Nosy thread - weekly shop

[Fuschia]

Anyone up for sharing where you shop, when and why?

How much do you spend

What are your essentials

I shop online at tesco - switched from sainsburys because I find tesco points useful for days out

I hate supermarkets do rarely shop in person

I save the delivery fee by avoiding impulse buys

One big shop PCM of up to ?200 to include c,waning materials, nappies etc

Usually ?75-?110 pw depending what we are eating that week and whether I buy expensive fruit

There are 6 of us

Always buy large pack of organic carrots

Part baked ciabatta rolls because they keep fresh for the whole week (and more)

We get through 2 of the largest milk packs, and have to buy another on weds with extra fruit, bread and Hummous

We typically get through large pack of apples, 2 pack of satsumas, 8-10 bananas, 2 boxes strawberries, 3-6 nectarines, pack of blueberries (and tinned and frozen fruit on top)

2 or 3 cucumbers...

Mini wraps are useful, last for a couple of weeks

A loaf of bread lasts hardly any time

I buy basics ham, sliced cheese an makes good toasted sandwiches

Also several large Bags of grated mozzarella and cheddar, very time saving. Baby loves eating grated cheese...

[Ruth_Baldock]

Mr B does it on a Saturday AM; Morrisons. Used to be Sainsburys but Morrisons is better value IMO.

We spend about ?60 a week, on four of us; two babies-7mo and 2y3mo

We tend to bulk buy bread, meat, chicken and freeze it. Milk seems to dissapear in a nanosecond.

If it's a "difficult" month, sometimes we will make our own bread. Am v lazy though. We always buy bananas, apples, blueberries, strawberries, avocados, rice cakes, hummus and cheese. All BLW essentials. Stopped buying biscuits and Mr B makes them for us now! We do a lot of slowcooking so buy bits for that, typically. Once a month we buy loads of rice, pasta, cous cous etc. Tinned tomatoes and the like. Also nappies, which are costing us a

Small fortune.

TBH, I'd like to start buying fresh produce from greengrocers/farmers markets but like I said, am v lazy!

[Pickle]

I use Tesco online too, the thought of battling my way round a busy supermarket fills me with dread after 5+ years of doing it online!

Our weekly shop averages out at around ?110 - ?125 a week. This is for two adults and two school age kids, plus baby wipes, and also includes all of my lunches for the week as well as one of my older children. I use cloth nappies, so don't buy disposables very often at all. We buy milk separately as it's delivered by a milkman daily.

My standards are loads of fresh fruit and veges, cereals, lunch stuff (ham, cheese, yoghurts etc) and meat. I plan my meals in advance so nothing I buy gets wasted.

I've just started back at Weightwatchers to lose my baby weight, so my shopping delivery looked much healthier last week than it has for ages!

[womanofdulwich]

wow ?60 A WEEK- wait till you have teenagers- ...............

[Knomester]

We have a weekly vegetable bag from Local Greens which we collect from Green & Blue every Thursday (about ?50 per month).

We supplement that with extra veg and fruit which at the moment we buy from Brockley Market, SMBS, the Turkish shop on Forest Hill Road and occasionally Coop or anywhere I pass on my way to / from work.

We tend to bulk buy tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, dried pulses, couscous, bulgur, etc from the Turkish shop or Kahns in Peckham (less so now that I'm back at work as we don't have the time). Tinned tomatoes are 3 for ?1 and chickpeas 3 for ?1.20 which is much cheaper than elsewhere and they're good quality.

We generally go to Moxons once a week for fish.

For most other things (nappies, wipes, storecupboard items, booze, etc) we either do an online shop from Ocado or Mr Knomester goes to Sainsburys every 2-3 weeks or so depending on need. In between times, if we need anything 'householdy' we tend to pick it up at Farmers and if we're out shopping and see offers on nappies, etc we stock up.

For a nice bottle of wine as a weekend treat we go to Green & Blue!

