Post divorce and having to budget for first time. Best value supermarket?!

[Scaredycat87]

It’s always been marks and Waitrose.

Can’t stretch to it now!

In your view, cheapest but also good quality supermarket?

Thanks

Morrison’s. It has very reasonable prices for fruit and veg. It’s also very big on using British produce where possible. All it’s fresh meat is British.

@Scaredycat87

I recently put my last weekly shop from Asda into the other main shops to compare prices and these were the results:

Asda £51.91
Aldi £50.39
Morrisons £56.83
Tesco £62.12
Waitrose £76.35

I did this because I was wondering if Aldi was as competitive as it used to be which, as I suspected, it isn't anymore. I then checked the others out of nosiness, lol.
I bought 48 items consisting of fruit, veg, cooked meats, bakery, frozen chicken, juice, etc, so it was a reasonable range.

HTH 🙂

I find Morrisons', then Asda's fruit and veg to be the best, Aldi's is usually OK, but I've always had issues with Lidl's fruit going off quickly. (I know you can't get there anyway, but just thought it would be useful to know).

Tbh, Morrisons has some things we prefer, whilst Asda has others. Other things we like from Lidl or Aldi. I rarely shop at Tesco anymore.

Aldi's meat is cheaper, even the free range.

Morrisons meat is also really nice

Yes Morrison’s meat is very good.

Why not at least try Aldi and Lidl?

Although I find that a delivery pass works out better. I spend more when I actually enter a supermarket than I ever do ordering online. Easier to control and meal plan

I’d type your typical/approximate shop into an online comparison tool and go from there.

There may be other things about what you’re actually buying that makes a difference (like fruit in v out of season), if you want to post a typical week’s food.

Fwiw I run a food bank and we get excess fruit and veg from all the major supermarkets. M&S and coop are consistently the longest-lived, but we’ve had some stuff last weeks from all the supermarkets you mentioned. So it’s not all about brand/price.

I switch between Asda and Sainsbury’s to get what I want so one online order from each a month. I also go to heron which is excellent value for brands.
Knowing when things get the yellow reduced stickers is useful.
Fruit, veg I find cheaper on the market or fruit and veg shop. Cleaning and toiletries at places such as wilkos. I find I only have to go once every months or so to stock up. It’s hard at the beginning but you quickly learn which shop is cheaper

Asda click and collect for the win. Really easy to keep track of your spend, takes no time, only costs 50p for them to pick it for you and my Asda don’t do any daft subs.

I spend much less than when I go in “for a few bits” and I love being able to do a quick pit stop on the way home from work/with my two toddlers in the car to collect it. No tantrums and no time wasted

@walkoflifewoohoo & @ILoveMagnums OP can't get to Aldi or Lidl... they're too far away.

Morrisons do a delivery pass minimum shop £40. I think it only costs £30 for a year or something like that. If you go in store Morrisons have a fishmonger and if you buy a whole salmon they will bone it and cut it into portions for you free of charge. Bakery too that bakes throughout the day. You can sometimes get warm bread.

Lidl is my fave (use the app for discounts). Aldi also ok.

Morrison’s is better for fish, meat etc though

We eat fruit and veg like going out of fashion

Try Iceland for plain frozen vegetables. I love their frozen spinach. They do a lot of crap processed cheap food, but if you just go for their basics unprocessed stuff it’s good. Also their frozen fish, and their cheddar cheese.

I’m usually a Sainsbury’s shopper but I tend to buy a lot of frozen spinach, broccoli, pease, sweet corn all from Iceland.

I like Morrisons, but we don’t really have many down here, they have a good variety of fresh food compared to Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys.

I use Ocado, it doesn’t have to be expensive.

I’ve spent £44.09 this week, for that I’ve ordered

Freezer
Spinach
Edamame beans

Fresh
Mange tout
6 apples
9 easy peelers
5 bananas
1 cucumber
Radishes
Spring onions
Peppers
Toms
Courgettes
Carrots
Onions
Sweet potatoes
White potatoes
Red cabbage
Savoy cabbage
Sweetheart cabbage
Cauliflower
Mixed salad
Okra
Iceburg lettuce
Peppers
Baby corn
Olives
Avocado
Alpro yoghurt

Cupboard
Blackbeans
Baked beans
Dry lentils
Dry chickpeas
Tofu
Oat milk
24 eggs
Porridge oats

At home we have seasonings, rice, roti flour and various stocks and oil. But apart from that we’re unlikely to buy a topup shop.

