The Joys of Shopping

[Si Hunt]

I'm talking about obligatory shopping here - things you have to buy, the weekly shop. Is it something you look forward to or dread? Do you hate it to the extent that you pay the extra and order it all on-line? Which supermarket do you use? And do you plan before you go, or just get it all on the hop? How many times a week do you go? And how healthily do you think you shop?

Personally I quite enjoy it, though I hate the cost!

Si.

[duncan]

Personally, I hate the weekly shop. That's why my wife does it. She goes with her Mother so it gives them time to have a natter etc while they are doing it. I do contribute by planning the list and actually doing some of the cooking during the week.

We use Morrison's purely because its the closest. The quality of their fruit and veg is poor but at least the shelves are full their unlike the next nearest which is ASDA. they are cheper but empty shelves mean empty bellies.

[Rob McCow]

We rather like Morrisons here in Bracknell. I haven't noticed any drop in quality in their fruit and veg compared with Sainsburys and Tescos. What is really noticable however is that our Sainsbury's food bill is about 20 more expensive on average per week. Forget the Nectar Card, saving that much money is far better than a few nebulous points.

I like shopping. Queuing is annoying, but I've learned to cope

[Paul Monk]

We use Tescos and trying to go there with a 2 year old and a 9 month old to do the shopping is a nightmare so we do it online. It was becoming pretty bad but just recently its been ok again.
We save Clubcard points because you can redeem them against Tesco Deals and they're worth 4 times as much. So 10 worth of clubcard points is worth 40 on deals. We're currently saving for a holiday in France!

[Trudi G]

I love shopping in all its forms, although i do tend to hit the supermarkets as early as possible in the morning, because i hate queueing and crowds.
I generally order online from Tesco's when i have a really large shop to do, and pick up smaller items through-out the week. I like Morrisons, because they have alot of choice and are cheap, but i go to Sainsbury's every now and again for a change.I also go to Iceland from time to time, if i'm a bit skint.
Most of my shopping is done in our local small(ish) Tesco's because it's convenient, and i can go after i've dropped Christian off at school.
My shopping is varied depending what money i've got, but it's not too unhealthy, because i don't like too many convenience foods.

[Wayne]

Because i have the time in the day, & because Tesco is only 5mins walk from where i live, i tend not to do big weekly shopping trips. I generally pop in Tesco every other day & get whatever i need/want at the time. The other advantage is that i can get everything fresh, & don't have to bother getting any frozen stuff at all.
I quite enjoy my little trips to Tesco, but yes the queues can be a pain at times. That & people blocking up the isles by standing talking, which is a particular pet hate of mine.

[Allllie]

I loathe food shopping, expecially when I have to drag 3 smallish children around with me who hate it just as much. I tend to only do a 'proper' shop every other weekend when they're at their dad's and just dash into Iceland during my lunch hour for anything else

[Simon R]

I drink Yorkshire Tea nowadays and there's always a fresh egg a-piece.

[Larry]

We rather like Morrisons here in Bracknell. I haven't noticed any drop in quality in their fruit and veg compared with Sainsburys and Tescos. What is really noticable however is that our Sainsbury's food bill is about 20 more expensive on average per week. Forget the Nectar Card, saving that much money is far better than a few nebulous points.

I like shopping. Queuing is annoying, but I've learned to cope

i've been in there a couple of times and have to say i'm not all that impressed by Morrisons we tend to use Sainsbury's at Winnersh because the car parking at Waitrose in Wokingham is awful. Personaly I don't mind doing the weekly shop even if you do do it on autopilot as you tend to get the same things every week, As for the queuing this is no longer a problem as we now all ways do the shopping on a Thursday or Friday afternoon so we miss the weekend rush.

As for doing it on line yes this dose save time and we have done it on a few occasions the only problem is you never all ways get what you ask for...

[Pamela]

We rather like Morrisons

Me too. They sell everything I could ever want or need, and more besides.

If only they sold Spam Spread with Pineapple tho'.

[Captain Tancredi]

I tend to do a full shop once every ten days or so now- if it falls midweek I go to the Morrisons by work (which I'd otherwise avoid as full of chavs and slow-moving Chinese students) and if it falls at the weekend then it's usually Waitrose in Otley, which is walking distance from home. Morrisons is cheap- occasionally ridiculously so- and their offers are usually better for me, but the ambience of the shop really isn't a concern to them. Waitrose had to scale their prices back a few months after they opened, because people complained that they were trying to charge southern prices in Yorkshire, so now it's reasonable but not cheap- I can get 7 days' food in Waitrose for roughly the same amount as I'd pay for 10 days' in Morrisons. A year or two back I used to order from Sainsburys online and it came in a van from Bradford, but I'm not sure that would work now as vegetarianism and fresh stuff really go hand in hand more than when I was eating meat.