Canny shopping.

I think its great if you live near a lot of shops and can price compare. Where I am no supermarket is near enough to another and I'd use more petrol than I save. I used to go to Lidl when I had family living near one, but now they've moved and the nearest one is a drive away to somewhere I have no other reason to go to, so again any savings are wiped out by the trip and junk from the centre aisles of junk!! And I live in a town. But apart from an odd expensive convenience store and a couple of Chinese supermarkets full of things I don't want to buy, there are no food shops in the city centre.

I've just picked and eaten the first strawberry from a 50p plant bought a few weeks ago. I'll probably get a punnets worth out of it!

It's true about the price of Aussie lettuce. One fast food chain has changed to putting shredded cabbage in their burgers.

I'm so jealous about the glut of strawberries. I'm looking forward to getting home and buying some. I only eat British ones, and haven't had the chance to buy any yet, this year.

In the U.S. I belong to a local farm cooperative and get all our produce, meat and dairy products from them They are mostly organic, grass fed meats, free range eggs, grain products grown by the Amish, etc. Almost everything is sourced from less than 100 miles from our city of 2.3 million. They deliver to the door. Currently they are giving us strawberries and asparagus, new potatoes and a large variety of salad greens quite inexpensively compared to shop prices. A full liter of whole organic yogourt is about 2.5 pounds. We are fortunate to be in a strongly agricultural area. You cannot find this in for instance Arizona or Alaska. The selection is more limited in winter and a longing for strawberries in February will go unfulfilled! Is there anything like this in the UK?

I emptied my fridge/freezer and switched it off, to save on running costs before going to Australia for 3 months. I also used up, or gave away, part used jars and bottles.
I will have to do a large restock when I get home in a few weeks time. I think I may need a second mortgage!

I just get a delivery from Sainsburies. Checking prices would be heavy on petrol since the various supermarkets are quite well spread around the outskirts of the town. But we do take the car out once a week to keep the tyres from weary and the battery roped up, so we generally stop at either Aldi or Lidl for extras!

Has anyone tried Olio?
It’s an app, and has sections for food and non-food. Basically, people post photos of the free food or whatever that’s available/that they want rid of. I’ve never gone for any of it, unfortunately the food posts usually appear late evening, none have been close to me and as a non car owner, I’m not prepared to walk two or three miles in each direction at that time of night.

I noticed that a four tin pack of tomatoes was actually more expensive than buying the same brand singly in Tesco’s. You need to be savvy and look at unit prices to compare properly.

At the moment, Waitrose’ app individualised offers are very good and they are always for things you have bought before so actually want.

Otherwise, I shop around, look for yellow sticker knockdowns for the freezer and bulk buy imperishables when they are on offer.

I use the Smart shop app for the few items I buy in Sainsbury's (things you can't get in Aldi or Lidl) and like the surprise of the discounts.
Today I needed a few toiletry items. I always look at the bottom shelf in Savers and buy the £1 versions of creams, cleansers etc. Savers is the same company as Superdrug and sometimes has the same items much cheaper.
Shops often put their cheaper items on the bottom shelf....always look down!

We just buy as we need it. We walk to Aldi or Lidl to get what we fancy and can easily eat well for less than £10 a day.
Those British Aldi strawberries (Favori from Staffordshire this week) are good value and delicious. I try to shop British and in season.

I shop once a week at Sainsbury's and I use their Smart Shop App on my phone. I scan the bar codes, bag my shopping, pay and go. Using the app gets me savings on things I buy regularly. The best one yesterday was 80 Redbush Teabags, shelf price £2.40, smart price £1.70 so I saved 70p. There's no limit to how many boxes I can buy at that price. I had one already in the cupboard so I only bought one.

We have a local weekly market but I don't know if its cheaper than Tesco because you hand your stuff over and then pay what they ask. So who knows .... It's OK for 1 or 2 individually priced items but not for items priced by the kilo. Mostly I shop online with Tesco, paying the delivery saver with Tesco vouchers or occasional top up at Lidl if I'm passing near one. Then there's my M&S extravaganzas.

We live over two miles from the nearest co op, so I get in the car once a week to our local community hub shop. This costs £4 for one or two bags of shopping including veg, fruit, yoghurt, bread etc which is saved from landfill. I also get a veg box of locally grown veg every fortnight. Sometimes it’s like Ready, Steady Cook which makes for a fun challenge!

