Food shop advice please

[Pinkdollblonde]

First time writing a thread on here.
So my food shop has crept up from what used to be around 110 pound a week to 158 pound a week for 2 adults and 2 children. I have always shopped at Tescos online but thinking about trying somewhere cheaper as I know if I reduce what's on my list me or my partner will end up going to the local shops mid week and spend to get top ups. Has anyone got any advice of where is better Lidl, Aldi, Asdas? Thankyou Xx

Hi

Do you drive? I am in the same position as you. I do not drive and am 20 miles to my nearest Aldi and Lidl. I only have coop or morrisons near me. I do my shopping online at asda and it costs a lot and we need to top up during the week. We are a family of two adults 2 teenagers and 8 year old and 3 cats. I believe aldi is the cheapest option from what i have heard.

I go to Lidl but I do need to be disciplined with the top up shop so suck up the cost of cravendale milk. It lasts and I don't need atop up

Prices at Aldi have spiked too although they are still a fair bit cheaper than Tesco. Plus there are some things that I can’t get from Aldi.

I tend to do a Tesco or Sainsburys once a month and I check the offers and meal plan around those- plus there’s the added bonus of knowing roughly what your shop will cost when you check online. Then the rest of the time I’ll shop at Lidl and Aldi, working around their offers. Aldi is always good for veg, meat, basics etc but things like meal kits, spices, certain types of noodles or world foods you need to go to a bigger supermarket. I tend to buy extra and stash those for Aldi weeks so I only have to buy the ingredients for a meal.

I’m keeping the bill around £50-£55 which is still more than I can afford.. but trying harder to try new meals as I found things were getting boring having budget meals all the time.

One thing I don’t do though is top up shops, if it’s gone, it’s gone. Eat something else or go without 😂

We shop between aldi and Asda and our bill is usually around £50/£60 a week for 2 adults 1 child. I find tesco the most expensive so you'll probably see a difference wherever you decide to switch to.

I tend to do a couple shops at Aldi then one at Asda, as there are a few things Aldi don’t do, or products of theirs I don’t like, so top up those bits at Asda. Or also depends which I’m driving past. I do think Aldi and Lidl prices have also creeped up, though for the most part still cheaper than Tesco.
I don’t shop at Tesco as not one close to me, but the odd occasion I do I think it’s pricey. My dad says he saves a lot on club card prices and points though as he shops there a lot, so maybe it all evens out.
but I hear ya, even a basic shop now seems to cost us £60+, and my DS isn’t even on solids yet. I’m dreading adding baby/toddler snacks to the mix!

If you want online, asda is cheaper than Tesco. I personally use lidl mostly as it's closest.

The most important thing is being disciplined when meal planning and shopping. I can feed us for £60 (4 adults) but can easily spend £200 if I let my eye off the ball eg send dp

Definitely meal planning and shopping from a list - would it help to have two £40 shops delivered, so you don't run out of milk and salad? I find it easier to stick to a list if I'm not browsing the aisles. Obviously, you have to factor in delivery charges, but I'm sure I still spend less this way.

Asda deliver and Aldi do click and collect where I am.

I'm another one who meal plans and shops at Lidl (admittedly don't have kids) but I do my weekly shop at Lidl and for things I can't get there I stock up on Tesco once every 6 weeks or so. If they don't sell it in Lidl we generally just don't eat it. I think it helps that were are not particularly brand loyal (except DH loves Tesco raisin bran and we can't get that in Lidl) and a lot of what we get is veggies, meat and cupboard staples.

I shop at Tesco’s but have shopped at Aldi and to be honest I didn’t find Aldi any cheaper plus I kept having to do top up shops because the fruit and veg went off so quickly.

Aldi are definitely cheaper for crisps, cereals, kids lunch box snacks type of thing though so I nip in once every few weeks for that stuff.

That seems quite high, I shop for one adult, one teenage boy and spend £50 a week in Tesco.

As well as trying a different supermarket, have you analysed what you buy? Tried doing some blind taste tests with the family? Buying supermarket own rather than brands?

Thankyou everyone for replying.

I do think I need to be more disiplined with my food shops. I have decided I am going to start meal planning for the whole week and try and do an online order with asda.

I think the idea of doing two 40 pound shops a week is a great idea too. I work next door to a budgens and have a bad habit of popping in there after work to pick up milk and bread then end up getting extra bits I don't need ontop of that.

Also have heard people say they find it cheaper to go to places like b&m and savers to get cleaning supplies and nappies separate from food shop so I might try to do this too.

Xxx

Your shop sounds high, I shop in tesco with a small top up from Asda and hover around £100-£120 for 2 adults and 2 dcs that eat adult portions. That includes beer and wine at the weekend. What meals do you cook and is there a lot of waste?

That’s really quite high for 2a 2c, do you find you have much food waste?

We’re 3a 2c and my shop this week is £57.83 to include 3 meals/day and some snacks (no toiletries or cleaning products this week) with 2dc dairy free and other allergies. We shop between aldi and Asda.

I meal plan for 5/6 days of the week leaving some leeway in case of young adults being out.
My cheapest shopping phase was when I was a SAHM years ago.
I realise it was a luxury life in many ways but I used to go to Tesco every 3/4 weeks to get all the toiletries/ tinned goods etc.
I then shopped daily at farm shop, butcher, fish van etc buying in season and literally only buying exactly what we needed even if it was one sausage or two potatoes or whatever. I have always cooked from scratch but in those days with only a baby to look after I had a lot of time to fiddle about preparing food.

