Which is the cheapest Supermarket then?

BettiePage

According to 'The Grocer' magazine, Asda has been the cheapest for about 8 or 9 years running. They vary what's in the basket each year so that the supermarkets can't 'cheat' and only lower those prices,

mrme

There is no doubt that ASDA is the cheapest overall for the items I buy but not by much and I would much prefer to shop elsewhere, the atmosphere in all ASDA's is poor - they always seem to stress me out Morrisons, well I hardly ever go I won't detail why but I hate them as it would take some time. I do however think they are cheap for standard products (mostly junk food!) but if you buy something a little different or upmarket the prices shoot up and they are very uncompetitive. Tesco and sainsbury's work out about the same for me so I usually go for sainsbury's as I think their food is of better quality. I guess it depends on what you are actually buying and where your store is.

Mimosa_Miminski

I find that Waitrose and Sainsburies work out the cheapest if go for their special offers. They seem to reduce things more dramatically than the others. Waitrose do some great deals - so if you're flexible about what you want to eat you can save lots.

Asda and Morrisons are good to stock up on cleaning products as they're a little cheaper on everyday stuff.

Tesco - I think that prices have crept up, and there are few bargains to be had. Certainly their clothes are often a similar price to Next - without the quality, or resale value.

whambamboo

Pipcola wrote:

I did not realise until today that my original post had posted........
I had not completed it but feel you got the gist of it.

I/we are probably not your average family. Just two middle aged adults although with a single NHS wage living in perhaps the most expensive part of the country.
When purchasing food from whatever source I tend to look at it as price per meal. Last week at the Farmers Market we bought stuffed pheasant breast's four for 6GBP - two meals for 6 GBP + veg. If I remember correctly two pizzas from Asda were 4GBP both seem good value for money.

I bought a Pheasant from Sainsburys. THey have just lowered the price on them.

Here's a nice recipe:

1 Pheasant
1 Pack Sainsburys Pork & Herb sausages
Fresh sage & thyme - a few leaves
Two Granny Smith apples or 1 large Bramley
750ml dry cider
Onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
100g lardons/diced bacon
Celery sticks, chopped
Two carrots, chopped
125ml cream

Method:
Brown pheasant, sausages, bacon, onion and garlic in butter in a casserole or saucepan. Remove pheasant & sausages when browned.

Add everything (except the cream) to the casserole, and cook for about 1 hour at 200C. When cooked, joint the pheasant and cook for another 15 minutes, or more, if the carrots aren't soft.

Finally stir in the cream.

Serves about 6 people

Serve with garlic mash:

Mashed potatoes
+ One Garlic head wrapped in foil with the skins left on (to stop it going hard), roasted for 1/2 an hour at 200C. Once cooked, squeeze the soft inside of the garlic into the potatoes.

H&H

I find that the cheapest way to buy my groceries is to shop around. I try not to be too loyal to a single supermarket (even though I work at ASDA CSD on Sundays). I buy essential ingredients from Aldi and Asda, quality food items/treats from Waitrose and M&S, and will periodically check out the offers at other supermarkets. I also bulk buy shower gel, toothpaste, bleach etc when on offer at Savers and go to Makro for commercial size boxes of washing powder, dishwasher tablets, and bottles of olive oil. I live in a town centre with walking distance to most of these shops so I don't have to clock up extra miles on the car to shop around. I guess it may not be the way to go for everyone, but it's about sharing experience..

key215

i think morrisons has an awful lot of good offers on at certain times, i think its best to shop around and pick up the special offers in each store once a month

lswwong

My experience is that Asda is the cheapest overall.

I tend to price check on the specific items that I buy the most and have recently started a spreadsheet to monitor the situation.

For example, a 1kg bag of Gala apples (normal, not organic) is £1.58 in Sainsbury's and 98p in Asda. A 2 box pack of 3 ply tissues costs £1.88 in Asda and £1.99 in Waitrose but over £2 in Tesco (all own brand ones).

It is not always possible to compare like for like, but I try to make up my own mind about where is the cheapest and best place to buy whichever items that I need for the quality that I want.

Both Sainsbury's and Asda do 8p a packet instant noodles. I don't like the Sainsbury's ones at all (the only flavour they offer that I would want is chicken). Whereas I find the Asda prawn flavoured ones just right.