Grandmagrewit

I'd be really interested to know, from those of you who go food shopping on foot, how you bring your purchases home. I recently bought a shopping caddy (quite an upmarket one!) because I can't carry more than a couple of items from our local supermarket. But some of my relatives and friends have laughingly mocked my "granny trolley" and I feel a bit conspicuous using it now. I've just turned 70 so maybe I shouldn't care what others think!

I carry a bag of cat litter on my back in a backpack. I choose to see it as a workout, rather than a chore.

Yes I do have lunch in ‘Lily’s’ sometimes - or take the grandchildren there after school sometimes for their tea! Very enjoyable it is too. Is there a reason for you asking only I’m puzzled?
?

REgular things that are good value in morrisons are ready cooked rice (35p or 59p a pouch) sardines in sauces (49p or mackerel 99p) value sauces and biscuits and dry pasta. They do frozen mince etc which is good value too and seasonal vegetables and fruit (fresh) on offer

I pop into morrisons at the end of my 10 hour shift and see what is reduced if I feel up to it. Usually fresh bread/cakes are reduced. May explain the obesity crisis

Pre- pandemic I used to drive to Morrisons about every 5-6 weeks, and DH went to the cash and carry, plus local independent shops as required.
During the pandemic we tried various deliveries, veg boxes etc, and now have settled into a pattern of an online Morrisons or Sainsbury’s shop every 2-3 weeks for heavy and bulky items( and anything else we need if it is on offer).
I go to Aldi on foot twice a week for milk, fruit, some veg and other top ups. DH cannot walk but drives into our small town to the Co-op, and we get a delivery from the local independent butcher about every 3-4 weeks.
Just occasionally I fancy a change and drive to the farm shop but it is expensive. Or M& S Food, but I feel overwhelmed by too much choice and too high prices. I haven’t been to Waitrose for a long time.

Urmstongran

We live in an apartment above commercial so shopping here is easy. Down in the lift to our ‘larder’ (Sainsbury’s). Also in the square is a new Aldi, Boots, Quality Save and Iceland. Other shops are independents. A nice mix really and very handy.

I write a small list most days. We don’t have a freezer, no need. We shop by deciding each day what we fancy. Himself is in his element down there and has become a canny shopper! Today - Aldi strawberries from Fife were 70p cheaper (and looked nicer) than the Spanish ones in Sainsbury’s. Milk was 25p cheaper and a bag of frozen peas 80p cheaper! So a saving of almost £2 today alone.

He says prices have soared recently post-pandemic. He notices all the prices now as he shops so regularly. He says marketing ploys are very clever these days. One food item was a whole £1 dearer yesterday in Sainsbury’s yet was then promoted as an ‘offer’ with 50p off the price - doubtless to be returned to the new ‘normal’ expensive price on Monday!

He said our jar of freeze dried coffee had gone up by a whopping £1.50 so he nipped into Iceland to buy it. There are such huge differences in prices these days it pays (if time and location allow) to shop around.

What about your grocery shop? Are you on-line ordering? Local farm shops (lucky you) or buy in bulk for toiletries at Costco? What trends are you noticing?

But do you pop into Lily's for lunch ?

I don't drive and my husband didn't learn until he was 40. We had a shopping trolley in our 20s and 30s. They're not just for grannies!

Grandmagrewit ... ignor others ... I have used my shopping trolley ever since my hubby passed away almost 6 years ago ... I used to have a friend who was going to buy one, never did ... I may be wrong, I do feel at times it is pride that's the reason won't have one ... in the end us shopping trolley dolly's will have the last laugh ... no struggling , get more stuff in one go , saves keep going out especially if weather is bad, also sure must be better for your back that struggling with 2 or 3 bags ... Shopping Trolley Dolly's YEAH !

Wheel your shopping caddy with pride, Grandmagrewit. Better a caddy than a strained arm, shoulder, back... Lots of shopping caddies round here, some quite swish and trendy. DH and I share shopping - he with a rucksack on his back, me with a couple of canvas tote bags. We rarely have very large loads as we live close to the shops and our shopping pattern tends to be little and often. When the time comes that I have to do all the shopping on my own I shan't hesitate to get a caddy.

Urm. ???

Remember when a glut meant that price of fresh fruit and vegetables meant cheaper prices?

Iceberg lettuce 45p last week in Aldi. 53p today. That's quite a hike.