I always found that shopping online saved me money as i wouldnt just pick up whatever i see on the shelf but i suppose we are all different i also hated emptying the trolley on to the belt my biggest pet hate.
For a fiver someone just drops it off and the wife puts it awaydata:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
I used to find I'd buy loads just to get the total up to make it 'worthwhile' when I only was doing an order really to save lugging about heavy bottles and tins (I don't drive). I found I tended to look through all the 'specials' online and buy lots of junk I didn't end up using and too many treats too!
Nowadays my food bill is something about £15-25 per week on average, just one person. I shop mostly in Tesco and Somerfield, sometimes M&S, the Co-op or Asda.
My wife and I plus our 3 year old rack up between £50 and £80 a week on groceries, including detergents etc.
Don't get me wrong, I can see how shopping online can have it's advantages.
The thing with us was that we got into the credit culture, and like most spent above our means. Earlier this year we decided that things couldn't continue, so all but 1 credit card was cut up and we decided to go back to how my parents economised.
We now allocate cash for everything we need that isn't paid by direct debit (shopping, kids bus and dinners, child-minder, etc.), and over the last 8 months we have noticed an improvement in our finances. Although my salary has taken quite a battering this year, we now have more disposable income.
Horses for courses and all that.
We plan all of our weeks meals at the start of the week, work out what we need to buy, write a list and then go shopping. This means we don't buy things that we don't really need which means overall, you should spend less. I know this is probably a little too regimented for most (we do it for other reasons) but it could help to cut back for those that need to data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
For me the missus and our toddler, between £60 and £90 a week.
Try avoiding Tescos, it aint cheap, they do try to use voodoo type magic through advertising, to convince the public they are cheap - they are actually priced quite high! What makes things worse are all these other things they offer like insurance etc, people buy into it just because its "Tesco".
Thing is, Tescos offer their clubcard scheme, which believe it not isn't a gimmick. The points actually paid for our holiday last year, and we can claim for other rewards. The 4x multiplier really adds up.
I think that's an excellent point, and probably a good way of economising. When you shop from a speculative point of view, not really knowing what meals you're going to eat, chances are it's going to be more wasteful.
It's actually just as expensive in Waitrose & Sainsburys for normal stuff.
Tesco's IS cheaper than most & like Morrisons always has half decent 2 for 1 deals on too. I bought about £80 worth of shopping in Tescos a few weeks ago using my wife's clubcard & various vouchers she got from the week befores receipts. Amongst my receipt was a £7 off voucher which I used the following week, amongst those receipts was another £7 voucher & the same the following week. So they basically gave us 20-30 quid for nothing & it didn't affect her clubcard balance. I was very impressed.
I disagree that Waitrose is expensive, we typically spend more doing a weekly in Sainsburys or Tesco than we do in Waitrose, and IMO the food is better quality that the others.