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

I've just compared the frozen fruit prices between Asda and Iceland and in general Iceland are cheaper on most counts (raspberries and a couple of other are cheaper at Asda), and the same on some, but Iceland are running a 2 for £3 offer atm, which makes them cheaper on all counts.

Asda has also run a similar offer, in which case it probably wouldn't be worth making the extra trip to Iceland, but I've not seen that offer for a while now.

Morrison's in my opinion is the best of the rest (Waitrose is nice but too expensive. I mostly shop in Lidl

Do you have a cash and carry nearby? I bought shelving for my garage and buy dry goods and tinned stuff and toiletries etc in bulk which works out massively cheaper I also shop at Sainsbury's which I think is decent value and decent quality.

Have tried all of the supermarkets , I used to like Aldi and Lidl but their fresh fruit and veg doesn't last long at all so I need to buy twice negating any savings. I now shop at Sainsbury's and the fresh stuff lasts all week, saver delivery slot is £1 and they price match with Aldi for a lot of things.

Now I'm one of those shoppers who does a base buy in Aldi, then a top-up shop in M&S which will cost me the same again. But given you have no Aldi locally, I'd definitely plump for Morrison's. We have one opposite work, but given that's 35 miles away and I've not been allowed to go to work for 18 months....I miss it so much!!!!! The best balance of value, range and quality.

If you're trying to budget, I recommend online shopping.

Yes, you'll miss out on yellow sticker reductions at the end of the day... but you'll find it easier to analyse what's in your basket and take out the things you don't really need and can't afford, and to ensure you're sticking to the budget as a whole.

I find Tesco are great for substitutions (you can leave them a little note for each item) and Asda and Sainsbury's are awful, but it really depends on where you live.

80p blueberries???!!

Where? Please tell me

The organic ones from marks I’ve been buying without a second thought until now… £3.00 a punnet!

Wow just wow, thinking how much cash you must be used to, we are by no means poor but I couldn't justify that. Teens are a nightmare for snacking; I buy at least 15 apples and 15 bannanas a week I try to make a tray bake style thing at the weekend (brownie/blondie/flap jack/ lemon drizzle on rotation- total cost £1-2) for them to have, also pop corn is not too unhealthy. I try not to buy UPF but you can't have teens snacking on blueberries! Oh my word.

Since you asked

Or these

I've just moved away from a Morrisons and god I miss it. Such good value. Shopping at the end of the day and looking for the yellow stickers is a great way to pick up bargains. I used to do a weekly food shop for 2 people for £40.

If you're big fish eaters definitely Morrisons, they have an excellent fish counter and have recently bought a Cornish fish supplier who couldn't export their catch due to Brexit. Also look at Iceland if there's one near you, they sell far more than frozen pizzas, chips and beige food.

Also look at greengrocers or markets for the fruit and veg, or the wonky boxes. Try to shop seasonally as this will reduce the cost.

But it doesn't have to be the same supermarket every week or the same produce every week. Nothing to stop you going to Asda one week, Morrisons the next etc etc.

Definitely a family meeting to explain how they've been extremely priveliged up to now and previous unlimited fresh blueberries are sadly unaffordable from now on. But frozen blueberries, raspberries etc are much cheaper and fine for cereal or in yogurts or muffins etc.

Might have to consider changing your diet to adjust to your new budget - look at frozen and canned fish as cheaper than fresh. Also incorporate a few vegetarian meals each week, chillis and curries etc with lots of pulses and seasonal vegetables are very cheap and healthy - Morrisons has a good world food section where you can get packets of spices for about 50-70 p that have about 3 times what you get in jars, you could set yourself up with a good range of spices for under a fiver that will do a few months worth of meals.

And you could try growing your own, raspberries especially can grow very well and in season, you could send the DC out to pick them off the bushes if they want them.

It's probably also worth looking at your overall budget, so you know how much you can afford, make the best of your new circumstances and to make sure all your expenses are covered, while hopefully freeing up some money for the occasional treat. Have a look at:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

Good luck!

Definitely Morrison's. Their fresh fruit and veg is great quality and I'm impressed with their chicken too. Only issue is lack of choice e.g. of items like smoked salmon, sourdough bread etc.

Its worth trying different supermarkets as local variation for your personal shopping basket can be more relevant that national money saving guides. Produce quality can also vary a lot between areas.

