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

catznine

13 of us so far:- :j

A bit of help
Pigs may fly
Rosetta92
Westlothianlass
Greyqueen
Pink princess
Lizzyb1812
Catznine
DebtFree2012
the_cat
diddly74
cherie 1122
thriftwizard

I'm starting on Tuesday May 1st running to the end of the month! I am away next week on a self catering holiday but will be supporting the local shops and keeping a spending diary. I will report back on our return though!

Good luck everyone and here's to avoiding the big 4 supermarkets :beer:

DebtFree2012

Count me in - I have been doing this myself for a little while now however 'had' to go due to bad planning on my behalf. It's all learning though.

the_cat

I will do a modified version if I may?

Can't really do without the supermarket whoopsies atm as saving like mad for some home improvements. I don't mind buying whoopsies still though as they make the supermarket a loss so if that works for the challenge then count me in

Much as I would like to, we have no decent independants around here. They are either grotty and expensive or luxurious and you need a second mortgage to shop there:mad:. So I will have to limit myself to Lidl Aldi Iceland etc, plus whatever I can get through App Food etc. Will also try out the local(ish) farm shops and Home Bargains

lizzyb1812

Today's shopping:

Village pharmacy - 50p
Greengrocer - 90p
Eggs - 75p

Walked to pharmacy and to neighbour's for eggs. Greengrocer is in a small shopping area 4 miles away - a mile less than Mr M which is where I [STRIKE]usually[/STRIKE] used to shop. There's an Aldi, Co-op, Newsagent/offlicence/Post Office, 2 good charity shops, a bakery and various takeaway places as well as the greengrocer. This will be my main shopping area from now on. In my village there's the pharmacy, a Co-op, a bakery and a One-Stop/Post Office. Won't be using the One-Stop as it's Tesco owned and expensive. This is definitely going to work and it's a much nicer experience to boot :T

PIGSMAYFLY

No shopping at all for me so far

We will need some fruit and veg from the Turkish food centre soon though.

Well done all :T lets lead the way... only a few billion people to convince now :rotfl:

Taadaa

I did this a few years ago, and I found that although it was more expensive in some cases (particularly farm shops), I did save because I was keeping out of the way of all the cakes/biscuits/cola etc. I find it hard just now because I work full time, but will be on mat leave in a few months so will def try this again as far as I can.

Rosetta92

Taadaa wrote: »

I did this a few years ago, and I found that although it was more expensive in some cases (particularly farm shops), I did save because I was keeping out of the way of all the cakes/biscuits/cola etc. I find it hard just now because I work full time, but will be on mat leave in a few months so will def try this again as far as I can.

I was thinking about this as I don't work locally. I've decided I'll count some use of local shops near work, as it'll encourage me to go for a walk during my break. As I work in a poor neighbourhood it will also provide some contribution to the locality so all their local shops don't turn into sandwich bars for us office workers, creating a food desert for residents.

Congratulations on your expected arrival Taadaa

R

the_cat

Got my first few bits of shopping today. Had a bit of a :eek::eek::eek: moment at the price of the loo roll in Mr L as usually get the value stuff from the big 4 but gritted my teeth. Hopefully as it's a bit better quality (bought their mid price one as don't like their cheapie version) it will last a bit longer but think the kids must eat it or something the amount we get through so not gonna count on it:D

Won't need much else this week, so will use my budget to trawl for whoopsies for next weeks stuff instead

diddly74

Hello all, I am chuffed this thread appeared at the top of the forum this afternoon!

As its pay day today :j (I had a total of £8.68 in my shopping account last night) Hubby and I went off to As*a this morning to do the "big" shop and although we managed to spend £120 we didn't actually buy everything we needed because (much to my OH's exasperation) I kept saying "Oh no we won't get that here, its much cheaper in Aldi" This being meat, veg, fruit, squash, pet foods, bread, eggs and other things I can't remember now.

We have since been to Aldi and purchased the other stuff we needed to restock the cupboards and freezer and with good planning shall not need to venture to one of the Big 4 again this month.

So all in all we will have spent approx £180 today (not including filling up the petrol tank) but hopefully the rest of the month will be frugal.

Homeagain

GreyQueen wrote: »

I'm in. But am I allowed to go to the Co-op (my new-found love as of this morning)? Wanting to get back there to join up and all.

I think the Co-op is very expensive!