To not understand why food shopping daily should cost more?

[xhannahx]

We have 1 DD and another on the way, so in terms of convenience this may change in the future, however many people common on how expensive doing it like that is and I just don't get it!

I buy exactly what we need, and whatever isn't used on the day will be used on a following day. Of there are deals I will still stock up occasionally.

Is this really true?

I simply do not have time to shop every couple of days, I barely have time to do it once a week. But great that you are able to get it right for your circumstances.

Do you not understand how one more plate of food will up the food bill by 33%.

Simplistically, f you are making 3 ham sandwiches (6 slices of buttered bread, 3 slices of ham) , you will now have to make 4 - that being 8 slices of bread, 4 of ham. you may not be wasting food but you are consuming more, Unless your new child is going to live on fresh air?

In our case it would also be prudent to add petrol costs so that would add up too.

I know why it costs me more. "Oh I'll just chuck this in; that looks nice; extra treat here, etc".

Organisation and online shopping would probably save me about £100 a week!! This time next year eh, rodders.

I do a daily shop as two supermarkets very close to work. Firstly as I go 4/5 times a week I can carry it home and it saves petrol having to drive at weekends do full shop. Also, I'm also on the look out for one off bargains, clearance items which mainly enables us to have salmon/chicken fillets and mackeral on top of a mainly veggie diet. We are a family of two adults and one 16 year old and I spend £45 on average a week which usually includes a cheap bottle of wine.

I never buy anything daily. I go to a supermarket twice a week (different ones). That means that things have long enough shelf life (4 days maximum between shopping trips). I meal plan, so buy only the fresh things I need for the next 3/4 days (i.e. bread, milk, fruit & veg, meat). I buy the longer date stuff (packets/tins etc) according to which supermarket has offers, so I can have several weeks worth of tins, crisps, loo rolls, etc. The only waste I have is the remnants of milk/bread that hasn't been used, which is minimal.

If you are strict about making the most out of the offers, than it's probably just the time and petrol money spend going to the shops every day that would stop me.
I wouldn't have the time and energy to do my shopping every day. I'd rather plan for a week and have all the ingredients at home.

I find a MASSIVE monthly shop for tins of tomatoes, beans, pasta, rice, oil, wine, chocolate, frozen vegetables plus a mini shop every day or two for fresh vegetables/fish/meat works for me.

I'm terrible with impulse buying so it would be more for me. I love the idea of living by a daily market in the south of France or something and wandering down each morning to pick up fresh stuff but with Tesco it's not quite the same really. :o as it is we mostly get a weekly delivery as we don't drive but DH can always pick up necessary bits if we run out as he works for Coop

Its pretty obvious that buying in bulk is cheaper though?

Say you have beans on toast every Friday tea time.

And using Tesco as a price point.

Buying a 4 pack of Heinz Beanz every four weeks costs £2.70

Buying 1 tin of beans costs 75p, in four weeks you will have spent £3.

Buying in bulk is not cheaper if you don't use it all and throw some away.
Tins of beans keep but buying twice as much veg as you will use may be cheaper on price point but not worthwhile if it won't be used.

Buying in bulk is not cheaper if you don't use it all and throw some away.
Tins of beans keep but buying twice as much veg as you will use may be cheaper on price point but not worthwhile if it won't be used.

When I lived in town I shopped every day. I think it was cheaper as I'd hoover up reduced stuff and eat whatever. Now I live in the sticks I shop online and get a delivery every four days or so. You do whatever works for you. It doesn't need to be more expensive if you don't buy "bargains" you don't need.

But sometimes an individual tin may be reduced to 50p for a couple of weeks and cheaper than the £2.50 multipack of 4. To get best value you have to check each time as it varies nearly weekly.

messyjessy yes, but the point is, that buying thingsin bulk/multiples is cheaper - answering the OP not understanding why daily shopping should cost more.

I have always wondered this - I drive past a large supermarket twice a day so can easily pop in and get what we need daily, or every couple of days - I do wonder if I would waste less and plan more doing it this way....

messyjessy - that's not a problem of bulk buying it's a problem of poor planning and buying the wrong amount.

I'd be interested to see what you buy in a week and how much it costs OP, it may be cheaper because there are only 3 of you, I can't see how it would be for someone with many older children

If I bought a multipack of crisps expecting it to last all week, it would be gone by day two. Ditto biscuits.

Just saying.

If you are disciplined to not pick lots of things you won't use or are expensive treats (eg multipack of crisps everytime you go in rather than once a week) it can work out cheaper, especially if you have supermarkets close by or pass them on the way home from work.

If it works for you, great, and it doesn't stop you bulk buying to save money because for things you buy regularly, you just pick them up when on offer - you'd have to be a bit dim to only ever buy one tin of tomatoes or beans at a time when there cheaper multipacks if you regularly used tinned tomatoes for example.

As you have noticed, can also work well for reduced items. I pass an M&S simply food on the way home from work and pop in about once a week to see if there is any good reductions, things will freeze or can be used in the next day or two. Most of the rest of our shopping comes from Aldi, which I also pass on the way home from work.

Every so often I will go to another supermarket (also pass Morrisons, Asda, Tesco and Home Bargains on way home from work!) to stock up on things not sold in Aldi. I probably shop twice a week on average, so the same as one regular weekly shop and one top up shop, but use the variety available to get a good combination of cheap staples from Aldi, branded stuff on offer from main supermarkets and occasional reduced treats and offers from M&S.

Buying bulk items more cheaply but infrequently then topping up often with what is on offer / reduced can be one way to do it. I've done this in the past but I'm not an impulse buyer and kept aware of prices, so if butter drops below a certain level it was time to stock up.

As well as buying in bulk, PLANNING is key.

If you shop weekly you are much more likely to be planning your meals ahead of time.

You know what you're doing with the second half of that bag of spinach or the other half of the jar of curry paste or the remaining butternut squash.

If you're shopping every day you're more likely to think "I don't really fancy that" and let the butternut squash go slimy in the bottom of the fridge.

I find I spend less doing smaller, more frequent shops in local/express supermarkets.

Our small Co-op in the square is fine if you just want to grab macaroni, cheese and salad for dinner, but if we drive to the big Asda I'd get come out with stuff for dinner, and pudding and a bottle of wine, and three bottles of whatever shower gel is on offer, four pairs of kids' pyjamas and a smelly candle.

I still like a big, "treaty" shop every now and then tho.

We should daily because I'm disabled and have stomach issues so don't know how I'm going to be from one day to the next.

If we weekly shop and meal plan, I could end up not being able to eat 5 out of 7 meals and we would waste a LOT.

By shopping daily we can buy what I'm able to eat and there's no waste. We spend less and waste less.

We don't use any more petrol either. DH passes the shops on the way home from work.

Shop not should.