A Mad Day Grocery Shopping

Mondays, are always my main day to do the grocery shopping and I tend to go straight from the gym at noon, or soon thereafter, as it is situated part of the way to the large stores that I tend to frequent for the purpose.

Today was a little different, as I needed to also shop at Lidl, which I normally do on a Sunday after a class I attend, but as I didn't go this weekend, a visit to this store was added to the other stores I intended to visit today, to get the best deals possible on my grocery shop.

So, first stop Lidl and I didn't buy too much here, just some free range chicken, organic eggs, bananas and carrots and a few other bits I regularly buy from here each week.

I kept it to a minimum on purpose, spending only around £20 which is half what I normally spend here, as I needed to do most of my shopping this week at Tesco, to take advantage of a really good voucher which was £9 off a £60 spend.

Tesco then, was my next stop and I managed to get most of the things on my shopping list here and spent £62, which was the perfect amount to qualify for the £9 discount and so I ended up paying only £53.

Following this, I made a last stop at Sainsbury's, for a few organic and other items I couldn't get at Tesco.  I spent £25 here, £5 of which were on yellow stickered items that I didn't intend to buy, but were such a good price I couldn't resist them.  I did, however, only pay £20, as I used some points on my account to get another £5 off my groceries, as well as using some vouchers for purchases I needed anyway, which gave me extra points.

Whilst I realise that I am fortunate and many people, especially those who go out to work, don't have the time to go from one store to another to get the best deals, overall, it felt like quite a successful grocery shop this week. I spent about £95 in total, but got over £110 worth of food and other items.  I also didn't buy many extras that weren't on my shopping list.

As you can gather, I'm not loyal to any one supermarket and will shop wherever I can save the most.  It was useful going to a different store today, as I did notice that I paid quite a bit less for some items at Tesco, although I can never get everything I want there, as their organic ranges aren't as comprehensive as Sainsbury's.

As a consequence, I often do almost all of my shopping at Sainsbury's, as it is far more convenient than having to scour the aisles of two huge stores, comparing prices. I should perhaps make a note of the items in question that were cheaper in Tesco and get into the habit of dividing my shop, to be even more frugal, but some weeks I just don't want to traipse from one to the other, even though they are very close geographically.

Anyway, it was a bit of a mad dash around all of the stores this week, but the £14 cash saving was worth it, and I'll likely be doing the same next week when the Tesco voucher, although slightly less appealing, at £6 off a £60 spend, is still worth using. (Providing, of course, I need that much shopping next week, as I can't afford to spend money for the sake of it).

I'm hoping that using vouchers and points will help me keep within the food budget this month.  I'll keep you posted on whether this is the case or not.

Do you shop around according to the vouchers you are sent, or do you ignore them and just shop where you always shop?