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

katelu

Week 2 for me on my new regime: £38 in farm shop (includes wine) and £11 in Netto (cat food, loo rolls, washing up liquid). So a bit more than last week but still under what I have been spending in Tesco's. Also, got some great advice from the butcher and as had my daughter with me (aged 4) we got free ice cream cones from the owner!! (gorgeous lemon meringue flavour) Hooray for farm shops!!:T Wish I had done this ages ago.

showergirl

I and my partner get paid monthly. We do a monthly shop which we stock up on everything, but found when we go in for fresh goods each week we were still spending £40 to £50. Our grocery bill was ridiculous as there is just the 2 of us. I decided to just take enough money for what we needed and was amazed as to how much we have cut down on our spending. In 2 months we saved £250. Hope this tip is helpful to others

OrkneyStar

Spent exactly £10 in local shop today, on weetabix, frozen haddock, kidney beans, 4 yogs, 2 bananas, 2 pears, 7 satsumas, 1 tube primula cheese and 1kg porridge oats. Was through in town anyway and made a point of going there. Had forgotten how good this place was, and much friendlier than supermarkets too!
I did see the same weetabix in a closer local shop for £1 more though, so it pays to watch out.
Great to hear inspirational tales katelu.

OrkneyStar

Hmm, did not do too well today- ended up popping to Lidl to stock up on pasta, rice etc. Don't feel too bad as I have been shopping locally too though and am taking it a step at a time. Not planning to get much more this month but am determined I will attempt to go local as much as I can. You might hear more from me next month once I am spending on food again!
Good luck in the meantime.

Icemaiden

A-MS wrote: »

Count me in too!

I read a book called Shopped! by Joanne Blythman last week all about how rubbish supermarkets are. I didn't really need a book to tell me, but it made me realise I hate going to that blummin place twice a week! (We have a very small fridge so can't stock up too much)

So last Saturday, off I went to our local bakers, butcher and grocers - thank goodness they still exist! What a revelation! The grocery was full of fresh cheap and tasty food! The baker and butcher were a bit more expensive but the food was amazing. I also did a mid week top up at the grocer.

I am now at a point where I need to find stockists of things like soy milk with no maltodextrin, uht cow milk, grapefruit juice with no sugar and a particular yeast free rye bread. I went to Mr T to stock up for 3 weeks on just these things (list in hand, head down so as to not be tempted by anything else!), but I'd love to be able to get them locally. I know any supporting local shops is better than nothing, but it's the principle of the thing now!

I'll be making my own yogurt (after 4 failed attempts and then realising I hadn't heated the milk before hand - duh!) and I will miss finding a bargain on the discount shelf, but not enough to go back if I can help it!

What about a health food shop? If they don't stock the type you want I'm sure they would if it meant a regualr order;)

Ice

Just had a thought, do Able&cole deliver to your area as they do stock quite a few speciality items..

betterlife

i have noticed a sign up today for my local pick your own fruit and veg, this might help some of you avoiding supermarkets if you have a pick your own local to you. mine have available, strawberries, raspberry, gooseberries, salad stuff, veg and also sells homemade breads, jams, cake, pickles etc. will pop along tommorrow with kids as they love to pick the fruit and veg, and try the odd one along the way just to make sure its ok of course.!! xx

Trying_really_hard

Wow. Just read this thread (took hours). What a feat you all undertook and are still undertaking. :T

I am moving into my first house soon (woo!) so this gave me the idea to start looking round my area on t'internet to see what's around me Found some fab butchers and a good greengrocer not far from OH's work (he'll be so chuffed at what he'll have to do on his lunch breaks now :rolleyes: ). Also found online butchers that delivered - this was a revelation to me (i'm eaily impressed as you can see). Its strange, but living on the edge of the peak district, I thought I'd have loads of farm shops to choose from. Apparently not.

So, really just wanted to say thanks to all those who posted on this thread for giving me the ideas and not relying on Mr T!.

mophead

Hello,

Anybody else here managed to do this? I tried this last year and managed it for about 6 months. I have to admit that it takes a lot of forward planning and persaverance to change habits but looking back over my spending diary I actually spent a lot less and remember to whole experience of shopping being a lot more pleasurable. I fell of the wagon at around x-mas last year, but I have been thinking lately of doing it again. Just wondered if anybody else was thinking of doing( or has already managed) the same thing and would fancy sharing their experiences.

OrkneyStar

mophead wrote: »

Hello,

Anybody else here managed to do this? I tried this last year and managed it for about 6 months. I have to admit that it takes a lot of forward planning and persaverance to change habits but looking back over my spending diary I actually spent a lot less and remember to whole experience of shopping being a lot more pleasurable. I fell of the wagon at around x-mas last year, but I have been thinking lately of doing it again. Just wondered if anybody else was thinking of doing( or has already managed) the same thing and would fancy sharing their experiences.

I go through phases of trying this. Some things are often cheaper (veg, local meat etc) and certain things are harder to get/dearer (washing powder etc). I am trying to support local where I can, the way I see it every thing bought local is a step in the right direction. Yes its easy to go to Tesco and get everything, but then thats what the bosses at Tesco (or whatever supermarket it may be!) want me to do. I'd be interested to hear how others fare with this sort of thing too.
x

thriftlady_2

I think about doing this quite a lot. The easy things (for me) are fruit, veg, dairy, meat and fish but what about baking supplies, pasta, rice, tea, coffee etc? I have no local grocers. My nearest shop is Tesco Express, my second nearest shop is a 24 hr Tesco

There is a long thread about doing without supermarkets -think it was Cooltrikerchick.