a month without supermarket - new challenge for 2011 starts at post 1013

greenbee

hex2 wrote: »

I had my first delivery from the milkman this morning - milk, bread, bacon, satsumas, carrots and bottled water. All looks nice, but DH cannot understand why I am paying so much more for milk, £1.35 in the newsagents (who buy it in Makro for 80p), against £2.20ish delivered. All in I have paid a good third more than I would if I had gone to one of the big 4, but if you take into account the cost of getting there, and the impulse buys then it does make sense.

Have you calculated your potential fuel savings (not sure its possible to calculate the impulse buys, but you may see the difference over a couple of months). And it should help when you're down to one car as well... no need to go out to shop

mama67

Spiggle wrote: »

Thanks greenbee for the mention of the ethical superstore. I'll probably use that for certain things such as loo roll when I start proper later on.

I had a look through the products on there and certainly some things are more expensive and so it may well be useful for me (limited budget) to price compare with Coop for some things e.g Dove's Farm flour - still an ethical product and buying it from the most ethical place my budget will allow.

When I searched for ethical superstore on g**gle I found a couple of articles which were quite interesting. I think they're probably a year or more old now but someone may want to have a read:

Article 'Which is the most ethical supermarket?' http://makewealthhistory.org/2009/03/10/which-is-the-most-ethical-supermarket/
Ethical Consumer report (al the references are 2006-2008 so probably been superceded by now) http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/FreeBuyersGuides/miscellaneous/supermarkets.aspx

Ok, good luck everyone.

Take care,
Spigs

Dove's farm now sell directly to the consumer if you do a search for their website.

hth

JustKeepSwimming_2

Finally read this thread all the way through :j really interesting & thought provoking.

It has made me think how much shopping & communities have changed since I was little, & I'm only 41 so its not that long ago! I used to enjoy "proper shopping" with my mum - we used to get the bus to the high street & visit all the individual shops in turn & mum would use her wicker basket! All sounds very Enid Blyton & I'm sure she worked much harder than I do now - & she had to cope with all the 70's power cuts etc.

I'd like my children to experience something other than supermarket shopping & for them to think a bit more about where our food comes from. So I'm going to give this a try & see how we get on. I know there are a few things I'll struggle with - I don't drive & our local buses have 3 steps up so although I use a shopping trolley it can still be a workout getting it home! I have a MrT express 5 mins walk away, but I also have a McColls on the way to school & a Costcutter 15mins away. I've always gone to MrTs as I've assumed they would be the cheapest for everything & I've used MrT for online shopping as I don't have to worry about taking it all home.

But I investigated the Costcutter & its not much more expensive for many things, & suprisingly cheaper for others - they had 12 free range eggs from our local farm shop (but not local if you don't have a car :mad:) for £1.49 which I though was great.

I believe Costcutter is a franchise, so that seems to be a better option than the usual supermarkets - have I got this right?

My Coop is almost 2 miles away & I plan on using this when the weather is better for stuff I can't get elsewhere. I know its still a supermarket, but I like their ethical stance. I've also banked with them for years - smile (their internet bank) have given me excellent service & you can use the Post Office too, so it supports local areas too.

I've also been thinking about swapping my MrT credit card & savings account. I was using the card for points for days out, but as I now don't drive I can't get to most of these places anyway!

I'm not working for a while due to ill health, so I'm lucky enough to have the time to go to local areas to source things - I would struggle with this challenge if I had to go to work! But as I'm not working, I'm also on a very reduced income, so mindful that I really must watch every penny. I think this will work for me as I was always a sucker for their "offers":rotfl:

I'm also pleased to report that I have a milkman, with milk in proper bottles. Kids were amazed! I did it online & it has all worked well so far.

I'm off to town tomorrow to investigate the local, specialist shops!

roosterpotatoes

Caterina wrote: »

Hi roosterpotatoes, here is a link with many homemade baked beans recipes, mine is post no. 27 on the thread, hope it helps!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/168201

Thanks very much.

I cant wait to try making this, :T

mama67

I have been looking at the meat pack which the butcher I use in town is doing.

