Driving to different supermarkets to save?

Ken20

Considering the journey and travel costs, is it worth driving to different supermarkets where prices are cheaper for specific products? Or is it more effective just buying all the groceries from one supermarket?

Anyone have any experience with real numbers on savings that they can share?

Rosa_Damascena

Its become difficult to do this since the demise of MySupermarket. 

briskbeats

Last May, when were still queuing outside to enter supermarkets and other essential retail, there was a customer who insisted to queue up for another supermarket for his usual bread as it was 5p cheaper! The other supermarket then it was at least a 20 min queue then min 7 min wait at checkouts. 

Why would anyone waste at least half an hour to save 5p is beyond me.

i thought to myself during this time - the money saved from unable to eat out, buy clothes from clothes shops, days out, using very little petrol etc - it wasn’t an issue at paying more. Plus more colleagues bought more shopping after work as had the ‘whilst I’m out of the house, working, I may as well get some shopping’ attitude

maman

No stats and I am fortunate in having many SMs close to home.

I do my main shop in Aldi weekly. I will go to other shops for some staples that I know are good value when on offer but they have to be things with long dates or that can freeze.

Wine at 25 % off is a good example. 😉

Sapindus

MySupermarket was probably put out of business by my mother in law who ALWAYS knows where there is a good deal to be had.  However I don't have the time to flit around.  She also thinks if I did all my own cooking instead of going out to work I would save money and not need to go out to work, so presumably in that case I would also have more time to spend shopping, which seems to be her main pleasure in life (followed by cooking), but it's not my idea of fun.
I have been in Asda a few times recently looking for big jars of marmite that Tesco don't do, so I admit I will make special trips for certain objects but no, if it was just bread being 5p cheaper I wouldn't do it.  My time is worth more than that.

Pollycat

Ken20 said:

Considering the journey and travel costs, is it worth driving to different supermarkets where prices are cheaper for specific products? Or is it more effective just buying all the groceries from one supermarket?

Anyone have any experience with real numbers on savings that they can share?

Doesn't it depend on how far you are driving and how much you are saving?

And what value you place on your time?

elsien

I use different supermarkets but I don’t do big weekly shops so I can’t evidence what (if anything) I’m saving.
I can walk to Asda and Aldi (queues in Aldi are too big for my small shops) but I’m not the biggest fan of either  so I tend to use them for basics like bread and milk when I’m running out, 
The others are either all equidistant or I pass them on my way home from work. I tend to know which staples they are good value for so I have a quick scoot at their offers then decide if there’s anything I want and choose accordingly. 

But driving round 2 or 3 each week just to try to save, nope. Life is too short, 
There’s probably more savings to be had on branded/processed foods. But I don’t buy a lot of those and the deals can be misleading. My 1kg bag of rice was £4.75 in Tesco, £4 with the club card deal, but its usual Asda price is only £4 anyway. The other Tesco club card deals I’ve seen are things I wouldn’t buy anyway. To a degree it’s just having a rough idea of the usual price so you can spot a deal when you see it. 

MrsStepford

In the days of MySupermarket (which I miss so much), before the pandemic, before we switched to mostly low carb organic gluten free and deliveries, we made up shopping lists of offers. Husband was a supervisor and would hold brief weekly meetings in the cafes at supermarkets. This meant that he and his team could vacuum up good offers at supermarkets they didn't necessarily shop at, after the meeting. 

If the offers at a supermarket are on your regular journeys to school, work, family, sport, clubs etc then yes it's worth calling in for big savings or even just for cheaper regular prices. 

ALDI is rolling out click and collect. We tried it at our local store and it was good. 

briskbeats

In the main, I use Lidl for main shopping, my work when things are on offer and a couple of mid week things. Then the other supermarkets if happened to be in that area and just buy a few offers, reduced labels and different flavours of things that Lidl or my work don’t sell - such as drinks, yoghurts etc 

GeorgeAlexiou

Hi all,

With all this sun and the 6 weeks holiday coming up, kids being at home is really going to get expensive (the ice creams already!).

Does anybody know, or has anybody tried, shopping around from Asda, Tesco, Aldi etc for different products? So like:
- X from Asda
- Y from Tesco
- Z from Aldi 

I'm fortunate that I have quite a few around me so petrol isn't really an issue. Just the time! Are the savings worth it?

Cornucopia

It depends on how much effort you are prepared to put in for those few products that either you can't get at Aldi/Lidl, don't like at Aldi/Lidl or you know are cheaper elsewhere.