If you want to watch the budget then:

• make a menu plan each week (lots of websites have budget meal plans)
• shop from a list
• use left overs
• come up with some cheap filler items for teenagers which you vary week to week (teens are old enough to make a batch of flapjacks or similar)
• use seasonal fruit and veg (the Veg Box book is brilliant but these days there are many websites with seasonal recipes)
• frozen fruit and veg can often be a good sub for fresh. Especially frozen berries
• step down a brand for everything you can, and if it works then stick with it
• if you have a local market try that for fruit and veg

Then take your list around the different mainstream supermarkets or order the shopping for delivery to remove the temptation of specials as you walk around a store.

Something that I did in the early days of the divorce when DS was with his dad, was to leave the house early on the weekends, go for a walk or a drive (plenty of nice villages and countryside around where I live), and end the morning with a visit to a farmer market (a proper one, not the gentrified overpriced ones). I used to get about 10 bags of fruits and vegetables for about £15, then head home, spend a couple of hours cooking and putting everything in tupperwares in the freezer… and I wouldn’t do any serious cooking for two weeks (apart of boiling some rice or pasta or make a simple salad to serve with what I had already cooked.

I loved those mornings and really enjoyed chatting with people at the market much better than wasting part of my child free weekend scrambling for food in an over crowded supermarket.

I’m a bit of a food snob, but -

For many staples (flour butter milk etc) supermarket own brand lines are absolutely fine. Try and test.

How much time do you have? For example, I’m assuming you’ll cook from scratch for everything. And that the food will be pretty simple.

You can soak raw pulses and cook them, for example, rather than buying tinned. You can make soup, rather than buying ready made.

Try shopping at local markets or your local Indian or Turkish shop - the Turkish shop near me does huge bunches of fresh parsley and coriander. I use some fresh and freeze the rest.

And really, who absolutely needs blueberries? Apples and bananas will do for a sweet snack.

but Waitrose and Aldi use the same supplier for their packaged roast veg

My German family tell me that there are whole websites devoted to listing who manufactures for the German Aldis (Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd) - basically, if the packaging on a bar of chocolate reminds you of Ritter Sport, then it was probably made side by side in the same factory.

Aldi or Lidl, I prefer aldi personally. Wouldn’t bother with any other supermarket, they’re all way too expensive. I went in morrisons a couple of days ago because I was driving past and it was just pure extortion.

Re frozen berries snd veg -they are mire nutritious anyway than ‘r’ and much less wastage as you only use what need.

I use Asda a lot - their deliveries have always been great and fruit and veg stays fresh. I use Tesco too but only really reasonable prices if you have a Clubcard.

I use Iceland for some stuff too - some of their frozen meat is great value. And their beige food can save a midweek meal!

Of those options, for me personally, I’m order:

Sainsbury’s
Morrison’s
Asda
Tesco

That is based on my personal preferences of a balance between price and quality. I recognise a lot of people would have Tesco’s higher up the list but I had mild food poisoning from food I bought there a few years ago and apparently I still bear a grudge!

@Youdiditanyway

Aldi or Lidl, I prefer aldi personally. Wouldn’t bother with any other supermarket, they’re all way too expensive. I went in morrisons a couple of days ago because I was driving past and it was just pure extortion.

That's the thing when you get used to Aldi/Lidl prices! I'm always shocked by the prices in other supermarkets

Does it have to be one particular supermarket? I know some people are pushed for time but we tend to buy the bits we like / are cheapest from each - eg we do an Iceland shop once a month for the bits we like from there to stock up, then the next week we will do Tesco and get a month's worth of the stuff we like from there, etc. We use the freezer a lot and the cupboard stuff all keeps well. We buy f&v once weekly and generally from whoever we happen to be shopping with that week. If passing Lidl (appreciate you don't have) will pop in for bits from there and to use the app for vouchers / freebies. Sainsbury's have weekly points offers in nectar app which add up too.

Basically what I'm saying is I am a tart and for us anyway it's definitely the way to get the best / cheapest bits from everywhere and control the budget . I set a monthly rather than weekly budget

I use Asda or Tesco now when I used to always use Ocado for Waitrose stuff. My most local super market is Sainsbury's and so do often pop in there but is expensive in comparison! Use the scan and go at Asda and keep an eye on spending as you go

I like Tesco and Sainsbury's, both have good loyalty cards , you can get extra points with certain products.

@Youdiditanyway

Aldi or Lidl, I prefer aldi personally. Wouldn’t bother with any other supermarket, they’re all way too expensive. I went in morrisons a couple of days ago because I was driving past and it was just pure extortion.

OP doesn’t live near Aldi or Lidl.