How do you food shop without a car?

THIRZAH

Those big Silver Cross prams were brilliant for shopping. I'm sure they kept the babies much warmer too.

I had a second hand one.When DD2 came along I had a seat on the end for DD1.

These days DH drives me to the supermarket every two or three months and we stock up on heavy items such as wine, toilet rolls and flour. The rest of the time I walk to the shops .It's about a mile each way but it keeps me fit.

System

Usually we go shopping together in the car but at times when he's not at home I just order the shopping from Asda online. I pick the cheapest delivery spot available.

[Deleted User]

I either walk to the local centre and w8rose with my rucksack and a couple of bags then use my bus pass on the bus to carry it home or I get the bus into town and use A*di/T8sco and carry it the same. If I don't have too much to carry from the local centre which is a 1.7 mile walk away I walk home again with a few stops on the way to rest my arms.

[Deleted User]

Tesco is a mile away, and I walk it and carry the shopping home in carrier bags. I aim to go every five days, but it's sometimes more often, as there's often something out of stock. The net weight of five days groceries for just me is 9.5kg, which is manageable, so I wouldn't entertain the idea of shopping online, the delivery is too expensive. I have a bike with panniers, but by the time I've diverted around the one way system, stopped at all the junctions, parked it, locked it, filled the panniers, and then cleaned the breadcrumbs and porridge dust out of them, it just isn't worth the palaver.

carlislelass

We lived 3 miles from nearest town with an hourly bus service. Main shop was done by me( hubby keeping baby at home) so often carried 2 bags in each hand. Top-up shopping was a 1mile uphill trek with baby in pram(had a pram tray underneath) to nearest local shop.A pram is easier than a buggy.

HarryJames

You should go to the online shop and call and the home delivery its good for you.

Snakey

Since living alone I've always just nipped into the supermarket on the way home from work and picked up something for that night (or for the weekend, on a Friday), obviously that's no good for you though.

More recently I've been working from home and now started a new job, so the supermarket is no longer on my direct route, and I've been experimenting with online shopping and found it really good. You have to be careful what type of goods you order as I've had some squashed things and some fresh stuff where I wouldn't have picked that particular one off the shelf if I was shopping for myself. But it's only a quid, and if you're new to it you can get some good introductory offers while you try all of the supermarkets.

I think I shall end up doing an online shop every month or so for heavy or bulky things, frozen stuff and things that aren't too fragile, and then do top-up shops for things like bread and tomatoes. That might be a good way for you to still have the experience of pootling around the High Street/market once or twice a week (if this is the sort of thing you want to do!) but without the hassle of knowing that you're going to need to cart ten pounds of spuds and eight pints of milk home with you.

System

I wouldn't entertain the idea of shopping online the delivery is too expensive.

I wouldn't call £3 expensive cause that's how much I paid for my last Asd@ delivery.

Teddi

Fruit and veg box delivered to the door for free once per week, can add eggs, milk, cupboard staples, cured meats, etc all still free delivery.


Local butcher for all meat we go once every fortnight, keep week 1s meat in the fridge, week 2s goes straight in the freezer. Just a short walk away.


Walk to nearest super market (soon to be a Lidl when we move) for anything else like alcohol.


Do Tesco order once every 3 months for washing powder, fabric softener, dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid, cleaning products, etc. We book it well in advance and only go for £1 slots.


Pet food order from pets at home once every 3 months (free delivery over £40).



So, essentially, I spend 2 hours every 3 months getting all the home and pet stuff sorted. I just double check the box on a Sunday night, takes 10 mins. 1 Saturday morning for 2-3 hours for the meat and any little bits from local place.


We don't trawl around loads of shops at all. Often, butchers and greengrocers will take phone orders, pack it all up ready for collection, so you just pop in, collect and go straight home so not wasting time.

WantAnOrange

Wow, thankyou for all the reply's!

DH does shift work so mostly I am on my own, and having the little ones means bikes and trolleys are out. As are taxis as we would need a car seat for DD2 to get home.

I used to be very good at meal planning and you are right it really helps.

I think Teddi's plan might suit us; stock up from SM occasionally then get local veg box delivery, milk delivered and potter around local shops once a week with the pram.

Will have to convince DH about milk delivery as it is quite a bit more expensive but we used to get it from milk & more and I miss those little glass bottles on my doorstep! It would also make the trip home much easier without two big cartons of milk to lug home.

I live near a lovely precinct with a butcher, a baker (no candlestick maker though!), a fishmonger and a greengrocer.. Is quite lovely, just more expensive than SM obviously. Markets around here are always really expensive crap, like little pots of olives and French cheese... I never really got the whole farmer's market thing, maybe that's just our local area.....