Hows everyone doing with supermarket reductions?

gailey_2

Normally a reduced thread on here but cant see one and this is best time year for reductions.

Throughout the last 6months not been as lucky with reductions

The reduced section much more competative and pushy.
There seem to be no given time in co-op

Given up sainsburys/tesco and they never take hardly anything off.

My local spar use dto eb good but change of manaers not has as much stock to reduce still get odd bargain in there although dont go as much now eldest moved schools.

Im lucky with co-op is large just off high street expensive they fill it up but never have the footfall and always do generous reductions.

Only ever been lucky in morrisons in evening and difficult to do as kids in ebd hubby usually working and dont drive.

Noticed rising foodprices a lot last year shopped around as much as we could sometimes 4/5different places buying value lines and offers but reduced meat , poultry , fish helps.

I begrudge paying full price for bread

Reduced berries/cakes allow family to have little treat.

It rained xmas eve, I was tired so dident go as hubby was working, had 3kids at home.

But we need to keep jan food bill down as eldest birthday on 17th feb and paydays 25th plus car mot.

So plan was
run down end novemeber start decemebr buying minimal.

Then on 20th early pay day we would do big basic fooshop at aldis as rubout of most basic storecupboard items spent £200! of which £80 was xmas as brought 4bird roast xmas day £9.99, frozen pheasent, my toddler a thomas sleepsuit, some chocs , desserts, drinks filled 2trollies up its very rare but was mostly frozen or grocery.

Spent minimal £20 at butchers
£20 at corner shop
£40 morrisions any bits couldent egt so spent £280

I knew we had enough to possibly last us meal wise until 2nd week jan.

But thourght about reduced strategy and ho can save me mobney over next few months.

We try to spend £250-300 on normal month

thast 2adults
3kids
hamster
includes household and toilitries
stuff for 2packed lunches.
milks huge outgoing here.
use mix of cloth and disposable nappies.

so said to hubby lets really go for it spend £400 this month,

Spoke to freinds who spend way more made me feel better some £600 a month yikes!most of my freinds sen to spend 120-150 a week!

so strategy was

1st jan -25th jan next payday

find 25 reduced items ie enough to make 25meals.

So went co-op /sainsburys boxing day with kids in the rain
then noticed lots dated 27th so went back yesterday.

my haul includes

1large finest pizza-todays lunch£2
1large chicken-least 2meals £3
3packs mince £1 each -plan to make lasagne/sheperds pie and portion off into tubs for hm readymeals so should make 4-6servings.
3packs breaded fish £1.40pack-thourght couldent get frozen for than ok with aldi oven chips.-3meals
2lots diced chicken-i have curry jars and rice, wraps and faitta mix so thats another 2meals
2pack fishcakes-fine meal for my kids wih frozen oven chips and frozen peas.
finest paella £5.50 reduced to £1.50 with reduced garlic bread was £1.50 now 39p had both boxing day evening.
2packs meat balls have spaggeti have passatta have reduced hgarli bread=2meals.

im sure theres other things i forgot.

managed to get reduced salad 25p a pot,
stew mix using with defrosted beef from butchers today to make nice casserole.
5pk pain au chocalt not good for my waistsline.
covent garden soup 62p*2 might have for lunch with reduced bread and freeze 1.
got plums, blackberries and blueberries for 60p a pack kids love berries but soo pricey.
rtearetd them yesterday to reduced muller corner and milkshakes.
topped up my clementines.

They had stacks fresh just stuff didnet like or probably wouldent use.. you can blanche and freeze some stuff spar has loads sproits /parsnips 25p a pack.
reckon i have enough for leats 20days dinners.

we usually have toast/creal for brekkie

snacky lunch soup sandwich

cooked meal in evening

dont always have dessert.

i look for reduced bread, fruit and snacks for hubbys and eldests lunchbox.

so technically need another 5reductions.

now thinking lets go mad and buy another 25 lots of meals all reduced if i can which takes me up to feb payday.

not sure if doable. but will try.

going co-op again tuesday sunday.

will do spar/morrisons and co-op new years eve

and co-op new years day and make noe of stuff i like and dates as soem stuff like xmas hams longer dated to 1st./2nd jan.

If i can pull this off reckon jan grocery bill be just £100 or less as have lidls nearby for fruit and veg, ,milkman delivers milk, possibly 25quid shop in farm foods for some frozen if room in freezer so chips/wedges, top up frozen veg that kind of thing and crisps seem to go fast in this house so will need crisps, coffee, squash top ups too.

Hopefully my overspend this month and diligent hunting will mean the first 2months of 2013 be a frugal one and eating lots lovley stuff wouldent normally eat.

Brought 2nd hand bike so hoping to do more reduced hunt better.