I tend to agree with lynzpower that shopping in poorer areas may unearth some great finds! Many years ago, I used to go round to Shepherd's Bush in West London a lot to visit someone, and have discovered that the Superdrug there has more BOGOF offers on the things that I use (whereas the Central London Superdrugs didn't). Similarly, I have found out of London Wilkos very interesting! I was in Chippenham once last year and picked up a £6.35 worth of Fairy liquid tabs (for the dishwasher) for £2.50.

I just love shopping around (for less)!!!!

jennalicious

Personally, I do my store cupboard shopping at Asda, my frozen food shopping at Iceland and my toiletries etc at Tesco with the health and beauty vouchers. I have a friend who lives near Somerfields and she lets me know what they have on special offer and picks things up from there for me. (I do the same for her from Asda) As my OH keeps telling me, I never saw a bargain I didn't like LOL.

BettiePage

jennalicious wrote:

Personally, I do my store cupboard shopping at Asda, my frozen food shopping at Iceland and my toiletries etc at Tesco with the health and beauty vouchers. I have a friend who lives near Somerfields and she lets me know what they have on special offer and picks things up from there for me. (I do the same for her from Asda) As my OH keeps telling me, I never saw a bargain I didn't like LOL.

Get your friend to pick up the offers leaflets for you. If you take them to Asda, they'll match the offer for you and as these are often on offer across all supermarkets, you'll get a 'double' offer as it were. Must be in date and for same product, size, flavour etc... Own brands are like for like as in extra special and finest or smart price and tesco value.

ti1980

The best thing to do to get the cheapest prices is definitely to shop around.

I work at M&S and tend to shop there as I get a discount, I like the quality of the products and also for convenience. My closest supermarket from where I
live is Sainsburys so I do a lot of my shopping there as well. Now most people would say that they were the two most expensive places and they would probably be right but depending on what you are buying and the offers they have at the time, they can amazingly work out the cheapest.

For example, a couple of days ago I went to Sainsburys and I got some Lotus Thirst Pocket Kitchen Towels at half price for 72p for a pack of 2. I also got some of their Classic Cola for £1.19 for 6 cans (330ml). For me personally, I like Sainsburys Classic Cola just as much as I like Coca Cola and it is about half the price. I only use it for alcoholic drinks as a mixer and bottles lose their fizz far too quickly. I only use a 'dash' of cola when mixing with alcohol so one can (20p) will do me for a nights drinking.
I got some mandarins and some clementines that were 99p, both were lovely and juicy fruits. I don't have the time or the transport to be going to markets as there are no decent ones near me.

I got a couple of bits of shopping from M&S after work the other day and got some digestive biscuits for 24p and some shortbread fingers for 39p.
Also I saw that mineral water is on 3 for 2 at 60p so that makes it £1.20 for 3 bottles, so 40p a bottle.
Orange and Apple Juice is 99p for 1 litre, its also on 3 for 2 so that makes it 66p per carton.
Cereals are on 3 for 2 at the moment, the Cornflakes are about 93p (can't remember exact price) so works out at about 62p per box.

I personally think that Somerfield is really expensive and only go there if there is an offer on something that I normally buy. A few weeks ago I got some Hovis Bread Rolls on offer at 40p for 4.

Co-op is also expensive unless only buying things on offer.

There are no Waitroses near me so I don't shop there but I imagine that if you go for the offers then you will get good deals and the quality is probably far superior to most of the other supermarkets.

I think that Tesco is a lot cheaper than it used to be about 5+ years ago.

Lidl is very good for cheap fruit and veg(but not my local one) often its at half price and at normal price it is decent value, various continental goods, chocolate. I imagine Aldi is the same but there isn't one near me to shop at so I don't know personally.

Iceland is really cheap for frozen foods but they bump up the price on other everyday items to make up for it.

Asda is one of the cheapest if not the cheapest but a lot of their own products aren't as nice as Sainsburys or Tesco for example.

This is just what I think. I'm only shopping for one person though and don't have a big freezer so can't take advantage of stocking up when certain offers are on.

I think that overall the best thing to do is to rotate where you shop, just be a complete shopping 'tart' and don't rule out anyone place to shop as you may be missing out on the best bargains to be had.