How do you organize your food shooping?

prepareathome

For the past 6 months or so I go to the SM - usually MR S - after they m ake their reductions(YS) for the day. 1st time now is just after 3pm, next after 5pm and last around 8pm if anything is left.

I don't go in to specifically by beef, lamb,chicken,fish etc., I buy what we eat that is reduced then take it home portion it and freeze it.

Since doing this we are eating better but it is luck of the draw what they have on any given day - I try to go there twice a week and what I spend depends on what they have but I never go over budget. Usually first reduction is 1/3 to 1/2 price, but its no use waiting till 8pm reduction now as very little is usually left.

The rest of my shopping is from various places as MR S or any supermarket is just to dear so once a week usually I go round places like 99p shop as sugar there is 82p and will buy say 3 packets as building up a store cupboard.

I don't have an Aldi or Lidl nearby so not worth the petrol just for food but if there is something in their special non food items I want which is a good price then I will make the trip to them and do food shopping while there.

B&M if you have one is good for tins and other no fridge/freezer items - they do a toilet roll 'Softy' 9 rolls for £1.99 which is triple layer and nice and thick and soft, not found anywhere to beat it and find it just as good as expensive brands.

I used to shop mainly in SM but now save a fortune by shopping around in alternative shops. Takes longer but worth it

flutterbyuk25

I am currently working off a £50 a month budget for my food shopping, and have managed it no problems for last 3 months . I am veggie so it cuts my costs slightly.

I do my main shop at Tesco on or around pay day. I spend between £20 and £30 there. I try to use a till spit £X off a £XX spend voucher if I have one. If It's a say £5 off a £40 spend, then I will bulk up my shop with storecupboard items like flour, tinned tomatoes, beans, rice, pasta etc to hit the £40 spend. I actually walk round using the calculator on my phone.

Then I use the remaining £20-30 to buy fresh food like fruit. salad, veg, eggs etc from Aldi or Lidl. I split this into £5 per week. Aldi super 6 is brilliant! I also use Home Bargains for household stuff, toilettries and some food items.

Whenever I pop into a supermarket I always head straight to the reduced sections. Although lately they are still being pricey even after 6pm (Tesco had strawberries, full price £2, YS £1.75!!!, same amount £1 in Asda).

If I want anything 'fancy' outside of my shopping then it comes out of my pocket money each week! Last night I wanted a treat as it wa Friday night and I'd had a nightmare day. So I spent £3 of my pocket money on cake, posh crisps and pop!

I'm lucky enough to have Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Aldi, Lidl, M&S, Home Bargains, B&M, Farmfoods, £shops all within a ten minute drive, which is my commute, which I do in a works vehicle so I don't even normally use my own fuel to shop!

I'm single, so I have time to go visit all shops and plan this way. I check offers online before my big shop.

HTH

zippychick

we have a few threads which should help

meal planning, how do you do it?

meal planning where do i start?

grocery shopping budget thread

shopping monthly/weekly/daily

Old style shopping list

and you can of course join the monthly grocery challenge where you will get loads of tips and advice, and also learn from others.

We cooking veggie so tend to bulk up on basics and keep a good storecupboard. Storecupboard essentials may be useful for you too

I always freeze chillis and keep in lazy garlic and ginger, so for most meals all i need to buy is fresh veg as we already have all the main components. So we do one big shop then just spend the rest of the month topping up. We always keep in pasta, rice, noodles, black beans, baked beans, tinned tomatoes/passata, mixed beans, onions, couscous, an a hoard of herbs and spices.

I have a list on the fridge of the budget all being totted up and how much we have left to date so my partner can see whats going on. I also file all the receipts in order they are written so if he wanted to see why we spent £27 on tesco on the 1-8 he can just look at the receipt. Slightly anal but as i control the shopping budget, i want him to feel he knows whats going on at all times and how our money is being spent. I also have a treat fund built in, so ill say to him ok , if we spend x , then that leaves us £ y to spend how we like. With this months treat money, we bought tickets to see Greg Davies :jin December and it wasn't such a hardship as we had already paid the money into the budget at the start of the month. Other times we spend it on takeaway, or a big bottle of rum - just however we feel like really. So you have to work out what works for you

I know so many friends who constantly argue about money so i feel this way works for us as its all upfront and clear to see (even though, to be honest, i don't think he bothers his bum ever looking) :rotfl:

Hope this helps and we will merge this later on

Zip

Penny-Pincher!!

We do use Aldi too. We love the cottage cheese and usually has a 3 week date on it. Also stock up on the beans (12 at a time), fish fingers are lovely and omega ones with high quality fish and work to 11p each, tinned sweetcorn is lovely, flour, their frozen yorkies are good as standby and their chickens are okay too.

zippychick

As this has dropped quite far back the OS board, I've moved it to the shopping and groceries board so you can see how other shoppers get the best value for money and the best offers going. Let us know how you get on

Zip

Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Edwardia

I would get it all delivered as I hate shopping but my mother is a complete shopaholic and she and I go together at least once fortnight.