There are 3 of us - 2 adults and a toddler. We eat all homecooked meals (I bring soups and salads for lunches). We probably eat vegan / veggie 5 times a week and fish once or twice (apart from Baby Knomester who has his stock of food in the freezer that I bulk cook so probably eats meat a little more often when he isn't eating with us) and Mr will cook meat for himself and to stock up the freezer if ever I'm out. We tend to only buy meat once every couple of months from Sparkes or Brockley Market / Maltby Street.

I don't know exactly what we spend because it's often a little here and a little there.

[prickle]

"wow ?60 A WEEK- wait till you have teenagers- ..............."

Yes that will just cover the biscuits! :))

[mrs f]

we are 3 (two adults and one 11mo)

we get able and cole to deliver veg, go to the supermarket for fruit and meat and pulses rice etc. I try to buy all long life stuff like loo roll, tins and rice etc whatever keeps in bulk so I can just nip to the supermarket with the baby in the buggy or quickly in the car to do a basic week shop....

Sainsbros costs around ?60 a week.... but we aren't 'organised shoppers' and buy whatever when we need it so sometimes we don't go at all and sometimes it costs us over ?100...

generally we buy blackbird bread as it's lovely and keeps, usually 2 loaves a week max

perhaps we will become more organised in time :-)

[madmum]

Here goes...My name is Madmum and I am addicted to sainsburys...

Ive tried doing a big monthly on line shop but just ended up popping into a supermarket or M&S near work to pick up weekly essential which ended up costing me more than my 4 weekly supermarket trips( percy pigs are essentials) plus when i did do it online they sent me stuff that was going out of date in 2 days and substituted marmite for Bovril!

So im a slave to the supermarket giants I am their target market, Im not proud im just a realist....

Roughly our weekly shop is ?80.00 sometimes ?100.00 if its a cleaning product repalcement week. I very very rarely shop mid week unless kids have attacked the treats cupboard or secretly consumed all the frubes( this happens alot and neither off them are able to tell me how 6 frubes went missing in 1 day)

We normally eat out with the kids at least 3 times a month plus they get dinner at their nans 4 times a week so thats a

big saving on our shopping bill....

I wish I could amble down the lane recyled shopping buldging with Organic treats but sadly this is not to be...one day perhaps but for now I shall be the lady with the neeeeeedy kids( mum i neeeeeed new lego,,,i neeeeed this pen with a light on the top etc etc) madly throwing stuff into a trolley in Sainsburys...

[jollybaby]

We're a family of 3 (2 adults and a 1 1/2 year old) and I'd say that we spend around ?100 - ?120 per week on food. We used to live near the little sainsburys by the Plough and I'd do 3 or 4 small shops a week. I've always found it hard to think more than a couple of days ahead food wise.

We've recently moved out of London and are having to get used to not having a supermarket within walking distance - there've been a few emergency takeaways when we've come home to empty cupboards! I think I'm going to have to give meal planning another go.

[snowboarder]

You ALL sound very good! We have an Able and Cole fruit and veg box. I would estimate we ALWAYS through at least one thing out after a couple of weeks as it hasn't been used (red cabbage 2 weeks old currently winking at me)...might have to stop having this box actually as I'm finding it hard to use up. We also have an ocado weekly delivery of supposedly everything else - ?100 plus (depends on whether it's a nappies/washing powder/WINE week). As I'm at home with 2 little boys (34m and 12m) I also find I pick up bits and bobs from co-op every other day - things we have forgotten etc. We maybe have lunch out one day at the weekend and generally give in to take away one night.

I have to say we throw out a lot - out of date stuff (eg sell by dates on the ocado order that came last night means that we need to eat 3 meals in 2 nights) and general wastage - often because I'm not sure if mr snowboarder will be home for dinner or working late - so sometimes planned meals don't happen.

I do feel bad about the amount we spend and throw out and really need to get better....

