Can't get cheap food /rationing

[Shipshop231]

I feel like the cheap brand/economy type food is much less available than it used to be a few years back. I used to be able to fill my cupboards with it when money was a little tight. But I have not been able to do that for a long time now.

I do the kids main meals.

But I have always allowed them to help themselves from the kitchen as well. But things are so expensive now I don't think I can allow that anymore so i was thinking about doing them a snack box type thing. I think it will be easier to do it for My younger kids. But harder for the older ones.

But it could be is my point. Pay the taxi fare once a month and get all of your snacks for the month in that shop.

With delivery services, it’s an hour to reserve the slot.

I tend to fill my delivery basket with any old rubbish to keep the slot, then I go back and edit it over the next few days. Do check when your delivery is no longer editable, for most supermarkets it’s up until the night before the delivery is due.

Ocados own range is often cheaper than Asda. They also price match with Tesco. I would be lost without Ocado! 😂

Why pay £13 and have all the hassle of a taxi driver running the meter whilst you struggle to get the bags in and out - when you could have an online delivery for £3?

If the OP has family with special needs, this adds another layer of stress to the proceedings.

Because it depends how much the savings matter.

Buying a months worth of snacks from Aldi could easily save you more than £13 if the alternative is buying them from Tesco.

I stick 100 fags in the basket, checkout then go back and amend the shop. Most let you make changes till the day before delivery

If you are short of money I think that bread is the best way to fill up cheaply - extra bread on the table with meals (which was quite normal in the 70s/80s) and then toast as snacks - with jam or marmite etc.

Agree with the person who suggested the Iceland shop though - and with the free delivery, you may be able to get two shops in over a week so if it's a problem for you getting a full week's shopping in your online basket within the allocated slot, you could do another one a few days later, or just use it for part of your shop.

Most online shops keep a note of your favourites though so after the first shop it should be quicker.

Op I'd suggest you look online at a company called 'approved food'. They basically sell short dated or out of date stuff, at reduced prices. It's best before dates, so still perfectly safe. They're online only so it's all courier delivery. I've used them myself and can highly recommend.

OP, I don’t live in the UK but I have similar transportation challenges. There are a few shops that I go to 3-4 times a year and do a big stock up on things that don’t go bad. I’ll run out of some in between and pay grocery store prices, but it saves me a lot of money and gets me good quality stuff. While I’m there I’ll also get some things for the week as well. Could that be worth it for aldi snacks? I do have to get creative with storage sometimes (I think the almond milk that’s been at my front door for a week will end up in the linen closet).

Obviously I’m privileged to be able to afford to do this and am already on my rotating system so it averages out.

For no-cook snacks we always have nuts, raisins, saltines, cereal or toast (bedtime snacks for littles), cheese, jam, peanut butter. After I’ve been to the big ethnic store we’ll have biscuits for about 2 months. After I’ve been to Costco we’ll have all kinds of nice snacks for about 2 months etc. Most of that we have on weekends more than everyday. But that’s just how my family do it! Plus my kids are small so it’s easier to give them cheese and crackers or leftovers when they aren’t expecting what a friend might have.

In between I’m likely to get some of those things from the grocery store or dollar store, but it’s not constantly available. If you could track how many packets of crisps/biscuits/whatever you like per week, you could do a massive snack haul and let everyone know it’s for 10 weeks or whatever. Personally if I did that I’d hide some for myself because the kids might finish theirs in 10 days.

In my weekly shop there is always 1-2 big bags of salted crisps and 2L of diet cola because my partner and I want treats!

I usually book a delivery slot with a couple of bottles of vodka, to hit the minimum order amount, then amend it at my leisure over the week.

Thank you exactly this. It's just another stress . I have not been to an actual supermarket for years . I think its really bad that they do not offer their full range of cheaper brands on line

You so seem to be right. Tesco do a biscuit/cake range called Molly's which is quite cheap
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/search?query=mollys&inputType=free+text

Aslo Tesco crisps have a variety packs of 30 bgs of mixed variety crisps (25g each) for £4.50. That is about 15p a packet.
Tesco Variety Crisps 30X25g

Tesco Mixed Snacks 30 Pack 530G
£3.65

but you are right that thee is very limited choice

I'm not short of money like that. Its just I would rather buy cheap brand kitkats rather than branded and make my shop cheaper that then frees me up money for xmas. I used to do it all the time during the year i would buy what ever. Be careful but not overly. Then mid September I would shop more value brands and be careful. So it allowed me to prepare for xmas . That's much harder now.

Renamed" Stamford Street" is what Sainsburys value range is now called. they have chocolate biscuits ,some cold chicken cheap beans and some vegan chocolate.Also poundland also have treats

as well .worth a look sometimes is the local corner shop,they sometimes have things on offer

Yep. Most supermarkets have rebranded their cheapy ranges, in doing so they now have less treats and snacks and more real food in the range.

There is pressure on the supermarkets to respond to UPF, health issues and obesity in an attempt to delay legislation. There are still lots of cheap snacks out there, they are just a bit harder to find.

Teens can be really hard to keep fueled. Have you taught them how to make fake pot noodles yet?

Look on Approvedfoods website. They have clearance food from main brands. A lot of crisps/bars type food. And all online. X

I used that a couple of times many years ago gosh I think maybe 15 years ago. It's been going for a long time . I looked about a year ago and thought it was totally crap. I will look now incase though . Hopefully I will be surprised 😅

I bulk buy food a lot (it’s part of my job). I have rarely found ApprovedFood etc to be cheaper than shops’ basic ranges.

I just had a look there's a few bits that make you say wow. Then it just gos oh. So yeah your right

The value ranges have different names in each supermarket which makes it even more difficult to find things you need
When you look online for say " crisps"
It will help a little if you filter
Price from low to high( underneath the search box)
The more you use the same supermarket it saves previous orders as favourites.

Iceland is great for this. Packs of individually wrapped wee chocolate brownies or muffins. Cheap pepperami and mini cheeses. Milkshakes. Also frozen mini pizzas/pizza pockets.

I've just checked for an example
Sainsbury's basic range is " Stamford Street"
It lists all the cheap range when you search for that

You don't have to book a slot before you fill your basket either you can do the shop then book a slot.