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!

jenk i second that one it is nice !!!!

I'm definitely paying more than I used to but I also think some supermarkets are taking the mickey. 95p for an iceberg lettuce in May in Morrisons is more about their expensive 'rebranding' than the cost of lettuces coming out of spain etc, whatever the cost of oil!((imo). So I've looked towards smaller places, but also think they are beginning to take advantage.

I like wilkinsons for cleaning stuff/ toothpaste/cat food (Brekkies much cheaper than Go Cat! ) etc

But really like lidl generally - but especially for dishwasher powder, tinned sardines, great quality ham, v good value veg and they do a reduced fat brand - Linessa for many items.

ok question is lidl same as aldi?

well same kinda things i mean

whispy i ranf my dh last night to ask him to get me a bottle of diet pepsi he came home from work with pepsi and a irobot vacuum and he says i spend money
no way im complaining though its very good going to save me loads of time especially with new baby coming

Great ideas on here. I've just switched to doing a 'first shop' in Lidl and then topping up from Asda. Don't buy the pickled beetroot, olives or potato waffles from Lidl though as they really aren't that great. Look carefully at the veg and get what looks nice. Their potatos have been great! I also get minced beef, chicken fillets and sausages from Costco about once every 3 months and freeze them. They are good quality meat but just in bulk.

Tesco value dishwasher tablets came almost top in a Which survey a few months ago, so we've been using them ever since.

Just flicked through this thread.
I have found a great website, which I found really surprising.
mySupermarket.com
You do an online shop from your usual store through their website, and they tell you how much you could save by going to another supermarket. Their ideas to save you money are sometimes screwy - like swop your big box of cereal for a small one?!?!
What I found surprising was that Sainsbury's, which I always considered to be expensive, came out cheaper than Tesco according to what I had shopped for!
I can manage with some planning to shop for £50-£60 a week. And that's with a bottomless pit for a 10 year old ds!!

For cheap (er) organic meat, just buy a load when you see it reduced and freeze it. I do this with goat's milk as well (dd has a reaction to cow's milk) - our Waitrose often has it reduced because so few people seem to buy it. Oh and buy frozen veg, it's better for you than a lot of fresh stuff and you don't end up with shrivelled carrots in the bottom of your fridge (or is that just me?). And Lidl is fab for things like tinned tomatoes and organic fruit and veg (though range is limited).

In fact a cheap chest freezer, strict menu planning (and shopping) and growing our own (especially salad and strawberries) has saved us a fortune this year.

My money savers:

1. Costco (bulk-buying nappies, washing powder, etc), Aldi, Lidl... but often only worth it if it's local / you're passing anyhow / doing a BIG stock-up... otherwise exorbitant fuel cost can outweigh savings!

1. Signing up for Tesco rewards, Nectar, Boots advantage card, etc... if you're spending money there anyhow, you may as well get the regular money-off / extra points (can be converted periodically to money off) vouchers.

1. using the internet & local milkman... avoids the "impulse purchasing" and makes keeping track of budgeting easier

1. planning meals to avoid wastage

1. veg & herb patch in the garden

1. cooking & freezing veg (and meat) before it goes out of date.

Soft fruit (strawberries, raspberries...) can be stewed (chuck in pan & heat!) and then freezes nicely... defrost & serve with some plain vanilla ice-cream makes a yummy dessert. Or make your own jam with it (if you have a bread machine it may well have a "jam making" setting) Other fruit stews well too - I regularly stew old eating apples (granny smiths are particularly good for this), then occasionally defrost, add crumble topping and hey-presto = one yummy (and healthy-ish) pud. I also make pasta sauces / potato-topped bakes with left-over veggies & meat, then freeze them.

1. home-made bread... bread machines are great for this, but you can still make bread pretty easily without one

1. Bulk-buy when things are especially discounted - BUT only if 1) they are freezable, or 2) long-dated / non-perishable AND 3) you know you will use them!

Hi,

we are a family of 4 (with twin girls aged 1 year) and we spend about £250 a month on groceries. Not sure if that is good or not?

In a totally unscientific test I went to Morrisons today instead of Tescos.

