I am ashamed to say that I do not use my nearest supermarket. For me I have spent years comparing items pricewise and Sainsburys has come out more expensive overall. However, recently they have introduced a price match for ALDI which means that suddenly the odd item here and there is cheaper than where I usually do my shop (Morrisons). With this is mind I revisited my £15 meal plan and compared item for item to see if it would be cheaper.
In short the total is cheaper - instead of £14.96 the total would be £14.17 but the devil as they say is in the detail...
1)First up margarine £1.00 using an item on offer at Morrisons when the post was written
Price is the same (albeit for own brand) - interestingly own brand at Morrisons would be slightly more expensive if they did not have an offer.
2) 500 g frozen mixed veg 85p at Morrisons
A winner at Sainsbury's thanks to the price match
3) Passata - 35p per carton at Morrisons
40p per carton at sainsburys - not so good
4) 1 kg of onions - 65p at Morrisons
a whole 20p more expensive at Sainsbury's
5) 500 g red lentils £1.15 from Morrisons
same price
6) Loaf of bread (800g for 49p at Morrisons)
Price match to the rescue again - a 13p saving at Sainsbury's
7) 2 pints whole milk - 80p at Morrisons
no change in price - not a big surprise really...
8) 500 g pasta 45p at Morrisons
Sainsburys is a loser this time at 10p more expensive
9) 1 head garlic - 45p at Morrisons
A nice surprise to find a 20 p saving here!
10) 6 eggs for 75 p at Morrisons
11)1 kg of granulated sugar 65p
This one looks like it is cheaper but look at the pack size - gram per gram it is more expensive and would last me half as long BUT if the bottom line is the total at the checkout this week then it saves me 15p on the total bill - you pays your money you takes your choice...
12) Own brand baked beans 30p per tin from Morrisons
Price match again - 9p per tin saving
13) 500 g plain flour - 45p at Morrisons
Same price BUT look at the pack size. Thanks to price match this is a massive 3x the amount for the same cost OR I could have chosen to have a pack the same size for a 5p saving...
14) 1 kg frozen cauliflower/ broccoli 99p at Morrisons
£1 at Sainsbury's - let's call this one a draw...
15) £1.89 for 350g cheese
smaller price saving 39p off the total BUT for a smaller pack (the next nearest was 400g of cheese for £2)
16) 100g curry powder 65p
15p more expensive at Sainsbury's
17) Mixed herbs 95p
10 p saving
18) 8 pack of sausages £1
20 p saving thanks to price match
19) 80 value tea bags 55p
Half as many teabags for 15p definite loser for the final item.
So what is the conclusion-. Well as a generalisation the ALDI price match makes all the difference. You can find out what is included by following the link on the Sainsbury's Groceries homepage and this includes over 250 items at the latest.
One of the highlights is the 1kg of rice for 45p which would make a good substitution for the pasta in my original list and give more food in the long run for the same price (yes at a pinch one form of carbs is pretty much like another). Other things like eggs, flour, teabags are geared towards the bigger value packs though - great if you are scaling up to feed a family - or can operate on a monthly budget, not so good if you are hand-to-mouth on a week by week budget. I still cannot get all the way down to £10 for 1 person without cheating and using value packs and proportional pricing - well not unless you want baked beans on toast for lunch and dinner for 7 days! What it really underlines is that it is very rarely cheaper on everything when you compare one shop with another and you also have to weigh up things like travel costs as well. Using a price book (and stocking up if you can) for groceries that have a long shelf life does help, so can combining journeys like the work commute (assuming you still do one) so long as you are disciplined and don't fall for the offers etc instore. Finally, don't forget that if you can have a little wiggle room in your food budget for emergencies this will help with the mindset as there is nothing that will make you stick to your old (bad) ways more than knowing even if you don't like it you have to eat it or go hungry; just remember even an emergency tin of beans or soup will do and try that recipe you have been recommended by your mate - it might even change your mind.
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