It matters less where you shop than what you buy. If you buy largely unprocessed foods, eat in season, cook at home and simplify cleaning routines, you can save a lot. Avoiding food waste is also a huge cost saver.

[quote Endofmytether2]@Scaredycat87

I recently put my last weekly shop from Asda into the other main shops to compare prices and these were the results:

Asda £51.91
Aldi £50.39
Morrisons £56.83
Tesco £62.12
Waitrose £76.35

I did this because I was wondering if Aldi was as competitive as it used to be which, as I suspected, it isn't anymore. I then checked the others out of nosiness, lol.
I bought 48 items consisting of fruit, veg, cooked meats, bakery, frozen chicken, juice, etc, so it was a reasonable range.

HTH 🙂[/quote]
Very much
Thank you

I used to hate idea of Lidls, but my husband pursuaded me to give it try.
I've found that the quality is absolutely fine. I swapped from sainsburys to Lidls and have not looked back.

@SimonJT

I like Morrisons, but we don’t really have many down here, they have a good variety of fresh food compared to Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys.

I use Ocado, it doesn’t have to be expensive.

I’ve spent £44.09 this week, for that I’ve ordered

Freezer
Spinach
Edamame beans

Fresh
Mange tout
6 apples
9 easy peelers
5 bananas
1 cucumber
Radishes
Spring onions
Peppers
Toms
Courgettes
Carrots
Onions
Sweet potatoes
White potatoes
Red cabbage
Savoy cabbage
Sweetheart cabbage
Cauliflower
Mixed salad
Okra
Iceburg lettuce
Peppers
Baby corn
Olives
Avocado
Alpro yoghurt

Cupboard
Blackbeans
Baked beans
Dry lentils
Dry chickpeas
Tofu
Oat milk
24 eggs
Porridge oats

At home we have seasonings, rice, roti flour and various stocks and oil. But apart from that we’re unlikely to buy a topup shop.

Presumably everyone in family a vegetarian? How many in the family?

My issue is that I need to educate my children in fact that eating a punnet of organic blueberries whilst you look in the fridge and decide what to take out… is £3.50 gone in less than a minute.

6 apples wouldn’t last us a day.
5 bananas? 2 days
1 avocado? Gone for first lunch. Possibly shared between two children. Unlikely.
Plus two enjoy nice meat, which they have for used to me doing a few times a week.

Saving grace is no alcohol.
But I think first task is to talk about cost of food!

3 children (10-15)
And me

Why is it always the blueberries that get accused of being £3.50? They're 80p OP.

@walkoflifewoohoo

Why is it always the blueberries that get accused of being £3.50? They're 80p OP.

Not at Ocado. The cheapest ones are £2 and that is for a tiny 150g box.

I find Morrisons expensive, I prefer Asda and Tesco as I find using the scanner as I go around is a good way to keep track of what I am spending.
I don’t buy cleaning products or household from those though and go to home bargains for those plus shampoo / conditioner etc.

Sainsbury’s do an aldi price match so are pretty good for certain products.

Meal prep is the way to save money, meal prep list for the week for Main meals, that way you can buy meat in bulk and portion it up and freeze or use it the next day etc.

@Scaredycat87 Two adults and one child, one adults is a semi-professional sportsman, so a fairly large appetite.

I think you get four avocados in a pack, I get the ripen at home as they’re cheaper, I tend to buy them a week in advance as they do take a while to ripen.

Why buy £3.50 blueberries if you don’t want them to be eaten?

"Not at Ocado. The cheapest ones are £2 and that is for a tiny 150g box."

Not £3.50 then? Anyway. The op can't afford Ocado anymore, she a Morrison's gal now

It's not just about where you shop but what you buy............ditch the big brands (or buy when they are on offer if you must).
Buying seasonal fruit and veg will also save you money.
Shopping online can be cheaper as you can see what is on offerand meal plan around the best buys. You can also see how much you are spending as you go!!!

My sister and her family get through a lot of fresh fruit and they use Morrison’s.

As someone’s already mentioned, sticking to seasonal stuff will help to keep the cost down. Also things like swapping from tenderstem broccoli to broccoli and learning to love cabbage - get so much cabbage for your money