I actually LOVE going to sainsburys. On my own. It feels like a break and a treat and I buy a magazine and maybe a top and have a coffee. I have always liked going though - even before children - when I was little I used to go with my dad on a friday night and ride on his shoulders. I am possibly a bit weird....

[madmum]

Snowboarder i too secretly LOVE food shopping you are not alone!

[womanofdulwich]

The trick with teenagers is only to buy 24 hours worth of food-plus an extra loaf of bread- if you buy a weeks' worth they eat it in 2 days. Only buy what alcohol you are going to drink in the next 24 hours too.......but I have never thrown anything other than peelings away. :)

[prickle]

Yes and nothing remotely 'junky' - biscuits, crisps, pizza and chocolate! Not got to the alcohol stage yet but thinking of getting a padlock for the cupboard! ;-)

[sunbob]

I shop online at tesco - switched from sainsburys because I find tesco points useful for days out

If you get a Tesco credit card (and pay it off fully every month so no interest) you can get points on all your spending on it. The range of stuff you can redeem them on is great isn't it and can be up to 4 times face value.

We shop either Tesco online or Asda in person and spend as little as possible. How it all adds up, even with a trolley full of value labels, is frightening.

[The Nappy Lady]

Snowboarder I have a fab braised red cabbage recipe if you want it & you can freeze it. Lovely with a roast or sausages.

Sell by dates are only a guide remember & even use by dates can have a degree of common sense applied to them. Have to say I hate throwing stuff out, will freeze or cook & put up for another night if need be.

Still at least we have food waste recycling now.

Oh, family of 4, but feeding an extra child 4 nights a week. Shopping at Morrisons plus sometimes Sainsburys or Ocado I'd estimate about ?100 a week but maybe more when needing lots of cleaning products etc.

[pebbles]

I shop at Ocado once a week and then will buy "special" meat from butchers - i.e. dinner parties or a stay at home date night.

We are a family of 4 and spend about ?100 a week (this doesn't include booze as we bulk buy this in from a friend who is in the wine trade)

i used to waste a lot of food but then i got incentivised by Pickle's amazing weekly meal planning and now I do this as well and as Nappy Lady said above if i'm struggling i'll cook something large and freeze.

I remember going shopping with my mother 20ish years ago to shop for our family of 5 and if it hit ?40 for the week she was really upset as that was seriously expensive.

[oimissus]

wow, you're all so good, I don't know how I manage to spend so much! We're a family of 5 (2 adults, 1 toddler and 2 cats) and we average about ?80/90 on a big shop, plus trips throughout the week for more bread, milk,WINE and whatever else I've forgotten. And we're veggie (mainly)! I think I'm going to have to start doing online shopping as I do tend to drift about seeing whatever catches my eye. And we do chuck out an embarrassing amount, due to toddler refusal and just being too knackered to do any proper cooking half the time. And we have a small freezer so don't freeze all that much which I should do.

I mainly go to Sainsbo's except for fresh bread and nappies which I tend to get in Asda. Basics include bread (unsliced loaf, baguette and bagels), milk, cheese, salad stuff and veggies, not much fruit (we're all a bit rubbish with fruit, personally I'd rather have a packet of cheese'n'onion any day), crisps, toddler snacks and yoghurty things, cat food, passata.

I love supermarket shopping, I find it incredibly relaxing. Every so often we go to Waitrose in St Katherine's Docks which I dress up as a trip to the river for our daughter ;-)

Sigh. Still, at least I'm not spending loads on fags and getting trashed anymore, hey?? [salad days emoticon]

[GinaG3]

I use asda, shop online.

I meal plan monthly, budget, and stick to all outgoings. Our weekly shopping budget for 2 adults and 1 child is ?70 although this does include nappies every week and household items (still equipping our flat with bits and bobs) I could realistically spend ?40-50 but I do allow upto ?20 for say last week we got a frying pan and a duvet. I do everything to save money, not because I have to but because I want to, and I enjoy it too. Sounds ever so sad doesn't it!! I search brand coupons everywhere I shop, I use hotukdeals for supermarket deals and pricing, I use discount codes on my online shopping, enter till receipts via asda online for 10% difference guaranteed.

