Need to change the way we shop. Tips?

[newtonupontheheath]

We have had Sainaburys home delivery for about a year now, but I'm finding it increasingly expensive. We are spending the £100 for free delivery, not getting much (no fruit/fresh veg or bread) then constantly topping up at lidl because its cheap. Only it's not cheap when we spend the same again "topping up" treating ourselves

We are lucky that we have pretty much any supermarket to choose from, I'm not brand loyal so will try basics etc but which is actually best? (We are a family of 4, dc are nearly 3 and nearly 1)
Thanks

wow!! is that weekly?

i'd suggest you cut the treats and meal plan

out of interest,what are these treats?

Love Lidl. Use them the most and get the bulk of my shopping there.

We also do a monthly Morrisons run for nice 'proper' bread, cooking bacon, spirali pasta and check for any other particularly special offers whilst we're there.

After that it depends who's got what on offer and whether we're after anything specific (at which point I shufty on the internet before heading out).

Out of interest what kind of stuff are you buying on the initial Sainsburys order?

I use sainsburys too and I agree with you that it seems to have become more expensive recently.

I've been using Asda online, which is cheaper than tesco, and gas delivery for only £2 in some slots.

In term time I do lidl and aldi for a lot of stuff; no good wth dcs in tow.

I also do the subscribe and save thing on amazon for loo roll, dog food and some Eco household things, which works out much cheaper.

Just came back from Aldis, having saved about £40 on our weekly shop. Meal planning helps a lot, as less wastage. Most of their own brand stuff is fine, with possible exception of cereal. Cheese and butter about half the price of Tesco, meat also cheaper.

Aldi's pretend shreddies are very good AuntySib..we bulk those when the special 6 is what I want

No, it's not weekly... It's probably fortnightly. We are both working full time so getting to the supermarket with 2 dc is a pain. Worth it if we were saving, but I don't feel we are. We spent £250 (joint acc) on proper food shops last month and then £150 on odd supermarket trips.

Usually it's stuff like fresh fruit and veg (we mainly but frozen buy frozen but still need more between shops) dh will buy beer, stuff he fancies. We also buy meat sometimes as i thought it was too expensive at lidl.That total does include some vests and a coat reduced in morrisons though (prob less than £10 though)
I'm not daft, I know treats and beer will have to go/be reduced in order to reduce our budget, I just need to get us out of this habit and into a better one

Sorry if that's a bit waffely, I've got the dc racing round!!

Sorry, what is subscribe and save?

Check the price per kg of the meat you're buying..I haven't found anywhere cheaper than Lidl for fresh meat (as in joints & whole chicken) on a day to day basis. Their organic chicken is only £3.33 (ish) per kg (normal is £2.40) and beef is Red Tractor and usually competitive too. I do check for special specials at other stores at the start of the month though.

That would be the first thing I'd start to do if I were you. Check out per kg and per litre on all your standard buys and then compare accordingly. Those 3 for a tenner packs (for example) are usually hideously expensive per kg . Sainsburys fresh fruit and veg is a bit price-wise too.

My DH thinks I am a loon for knowing what everything is per litre/kg but it works in his favour when it comes to him wandering down the 'hmmmm beer' aisles

Lidl for meat/fruit and veg/cleaning stuff.
Tesco value ranges for tinned tomatoes, tinned fruit, ornage juice, kids yogurts.
Even own brand normal stuff is cheaper in Tesco. The only non brand thing that I have to compromise on for some reason is cereal - the kids just don't like non branded stuff.

Subscribe and save is when you sign up for regular deliveries of items you buy all the time. For example, I get loo roll every six months, I think, dog food every month. Giant thing of washing up liquid every wee while too.

You can skip a delivery if you don't need it and cancel it any time. So far I am pleased with it as it helps me to be more organised and avoid emergency dashes to shop for essentials, leading to extra shopping....

But you do need room to keep the stuff.

Oh, and shops like bm home stores and semichem can be great for bargains on crisps and treats. And sometimes household items, and stuff for the garden.

Cheap Pom bears...

(Im on my phone so cant see who said what, but thank you...)

I meant Sainsburys wasn't/lidl was cheap for meat... (Woops) yes 3 for £10 is what made me want to move away from sainsburys. And im finding less choice on their website, especially considering our local store has been refurbished and is now enormous.

I could try asda or tesco for delivery. Is there one cheaper than the other? When we moved here sainsburys were the only ones that would deliver (new estate) and we've just stick with them.
Subscribe and save sounds good. Could do with that for wet wipes as well!
I make my own cleaning stuff so save £££ there but I actually found b&m was becoming expensive as I'd go with mum and there was also a pound shop and a wilkinsons and I'd spend more than I needed to again! So I've just stopped going anywhere near those little precinct things.

I wait to be flamed but have you tried mysupermarket.com
I appears to save me money, but I am happy to be corrected

Why would you get flamed CMP? I've not been on there before. I was reluctant to go online somewhere else as I hate how long it takes first time round.

Hi OP.. I would quit Sainsbury altogether and do most of your shopping in LIDL. The cereals, fruit and veg, beans, bread, all your lunchbox treats, cleaning stuff - excellent. The muesli in the blue bag is great. I have the fake weetabix at the minute - perfect.
Do you need to eat meat every evening? Just a suggestion but pesto/pasta with stir fry veg could be an option.
I go to the butcher on the high street for meat and just buy what I need - even down to numbers of sausages/bacon.

We go Aldi and do most of our shopping there. We bulk buy special offers and batch cook and freeze. We have a spare freezer in the garage to accommodate this. We also always look at the reduced to clear section in the supermarkets and purchase what we will use from there. We have a quarterly run down of our supplies before I am allowed to buy anymore so as to stop the lesser favored meals being left in the freezer for ages. We have a guideline of maximum £1 per portion of the main ingredient of a meal so if something goes over that it is bought only when reduced to clear or on a special occasion.

Do you meal plan? Knowing what you actually need saves loads.