Grocery shopping....anyone else finding it increasingly expensive? What do you pay weekly?

[whispywhisp]

Anyone got any recommendations on Tesco Value products - are they any good? What foods to avoid that are clearly rubbish?

We are a family of four. I have always tried to buy our groceries economically but have tended to avoid Tesco Value products because I've worried about the quality.

Its now become so expensive to buy food and household products that we've got no choice but to buy the cheaper range.

I don't know what everyone else is spending each week but, on average, I'm paying way over £100 per week on everything - food, cleaning materials, pet food etc etc and we simply can't afford to continue like this.

What does everyone else do? Are we all finding it increasingly expensive to buy groceries? Anyone found some of the Tesco Value stuff should be avoided?

I would grow my own stuff but we don't have the room. I would use a local greengrocer...if we had one. I cook all our meals - we are a family who eat a lot of fruit and veg and its those items that I'm finding have gone up so much. I like my kids to eat well, which they do, I don't want them to eat junk (which they'd love to, I'm sure!). Help!

disneystar - i suspect it's all the wine DP buys

Oh and washing powder, shower gel etc I don't stick to a brand I buy whatever is bogof-get nicer stuff than I would otherwise buy this way!

smoked white fish is lovely in a kedgeree

So what do you do if you live in expensive Surrey?

We have a Tesco about 15 minutes away and a small Sainsbury's in town. To get to an Asda, an Aldi or a Lidl is a 35-45 minute drive. We have an expensive local butcher but no greengrocer although we do have a weekly market with averagely priced fruit and veg. At the moment I shop online at Tesco and top up locally if I absolutely have to.

I think my only way of saving more money is to menu-plan more strictly and pursue some more value options. I do feel persecuted by the cheap stores shunning our leafy expensive area though, especially as there are lots of people around here worse off than we are.

is there anywhere you can buy cheap organic & freerange?

UPDATE!!!! The washing has come out lovely. Smells gorgeous. Nice and clean and soft. So top marks for Tescos Value washing liquid and softener.

...am yet to try it on DD1's white t-shirts from school though...y'know the ones that come home with half a tin of paint spilt down, a carton of Ribena and the odd permanent marker pen marks!

I'm the same as Fio, I've budgeted £100 per week, to include my petrol and electric (I buy it and put on a meter). I'm lucky as in N.I. there is still a big thing for local shops, we have 7 butchers in my small town and about 4 green grocers. The independant chemists are often cheaper than Boots etc. And our local Spar has some very good offers on every week. This week persil and comfort are less than half price.

'expat, can you post a months shopping list please! '

I don't really have a set one.

We only eat meat 2-3 times/week because it's too expensive and we get it from a farmer's market. Ditto most veg.

It works out cheaper than any supermarket.

We only use Lidls for basics and tins of stuff and things like frozen chips - we have a deep fat fryer and on Fridays tea is a chips and beans with cheese melted on top.

We don't buy bread because we make it all - we buy flour and yeast in bulk at a local healthfood shop and it works out cheaper for us because for us to go to a supermarket involves a lot of cost as we have to use a ferry and drive some distance.

I also buy eggs from a farm around the corner because I use a lot of them since I bake everything - scones, rolls, biscuits, cakes, treats, etc.

We also don't buy alcohol at all. Can't afford it.

There are no takeaways or restaurants around here for miles, so there is never any temptation to go out as it just isn't an option unless you want to drive for miles, so we always have basics to hand to spin a quick meal - couscous, pasta, rice, tins of tuna and tomato and beans, etc.

I always bake as well. But only buns

sandy4 - organic and freerange, yes. Cheap organic and freerange, no ...

top marks to the Lidl washing powders and liquids.

they smell fab and work a treat and are cheap.

i don't use fabric softener, though.

i had to laugh at procrastingparent there is no such thing as cheap organic is there
but like i said i get a fruit and veg delivery from
((www.abelcole.co.uk))
approx £23 a week for a family box
sandy neither me or my DH drink or smoke so no wine in the trolley for us not that we are goody people just seriously dont like any alcohol
as for chickens and pigs you know if i could i would but i live in such a posh area i could just imagine next door opening there french doors on a sunday morning and hearing pigs squeal god they are so stuck up round here,lovely area for children but neihbours complete snobs where there is just no need

Haven't read all of the posts but, here are my pearls of wisdom - Sainsburys basics nappies £1.48 for 20 (though only seem to be in the large sizes) look a bit rubbish on the outside and the tabs don't stick if you've got creamy hands- having said that all nappies were like this when I had Ds1 now 11yrs. Am only using them for dd at night(dry during the day) but no leaks or rashes so, def worth a try if you need to pull your belt in a bit. Also it is well worth going on the Money Saving expert site there are load s of brilliant tip s for money saving and if you're shopping on line use cash back sites such as quidco rather than going directly to a site to get money back on yoyr shopping which is paid into your bank account or via pay pal.

