To be hacked off that I have been judged for shopping in m&s?

[salsmum]

After finishing a night shift this morning popped into M&S for some shopping for me and DP...parking was near, I couldn't be arsed to fight my way around Asda, Sainsbury's etc... I came out with about 4 bags and quite a few of their 3 for £10 offers on food and 3 for £7 along with some fruit etc.. for my packed lunches. I work hard for my money and am not afraid to grab a bargain in other supermarkets it was just that I wanted the quickness of this store and fancied treating myself too. I came out with my shopping and bumped into friends daughter ..she looks at my shopping bags and has a sarcastic grin on her face saying 'oh marks' I say yes I couldn't be arsed to go to Asdas etc just finished work wanna get home...well she said if that was me I'd walk to Asda's to save myself ALL that money hitching judge pants to under chin AIBU to think that a friends DD (aged 30) who will only wear Dune shoes and who's DH and her both have good jobs should not piss me off big time have to judge where I chose to shop??

That's what the idea of preying on the social insecure is about, it's not my opinion PickAChew, you big dope.

I think the OP'a friend's daughter made a lighthearted comment. That's all! Shopping in M&S or in Waitrose is not a big deal! They are just supermarkets.

I didn't say they were top end.

If you want to talk shoes I could very probably tell you what to expect to pay for shoes and boots from from Shoes R Us through to Chanel couture.

Doesn't change the fact that a lot of ordinary, working people wouldn't be able to spend £80 on a pair of court shoes does it?
You can pay £20,000 for a pair of bespoke Jimmy and £3.00 for some pumps in Peacocks so 'middle of the road' is a pretty subjective label for a shoe retailer.

...the OP's friend's daughter...

Most kids shoes retail around £40 on the high street, so that's a good indication of what middle of the road is. So is the average price on the high street. There aren't many places where you can buy a pair of shoes for £3 in this country. I would even struggle to find a pack of socks for that price. (£3, £10, a couple of quid doesn't make any difference).

Dune shoes are nice. Nothing special but you get what you pay for. And they're extremely comfortable. (Maybe they just fit my foot shape, idk.)

But I agree with Maui. 3 £ for a pair of shoes?! where?

I have never spent £40 on a pair of kids shoes and I have had five DCs.

You can buy shoes for £3.00 in the sale at Primark, Peacocks, Asda, Sainsburys, B&M, Select, New Look, H&M etc That isn't including outlets and market stalls of course.

My DC's shoes come from Supermarkets and would cost around £10-15.

I used to get the older DCs from Sports Direct but I won't shop there now so get them from JD etc. DS's last pair cost £20.

Last pair of shoes (as opposed to sneakers) cost me £9. Grey leather ballet flats.

£9? For good quality shoes?

Amazing. Where did you buy them?

Sainsburys. Sale plus 25% off.

Not sure what you mean about good quality though. That wasn't part of the discussion and is also pretty subjective isn't it?

We all know that hand made, leather shoes are better quality than mass produced synthetic ones but price isn't always an indicator of superior quality once you get out of a certain price range.

Top Shop is much more expensive than Primark but the quality is no better for example.

Shoes from Ecco are generally described as good quality but are (IME) hideous. I have some lovely leopard print kitten heels that cost me a tenner, are comfortable and ten years old.

I would prefer to buy my shoes full price wherever I fancied but thats not going to happen any time soon so I shall continue bargain hunting.

Sorry. My mistake. Those grey ones were from a Next outlet. store.

The sainsburys ones were ones I was going to buy but were too similar to the ones I already had to justify.

Just wondering if anyone who thinks that one supermarket's food is nicer than another's has ever watched Eat Well for Less. I think, whatever you think about Greg Wallace, it should be compulsory viewing.

betrand

But it isn't about taste, is it?

(At least usually)

I've always been the type of person who shops around to get the best I can for my money.

I earn minimum wage and do most of my shopping at Lidl but I frequently buy meat from Morrison's, booze from Asda or Tesco (depending on the offers that week), homeware and toiletries from Poundland. I go into M&S for a lot of things too - the Dine in for 2 deals are fantastic and we also love the biscuits and hot chocolate flavoured vodka.

I avoid Sainsburys at all costs, though. They do nice candles but that's it for me.

In conclusion...yeah, I just shop where I like. I couldn't give a shit what others think of my choices (although there are always plenty of people to judge).