I shop at Lidl mostly but I can't get everything in there. Food goes off faster there so I have to shop weekly and top up from Tesco or Sainsbury's. However I do have a car and I need to pop to Sainsbury's to fill the car up and get specific noodles for my son (ASD so they have be the right brand!) My eldest son dislikes anything from Lidl. But he can't tell the difference most of the time

I bulk buy what I can either online if say cat food or long life food/drink from Costco or Aldi/ Lidl. I don't shop in those weekly but find their fizzy drinks/baked beans/big tins of coffee/teabags then work out cheaper in the long run than getting it all from Tesco weekly. I do get my fresh foods from Tesco and meats but even those I'm thinking of trying one of those meat delivery websites like Muscle Food and freeze it.

I think the idea of two £40 shops a week is a good one. I am amazed you can spend that much in a week. We are two adults shopping limit is £160 a month. So £40 a week.
I usually do a big shop every second week then a smaller shop the next week.
we are not big fruit hands. I basically buy grapes, bananas and apples but eat lots of veg.
I meal plan meat most days. It’s usually chicken. I can joint and turn a chicken into a minimum 4 meals usually more by making savoury rice with chicken and chicken broth etc. Most meals are bulked out with veg and or pulses.
The £40 includes toiletry’s and cleaning. 3 meals plus snacks a day.
with the food increases we are talking of upping it to £45 to £50 a week.
Mostly stick to own brands apart from Hellmans, Vimto and Pepsi max.

I used to shop at tesco and sainsburys exclusively until a year ago when I moved house. I recently went to a tesco and really noticed the price hikes- even with the clubcard discounts on some items.

I now do a mix of aldi/lidl and asda-with the odd Morrisons visit if I can't get someone at the others. I find aldi/lidl great for basics. It was a bit of trial and error at the beginning to try own brands though. Most are great and barely noticeable that they aren't branded- ketchup, , biscuits, crisps, bake beans, tin tomatoes, tuna etc. I like that lidl have a fresh bakery inside and some of their grain breads, sour dough boules etc are delicious and 1/2 the price of tesco. I don't like the coffee though.

The grass fed range of meat from lidl I find excellent (if you eat meat). I don't find aldi/lidl's fruit and vegetables last that long though.

I've always shopped in Tesco due to location and Clubcard points but recent cost of living changes has prompted a little experiment to see which supermarkets are actually cheaper both in money and for my time spent shopping due to their stock availability.

I've found that although aldi and lidl have been slightly cheaper overall, the stock levels and choice have been pretty low and meant I've spent more time doing an extra visit to a bigger supermarket to get particular things i.e sanitary brands or wider choice of frozen veg.
I've also found that although cheaper for some things, they are not as cheap as they used to be and many items are comparable in price to the big 4 or if cheaper are in a smaller portion but price per weight is pretty much the same.

Ideal scenario is having endless time to get cheapest from each place but not very practical.

I'll be trying asda next but I have a feeling I'll be going back to tesco.

Thannkyou everyone for your advice. I think its clear I am spending way too much. I defo need to mix things up. I tend to shop as I go online and the price just creeps up. I am going to write a meal plan for every day and give the unbranded products a go when I do my online Asda shop tomorrow.

We've got a weekly budget and I stick to it, no matter what. If I think I'm going to go over, then I change items in my trolley, ie a cake for cheap biscuits - when it comes to it, if you want something sweet with coffee, the biscuits tick the box. If I've got a couple of ready meals, I can cook a pasta dish much cheaper, I have treat cereals but these can be swapped for Tescos shreddies at 89p, which we all like etc. Those trips to Budgens need to be kept brief, don't even look at anything else.

We now go to Lidl or Aldi and are averaging about £75 a week on food and groceries rather than £100. There are some items we like but cannot get to do a bulk buy of them in a bigger supermarket every few months and this is included in the £75 average.

The only problem we find is that sometimes certain fruit and veg are out of stock but we simply pick another product. Oh the shorter check out ends are very annoying but I guess their business models rely on getting customers in and out quickly.

Try Iceland, if you spend £40 you get a free delivery. They don't let you book more than one shop at a time so there is usually availability.

Try your local butcher and greengrocer.

When you meal plan, plan to use left overs or cook 2 meals at a time eg you can make gnocchi with just baked potatoes and flour so if I cook baked potatoes I cook more and make gnocchi the next day.

I have my meal plan on a word document. I plan the week, then check my cupboards / fridge / freezer for what I already have in.

Then I add the ingredients onto a list on the plan and I use that to order.

Just to add to this info meal plan and plan in snacks too.

Go once a week to avoid impulse buys. Milk last at least a week and bread can be frozen.

We plan out meals based on how long things will last so stir fries and salads at the start of the week.

I also plan two budget meals (soup and part baked baguettes, poached eggs on toast) usually with a bigger desert, and one potluck meal which involve freezer or leftovers.

Substantial Snacks for teens can be toast or pot noodles are 29p from Aldi.

Prices are going up in all shops. You could look up prices on their websites and look for offers?