£30 delivered

Fresh Yorkshire Chicken
Joint Scotch Silverside
Corner Gammon Joint
1lb Lincolnshire Sausages
1 lb Scotch Minced Steak
2 Scotch Rump Steak
2 Lincolnshire Loin Pork Steaks
2 Yorkshire Chicken Breast Fillets
2 Individual Scotch Steak Pies

I have worked out if I get 2 of these plus some shin beef and pork cheeks for casseroles and curries, and some extra sausage and mince and then some fish from the shops(independant fish merchants) on the docks that I can easily have the meat/fish for meals for a month for approx £100 (big meat eaters here), and the meat/fish will average out at £3 per meal for 4 of us.

Add in to this hg veggies or local organic veg box scheme
hm bread/cakes/pastries etc, milk and dairy from the milkman and we have the makings of good wholesome food without much supermarket shopping, maybe once a month for tins, dry goods and household. I will also look at some online suppliers as well like Ethical Superstore, Dove Farm, Goodness Direct and Big Green Smile.

This might not work but I am going to give it a go. If I have to use a supermarket I am going to try to use the local Lincolnshire Co-op which sells not only Ethical but also locally produced goods.

toddles*

I would love the butchers near me to deliver. I have always thought it would be a nice little earner for them. they have rubbish parking and its just too far for me to walk with bad leg, toddler and growing bump. Maybe it wouldnt hurt to ring them and ask them to deliver if I had a set order every month.?I might start something.

that £30 deal sounds great. I also am a huge fan of the co-op, especially the woopsies.

dollydaydream07

mama - does the butcher deliver ot not? if so would they deliver to grimsby??

also the veg box scheme, who do you juse and would they deliver to grimsby??

thanks
dolly

phizzimum

DH is very good at supporting local businesses and I'm starting to see that, although they may be more expensive sometimes, the personal service is worth it. For example we bought some bottles of wine from a small wine merchant in the High Street and one of them was corked. DH took it back and not only was refunded but given a couple of free bottles. Another time DH mentioned that we often cook with wine and was given some bottles that had gone bad and couldn't be sold but were fine to cook with. When I buy wine I get it from the supermarket, but I don't think I would get that service from Mr T somehow.

So I'm now I'm starting to think about using a milkman. I've noticed that "milk&more" deliver to our road. I've checked the prices online and obviously it's more expensive than the supermarket. But it would mean I could do a big monthly supermarket shop and just top up milk and bread from the milkman. I also wouldn't have my fridge filled up with big cartons of milk to last the week. It would encourage me to bake my own bread a bit more often than I do now.

I see there is a thread on using a milkman so I'll have to read through that when I have a chance.

Penelope_Penguin

mama67 wrote: »

Add in to this hg veggies or local organic veg box scheme
hm bread/cakes/pastries etc, milk and dairy from the milkman and we have the makings of good wholesome food without much supermarket shopping, maybe once a month for tins, dry goods and household. I will also look at some online suppliers as well like Ethical Superstore, Dove Farm, Goodness Direct and Big Green Smile.

This might not work but I am going to give it a go. If I have to use a supermarket I am going to try to use the local Lincolnshire Co-op which sells not only Ethical but also locally produced goods.

The Month Without a Supermarket thread has just got started again, so I'll merge this, and I'm sure the posters there will be delighted :T

mineallmine

JustKeepSwimming wrote: »

Finally read this thread all the way through :j really interesting & thought provoking.

It has made me think how much shopping & communities have changed since I was little, & I'm only 41 so its not that long ago! I used to enjoy "proper shopping" with my mum - we used to get the bus to the high street & visit all the individual shops in turn & mum would use her wicker basket! All sounds very Enid Blyton & I'm sure she worked much harder than I do now - & she had to cope with all the 70's power cuts etc....
I'm off to town tomorrow to investigate the local, specialist shops!

Just to say I want a wicker basket!!!! I always use reusable bags (still teaching the OH though). But you're right - it's not that long ago. The first really big Tesco was in the late 70s early 80s I think - and so things have grown from there.