Where is the cheapest place to buy food?

BitterAndTwisted

For some things Sainsbugs isn't the most expensive place to buy them but if it's the only store you ever use you wouldn't know that.

Having a really good idea of what the general "usual" price is for things will help you when you see something that's marked "reduced" or dressed up as a bargain. Do not be fooled by a supermarket's reductions unless you're certain that they really are. Shopping at different supermarkets regularly will help you sort the wheat from the chaff. As will keeping a note-book handy as a "price-book". What may also help is to keep all of your shopping receipts for a month or so and then go back over them and highlight every single thing you could have omitted altogether or found cheaper elsewhere and tot that figure up. That's guaranteed to be a bit of an eye-opener.

The one thing that will truly help you reduce your grocery spend is to separate "needs" from "wants". A meal-plan and a strict shopping-list will help you here. As will a bit of imagination if you spot something truly bargainacious and can adapt your plan to include it.

Reducing meat consumption should have a marked effect on your weekly budget if you buy a fair amount now even if that means cutting down on portion-size rather than omitting it completely. Or going for cheaper cuts of meat that need longer cooking.

As a general rule-of-thumb good local butchers and greengrocers are almost always better value than a run around a single suprmarket on a Saturday afternoon.

Take a visit to the cheap-family-recipes.org website for some fantastic ideas of meals that you may not have considered before. They claim that you can feed a family of four on a £100 a month. Even if you add 25% to allow for recent rampant food-inflation that's still substantially less than your proposed £50 a week.

It can be done but you might have to sacrifice some time, planning and effort to achieve it.

Okydoky25

Aldi nappies are great as are the wipes and are lots cheaper than branded nappies.

BitterAndTwisted

If I had a kidlet in nappies and was skinto-to-the-max the first thing out of the window would be the wipes. It's probably obvious that I'm not a mother but I've never understood why these things are considered vital. Is cotton-wool and warm water now thought inappropriate, dangerous or useless now?

Although I second the mention of Aldi, and good old Lidl. I find it quite shocking the number of essentials which are substantially cheaper there than at other supermarkets. If they can make a profit at those prices the others must be ruddy rip-off merchants. Which I think we all know already

MiddyMum

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply everyone. You have been really helpful. I am going to take on board your tips and advice.

meritaten

Aldi have reduced thier packs of nappies by 50p this week I think and they were already great value! Notice I said 'value' not 'cheap'?
I think I go for value and for me and OH its Aldi for that.
yes, there are some items in the big supermarkets which are actually cheaper if you go for smartprice etc - but they often taste awful or are smaller, or simply dont do what you want!
as you can guess I mainly shop at Aldi but I do a top up at Tresco! I hate Adsa it really winds me up to shop there!
I think I could reduce my shopping bill for the two of us by half! BUT at the moment we can afford to eat well and enjoy trying out new things every couple of weeks regardless of cost!
my shopping bill is around £55 per week. depends on whether I have to buy extra meat etc to feed grandkids etc!

Bitsy_Beans

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If I had a kidlet in nappies and was skinto-to-the-max the first thing out of the window would be the wipes. It's probably obvious that I'm not a mother but I've never understood why these things are considered vital. Is cotton-wool and warm water now thought inappropriate, dangerous or useless now?

Although I second the mention of Aldi, and good old Lidl. I find it quite shocking the number of essentials which are substantially cheaper there than at other supermarkets. If they can make a profit at those prices the others must be ruddy rip-off merchants. Which I think we all know already

Nope but if you're out and about is a darn sight easier to use. Not to mention wipes are generally the size of a regular tissue. When wiping off thick layer of baby poo from a butt it's a handy size whereas dealing with that with cotton wool......I would have been getting through loads and therefore not necessarily as cost effective.
Thank goodness those days are behind me.......

ETA I shop mainly at Aldi and get any extras I need from Sainsbugs.

flea72

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If I had a kidlet in nappies and was skinto-to-the-max the first thing out of the window would be the wipes. It's probably obvious that I'm not a mother but I've never understood why these things are considered vital. Is cotton-wool and warm water now thought inappropriate, dangerous or useless now

No it isn't, but cottonwool isn't that cheap.

But it's a generational thing. You opted for the ease of disposable cottonwool, over using cloths that would need washing. I'm sure your grandparents viewed wet cottonwool, much in the same way you view wipes.

If really skint, I would go back to using washables. Flannels make perfect bumwipes. Kept in a ziplock bag they are easy to carry when out and about

But really, when you can buy a pack of wipes for 69p it's not worth looking for other options

krlyr

I never seem to be able to do a cheap shop in Sainsburys! I think they must do good prices and deals on branded stuff as their brand comparison always says it's saved us money, but I always spend far more than I wanted, my mum and nan both say the same. I'm not sure Tesco is the best for bargains but I'm limited to Sainsburys, Tesco and Iceland locally - a small Budgens, but they're rarely cheaper, and there's a Waitrose but it's past the bottlenecking traffic and requires paid carparking, but there's no Lidl, Aldi, Morrisons etc. nearby.
So for me, the best savings are made by meal planning and stocking up when things are on offer. Having a chest freezer really helps - e.g. Tesco often reduce their steak mince half price so I'll buy several packs then, it's a lot better quality than their Everyday Value one (which is very fatty) but the offer works out at a similar price. And stashes in the cupboards as well as freezers too, I stumbled across my local Tesco selling their own brand (not basics) passatta cartons for 29p - beats the 33p+ for the basics tinned tomatoes and taste just as good in their place (better infact). So I bought about 8 or 10 cartons as I knew I'd use them up in bologneses and things. It means splurging initially but costs drop overall.

lollipopsarah

ah baby wipes, never used them with mine, I used to buy nappy liners (can you still get them) and a bowl of warm water, use them them and then chuck them - no sore bums.
long time ago - sigh.
I like the basic wipes and most cleaning products.
Basic sausages are great for a meat loaf/rissoles.
xx

mummy2megan_2

I shop at Aldi last week i did a shop to stock up my cupboard and part of my fridge for £20.32, and its brilliant because they have certain fruits or veg on sale for 39p e.g cucumber etc. then i would go to iceland and stock up my freezer for £25. I make meals in bulk and then freeze them so this mostly lasts me, my other half and my 18 month old daughter 2 weeks give or take needing milk or bread from the local shop. As i have a young child i recieve Healthy Start vouchers which i find a life save as i get a page of four £3.10 vouchers, i live in wales so i dont know if you can get these in england or scotland. I also stock up my cupboard from Approved Foods. Some of the cupboard items were out of date tins etc but i bought over £100 worth of food for £30 plus £2.25 delivery it was brilliant. But like everyone always looking for ways to save money.