I used to go to Lidl then ASDA and get offers and treats from Waitrose and Sainsbury's.

Now that I've gone organic I have to use more supermarkets to find everything. I base my shop round Sainsbury's and Waitrose, go to Tesco just for offers, Lidl for tomatoes and carrots, ASDA occasionally for mushrooms, olive oil and tinned tomatoes. I also use Abel & Cole once a month.

emweaver

I wish I struggled to make my shopping up to £50. How many people are you feeding?

bornintoit

Edwardia wrote: »

Now that I've gone organic I have to use more supermarkets to find everything. I base my shop round Sainsbury's and Waitrose, go to Tesco just for offers, Lidl for tomatoes and carrots, ASDA occasionally for mushrooms, olive oil and tinned tomatoes. I also use Abel & Cole once a month.

Edwardia, how are you finding eating organic on a budget? I am trying to go organic as well, have spent this morning trying to do the sums to make sure I stay within budget.

Edwardia

I'm spending less money because I'm not finding so much food, basically. If I had to rely on either Lidl, Morrisons or ASDA individually we would have starved by now.

From my experiences so far:

ASDA is the cheapest for organic veg but mine never seems to have more than carrots and mushrooms. Haven't ever found organic meat/poultry either. Also cheapest tinned tomatoes I've seen (62p as opposed to 79p/89p elsewhere).

Abel & Cole is waay too expensive for veg but they sell things like 1 kg organic lamb bones or beef bones for 1.99, a 1kg organic free range chicken carcass with neck and giblets for 1.70, organic Cheddar which was cheaper than Cathedral City in my local Tesco and some of the butters and yogurts were cheaper than local supermarkets too. Minimum order £10 and 99p for delivery. Often cheaper for Kallo organic stock cubes too. Quite often give you freebies too, I've had milk and eggs so far.

Lidl supposedly has an organic range but I've only found fresh milk, carrots, mushrooms, pasta and some really nice Heirloom tomatoes.

Tesco seems to have quite a few offers on veg which I snap up. The organic meat I've had so far is tough and horrible and I wouldn't buy it again. Tesco organic teabags are really nice. The big Tesco near my mother has a pretty good range of stuff like mayonnaise, ketchup, pasta etc.

Sainsbury's has quite a few offers on veg and the meat is really good quality and not OTT expensive . I got a really yummy small rib eye steak for 4.70 which when bashed with a meat tenderiser would have fed two adults or several kids. Cloud Nine organic meatballs are 2.49 a pack and really like those. Sainsbury's has quite a lot of own brand organic stuff eg teabags, cornflakes, tinned tomato and basil soup. Heinz organic cream of tomato soup 400g tins have been on offer at Sainsbos 4 for £3.
The Sainsbury's organic bacon tastes amazing.

Waitrose has a lot of organic veg, not many offers but I've been lucky with YS stuff including lamb steaks. Again very good quality meat and a range of branded organic but not seen own brand other than Duchy Originals and frozen organic veg. Organic bacon same price as Sainsbury's and as good. Waitrose minimum order £50 free delivery but then you miss out on YS. None of Waitrose's ranges are from animals/poultry fed on genetically modified crops/feed (I asked).

Soil Association has some tips on eating organic on a budget www.soilassociation.org Membership starts at 2.50 a month and there are membership offers including 10% off stuff at Laverstoke Park Farm's website (the buffalo burgers are yummy)

I don't live near a farmer's market or in the country so can't offer any help there.

Ardo Shearway does frozen organic veg range - only place I've found selling them so far is Goodness Direct in Northamptonshire. I'm not near FarmFoods so haven't checked there. Iceland told me they used to do frozen organic veg and don't now.

I do still buy stuff which is additive free rather than organic eg prosciutto di Parma ham from Lidl and tinned tomatoes 3 for £1 at Poundland.

Seeds of Change organic sauces are a great cupboards standby when on offer. Every one I've had tasted home-made so far.

bornintoit

Thank you for the reply Edwardia. I do my first big organic shop at the weekend so I will let you know how I get on.

I have to agree with what you say about ASDA. There is an organic meat selection on their website but I have never spotted any organic meat/poultry in my local store, only free range and even that was only whole chickens.

I have been on the Laverstoke Park Farm website and noticed that the bacon is nitrate free which is good as organic bacon at Sainsburys and the organic bacon listed on the ASDA website still has nitrates in and those buffalo burgers sound great by the way .

Is your signature relating to the Primal Blueprint aka Paleo diet? That is something else I have thought of looking into.