Friday 29 August 2014

The Big Shop

When I get paid, which was today, I always immediately go shopping and buy all our food for the month.

Here it is..



The whole process took 2 hours today and I spent £150. I will need to go back and buy more vegetables and milk during the month, but all these bags and boxes that fill the boot and spill onto to the back seat also include toiletries and cleaning products.

I start thinking about "shopping day" about 5-7 days before I get paid, and write a list as I check cupboards and start thinking what we both need for the next four weeks.

I then rewrite it, according to where I'm going to buy each item from. 

Aldi is always cheapest, but my girls won't eat their cat food and I swear by Catsan so that has to be done somewhere else along with, for example, curry sauces as I don't like Aldi ones. 

So "shopping day" always means visiting 2 supermarkets, I do one straight after the other, but today I did 3 separate transactions. 

Why?

Well on Thursday The Mirror newspaper was offering a £5 off a £40 shop at Aldi, so I bought two copies of the paper to get 2 vouchers and then split my shop into two separate transactions. That meant I walked around on the first shop writing down prices and adding them up on my calculator to make sure I didn't exceed £40 by too much so I had a chance of making the next shop to £40 too. I don't mind looking a prat to save.

It meant I got £10 worth of free food which covered all the chicken I bought and more.

Then Lloyds bank are offering 10% cash back on all food purchases from Morrisons for the next 10 days, meaning I got paid for the final transaction too. 

I always start with Aldi though so I can double check that everything I still have on my other supermarket list is not available in Aldi.

It really pays to prepare, food costs so much today that I want to make sure my money is going as far as possible.

The only downside is when I got back the last thing I felt like doing was cooking!

Frugally yours
Abigail
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5 comments:

  1. I wish you would come and do my weekly shop. I would never share how much ours cost each week, and I'm forever trying to get the cost down.

    Prices just seem to go up and up, and so much of the overall spend is on non food items.

    Nightmare!

    So well done you for not only using coupons, but planning ahead and driving around to get the best deals.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking the time to visit Sadie.

      Do not beat yourself up about food costs, few have the time and inclination to do what i do. Food is expensive and the 2 hours it took for me to do a food shop is ridiculous!. I do spend c. £250 per month on food for two but could get it down a lot by reducing our meat and fish intake. However, as mentioned before we are not struggling so I include it for TC.

      Final thought a relative of mine revealed she spends £130 per week on food for her and her hubby!! Mind you being invited for dinner is rather lovely!
      x

      Delete
  2. Only discovered your blog last week - and devoured it from start to finish - hope you posta gain soon! :) x

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  3. I spend lots of time food shopping, too. I probably overall save 40% on the total cost. I probably spend $120 for one each month. However, lots of that is on food to can or dehydrate for the future.

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I really love reading all comments. So please tell me what you think. Abigail