Monday 22 April 2013

Thinking of a frugal challenge

I have been mulling over the comments on the last post today and looking into some other sources for items we need to buy.

There is a seed bar which I have mentioned here before which I eat daily to help with my IBS, which is so much better since last year's homeopathy.  The only local retailer which sells it is Tesco, so I have looked at the manufacturer's website and found out that I could buy it there.  That will help enormously, even if I would have to buy a three month supply to make it cost effective - but I will save £23 on Tesco's prices, so that will be a bonus.

I'm still working on the details of this challenge, and I think that it will need a bit more consideration before I launch it on 1st May, but I am certain that it is a goer, and I will share it with you.

The first thing I am going to do towards it later this week is to make a master list of all items we buy, and look at online comparison sites to see what other supermarkets and shops charge.  It'll be a place to start.

I'd be glad to hear your ideas for staying away from supermarkets in general...

5 comments:

Helen said...

I can recommend the packets of linseed mixes from Aldi then following the recipe on the back to make your own bars. I do this, swop the nuts for other seeds and freeze them. Additionally you may sprinkle on porridge, cereal, bowl of fruit, honey on toast and the flavour is good.

Wannabe Sybil said...

Good luck! You need a Phd in shopping these days. WS xxx

Morgan said...

I'm looking at this whole frugality thing as a means to "earn" my savings pot £750 a month, and that is not a bad wage for me doing stuff in my own time and enjoying the research and the challenge, so maybe I'll never get a PhD in anything, but it is stopping mindless waste, and excessive consumerism! Long words for a Tuesday morning in the Fens...

Bryallen said...

Someone in the lab I've just started working in denounced Tesco as "evil" to me the other day. Apparently there's a local shop near here where you can buy most dried goods by the scoop, saving money and packaging in the process!

Maybe you could find a similar shop near you?

Morgan said...

@Bryallen - when I was a student in St Andrews, there was a fantastic scoop shop where we used to buy a lot of different items and it was quite fun to peer in to the storage cannisters and wonder what the product was! Unfortunately, there are no scoop shops around here at all, otherwise I would be using them! Thanks for the tip, though, as it might encourage someone who has one in the vicinity to try it out. xx