A bit of leg work in search of cheap food

Anyone want to come on a shopping trip with me? Today I went to town to pay a couple of bills at the bank, and withdraw some cash. I needed some cat litter as well as a couple of other things, and did my usual rounds of looking for any special offers in the food line. It's not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket when food shopping. To get the best bargains you need to know your prices, so try and remember what your regular foods cost so you can compare. I know some people do this research on the computer, but to be honest I can't be bothered. I would rather go to the shops and see for myself.

First stop Aldi, where I parked and walked the couple of minutes to the High street. I went in to have a look and found a Farmhouse seeded batch loaf at half price, 49p, and I also bought a tin of Corale baked beans to try, at 28p, as other people have recommended them. My main complaint about Aldi is they only ever have one person on the till. So even if you have two items you have to wait in line behind families with a trolley full. It's a pain in the bottom :o(

I didn't go in Poundland today but I've put this pic in here, because sometimes you can find a bargain or two. I have bought currant and raspberry bushes in here, and they have turned out ok. You have to be carefull though, because with some items you think you are getting a good buy at £1, but could probably get it cheaper somewhere else. Some of the cheaper items which are two or three for £1 are the best buys, look out for those.

B & M is where I get my eggs, currently 95p for six, only buy free range. I sometimes get cat and dog food here, if they have any offers. Their food department seems to be expanding, I always check prices, sometimes you can pick up some pasta quite cheap.

Home Bargains is another discount store I visit. If B & M don't have eggs I can get them here. I also get wash up liquid, bleach, Nescafe, sugar, Coffee Mate, and sometimes cat food here. These items can also be found at B & M for a similar price.

I find Pets At Home quite expensive, but I do get Felix cat food here when it is on special offer and no one else has it.

Good old Morrisons. Clumping cat litter is £1.44 a bag, that's Morrisons own the cheapest, I get five bags at a time. I wish my cats would go outside to piddle, I am getting through a lot of this at the moment. I always look for whoopsies here, that's yellow stickered price reductions. Today I bought some Brie and Danish Blue cheeses at 29p a portion, and a melon reduced to 49p. The bread wasn't cheap enough and it was white, I like wholemeal or seeded.

Next stop the pet stall in the Market. I used to get all my Felix pouches here because it was the cheapest place around. Not any more, they put them up to £2.75 a box, and you can always get them on offer somewhere at £2.50. However, they have cheap Whiskas dry at the moment. They were selling 2kg bags for £3.99 which is very good, but now they have 360grm small boxes for 50p, which is even better, I bought eight of those today. I also get my dog treats here, as the prices are better than the supermarkets. Might seem daft being as I don't own a dog, but you can't take a dog a walk without having a fews treats in the pocket.

This is the new Poundland in the shopping precinct. I need to explore this a bit more. I bought three tins of tuna for £1 a few weeks ago, but it was only fit for cat food.

I have mentioned this Cash and Carry a few times, I pass it when I go to and from town, always worth a look in. A bit of a basic warehouse type place, no frills here, but you can pick up a few bargains. It's a bit open to the elements, and it doesn't have fancy lighting, but who cares.

The owner and his assistant are very friendly, always polite, always helpfull.

They now have a licence to sell booze, and are starting to stock fresh foods in the chiller cabinet.

You have got to sift through this lot though, there is a lot of stuff which I don't buy anymore, like crisps, biscuits, fizzy pop, and sweets. The pet food is not all that cheap either.

But this is a good buy, a bag of spuds for 20p, I'll have one of those.

Stock cubes 20p a packet, I already have some of them in my cupboard.

Fantastic price for Ocean Spray juice. I don't need any at the moment because I stocked up on John West apple juice at the same price a few weeks ago.

But today I stocked up on Tuna Chunks. The price of tuna has shot up dramatically in the last few weeks, even Tesco Value jumped from 45p to 75p, I would not pay that price for it. So today I bought a case of 48 tins of John West. The price was £24, but the man knocked £2 off that, so these have cost me 45p a tin. What's the catch? They are out of date by six months. They're going to last a while, that's if the cats let me have any, ha ha.

I've just had half a tin tonight with a plate full of steamed vegetables, a healthy cheap dinner. I'll have the other half tomorrow, with a spud in the microwave, and salad. Cheap lunch.

These are just a few of the shops I visit. I didn't go past Tesco today so no pic, but you know what it looks like. I also didn't go past Sainsburys or Asda. I think Sainsburys is too expensive, and Asda is the other side of town, not a place I go past very often. Cherry picking the best prices gets you best value. I realise that not everyone has time to do this if they are working full time, but for those who do have time it is a good way to save some money, by shopping around. Toodle pip.