Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

kayannie

I keep an ongoing shopping list in the kitchen & add to it as I notice something I'm getting short of. Then before I shop, I write a proper list in the order of where things are in Aldee. Our nearest town is 10 miles away where there are 3 supermarkets. We have a corner shop in our village where prices are obviously higher, although it is useful for emergency milk or eggs ( they don't sell fruit or veg & I make my own bread). I only go to town every week or 10 days. I go into L!dl first & usually manage to get a £1.50 fruit & veg box. I take this back to the car, check exactly what is in it & am then usually able to cross some items off my shopping list. I then go back into L!DL for a few items before going on to Aldee which is next door. There are often a few things that I've not been able to get, in which case I end up in Mr T. 
KA

AnimalTribe

Like kayannie I keep an ongoing shopping list in the kitchen. My nearest shops are 15 miles away, but there is a good selection. I shop in Ald* or Lid* first then go to either Sains or Morris depending on what I have left on my list. I probably don't shop as often as some, as I keep a decent larder and an enormous freezer. In winter 2010 I was snowed in for 6 weeks, so I always make sure I'm well prepared for bad weather or illness. As the shops are close together I don't spend much on extra petrol, and I believe I get the best prices this way. Some shops have things I like better than other shops. For example, Sains vegetable ravioli is better than any others and I keep 3 tins in stock for those rare can't be bothered to cook days.Today was fridge sorting day, so I now have enough bendy veg soup for two days, lots of veg frozen that I won't get to quickly enough, soft fruit cooked with a little sugar to add to yoghurt, and 2 limes turned into a jar of lime curd. 

foxgloves

Evening Saturday Saving Superstars,
Thanks for all your comments, which I enjoyed reading. I think we are all doing versions of quite similar things. 
I confirm the monthly grocery budget on Big Budget Day & keep a tally in the back of the Money Book so I can track how it's going. As you know, we are long term meal planners & we always base our shopping list on that, adding a few pantry re-stock items, but stores are always checked to avoid spending money on stuff we don't need. 
Before the pandemic, our methodology was to shop at Al first, then to call at Mr W to buy the items Al don't stock or for specific Mr W 'Essentials' products or a wider range of ground coffee, etc. We would then go to the local market for our fruit & veg. During Lockdown, we were keen to visit fewer places so used to call at either Mr M or Mr W for everything. There is also a Mr A in town but I've never shopped there....a decision from long ago after watching a documentary about the (then) parent company. We like Mr S but our nearest one is a 30 mile round trip so we only go if we can combine it with a city centre trip. No Mr T locally, there is a Mr L on the outskirts of our town but in the opposite direction to anywhere we are usually going.
Post-pandemic, we tend to use Mr Al every couple of months for a pantry stick-up, use Mr W or Mr M for bulk of our list, & continue to buy our greengrocery from the market. We also now get the majority of our meat from our market butcher, as his prices are excellent & everything has been v good quality. We occasionally use a local bakery, but not often as I bake the vast majority of our bread & the Eco-refill shop for cleaning products, herbs & spices & other dry ingredients according to need.
I think my wondering as to whether our shopping around invites overspending probably doesn't stand up to scrutiny. I think what happens is we get the majority of our list at the supermarket & come away thinking "Oooh, that was a really good shop, well within budget", but with the market & sometimes other indie shops still to come, that initial figure is important (biggest part of shop) but not at all indicative of the final total spend. I think it's a psychological thing seeing that initial good spend then adding it up later & finding that the other shopping venues haven't come to the notional extra £20 or so I think they will (a figure based on nothing, I might add!)
So I think given that we are coming in on budget & do all the usual 'good practice' food planning, etc, the answer is simply for me to add the other stuff on in my head as we go. 
And to stop mithering about it!
F x

foxgloves

Oh....& in case anyone had a crazy idea that I might have done something interesting today......I really haven't. Am still managing a bad IBS flare-up, so haven't felt like going anywhere. I straightened my hair so as not to frighten the cats & have just been reading & knitting. Not a no-spend day as Mr F popped out to get me some turmeric & ginger tea bags, but at least I haven't been out flashing the cash.
Discussed a couple of minor financials with Mr F in readiness for my mid-month budget check-in on Monday, but that was all. Have been treating myself kindly, relaxing & hoping I'll have improved a bit more by tomorrow night.
Love to all,
F x

Blackcats

Hope you will feel better soon.  Drink plenty of the ginger and turmeric tea.

going back a few pages to the mention of bear meat.  One of my in-laws moved to UK many years ago from the land governed by p u tin.  At breakfast one day she offered two very attractive tins - one was caviar and the other lovely looking black and gold tin turned out to contain bear meat.  I politely declined the bear meat which apparently was in jelly and a bit fatty 🤢 and opted for the shredded wheat which was also on offer.  I guess I'll never know what I've missed out on and won't be able to impress you with my bear meat taste critique.

foxgloves

@Blackcats - Oh that is funny about bear meat! It reminded me a bit of my Mum telling me about how she had to eat snoek during the war.
Back to your choices, I can't bear shredded wheat either, so I think I'd have had to fill up on coffee!
F 

Humdinger1

One thing I should have said...fish is delivered monthly unless the freezer is overflowing  which can happen.   And I do have 2 or 3 yearly stock ups of the cupboard which I budget for separately xx

foxgloves

@Humdinger1 - Yes, we also have a fresh fish box delivered every 2 months. I don't fund that from our regular grocery budget though, as attempts to do so initially didn't really work. I know we have a box 6 times a year though, so I do assign an estimated cost to it when setting our overall budget on those months. 
F

Humdinger1

I allow £50 per month for fish but often scoot some or all to savings 

Baileys_Babe

I shop all over the place:
Aldee for our main shop, about 2 - 3 times a month
Asd@ for own brand GF flour, every other month
Sainsbobs for specific own-brand items, 4 to 6 times a year
Morries for own brand GF pasta, GF rolls & GF crackers, every 6 weeks or so
Lidl for specific items about 3 or 4 times a year
Wholesaler (delivered), for bulk store cupboard items including oats & GF oats, flour, tea, 2 or 3 times a year
Home bargains for OTC medication and soda crystals, 3 or 4 times a year
And starting this week I am trialling buying GF bread from M&S thinking this will be monthly

I used to get most of our meat from a local butcher but they closed after 50+ years of trading 😢 I also used to get most of our fruit and vegetables from the local market but due to energy and time I no longer do this. The butcher was close to the market so I could combine both errands. 

I liked going to the butcher and the market, I'm not sure it saved any money but I liked the range available and being able to buy the quantity I needed more easily.

I very rarely go out to solely do the shopping. Where possible I plan my trips to coincide with other journies, I might go to Aldee and or Morries whilst out for a Home Education group.