shopping around different places to make monthly savings?

TravellingAbuela

Bagpussbear - I see you are in West Yorkshire the same as me. That means you are likely to be near a Fulton Foods. Have a look in there too as they sell off lots of stuff nearing the sell-by date at much reduced prices. Not everything, of course, you have to look. The chilled cabinets are worth a search for dairy products, cooked meat and bacon but always check the sell-by dates! Their cereals are always a good bit cheaper too. Sometimes decent bargains to be had in the freezers but lots of "rubbish" in there too!

As others, though, I do my main shop in Aldi, only going to Sainsbury's these days for things I can't get there. Other ports of call are Farmfoods, Home Bargains and B & M, stocking up on any good bargains spotted.

I think the only way to reduce your food spending is by shopping around.

Clowance

If you buy crisps never pay more than £1 for 6 (supermarkets about £1.70)- poundland / 99p store sell brands for this. Likewise some cereal bars - cadburys cereal bars £1 in poundland but nearer £2 in supermarkets. Huge savings but limited food choice and mostly junk food in the cheap shops. Aldi ob crisps not as nice IMO although i shop there for most things now. HTH

valk_scot

I do my main weekly shop in Lidl. I've got a local Aldi too and I've tried it but I prefer Lidl, it's got more of the type of thing I prefer. Your mileage may vary though so it's definitely worth having a look at both if you have them locally, they both offer big savings over the regular supermarkets once you get used to the different products. Lidl sell semi-skimmed milk at 79p for 2L, six large free range (not organic) eggs for £1, Hovis Best of for 79p and their own brand seeded bread is far better than Warbutons for 99p. The in store bakery is far superior to any of the Big Four for bread and bun type things, no cream cakes though! Good fruit and veg, excellent meat, really excellent range of cold meats and cheeses, things like standard mozerella for 44p, best ever cottage cheese for 49p. Muesli is regularly voted best of and it's only £1.69 or so a large bag. And my 17 yr old DS says their 79p 2-in-1 shower gel is better than any of the brand names at three times the price.


I go to my local Tesco twice a week for items that I can't buy in Lidl, like the cat food my cats prefer. And their Value cat litter! Conveniently I have an opprtyinity to go at yellow sticker time so I pick up a lot of bargains at 75% or 90% off then, like meat for the freezer, fruit and veg and pre-made microwavable meals for OH's lunches. I picked up eight assorted Healthy Living meals on Monday for example, at 90% off or 35p-ish each. I freeze these and OH takes them to microwave in the staff room. Saves a fortune on pack ups or cafeteria costs.


I have several bargain shops locally too and my favourites are... B&M for cheap crisps, biscuits, sweets and pop for the kids (I don't buy a lot of these in general but I still begrudge supermarket prices) and for things like spice pastes and other ethnic foodstuffs. They sometimes have good deals in cat food too, they were selling ONE for 89p for an 800g bag for a while last year. You just have to keep an eye open for these and be prepared to stock up.

Poundland for shampoo and other toiletries, cleaning materials and small things like wipes, dishcloths etc.


I very occasionally pop into the other big supermarkets if I'm out and about or have a good conditional spend voucher but I don't find them any better than Tesco for price overall, tbh. So I don't shop around the whole set every week, I stick mostly to Lidl and top up from Tesco with a trip to the bargain discount shops once every two to three weeks, to stock up. I'm certainly not one of the folk that go round every shop very week with a carefully honed shopping list, they do of course make even more savings but I think I'm doing quite well as a balance between time and savings.

maman

Clowance wrote: »

If you buy crisps never pay more than £1 for 6 (supermarkets about £1.70)- poundland / 99p store sell brands for this. Likewise some cereal bars - cadburys cereal bars £1 in poundland but nearer £2 in supermarkets. Huge savings but limited food choice and mostly junk food in the cheap shops. Aldi ob crisps not as nice IMO although i shop there for most things now. HTH

That's my yardstick too. I expect 150g for £ whether it's in small bags or a large pack. The so-called offers on things like Sensations make me laugh. Do they think we've forgotten what the prices used to be. Although the best way to save on crisps is not to buy them at all.;) If I buy them, they call to me from the cupboard.:(