Hows everyone else doing?

tessie_bear

thats a great load of reductions you got ....i think that is a good idea to think in number of meals needed eg 20 this month...im going to do a bit of planning along those lines

with regards to berries i dont know if would be cheaper than reduced fresh but i find the bags of frozen are nice for a smoothie/crumble/added to yogurt

i find reduced bakery eg bread/choc pastries freezes really well and do try and pick up reduced when i see them

i hope your plan works keep us posted on how you get on and what reductions u find

happy new year tess

ps my only reduction so far is a ham in tesco for £6 now reduced to £3...i have a lot to learn:cool:

welshee

well done.

mrs_lds

Finest vine tomatoes fom £1.79 to 9 pence lots of them delicious ome made soup.
Lily's fom £5 to 25 pence
Grapes £2 to 11 pence
Quality street desserts £1.79 to 27 pence
Kiplings mince pies own to 1o pence
Roses flowers £3 to 15 pence
Apples £1.69 to 9 pence
Basil 80 pence to 4 pence ( great with the soup)
Mint 4 pence
Vegetable £1 to 5 pence
Appox £200 for £17 which incl some full price items.
Lots more happy days

gailey_2

Thanks guys will update really is luck of the draw. i have another £55 to spennd on reductions then no more buying.

Last year couldent rely on reductions as I had previous years.

its right time right place.

im sticking to 3 that offere the best reductions .

im thinking of it quite simplistically ie 25days until pay day 25meals but for jan/feb would need 50meals.

we have some meat from butchers enough to make least 6-8meals -not from reduced stash.

berries its more for them to snack on sadly tehy dont like smoothies so frozen not much good as kinda mushy.

dident get much fruit last year due to weather so dident go

strawberry picking
manage to forgage free cherries, plums and blackberries.


Mrs ids-I never have that luck in tesco. what time was it?
big store, metro or express.

the 2big tescos are just 2huge
the metro seems to have crap reductions
very occasionally express has few things but not often.

sainsburys reductions apart from fresh bakery at close always dire.

A._Badger

I'm not sure whether this is on or off topic, as I was just simply playing vulture, looking for reduced Christmas items yesterday, but neither Tesco nor Sainsbury was worth bothering with.

I went to two very large branches (yes, I was bored) and walked out of both without spending anything. Christmas confectionery, cakes, puds etc - next to nothing and what little there was, was barely reduced at all.

The biggest laugh was reserved for the mountain of expensive Christmas crackers (and I mean a mountain) which Tesco had grandly reduced by a couple of pounds per box. Even my local independent (never knowingly less than eye-wateringly expensive) managed better than that!

On a whim, I went home via a branch of Morrisons and did better, but it took persistence. The local Morrisons was apparently designed by a deranged hamster and it's clear they were playing a new game with customers - 'spot the reduction'. The challenge appears to be that you dash around with a trolley, attempting to find the random, sometimes almost hidden, reduced festive items. The winner is the shopper who doesn't give up and manages to discover the (quite good) price reductions, hidden away at obscure points of the store.

I'm starting to warm to Morrisons, I must say - even if they make shopping hard work.

Tesco? My dislike grows with every visit.

quintwins

gailey i've set a budget of £100 a month for us next year, thats for 5 of us, i made sure it was doable full price by doing a practice shop but i will hopefully make it nicer with whoospies. However i'm not going shopping until the new year, 1 i'm not very well, 2 it's crazy out there and so busy and 3 my freezers full to bursting.

Kitty_Ears

In my town, I have a Waitrose, ASDA, Morrisons & Marks and Spencer. Waitrose & Morrisons reductions are barely there if at all; Morrisons have good reductions on bread but not on anything else. ASDA has it's own dedicated cabinet which always have big meat joints reduced. M&S has great reductions, esp on a Saturday. I've managed to get bread, milk, juice, fruit, veg etc all for under £5.

mrs_lds

The one i went to was a very large upper store I think not my local in the evening. Some aggressive folk there though a bit off putting.

Kitty_Ears

A._Badger wrote: »

On a whim, I went home via a branch of Morrisons and did better, but it took persistence. The local Morrisons was apparently designed by a deranged hamster and it's clear they were playing a new game with customers - 'spot the reduction'. The challenge appears to be that you dash around with a trolley, attempting to find the random, sometimes almost hidden, reduced festive items. The winner is the shopper who doesn't give up and manages to discover the (quite good) price reductions, hidden away at obscure points of the store.

I'm starting to warm to Morrisons, I must say - even if they make shopping hard work.

Tesco? My dislike grows with every visit.

:rotfl:

I think all morrisons are designed like that! They are so difficult to find ANYTHING. Our Morrisons had nothing reduced today but by the looks of it, most of it has already gone.

Edwardia

OH was bored on Christmas Eve so I dispatched him to Sainsbos to get organic tinned tomatoes 2 for £1 and to Morrisons to get Borges organic Extra Virgin olive oil 50% off at 2.34 and he picked up the last special purchase free range Gressingham whole duck for £10

Morrisons locally has a fantastic looking fish counter but twice I've had off fish so I won't buy there anymore. The cheese counter in my local Morrisons is huge so I would suggest visiting Morries if you love cheese. Morrisons say they do organic meat but I've never seen it and gave up visiting.