So, Operation Clawback is in place…
1: Internet shopping is the way to go...
I do our food shopping online. I hate, HATE, doing those massive supermarket shops. Just looking at the image below makes me feel stressed! I used to shuffle around the enormous supermarket every Saturday with armfuls of toilet roll and bread and bleach, trying to find where the husband had wandered off to WITH THE TROLLEY AGAIN, and swearing under my breath because of PEOPLE! But I find its so much easier to stick to the budget when I shop online. I can find all the special offers in one place, I can compare prices much more easily - and, crucially, I can see how much its going to cost me before I pay.
2: I buy from more than one place…
Having said what I said in the last paragraph, I do still do a supermarket shop - but this time it’s in a much smaller supermarket that I know (because I’ve methodically, aka sadly, checked prices against my usual shop) is cheaper for specific items. Basically, we're talking Aldi time. It’s a quicker shopping experience because I know exactly what I’m going to buy and it’s a much smaller shop so I can be in and out in half an hour.
3: The supermarket checkout lottery
Now there's something that always has a kind of ‘game show’ feel about it when you shop in the actual, you know, shop - you never quite know how much its going to cost until you’re there with your purse in hand. Of course, you could fastidiously add it all up as you go round - but no, I don’t think my brain could cope with that. At least, not when it’s also trying to cope with working out Will We Like It/Is There A Cheaper Alternative/How Long Does It Take To Cook/Is Anyone Allergic To It/How Long Will It Last/What’s In It/Is It Healthy Or At Least Not Unhealthy, etc, etc, etc. Throw ‘adding up as I go along’ into the mix and I might crawl into a ball on the floor and start to rock… So, here’s a tip for you: a friend once told me that her mum advised her to basically round everything up or down to 50p or a £1 as it goes in the trolley. So, as you tip those 25p tinned tomatoes into the trolley mentally think “50p”. As you choose a that toilet roll for £2.00 think “£1”. It makes it easier to add up - and can actually be surprisingly accurate. Well, it used to be surprisingly accurate. Now I find you need to round up and down to £1 or £2. See, I said food prices were getting more expensive!
4:Impulse buying be gone!
But overall online food shopping for me is the way to go. Plus, I can do it by myself. No family chucking stuff into the trolley without my noticing (Fray Bentos Pies that sit so long in the cupboard they almost become part of the family), no complaints when I buy something they don’t like/want, being able to stick to my list. I know the apparent trend now is not to do a big weekly shop - we’re all supposed to be nipping into the local mini-supermarket on the way home to buy food for the next 24 hours and no more. Living for the moment. Fancy artichokes on toast and balsamic flavoured ice cream for tea tonight? Then that’s what we’ll be having. Not in the PhotoFairytales household though. I’m sticking to the retro-style weekly shop. Besides, it means we have that lovely cupboard glut sensation. You know, that feeling when you’ve just done ‘the big shop’ and the fridge is groaning with salad and freshness, and the cupboards are full of treats and there’s biscuits in the tin.
The downside of course is that by the end of the week we’re down to ‘freezer surprise’ for dinner and eyeing up the chocolate coins the Tooth Fairy entrusts me with…
Sarah :)
No comments:
Post a Comment