"betrand

But it isn't about taste, is it?

(At least usually)"

No it isn't. It's about social insecurity. But people pretend it's about taste and quality. They explore that in surprisingly sensitive ways in Eat Well For Less..........

Where are all the Asdas that only sell processed food? Everyone I've been in had aisles of fresh stuff I agree with Bertrand about social insecurity. A colleague (who lives with his parents) was telling me recently that he only shops in M&S or Waitrose. He also loudly tells everyone that he 'doesn't do Europe' for holidays, only flys Virgin, only drinks Starbucks etc. He's a nice enough young bloke but ridiculously conscious of needing to appear affluent, to the extent that he won't let anyone drop him off outside his house (I know where he lives and it's a pretty standard semi,not the image he wants to portray).

It's s weird thing in Britain, supermarket class judgment. Surely it's just best to shop where's most convenient and decent? I buy loads from Iceland as it's opposite work, same as M&S, spinach is £1 in Iceland for a huge bag, £1.89 in M&S for a tiny one. I'd have to be out of my mind to go to M&S for that.

My local Asda does those wonky veg boxes. They're about £3.00 and are huge and packed with loads of different vegetables.
The staff are lovely and helpful. We have a halal butchers, a takeaway section, a really good deli and pizza counter and a cracking bakery which does artisan type breads. It's in a bit of a rough and ready area, but I've never seen any trouble in there. (Not the brawls and violence various MNetters I've read over the years would have you believe).

I'm glad people avoid it, all the more for me. Oh, and the school uniforms are great - dc2 is a little grub, asda stuff is hard wearing and washes fine.

It's like being back at school at times, in here. "Ewwww, you've got a Kwik Save carrier bag, Ewww." 🙄

This morning I might have said YABU, however having just dragged my (poorly) self and my 2 screaming darling kids around a massive Asda, you are most definitely NBU. It was sheer hell.

So what do you get in M and S that you can't get elsewhere? The biscuits are very good and the dine in for £10 is great value and some of the gift type food is nice for presents.

The ability to get straight in and out with a full trolley in half an hour or less, for one.

Closest supermarket is a tesco extra. The bulk of my shop is fresh stuff, but the veg in there is manky and the meat doesn't keep snd is usually of the bare minimum welfare standards. DH did an orchard product test on their fish and we struggled to find anything fsc certified. I have to walk past aisles of irrelevant shite to find it all. I can't do a full week's shop in there or asda.

We can and have done a full week's shop in Sainsbury's (I have a delivery pass which I use 3 or 4 times a month) but it's actually more expensive than m&s for what we buy. For example, it costs more for a couple of packs of free range thighs and drumsticks in Sainsbury's than the equivalent packs of free range organic thighs and drumsticks in markses. The markses ones are bigger and we've experienced the Sainsbury's ones being quite tough with broken bones in them.

And like the op, I'm a carer and my kids have quite restrictive diets, complicated by food intolerances. I also gave my own health issues and sometimes I need prick with a fork and bung in the oven food or we simply don't get to eat. I planned a simple roast on a day, earlier this week, when the kids both went into meltdown as I was cooking, dh was extremely tired after they'd given us an early start and I was feeling a bit wobbly before everything blew up. I only went and bloody scalded myself. You can bet your boots I've not been lentil weaving or eking out magic chickens, this week.

bertrand

I actually meant that it's not just about taste but also about supporting local businesses (or at least English/British businesses). About buying organic food. A variety of season produce etc...

A combo of waitrose, m and s and aldi/lidl (whichever is closer) will sort you out. You'll never have a need to set foot in the hell hole known as asda again.

About 15 years ago I moved near Croydon and went to the local Asda. There were about 20 aisles of frozen and very little fresh food. When i asked where the cheese was. I was shown to a very small fridge which had loads of cheese strings and kids packed lunch type cheeses. I said no, i wanted some brie, and they guy said that was it and they didn't sell anything like that.

I would consider Dune mid range high street. Primark low end high street. Dune, Office mid and Clarks lower mid range and Russel and Bromley and Jones the bootmaker high end high street.

We have an Aldi and an m and s on the same plot. Literally next door. I shop at both. Love taking my Aldi bags into m and s

All the Asdas I have ever been (Leeds, Barnsley and Sheffield) in have had loads of fresh food. It seems odd that some stores don't sell as much.