Village living on a budget what NO ALDI!

brunettegirl

okay so we are about to upsticks and move to the countryside
I am aware that living in a city I have easy access to Tesco, Asda, Aldi, NEtto, Lidl, Home bargains and B&M. I have done my homework to find out what there is and where in relation to my new house.

My question to all you good money savers is how do you shop at such places in a MSE way?

I.e do i plan my week around going to them, is it just a matter of the meal planner and only going once a month on a whole round trip?

this may seem like a silly question but I also have a 18 month who I want to be taking to all his classes and working the shopping into the routine like I do now, but obviously with a twist cos they are all over the place!

yes I drive and have a car, sensible solutions greatfully recieved.

Sambucus_Nigra

Actually, I've found that a big shop once every 3 weeks does the job. You spend so much time driving from shop to shop that you waste more in fuel than you save. You could alternate from one to the other in a weekly cycle, so we know we can only get some things at one shop so we go there once a month and stock up.

Itismehonest

We go in two different directions (2 towns, both around half an hour drive away) about once a month making sure that we cram as much into the day (& the motor) as possible.
For instance, any appointment like opticians, dentist, hairdressers mean that appointment day becomes a shopping day.
It's just a matter of getting organised.

You don't say how far out in the country you will be but, if you are about to move, bear in mind the old country cupboard winter stock-up. It's always better to go into winter with a surfeit of tins, packets & frozen stuff (semi-skimmed milk freezes & saves frequent shopping) just in case getting to the shops becomes harder because of the weather.
Don't forget to make sure you have all the bits needed for your littl'un, too.

JB1971

Try and shop local if you can. I moved from a city (supermarkets everywhere!) to quite a rural location. We are lucky to have a really good butcher here in the village and a really nice farm selling fruit and veg about half a mile away - both are as cheap, if not cheaper than supermarkets and the quality is fabulous. Plenty of people selling eggs from their homes/garden gates (again, much cheaper than supermarkets and free range/fresh/organic!) Supermarket now is just for things like rice etc (mainly non-perishable stuff)
The main difference is no home bargains or wilkos for absolutely miles and miles, so cleaning stuff and things like that seem really expensive!

lostinrates

I shop as infrequently as possible at different stores on a rough rotation, stocking up on what we like and is good value at each one. Luckily we have a greengrocers on my regular monday morning route.

very rural living really hinges on decent store cupboards and if possible a capacious freezer

Sambucus_Nigra

Oh, and learn where your nearest farm shop is.

Mayflower10cat

Our nearest Aldi/Lidl is about 18 miles away so I don't go there often, maybe once a month. I do buy a lot of everyday basics and veg from our little village shop (their veg is from the local farm wholesaler) 6 minutes on foot away - mainly because we'd be devastated if our shop closed, plus it's a post office too and so useful. I shop in the nearest small town about 4 miles away and again I use the farmers market and a few small local specialist shops for treaty cheeses and fish. Some basic veg we grow ourselves. It's a balance between keeping local shops open and employment in the villages and trying to shop on a budget.

Itismehonest

lostinrates wrote: »

I shop as infrequently as possible at different stores on a rough rotation, stocking up on what we like and is good value at each one. Luckily we have a greengrocers on my regular monday morning route.

very rural living really hinges on decent store cupboards and if possible a capacious freezer

Yes lir. Particularly if you don't have any handy village shops & are many miles off the gritter route.

lostinrates

Itismehonest wrote: »

Yes lir. Particularly if you don't have any handy village shops & are many miles off the gritter route.

winter before we moved our house was cut off for five weeks. I could get out, and did, in the defener and did shopping/g run et for people down in the village. It was brilliant. Winter after we move'd we got a gritter in our road. we were amazed at this modern state of affairs. DH then rote the car off the next day on the gritted but still icey road and we were cut off for ages more than 5 weeks:D

Its nice being closer to stuff where we are, but an icey road between you and stuff i icey f its ten miles or couple of them.

CH27

Buy a large freezer & have a good stock of tins & packets.

You have to balance the cost of petrol against the savings you will make.

Seanymph

We now shop from the local farm (eggs and sausages - although the new chickens are JUST coming into lay, three of the sixs now, so no more egg buying for me) local butcher (who can name the farms the meat came from) and farm shops (three caulis for £1 at the moment at both the farm shops near me.

I try to shop locally because then I only buy as I need - the supermarket bits I get when I am doing other things. This morning I am going to the tip, dropping youngest at college, and going to Sainsbury.

I stock on washing liquid dishwasher tablets etc at Lidl every few weeks, and ALWAYS tie in shopping with another purpose.

I have found since moving in last July that shopping at gates from people's home produce, and farm shops, has saved me a fortune because I buy what I want and no more, We are eating less meat which is where the money goes, and I am adding supermarkets or value shops as I travel for other purposes.