Things I have found to be cheaper in my local shops.

The other day on Twitter I exchanged a few tweets with someone who was worried that food would be more expensive outside the supermarket. Well Team Pugh showed that shopping outside the supermarkets can save you money by saving over £850 on their year of going supermarket free.

Sustainable gift wrap course

I am still learning about the most cost effective places to buy good quality food in my local area, but so far have found that

  • Tahini (which I use to make houmous) cost me 66p per 100g (£1.99 for 300g)  vs 97p per 100g in the supermarket (£2.91 for 300g)
  • Sunflower seeds cost me £1.69 for 500g vs £1 for 100g (£5 for 500g) in the supermarket
  • Thai fragrant jasmime rice cost me £8.50 for 5kg vs £1.10 for 500g (£11 for 5kg) in the supermarket
  • I got 60 spring rolls for around £3 in the local Chinese shop vs 20 for £5 in the supermarket (£15 for 60) (this is a rough comparison with supermarket ones seen online – I don’t usually buy these but couldn’t resist – they were delicious!)
  • Bread Flour (Dove) cost me £1.50 ish for 1.5kg vs £2 for 1.5kg  in the supermarket
  • Cumin (something I like to add to my houmous)  £2.99 for 400g vs £1 for 46g (£8.70 for 400g)  in the supermarket.
So on these products I spent approx £19.67 in my local shops vs £43.11 I could have spent in a supermarket!
I have found some of the best places to shop for store cupboard ingredients are the specialist shops – I’m lucky to have a Middle Eastern food shop, a Chinese food shop, Polish food shops, and a Thai food shop not far from my house.  Rice, noodles, spices, authentic sauces and products are easy to find in these shops and if you pick the right things you may be surprised to find how much cheaper they are than in the supermarket!

So far I have given up shampoo and supermarkets as part of My Year of Eco Challenges and now I’m preparing to give up plastic too. If you have a moment I would really appreciate it if you would consider sponsoring me with an action on my DoNation page. Also if you liked this post please click like on Facebook and follow on Twitter – thanks so much!