I've been trying some of the 'feed your family for a fiver recipes' from Sainsbury and actually they're not too bad (there are 5 of us though that includes a nearly 3 yr old) and are aimed 4 adults or 2adults plus 2 teenagers. We had oriental pork last week and I've got the bits for salmon fishcakes and the pork noodles this week.

At the moment I'm doing shopping for 6 of us for about £50 a week from tesco!!

There are always discounts and online codes to be taken advantage of which helps.

That shop includes nappies and washing powder etc.

I then go to a local farm shop for fruit and veg when I can which is prob more expensive than tesco but their 'fresh' produce is rubbish and would prefer to buy local and let the kids pick their own.

Our fav budget meal is fresh trout fillets, fried in garlic butter with lemon and dill, new/baby potatoes, baby corn and green beans. So it doesn't all have to be 'horrible' food to be reasonably cheap.

also we have lots of casseroles etc except when it's really hot - cheap cuts of meat are great slow cooked and go really far, and there are always leftovers for the freezer.

i always look on the discounted meat section in tescos - especially if i know i have room in the freezer.

i don't drive so getting to our nearest lidl is a real pain with a buggy and 2 ds's.

another tip i got off mn is that there is ALWAYS a store having 2-1 offers on wipes so stock up, never ever buy them full price (i know it's not food but it's a moneysaver)

and whoever said about the martin lewis tip of buying down a home brand - we do this on some things and dh never ever notices the difference!

don't ever buy cheap chickens though

wow zephyrcat - how do you do it??

Some weeks with great difficulty!

We get the fish, that's one meal. We get 2 for £4 mince and have a spag bol and then tacos or mince fajitas(?! but the kids love it!) Asda do big 12" fresh pizzas for £3 and they are quite nice. Also get 3 for £3 huggies wipes in ASda - tesco do the same deal on theor wipes but the huggies are lasting us longer for some reason. Nappies we get tesco active fit.

If I shop online I go through all the offers first and if there's anything good, build around it.

We struggle mostly with milk and fresh fruit/veg as we get through so much and spending bits and pieces everyday soon adds up. I need to plan some meals like Shephards Pie etc which are big enough for all of us but not cost a fortune to make!

i'm trying to economise and just spent £148 in sainsbury's . it's gone up a lot recently. i didn't buy any meat or any booze and only one packet of choc biscuits so i don't think I was indulgent.

I am waiting for 'the paupers cookbook' here to arrive from amazon. it's taking a while cos it's on free delivery, of course also treated myself to a tom norrington davies cookbook cupboard lovewhich is meant to gather 'families' of recipes together so you can shop for core ingredients and then vary them to keep boredom at bay at the same time as keeping lid on cost. i like his other cookbook a lot.

there's a new cookbook out which might suit some people which gives you recipes for every week of the year and a shopping list and ensures you get best out of fresh stuff and store cupboard. too prescriptive for me... new kitchen revolution cookbook

Can also reccomen aldi dishwasher tabs and their dishwasher cleaner after first use tonight!

Wow! What some useful tips on here! I'm glad I started this thread.

So far I'm fairly impressed with Tescos value range. I will do my next shop on-line - I may even do that on a weekly basis because now I've tried and tested a fair bit of their value stuff and I'm happy with it I find I don't spend so much if I order on-line.

The tip of looking at the offers first on the internet and building a shopping order around the offers is what I tend to do. I also tend to spend less if I order online because I can see the total topping up as I'm shopping unlike when you go to the shop itself and its a bit of a blow when you get to the till and its way over what you'd hoped!

When I was in Tescos last night whilst queuing up with my shopping on the till there was a very old lady paying for her shopping, dressed in pyjamas and slippers and clearly she was very confused. Her shopping came to £21.41 and she only had £16 on her. The woman on the till had to go thru her shopping to take stuff out and get taken off the bill. She only had the basics and I felt so sorry for her so I handed the difference she needed to the girl on the till. The old lady was so grateful - she almost cried. Her parting words to me were 'don't get old'. Bless her.

I wonder abou thte offers though. I bought some strawberries today which claimed to be half price and the price was £1.99. But they are always half price and always £1.99. Baby wipes are always buy one get one free. I've never bought a single pack. It's not like clothes in the sale. These "offers" have a price and the reduction is marketing.

now i personally do not like aldi d/washer tabs whatsoever i only use fairy tabs

Can i just say that morrisons betterbuy (or wotever its called!!) curry sauce for 5p is lovely!!!!

we had it last night for tea and my 2 kids who are both ASD ate it!!!! im stocking up on it,nearly fainted cos DS has NEVER eaten curry for me before.

Is this just my DH or are there others out there who...when I ask him to grab a loaf of bread on his way home from work he comes home with....

Two packets of crusty reduced rolls
Two un-cut loaves which have been reduced
Couple of packets of reduced crumpets
Couple of packs of reduced pancakes
Bagels...normally reduced
Oh and the loaf I'd asked for initially

..then he wonders why we have beans on toast for tea for the next week to eat all the bread up!

His idea of buying economically really doesn't work. He knows our freezer is quite small. He knows we have fresh bread. So why buy all the reduced stuff? And then he sneaks in a box of beer! Can't work that out at all.