Frugal Groceries in England

AdamantEve · 01-11-2009, 05:57 AM

Hey, I was wondering if people in England could share tips for frugal grocery shopping. I tried Lidl and recently discovered that Sainsbury's basics are cheaper at the moment.

britbunny · 01-11-2009, 06:11 AM

If you sign up for the Aldi and Lidl email newsletter they send you the special offers through for the next week which is useful. Sainsburys basics are pretty good although I don't think their fruit and veg lasts very long - Aldi is better for that kind of thing. I don't know if you have a Netto in your area but they are also good and cheap - they also have a lot of brand names at good prices so worth a look if you can.

jennybethg · 01-11-2009, 06:12 AM

When I lived in England, I found the outdoor markets priced much better than grocery stores. I lived up north (Harrogate) and would go to Leeds to buy meat and produce. One thing I like about the markets was I could haggle the price down.

I remember Sainsbury was really good about putting things about to expire on markdown. I could get tons of pizzas and ready meals for the freezer really cheap.

Scattymum · 01-11-2009, 06:16 AM

not in England but im in Ireland and visit the UK all the time, in fact with the euro/pound exchange rate at the moment im doing all my shopping in Northern Ireland.

Aldi are good for some things, you have to pick and choose but ive found their veggies very good and all their snack stuff.

Morrisons and Asda are not bad, they sometimes have good deals on.

I like Tesco - their value stuff is pretty good. also - keep an eye on what they have on the reduced counter - you can quite often get good bits of meat for very little - i just buy and then freeze, they tend to put stuff out in the mornings and then again in the evenings. also do you have a tesco clubcard? thats a great way of earning money back vouchers each time you shop

I find sainsburys quite expensive sometimes.

I think if you go to mysupermarket,co,uk you can compare the bigger supermarkets prices.

My Brother goes to Netto which he finds very good value

Bournecrazy · 01-11-2009, 06:37 AM

i shop at tesco's mainly, i like there own range of products i find store own brands are just as nice or sometimes even better than big named items. like pasta, i get 500g bag for just 46p i think it is. all the basic items like flour, sugar, rice, pasta are fairly cheap to pick up and like someone mentioned about the clubcard points too i on average get about £5 off purchase coupon.

I heard (cant remember from who) that aldi is more expensive than the big 4 supermarkets.

That reminded me that tescos are now doing lots of discount brands like the ones you find in Aldi or Lidl

britbunny · 01-11-2009, 06:49 AM

deleted post! Sorry, lol

Bournecrazy · 01-11-2009, 07:13 AM

i see someone doesnt like tesco's.

We all have our likes and dislikes about places. I hope your experience want so bad

jennybethg · 01-11-2009, 07:27 AM

Oh yeah! I forgot! I used get my pasta from ASDA. ASDA carried their own brand of pasta in gigantic bags for something like L1.50. It was even cheaper than me spending dollars and buying pasta on base!

Bournecrazy · 01-11-2009, 07:33 AM

i am annoyed that they have put the price up on the pasta, it used to be 19p for 500g now its double the price plus more. but it is still cheaper than all the other pasta products.

Bournecrazy · 01-11-2009, 07:35 AM

Another thing i do that could help, is that i look online for the deals before i go to the store that way i will stock up on the items i like on sale and it saves a lot of time whilst instore

Peaches · 01-11-2009, 08:49 AM

Subscribe to Fixture Ferrets. A subscription costs £5 for the year and they list and compare all the major supermarket deals every week. I've found it to be an invaluable tool when I'm planning, because if there's something that's a really good deal I can plan to stockpile it.

Go to the supermarket about 30 minutes before they close to do your shopping. I go specifically at this time to stock up on stuff that is being marked down due to being near its sell by date (which is usually the next day for fresh items like meats, fruit and veg, etc.) You can pick up some real bargains and fill your freezer. My local Morrisons also puts out any cooked chickens/chicken portions that are left. You can get a whole cooked chicken for around £1. I'm sure other supermarkets do this too.

Make some room in your house for a pantry and shop to restock your pantry. My husband put me some shelves in the cupboard under the stairs. I got an extra fridge from Freecycle that I keep in the garage. I store things under beds. I only spend about £30 per week to feed 2 adults and 2 kids. This figure goes down in the summer because we grow our own vegetables.

Grow your own vegetables and preserve them for the winter. We have just finished the last of our squashes (stored) and courgettes (frozen). Even if you don't have a huge amount of space (we don't, believe me) and you don't want to take on allotment, you would be amazed at what you can grow in window boxes and in containers. Tomatoes and strawberries can be grown in hanging baskets. Squash or pumpkin plants will climb a trellis. You can grow salad and herbs on any sunny windowsill. Even potatoes can be grown in a pot. One plant can give you 5kg of potatoes.

Do you have a freezer? If you don't, get one.

Stock up on deals and then cook once a month and stock your freezer with meals that are prepared. Then you've got meals ready to eat and you'll be less likely to get a takeaway. or even shop as often because if the cupboard is bare you've still got something in your freezer.

Anyway, that's what I do.

Bournecrazy · 01-11-2009, 09:37 AM

thats something i'd love to do when i get my own place, is to have a freezer full of ready to cook homemade meals that i can just put straight in the oven. I make my own crumbles with apples i get for free atthe moment.

britbunny · 01-11-2009, 12:02 PM

It's a general dislike of Tesco, not something they have done to me personally... I try to shop ethically and keep my money in the local economy so we use local shops and a locally based supermarket as much as possible. But I realise that everyone shops their own way :-)

Bournecrazy · 01-11-2009, 12:09 PM

i'd like to do what you do and help the smaller stores but its just not possible here as there are no stores like that. its great what you are doing

AdamantEve · 01-14-2009, 07:36 AM

Hi again,

Britbug, I didn't read the Tesco post, but your "reason for deleting" made me chuckle.

Peaches, thank you for your ideas, you gave me lots of ideas.

Thank you to everyone for all of your help!

I've never heard of Netto's or Fixture Ferrets before, so I will check into them now.