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

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Debtfree2012.....

When we done the challenge originally we had to buy everything in independant/local shops... the only thing that i did was either use the co-op or makro/bookers for some bulk buy stuff...

The whole idea was to support local businesses, which were finding it tuff, and to show people that not only the supermarkets could offer a good deal...

What i found is that yes some things were eye wateringly expensive, but other items were alot cheaper, and better value.. so on the whole even though i had less items for my weekly budget, they were quality items, and less carp/junk impluse buys which used to end up either being wasted or sat in my cupboards/freezer and never used... PLUS it kept me within my weekly budget...

As for soap, deoderant, shampoo etc, you can buy that in your local independant chemist.... its suprising what other things they sell in there too, soda crystals etc....

I personally wouldnt use the likes of Aldi,Lidl, etc in this challenge... as they are foreign owned supermarkets and are huge on the continent.....If i could find something, or it was way too expensive locally then I would use the co-op and farmfoods, and they are british, and farmfoods is owned by a scotish family/company.


The challenge certainly opened my eyes to my local shops and suppliers.... and the 'traditional old style' way of shopping...

Please dont just swap the shopping from the big 4 to other big chain stores, please try local independant shops... they really do need us more than ever now....and at the end of the challenge, you go back to your old shopping habbits, I hope you would have found at least one local/independant trader that you can carry on supporting.... whether it be a butcher, newsagent, petrol station, pet shop, gift shop, grocer, farm shop, corner shop, grower, chemist, local weekly/monthly market etc..

pink_princess

No spends here today except a bottle of wine from the corner shop, can't get more local than that :rotfl:

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Just out of curio, here is a fuel cost calculator

http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/calc.shtml

Might be worth factoring the actual cost of getting to the supermarkets etc... so this cost will have to be added to the product prices... this way you can see how much you are saving before you start buying from local shops etc...

edit... for me to travel to our nearest A*da it would cost me £1.53 one way in fuel

thriftwizard

I spent £85 at our local market on Friday, which will basically feed 6-8 of us for a week. I'm running low on flour, though, which may mean taking a half-day "off" to go to the mill 15 miles away. I can get 8Kg of organic strong white flour for £8.50 there, though I shall stock up on other varieties too, and I can combine the trip with other errands up that way. Today's lunch was roast haunch of venison (huge, tasty melt-in-the-mouth joint for £15 from the market butcher - and there's another in the freezer) as we're close to the New Forest, and we're close enough to a major port to get exotic fruit & veg cheaply too. In the other direction is a fishing port so locally-caught fish & shellfish are cheaper on the market than they are in the supermarket. Several local farms have stalls down there so seasonal veg & fruit are also cheap & fresh.

The only fly in the ointment really is the fact that the household cats are addicted to A&da's Tiger cat food... I have enough in stock for the month, but need to find an alternative if I want to stay clear of them for the foreseeable future!

lizzyb1812

To be fair to the new challengers, including myself, posts 1280 and 1281 describe the challenge as staying out of the Big 4.

However I fully take on board the points about supporting local independent shops and taking into account the cost of getting to supermarkets and, mostly successfully, that's what I've been doing for the last week.

As with all of the challenges on MSE each participant will make them work for their lifestyle. I wouldn't want anyone to be discouraged from supporting independent shops because a challenge was deemed too challenging and therefore abandoned.

So I will still be using some places like Aldi, although I'll also be using places like the much better and overall cheaper greengrocer just opposite as well

FWIW for me this is a long term shift - not least because it is a much nicer experience shopping locally/independent/small.

abitofhelp

I have lived in the same area for most of my life, moved away for a few years & then bought a house around the corner from my parents who have lived in the same house for over 50 years. Its classed as a semi rural location & i remember from when i was a child where the local shops were. On saturday morning we would visit the butcher (now a wedding dress shop) the baker (now a hairdresser) greengrocers ( now a takeaway shop) the grocers (still there but on a smaller scale, there is a cafe at the back of the shop). We now have a huge asda at the end of the small town where the shops were based. They had changed hands befor asda opened. I will still use aldi & lidle but i will limit my usage greatly .
My local corner shop is a co-op, the next village has a large co op. We have two farm shops, one a very posh one as it is part of the local estate, they have a very good selection of cheese there and a local deli & offer pyo. The other is in another local village, we now visit it at least every other week, we now buy our milk from there as it is from local dairys & also stocks local meat, we also buy fruit, veg & they offer a huge variety of potatos. We also have close by a Makro, which i will use to buy the bulk of my baking ingredients.
I have small garden though it is big enough for me to have a veg & fruit patch.
This challenge will go some way to make me less relient on the supermarkets but whether i can live without them reains to be seen. We have a butcher in the next town which i suspect we will use to stock up the freezers also oh friend is an industrial butcher. It is doable for me it just needs some planning .Gosh that was a long post wasnt it.

PIGSMAYFLY

I am still supermarket free:T.

Although it says a lot about how well I stock up.:o I have way too much 'stock' in atm. I popped into wilkos this weekend and brought 9 colgate toothpastes for 21p each..... Well at least it keeps me from heading to the dreaded big guns.:D

Well done all and don't forget -

Every little helps to line their pockets:money:

pink_princess

I need more wine today & some lager as we have visitors later for Dinner. Nothing else needed here either due to having far too much in.

I live in a very small rural village just a few houses & 1 independant little shop.

We have a butcher & greengrocer which is a half a mile walk away but I work all over the North East so it is more supporting little business rather than local for me.
Like last week when I needed the sugar etc, I just looked around the place we were in & managed to get the things I needed easily enough.

Still haven't made it the local farm shop I found but that is a good thing as I have so much anyway.
I want to find local allotments to try to stock up on eggs.

PIGSMAYFLY

I fear I may have failed in my mission as I stopped in the CO OP today (not too bad) but then stopped in the londis also.

I found many a bargain in the RTC and will not need to top up this week because of it and as I am going through a tough time financially atm I am not feeling too guilty.

Am I forgiven?:o
Hugs Pigsmayfly

catznine

I'm back after a very short holiday, managed to injure myself after only 1 day so holiday ruined! Jumped off boat (to moor up) and landed on uneven ground and felt foot go crunch and horrible pain so that was that. Hope to get some pennies back from insurance co but could take some time.

We did 2 shops on the first day both local independants but now we are home and I am having to rely on dh to do any shopping it is going to be difficult! Dh loves going into Mr S for a one stop shop, he is on board though as long as he can fill the gaps with our local co op and aldi for now! We really don't have many independants here anymore sadly but supporting a couple of thriving farmshops and the market traders should help a bit! Once back on my feet and off the crutches I will investigate more.