Changed Ways

[starry]

Have you changed your shopping habits as a result of price increases ?

I am amazing myself at how tight (;)) I have become.

For the first time in my life I am planning meals for the week and sticking to it.

I am kicking myself at how much I could have saved over the years if I had always shopped like this.

Have you changed the way you shop, or where you shop or just carrying on as normal ?
Or were you always a frugal shopper ?

[cuddlepop]

I do the early morning bargain hunt and late evening reductions.
25% day before expire date and 50% on the day.

Today picked up a quiche for a £1 and some mince for £1.30.Thats lunch and dinner sorted.:D

Not picking up the two for 1's unless I really need it.Own brands are more appealing now aswell.2btls of washing up liquid for £1 when there 80p each is a big saving.

[starry]

Did you always do this cuddle or have you just started since prices have risen ?

[Gizmo]

I never used to buy 'Shop Brand' products, but in the last year i have started to buy quite a few of them, the cost of heating and lighting the home is the main reason for this, i'd say it's risen around 30/40% overall, which is a hell of a jump and with having Oil heating amounts to a lot of money.

[starry]

I didn't either Gizmo, I would just put the brands I had always used into the trolley, now I check the price on everything.

When my daughter had her own place we used to get the BOGOF offers and go halves, that saved a lot.

[Julia]

I shop online sometimes, I always hunt for a discount code which more than covers the cost of delivery, by shopping online you can easily see the bargains which can be easily missed when in the actual shop. Last week my shopping basket total was £72 but the actual cost of my shopping was only £54 due to all the discounts. I feel I have far more control when shopping online, the running total helps me be sensible.

[Thumper]

I am the same Gizmo,my electric costs £40 a week!:eek: I dont even have half of the heating on and the house is cold a lot of the time but I just cant afford anymore than that,I have had to change my shopping habits drastically so save some money and we tend to live on soup a lot of the time as I can make a big pan of it and it does two days then.I also buy a lot of "shop brands" now and try to share the cost of some of the buy one get one free items with my Mum or someone else who wants the same item and then half the cost of it x

[ciderally]

best tip i ever got was to have something to eat before you go shopping...that way dont buy so much rubbish...xx

[Gizmo]

best tip i ever got was to have something to eat before you go shopping...that way dont buy so much rubbish...xx

Oh that is Sooooooo true, i spend a fortune if i go shopping on an empty stomach.

[alanatkie]

I am the same Gizmo,my electric costs £40 a week!:eek:

I'm glad i'm not the only ones electric that is this much - i thought i was overspending at that :roll:

As for shopping We do a big shop once a month so get the bogof meat, chick, Fish & freeze them. I use to buy the jars of dolmio & biscuits for kids pack lunch but have now started making my own cakes/muffins & tomato & basil sauces & froze them. We do a top up shop each week so usually go in between 4-6 & sometimes pick up a few bargains in reduced section.

[Kevin Milkins]

best tip i ever got was to have something to eat before you go shopping...that way dont buy so much rubbish...xx

Never heard that one before ,but it makes a lot of sense.:D

[buffy]

The best tip I got was that the cost of delivery for Online Shopping more than makes up for the money you don't spend on stuff you don't need when going round the supermarket!

[starry]

I don't live in the delivery area for online tesco shopping, which is really annoying but I tend to be more about the Lidl just now ;)


Is it acceptable to phone a joinery firm and ask for offcuts for kindling, or is that weird?

[balto]

i must say i dont have the money to spend anymore, everything has gone up in price so much, it is hard to buy extras.

[cuddlepop]

I didn't either Gizmo, I would just put the brands I had always used into the trolley, now I check the price on everything.

When my daughter had her own place we used to get the BOGOF offers and go halves, that saved a lot.

No I didnt Starry a bargain was an option before now its a necessatie.:(

You can turn it into a competition to see who can get the bargain of the week.:D

Nearer £40 for lecy now too and thats 20% of total income outlay

[starry]

I worked out everything I spend on oil, electric, coal and sticks it comes to 23% of my total income :eek:

[emszxr]

i have been doing menus for 3 years now and it is good, but you have to be strict and stick to it.
and i have always bought shop brands. but they are going way up in price too. a month ago tesco value pasta was 19p a bag, it is now 38p.

another tip for the ladies , dont take your husbands shopping.

[Julia]

No I didnt Starry a bargain was an option before now its a necessatie.:(

You can turn it into a competition to see who can get the bargain of the week.:D

Nearer £40 for lecy now too and thats 20% of total income outlay

If you are with the Hydro and spending more than 10% of your total income on heating or electricity then you will probably qualify for a discount, phone 0800300111 and ask about their new tariff called energyplus care.

They send you out a form to fill in, ring them back and they will go over the form over the phone to tell you if you qualify. Those on Prepayment meters will receive a cheque quarterly equal to their discount and those on bills will just be discounted there and then.

I'm also going to post this as a new thread in the General section as it's off topic.

[Bobinovich]

I plan a weeks worth of meals and tend to stick with them, although the order often changes depending on time available.

When I'm shopping I go by my list of whats needed for those meals but always look for offers which I know will get used. I then only have to top up on necessities that I run out of - bread, milk, etc. through the week which I can quickly run in for.

I now check dates more thoroughly and look for longer-dated items - consequently I've found that my waste and thrown out-of-date items has dropped massively.

I also try and time my fuel filling for one of my bi-weekly visits to Wick - theres been a couple of times I've run in on what must be fumes :D

Finally I've been more conscious about wasted electric and invested in some remote control sockets & turn these off before leaving the house. Hopefully when the electric bill comes in I'll notice some savings :confused.

[squidge]

I am being very thrifty. Not only is our house struggling witht he rising bills but i have recently turned into a stay at home mum. I have been baking, making jam and we were given a bread maker so we make bread too. I have done Xmas shopping for the baby largely on ebay - saving around £80 I reckoned.

I have also found that by buying milk or a paper or sugar at the local shop I am only spending my money on milk or a paper or sugar and not the £30 that I can spend without a blink when i pop into Tesco. I also shop at Lidl as much as possible although i find thats not as cheap as i remember. We are getting a new Aldi this week so hopefully it will be good. I used to shop there when I lived in rochdale.

I am making Xmas cakes and home made chutney for Christmas presents too so that will help the budget a bit.

My cooking has changed too - I plan meals carefully and make soups and my own pasta sauces whenever possible. This pays off too because the baby just eats what we have for our dinner the following day. I rarely buy ready meals and always look for deals on meat for the freezer. I also have stopped buying the easy spread butter - its EXPENSIVE!!!!! and have gone back to the ordinary stuff. I always make my own pastry too and thats miles cheaper

I am actually really enjoying it! I have always cooked but not as much as i do now and i really feel like i am controlling what goes into my children's tummies. Its good.

[Dorrie]

We don't actually seem to buy a lot of stuff from the supermarket. We use the butchers, Lidl for certain things and Tesco for certain things, but I do find that I am using more and more own brands of Tesco stuff, especially things like cleaning products. We grew our own veg this year and still have plenty of cabbage, tatties, onions and leeks. I too am baking more and have make my Christmas Puddings for giving away as Christmas gifts. I think something like that means much more anyway.
I agree entirely about going shopping on and empty stomach, bad idea. lol
Soups are great, I make 2 to 3 large pans a week so that also helps. I have a bread maker and was making bread but then I couldn't make a loaf for love nor money - I guess it's something wrong with the breadmaker as I've been making bread for years and am doing nothing different. :( I will maybe try it again soon.
I think my biggest tip is make a list and stick to it. :)