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

Doom_and_Gloom

Been thinking of this a lot lately but I'm still not sure if it is possible for us .

• I have just found a local fruit and veg box that looks to be good value at £11 a week but it will work out as £8.80 each week for the first 5 weeks as a new customer deal. That would take care of fruit and vegetables. It's a local business and supports a local ideal. Does this sound a good price though to those on here?
• I could buy pasta, noodles, rice, couscous, flour etc at the local health food store - I already buy my tofu, tempeh, soya mince and toothpaste there.
• Pulses I can buy at the independent Indian shop near us - I still buy my spices there but I've not bought pulses there in ages .
• My partner already buys meat at the butchers but he still has more than enough in the freezer anyway.
• Not sure what to do about eggs for my partner -the butcher may sell them but I can't remember.
• Not sure about cheese - he uses cheese in toasties, sanwiches for work, on home made pizzas etc. It's not something he will go without.
• Also not sure about milk as my partners milk consumtion varies greatly from one day/week/month to the next!
• We already buy the chinchillas food etc at the independent pet store near us.

Things that will be very difficult and/or expencive to not buy at a supermarket for us would be toilet roll, juice, cola, women products, tinned tomatoes. There must be other things I need to think about if we decide to do this - I must be missing at last one thing.

JustKeepSwimming_2

kezlou wrote: »

Well i've decided that i also can't join in with the challenge, checked flour prices with independent store and it was ridiculously expensive.

So just going to try and use local shops and markets much more while avoiding supermarkets as much as possible.

Just like to wish everyone the best of luck!

Flour & other basics are ofter more expensive, but at my local "weigh & save" shop the flour etc. from the huge drums are usually cheaper - do you have one of these nearby? I also bought some Doves Farm organic flour which was only 10p more expensive than MrT's organic (& not sure where this is from as website doesn't say). Far less expensive than I was expecting.

Also wanted some mustard seeds for a recipe - my tiny bag cost me 3p :rotfl: wheras MrT is 63p & Schwatz £1.82. Just enough for my needs, as I've never got to the end of a jar of any spices until at least 3 years after the BB date.

I'm still not finding this too hard at the moment, but then I did have a rediculously overstocked house! Apart from bread flour I haven't really had to buy many staples as I'd done my "10 tins of tomatoes etc" mega shop just before Xmas.

But I must confess to having to use Sains*y for particular wraps for packed lunches & semoilna. Everything else I have bought at the Coop, if I haven't been able to buy at an independent (which hasn't been much). I went to my dentist in a town about 20 mins away on the bus with the intention of buying lots of veg, but their greengrocer had closed down - sad as it had been there for years.

In my town I noticed that a cake shop (wedding not bakery type) had closed recently, along with a charity shop & an employment agency - scary when even the charity shops can't make it.

I'm going to carry on with this for as long as I can, but I won't beat myself up if I have to get the odd thing from MrT etc. I think I've broken the habit of looking for bargains & spending loads now :T & this has certainly made me meal plan & just think about what I have to use up, so I'm not wasting as much food as I did before. Not bought bread yet this year (but it is only the 14th ) & my kids are loving the HM bread.

Best of luck to everyone doing this challenge, in whatever way fits in with their lives - hopefully all of us will make a difference to the local shops.

JustKeepSwimming_2

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

Things that will be very difficult and/or expencive to not buy at a supermarket for us would be ...women products...

Have you considered washables/menstrual cups - much cheaper & I love them - wouldn't want to use anything else but they're not for everyone! Lots of threads about them on MSE here & here & lots of others.

phizzimum

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

• Also not sure about milk as my partners milk consumtion varies greatly from one day/week/month to the next!

.

I've been getting my milk from the milkman via the milkandmore site - I've actually found it v convenient. We get a delivery 3 times a week and I can change my order until 9pm the night before. I've found that some days I'll order more and some days less depending on whether the family have eaten cereal or toast for breakfast!

Doom_and_Gloom

JustKeepSwimming wrote: »

Have you considered washables/menstrual cups - much cheaper & I love them - wouldn't want to use anything else but they're not for everyone! Lots of threads about them on MSE here & here & lots of others.

I have in the past thought about a mooncup but I have a rather light period and so I'm not sure if it is something that would work for me - that and I never did get the hang of tampons so I'm not sure if I could use it . As for the washable pads I've never been too sure of them and I'm not sure my fiance would be too happy in soaking them and then putting them in with the rest of the wash, lol (my partner cares for me due to disability). It is something to think about though as I really do hate the waste that normal pads produce.

phizzimum wrote: »

I've been getting my milk from the milkman via the milkandmore site - I've actually found it v convenient. We get a delivery 3 times a week and I can change my order until 9pm the night before. I've found that some days I'll order more and some days less depending on whether the family have eaten cereal or toast for breakfast!

I did look at that sit earlier today :rotfl:. However he goes through stages of drinking/cooking with milk and then he just doesn't want it at all (rolly eyes). He's not a person that will stick to a meal plan - it's always what he feels like he is going to eat/drink and that is what he will have. I'll talk to him about it as I was thinking that 2pints a week might even out quite well. It's taken him about a week to get through 6 pints but he's been having milkshakes, scrambled eggs, omlettes etc. The milk had been sitting in the freezer for about 4 weeks before this as he didn't feel like milk. The other problem is we live in a block of flats with a communal (sp?) entrance so I'm not sure where a milkman would put the milk! Do you know what time they usually deliever?

greenbee

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

I have in the past thought about a mooncup but I have a rather light period and so I'm not sure if it is something that would work for me - that and I never did get the hang of tampons so I'm not sure if I could use it .

if you have a light period then a mooncup is fine... once you've got the hang of it (first month is ... erm... entertaining...) it means you can safely leave it in all day. Tampons aren't really good for light periods as they can't be left in for very long and they can be very drying - so if you're light they absorb the mucous and make you dry. I've had one for about 5 years now and wouldn't even consider going back.

kymbogs

Afternoon all,
Things are going well on the no-supermarket front here, haven't been near a supermarket since well before Christmas. Think my husband must have some sort of memory issue though; last saturday I asked him to pick me up some things in town including baking potatoes. When I asked how many he was going to get he said "I was just going to get a packet of 4 from Tesco". I just stood and looked at him till the penny dropped!

I'll be doing my monthly Ocado order next week for dried staples, will be considerably less money than my usual Ocado order and the list for things to get from the market is considerably longer than that for Ocado :-)

[Deleted User]

Just been to my local shops and bought a few odds and ends needed for next week,nothing from the supermarket though ,just fruit and veg and some bread from the bakers and some bacon and eggs from my local butchers.Total was 15.94 which I am pleased with as it means that I have saved spending more than I would normally and the cash has gone to the smaller shops instead of MrT's.No shopping to buy next week now I have more than enough as I am using up some of my own storecupboards stuff and have lots still in the freezer.

[Deleted User]

I am absolutely jumping for joy here. I just made an order with local food and they have sevilles for 95p a kg, an absolutely AMAZING price. I have ordered milk, eggs, 2 brace of stuffed bacon wrapped pheasants and loads of other beautiful foods, including venison and thick organic yoghurts etc. It is all under £60 delivered. What fantastic value. It is people like them who should get the new year honours, bringing local food to us and helping the local producers to keep going and all at a truly realistic cost :j

Pitlanepiglet

They look a fantastic supplier Kittie, sadly we're about 10 miles south of their delivery area