My weekly shop even after coming upto 4 years is still my favourite thing to do. You know, I'd even do it as a job. Roll up, roll up!

[Pugwash]

2 adults. 4 cats and usually feeding at least one guest a week, plus all my lunches for work - tends to be around ?150 a fortnight ( the dearest expense is the cat food which can be around ?15 pw) Bread from local bakers, milk from milkman. Sainsbury's at DKH - hubby now cycles to Catford weekly to buy fruit. We spend on average ?10 - ?20 pw on fruit and veg. rarely buy booze, biscuits, crisps, sweets.

I like looking at the reduced section and frequently get good bargains which I freeze.

Every week I check out the fridge and if loads of veg will make a soup or curry, rarely throw food away unless off. Use by dates usually a guideline. When doing a family meal ( 6 - 8 of us) use the principle of if it is left over what can I do with it i.e. freeze it, turn it into something else.

When I was a single parent in the mid 1970s - I had ?8 pw to feed myself and 4 year old child as all my wages went on paying the mortgage. A large chicken used to last us 4/5 days in various forms.

[ratty]

We are doing something very wrong. ?150 a week in sainsburys. 2 adults, one 4 yr old, one 11 mth old. Any tips?

[Fuschia]

Ratty, what do you buy for that?

Have a look at your receipt and see what is household stuff, snacks, fruit, veg, meat etc

do you waste much?

Do you get lunches from that?

Can you switch some stuff to 'basics'?

Buy stuff on offer/ 3 for 2 and freeze?

Have one or two cheap dinners pw - pasta and pesto, baked potato and beans, omelette?

[vicki08]

reading this i would like someone to shop for me. I spend between ?200.00 to ?230.00 per week that is for 7 of us + 1 dog and we have 1 takeaway a week. I shop at sainsburys and i hate food shopping

[oimissus]

slight tangent, but this thread has really got me thinking, and what with starting work again, albeit at home, and shopping with toddler becoming a pain, I think I'm going to have to broach the world of online shopping. Any tips, forumites? Or are they all much of a muchness? D'you think you do save money doing your shopping like this?

[GinaG3]

Oimissus and anyone looking for tips on online shopping. Try mysupermarket it compares your basket for every major supermarket and then allows you to checkout at the shop of your choice/budget. Also, if your new to online delivery you can take advantage of ?10 off your first ?70 delivery etc, they are all different, worth doing if it ifs just for ?10 worth of free nappies a week. Im a member of every supermarket and have taken advantage of every introductory offer. PM me if you want anymore information, I'm all for giving people any information on saving money, those big companies get enough out of our pockets.

If you ever have a problem, always complain. My first months shopping with sainsburys, they forgot to pay for a ?80 shop, I told them but they didn't mind, ?80 free, I got a ?20 compensation for delivery being an hour late, I regularly get a bumper load of vouchers to lure me back to shopping with them, usually ?12 off over ?40 a week every week for 4 weeks. Always use your loyalty cards too, they make a huge difference it the long run. Don't forget with nectar you can get points on a lot of online shopping too, from eBay to amazon. Cashback sites offer competitive rates too. Last Christmas I saved and earnt back ?200 on my Christmas shopping within 6 weeks.

I'm too savvy for my own good.

[njc97]

Ratty - similar here. ?100-?150 a week in sainsburys, plus butcher, baker, greengrocer and deli on saturday mornings and organic veg box most weeks. Then regular trips to corner shop for milk, and a takeaway a week. Oh and buy wine from majestic/on line.

That's for 2 adults, a 3 year old and baby.

Snowboarder - I agree with all you said. I love going to sainsburys. And we do tend to throw out the odd bit of vegetables from our box (especially when it's giant red cabbages 3 weeks in a row). We cancel the box about once a month to help us catch up.