Moneysaving in rural location

Amara

Hello everyone!
How do you do it? There's plenty advice about shopping around , buying things later on, when marked down cheaper. I can't do it, where I live. It's a small market town, nearest supermarket is 11 miles away, there are three food shops, all expensive ones , electric and DIY stores just have been shut down and local garage no longer sells petrol. Two cars are necessity , due work. No public transport really. How do you cope ?

imho

I live in a small village with a small local shop and nearest supermarket is 3 miles away so no where as bad as you,
If i lived that far away as you i would buy a huge chest freezer and fill it up. You say you need the cars for work so u can go shopping.I like to think i would have a allotment or use the garden to grow veg and freeze veg if i have too much.
Most of items i buy for the house come off the Internet.
But how do you cope ?

Amara

Hi IMHO .
I've got large garden, so growing own veg is a good idea, but I'm not great at gardening. How do I cope? Well, go shopping once per week or order thru Internet ( although sometimes it doesn't show offers or some items), buy things like milk and bread at local shop. To tank the car, I have to go out of the town, so I do it once per week (DH can tank on his way to work).

carriebradshaw

I can't do it either,I also live in a small village,just 3 shops (2 are McColl's which are awful & very expensive) I live 60 miles from a supermarket so can't get reduced items daily. We have 3 upright freezers (1 double size) which we try and fill every few weeks with a big food shop .I'd love to online shop but only one supermarket delivers here (Mr T) and the demand is so great you have to sit up at midnight to wait for the next date to be released,which is still 3 weeks away and then it's usually full already with people that have already paid and booked on delivery saver,so I have to check during the day for cancellation dates. I got one last week but it's the first time I've been able to get a delivery since before Christmas! When I do this I check the internet for as many money off voucher codes I can use and check out offers on things we buy.We have a very small veg patch which helped last year,but haven't got anything planted yet this year due to the extreme weather, hope it warms up soon so we can plant a bit. Curly kale is a good crop to put in, as it's cut and come again,hardy and easy to keep.I've still got some in my freezer from last year which I add to casseroles soups and curries.Little gem lettuce is another good easy grow and they are expensive to buy in Summer so a good money saver too

Amara

Gosh, that sounds bad!
Living in the country sometimes is seen as idyllic , but reality is different.

carriebradshaw

Amara wrote: »

Gosh, that sounds bad!
Living in the country sometimes is seen as idyllic , but reality is different.

it can be difficult but having internet does help, I know people lived fine without it long before it arrived etc but I wouldn't want to .It's lovely place but distance from decent amenities is the the price you pay really, plus if you're in the Highlands lots of couriers charge extra for deliveries too

Islandmaid

Hi all,

We used to live 'in the sticks' about 5 miles from nearest shop, and as other,s have said, buy the biggest freezer you can afford and stock it with the basics.

Meal planning is essential, keep hens, grow veg - we were very lucky as our neighbor was a retired butcher, who used to 'deal' with our sheep and pigs so meat was never an issue, but this was prior to foot and mouth and the yards of paperwork you,d need now.

Get to know your neighbors, we swapped allsorts of stuff, jams, cakes, cider, HM wine, rabbits, pheasants etc

Good luck

carriebradshaw

one of the ways I try to save money is to try and work out what basics I need to buy that will cost the least if I have to buy it locally.For instance things like carrots, spuds, onions milk are fairly cheap and not much more to buy locally than the supermarket,so it's no big deal if I forget them but other basics like sugar, pasta rice,butter, flour,lentils, toiletries, household cleaning items etc I save a heck of a lot by going to the supermarket.The same for veg growing, I've only got a small space and not a lot of sun so I only grow I few things that will give me a big advantage over time and would cost a lot if I have to buy them.

YORKSHIRELASS

We live rurally too, 50 mile round trip to the nearest Tesco or Asda, although we have now got a small Lidl near us which helps massively. Local shops are expensive and we just havent got the time to grow our own.

I mealplan religiously and use online grocery shopping now and again for a stock up. I have got quite good at combining journeys to do several things in one go to cut down on fuel costs.

No public transport here, no pub or village shop any more either. To be honest we have talked about moving to somewhere less remote. Having to get in the car every time you need to do something gets a bit tiring - especially now we have got teenagers to ferry around.

There are benefits of course - but not many financial ones!

Amara

Yes, Yorkshirelass, living in rural place is not moneysaving. Btw, have you notice, everyone on " Escape to the country" has large house budget? Planing meals is not my strong point, but I'll work on it. Lamb curry tommorow , with today's lamb roast leftovers.
Ideas so far:
- planing meals
- buying frozen food
- buying in bulk
- grow your own veg

carriebradshaw

a bit of batch cooking can be a useful money saver too so you save on electric/gas. There's only the two of us now so it's easier for me in that respect.I make a big pot of soup in the slow cooker and freeze in portions for 2 ,that's what we have for lunch every day(we rarely eat breakfast) if we have curry or bolognese, chilli etc make enough for 2 meals and freeze the leftover portion.It's quite handy to have a few of your own homemade meals stashed for days when you're in a rush or not feeling up to cooking & washing up so you're not tempted by expensive takeaways if you have access to them (we only have a chippy that's open in the Summer season)It does feel like a relief to have things that are ready just to thaw and re-heat sometimes