There are 3 of us (although dd only 7mths) plus dog, and we normally do 2 kinds of shops - most weeks a bog standard, basics only, meal-planned shop, then every so often if DH has had some overtime pay, a less careful shop where we throw in nice biccies and a bottle of wine etc.

Basic shop £40-£50, treaty shop £70ish. (from Tesco).

Well today I got a big shop, the £70ish kind, from Morrisons and it was just over £50! Got some Morrisons own but quite a bit branded, lots more offers I thought. Morrisons from now on for us I think (Lidl miles away, used to use it and it is v v g )

£250 for a month for a family of four is good, imo. Presumably that includes cleaning stuff too?

Seems like a fair few mn'ers actually want to pay more for their food as this is the "right" thing to do.

Food prices atm are ridiculously high. Cutting costs is fine but the line has to be drawn somewhere.

Here

I need to cut back on food so there is money for fuel - be it heating/water/car

I am on fuel meters so can budget for those, saves having a hefty bill come in each quarter.

I bought a yoghurt maker for about £20 from lakeland. It is really easy to make yoghurt and saves me at least £6 a week.

The yoghurt is lovely and creamy, brilliant with all the fresh fruit around at this time of the year.

i was wondering if they work ok jazz we buy a lot of yoghurts and stuff like that which one did you buy?

Ok - I apologise if this has been mentioned already but I don't have time to read the whole thread at the moment.

My secret is going to my local market at about 3.30pm on a Saturday just before they shut as they are practically giving stuff away to get rid of it. We went last week and for £5 bought masses of cherries, 12 ripe peaches, 14 bananas,a bunch of grapes and 3 small punnets of strawberries. The bananas, cherries and peaches were nicer than the supermarket ones and there were only a few manky strawberries so well worth it. The veg was just as cheap but we didn't buy any that time. We only discovered this by accident but this week we are going to buy our meat, veg and cheese there too and are set to save a packet.

Try it!

Pound shops are fab for cleaning products and toiletries and Farm Foods is much cheaper than any supermarket for frozen stuff.

farm foods is good if you need to buy a lot i agree well even if you only need a bit but very economical with a large family

pound shops god for cleaning yep they are only problem with that for me is its in town and i never go there ever i have a thing about being in large crowds,

Disneystar,

I got the one they sell in lakeland (and an extra pot). I use UHT milk - so no boiling etc, a couple of teaspoons of natural bio yog to start, then use some of the stuff I have made. I also add a bit of powdered milk to make it thicker. Makes about a litre.

Plug and leave for 8 hours. Warm yoghurt.

I put straight in fridge without stirring - lovely.

You know what's in it - fresh and clean and has broken DS and DH away from even more sweet stuff. They both love it naturally,but sometimes make smoothies with overripe bananas but can also use it to make soups creamy etc..

That and my breadmaker - worth every penny!

thanks jazz il take a look yeah i love my breadmaker to

I got accosted in Lidl today by an angry man called Doogie who was sent to do the shopping by his wife as he was clearly blootered.
He had a right rant about "Oh now is it just me or has the price of everything gone up, Doogie?"
"Well, aye - take this packet of noodles for example, 17p! 17 bloody pee!! They were 15p last time I bought them.

So never mind the crippling rate of inflation or eyeing next door's plump cat....let us all feel Doogies pain.

I got accosted in Lidl today by an angry man called Doogie who was sent to do the shopping by his wife as he was clearly blootered.
He had a right rant about "Oh now is it just me or has the price of everything gone up, Doogie?"
"Well, aye says Doogie, take this packet of noodles for example, 17p! 17 bloody pee!! They were 15p last time I bought them. (Wafts noodles at me)

So never mind the crippling rate of inflation or eyeing next door's plump cat....let us all share Doogies agony.

Oh damn.

i use the yoghurt maker, too.

except if i'm making it to eat and not cook with, after it's done i stick it in one of the the girls' old muslin cloths and hang that over a bowl and in a couple of hours it comes out like greek yoghurt.

I internet food shop and have just started to use: www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Home.aspx

It is a portal and checks prices against other supermarkets. I have just switched from my usual Ocado shop to Asda and have saved about £30. Gets delivered tomorrow night, expecting there to be some misses but on basics/brands it is definitely substantially cheaper.