Anyone not shop in supermarkets? For a whole family?

beckstar1975

We get a veg box and milk delivered weekly, don't need nappies or pet food so next logical step is to not shop in supermarkets. Main reason being I buy too much stuff I don't need in there, but as we both work full time and have 3 small children our time for shopping is limited.

Have a stocked full freezer, pretty healthy cupboards so am going to give this a go - anyone else not using supermarkets - and have any hints/tips to help?

Cheers

Rebecca

quintwins

Hmmm, i would say you could eat at home for awhile with a regular supply of fruit/veg,milk and bread (your milkman may deliver bread, eggs and yogurt aswell) but longer term this would be hard unless you wnated to start making your own pasta and never eat beans again.

You could look at sites like af for deliverys of dry goods.

Or you could do your shopping online which takes away the temptation to buy things you don't need and you can edit your basket.

sophlowe45

shop in local shops, some near me are only fruit and veg, others sell washing powder, pasta, sauces, cleaners as well as meat, fruit and veg, lentils, alcohol etc.

depends on where you live and what you have nearby.

online shopping is great for things like washing powder and stardrops and white vinegar could be used for most of your cleaning if you don't do that already.

beckstar1975

Thanks - I do do online shops and edit my basket over several days - but I find I still often end up going to the shops to top up anyway. I do bulk buy juice and stuff, but what I really want to do is use cash only as it's the only way for me to fully reign in my spending by if the purse is empty it can't be spent.

I know I should have more self-control and should be able to stop spending, but I have just replaced the thrill of buying fun stuff with buying food it would seem (the fact we needed 2 fridges is a case in point). We have pretty decent local shops (a nisa and an ethnic supermarket for dried goods, cheap decent deli, bakers and butchers) and a v cheap market in Croydon so it's just the time that's stopping me.

Thanks so much

Rebecca

Nicky_Noo_Na

If you can't make the shopping locally work for you I'd try again with the online shopping but stick with it and buy it all online, then you'll get into a routine of knowing how long things will last and you should eventually stop forgetting things and needing to 'pop' to the shops for top-ups. Also investigate non-perishable alternatives such as UHT milk, non-refrigerated fruit juice, tinned vegetables, and freeze things like bread, meat, cheese, (even milk) so these always something in to eat and you may be able to make it to the next online delivery without going shopping again. Also having a full storecupboard full of tins/jars will help and replace a few when you are down to the last 1 or 2 of tomatoes/beans etc so you shuld never run out completely.

If you can put up with shopping solely at Tesco maybe try their monthly delivery saver where delivery is one monthly charge and you can have several deliveries? That way you could even have 2 shops a week and can edit your basket if you realise you've run out of something?

Hope some of that helps!