christmasoompa

Get Tesco's deliveries if you can instead? And tbh it's worth getting a Clubcard anyway as you can collect points at places like petrol stations too.

WEBlue

This was my problem as well. The prices at our Waitrose were always higher than I wanted to pay. Yet there were a few items that I could ONLY find there, like roasted peanuts without salt, and ready-made fish curry, and sometimes nicer Christmas sweets, etc.

And the free cup of coffee for card-holders is from Waitrose, not Sainsburys (per my earlier error) - that would be cause enough for me to stop in to the Waitrose caf!

Englishmaple

Can you get a loyalty card for Waitrose, not shop there but still have the free cup of tea?! (not that I'm cheap!)

rebs

Yes, I believe it is 'no purchase necessary' for the free drink

https://www.waitrose.com/content/wai...l#.U1ettfnnx8E

Englishmaple

Oh I am so going to look into this!!

Editha

My advice to save money is to check out the smaller shops as well as the supermarkets. To some extent, it depends on where you are in the country, but it is a bit of a myth that supermarkets are always cheaper.

When we lived in North Staffordshire, we switched from Tesco's to using small shops because we wanted to support local businesses, and then were astonished to discover that we saved £15 a week -- enough to pay for a holiday every year.

In Sussex the small shops are more expensive, but even there I find some things cheaper in the health food shop than in the local supermarket, and of course there are the pound shops too.

lf1

I agree. I try to support the smaller shops and the supermarket is usually my last port of call for things that I can't find, at a reasonable price, in the smaller shops.

Pistolpete2

Small shops and markets are good alternative food sources.

Our experience self-catering in Suffolk last year was that the twice-weekly market in Bury St Edmunds was miles cheaper than any shop or supermarket - some village shop prices were just bonkers while others were surprisingly attractive for things like beer and wine, even though my wife is adamant that the show-biz style butcher's wagons often sell cheap but junk meat, admittedly at cheerful prices.

Of course the supermarket chains also dump overbought/overordered produce through redistribution to local weekly market sources which also become real bargains with zero quality sacrifice .

If one has the time and inclination, plus mathematical prowess, then there is a balance between the various supermarket loyalty cards and alternative shopping to get the overall best value and quality.

When we settle later this year, we will have pre-vetted the various sources for supermarket, market, farm shop plus direct from merchant/producer supplies of fish and meat. We want good access from where we are without necessarily having to use a car.

Thanks to this thread, we will sign up for Waitrose, Nectar and Tesco Clubcard as part of the puzzle.

We have always been used to shopping at multiple sources and compiling our menus when we see the supply and price rather than having a fixed shopping plan, to get by financially, using whatever loyalty cards were going - we had to in very high cost Bermuda and we do the same thing here.

When in the UK I often play the game of pricing supermarket items by the kilo. Typically not for the faint-hearted. The way supermarkets package items such as deli meats, prawns and produce such as hot peppers and other 'seasonings', they appear far larger than they actually are and the per kilo price can end up being just astronomical. Buying certain things loose from the local greengrocer can be a better prospect along with setting a price per kilo limit.