Calculating shopping

sweetilemon

There are a lot of posts about how much you spend on the food budget but how do you calulate your total shop?

I know some go on money supermarket and research. I know people who walk round talling things up and others have lists. I usually walk around pick my meat (enough for a week minus what I have in stock) chosing reasonable prices, the choose jars/veg/pasta/rice/wraps according to prices. I generally put everything on my CC and hope for a low price at the til using any coupons. I know some people take their cash budget and if its over put things back.

I generally go to Tesco for the main shop, odds from other stores.

The lower the food spend the more for the house fund although appreciate for some the budget is non negotiable.

Sequeena

I do my main shop in Tesco at the moment (I have coupons for £3 off £30 for the next few weeks) and I do my shopping online through mysupermarket. I keep all receipts too so I can see what I'm spending and it helps that I work to a meal plan.

maman

I do much the same sweetilemon, although as I do the bulk of my shopping in Aldi it can't all go on a cc. We have a sort of petty cash tin for that. Over time, I'm confident that I don't spend £50 a week on our food and general cleaning products. When I started I kept a spending diary and now I check it from time to time by looking at receipts.


What some people do is take out, say £50 a week, and keep it in a separate purse so that they only spend that 'earmarked' money on food. I like to be a bit more flexible (fortunately I can afford it) and stock up on bargains for my storecupboard/freezer when I see them which means that some weeks I buy very little indeed except for fresh stuff other weeks I go over because I've bought some 3 for £10 meat or struck lucky with YS. So when I say I spend £50 a week for two of us what I really mean is on average.

sweetilemon

Can you only use cash in Aldi?

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

We put aside £80 a month for the food, cleaning stuff, toiletories etc. If I have a good run with yellow sticker stuff then it will come in much less like this month, only £48.12 spent and only need to top up bread and milk. So the 'savings' from that month go against when we go over on other months of there is an offer on washing powder and I will stock up.

Scritti

sweetilemon wrote: »

Can you only use cash in Aldi?

No, you can use a debit card but not a credit card (in England at any rate, think you can use a CC in Wales and Scotland possibly).

browneyedbazzi

I add things up in my head as I walk around so I have a pretty good idea what the total will be at the till (except things that are sold by weight which is a bit of a guess)...I try to keep costs down but I don't have a set budget and it isn't an issue if I spend a little more or less.

When I was on a very strict budget I shopped using a list and a calculator and stopped putting things in my basket when the total reached my budgeted amount.

missflirtuk

I tend to add it up to the nearest pound or whole number, like 60p instead of 56p. That way it's a bit less than I thought so get a little surprise at the till. . I also use my calculator too, and leave lg and OH at home sometimes as they are both all 'I want' and it's annoying.

Luiem

We use a cash budget for shopping. I make a list before we go and check prices online so I know roughly how much everything is going to cost.
In Tesco I use the scan and shop, but in other supermarkets I just add it up mentally as we go around.

valk_scot

I count it up in my head while walking round, I'm good at mental arithmetic and unless I've got items to weigh I'm very seldom out in my total. I have a list of what I need, a second list of things I'll need soon and which I'll buy if I see at a good deal and I'll also buy anything that would be a crime to leave, like 10p joints of meat on YS. I keep my housekeeping money in a separate purse in cash but I always have my debit card with me in case I encounter a really good buy and want to buy in bulk.