shops daily?

summer1982

How do you do your shopping?

I am currently on mat leave on a very tight budget and have been paid today, I was all set to do an on line shop but am thinking as I am around every day I could save wasting anything by popping out everyday and getting only what we need....but I wonder if I will be swayed by bargains and come back with things I wouldnt usually get, I guess its all about will power and sticking to the list!!!

How do you do yours?

Pollycat

Hi
re being on a tight budget have you checked out the Old Style board?

Lots of great advice on there about menu planning, batch cooking & freezing etc.

I menu plan on a 3 weekly basis, sitting down with my list of freezer contents and cookery books.

However, we have a Tesco Extra & Co-op close to us and if I'm not too busy I pop up there most days to check if they have any bargains on the 'reduced' bit.
I then switch my menus around if I get say, a bag of reduced peppers.
I also keep an eye open for bogof/half price offers and will stock up on them - but only if I'll use them.
I've been known to buy 4 packs of 9 loo rolls on half-price.

I buy milk and bread as we need it, and of course fresh veg & fruit.
We do a big shop about once a month for the heavy stuff.

Only you can know if you'll stick to your shopping list.

Apricot

I find each time I go shopping I buy more things that I don't need so popping to the shop daily would cost more for me. I sometimes will plan our meals for the week and then check cupboards before making a shopping list and buying only what I need.

brians_daughter

oh goodness.. if i was to go the shops daily i would be in my od the day after payday lol. For me its a big shop all the way with a trips to the local market for fruit and veg. However, if you are more disciplined than me i am sure its doable

lostinrates

Meal planning and one big shop....topped up with trips to shops like greengrocers. Though fresh veg might not last between shops....I do fewer shops than one a week very often...there are no magazines, cream cakes, special offers on stuff we don't use at greengrocers. Green grocers here is also an independant business, easier parking and cheaper than the supermarket so for me that's the best solution.

gizmodo_2

To be MSE it's definitely 1 big online shop a month with weekly top ups for veg, bread and milk.

I do a menu plan for the whole month (although we only loosely stick to it in terms of what we have on what day). So I get all the meat I need and freeze it into portions.

I think if you're very very strict with yourself you could get some bargains by shopping daily (reductions etc). But personally I find I end up going for one thing and coming out with 10 things I didn't really need.

Pollycat

I buy meat when it's on offer and freeze it.

For example, Tesco recently had a 'less than half price' offer on their topside/silverside beef so I bought 3 large joints (over 8 kg) and cut it up into slices for braising and diced for casseroles.

Much cheaper than buying as you need it.

Summer1982, I think if you DO plan to go shopping daily, you need to be really disciplined - if you're not, don't even consider it.

minerva_windsong

When I was a student, I'd do an online shop every couple of weeks for non-perishables and then top-up shops for milk and bread. I also did weekly meal plans and batch cooked so I'd have something in the freezer for when I came home late and was starving hungry but didn't want to cook.

The only disadvantage with online shopping is that you tend to get thing where the expiry date is in the next few days, dented tins, very ripe fruit and veg etc, whereas I would much prefer to pick out my own things. So when I move to London I'm going to compromise by doing a big weekly shop at the Tesco down the road from where I'll be living and then top-ups when needed.

Becles

I'm in and out of different shops for work, so I tend to pick up a basket of stuff a few times a week rather than doing a big shop.

You need to be disciplined though and not buy random things that you don't really need just because they "fell into your basket".

I have a rough idea of the next few days meals, but I check the reduced section and sometimes meals change depending on what I can find. I also look for reduced chilled stuff that can be frozen for another day.

I also stock up on store cupboard, toiletries and household items if I see any really good bargains like the "better than half price" offers they all seem to be doing at the moment.

jcr16

my shopping fully depends on the season tbh, winter i tend to do just a big shop weekly and a online shop of bulk stuff. summer i tend to do a weekly shop, but do top us shops every couple of days as we eat so much fresh fruit in the summer and have bbq's we like to buy fresh. i can't buy 7 punnets of strawberries to last the week they will go off, although i grow them we still eat more than i grow. so i go to shop daily to buy a punnet. morrisons and fruti a veg shop is only a few mins walk away so i can take kids to school, pop to shop and walk back home. if i'm walkign i can't buy too much.

i only ever use cash sometimes my debit card so i find this help's. i don't use credit cards if i did i think i'd find it wasy to buy more than i needed.

Caroline73_2

I have spent less this year by not doing a big weekly or monthly shop. I go every 3 or 4 days and I am spending less.per day.

I am definitely getting less waste. I am a bad judge of portions anyway so tended to buy enough fresh stuff for the week, only to have bought a fortnight worth and it then to go off. Buying enough veg for 3 days is easier to gauge portions and if I do over estimate, it will only be a days worth which will still be fresh enough for the fourth day.

I will still go for offers but I can still be disciplined. I could never do the shop for a month personally but lots of people swear by it. It never worked for me.