As we all know, residents in the UK are in the midst of a cost of living crisis that has squeezed more and more money out of families for energy, fuel and groceries.
Some people have turned to foodbanks to solve some of their issues, some are refusing to heat their homes due to soaring energy prices and some will even be homeless by the end of the winter.
With every penny being a prisoner, especially with those who have children and a large home to both heat and put food on the table, it has become about finding ways in which you can make a saving on a weekly basis. One of the most obvious ways in which to scale back is to take a look at where you shop and ask yourself if it is really necessary.
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To get some insight into how much money you could be saving every week on your typical grocery shop, we challenged ourselves to try changing from Tesco to Lidl and compare the price, quality and what we got for our money.
Living in a one-bedroom flat with my girlfriend, scrimping when it comes to food isn't typically something either of us make a habit of. Being young, we don't find an issue with spending a little more on healthier produce to keep us going throughout the week, and a number of treats are usually on the cards too.
Being a Tesco shopper for over two years and getting a consistent weekly shop every Friday with snacks, meals and lunches to last two people a whole week, we could spend anywhere between £50 and £70, not including several trips to the shop throughout the week for any items Tesco don't have in stock, or we prefer from somewhere else.
For example, on September 2, we ordered our usual shop and it came to £63. There were no pricey items such as alcohol or expensive meats within the order, although the day after it came, I found myself in Sainsbury's buying a joint of beef for the weekend, a pizza meal deal worth £10 and one or two items we couldn't get in Tesco that week - it added up to over £100 overall.
Taking a step back and realising that this is more than just a one-off occurrence, we pondered over how much we could really save if we put our minds to it. Considering we're supposed to be saving for our future, throwing away £100 a week on groceries for two people is a catastrophe.
On September 29, we visited the Lidl branch at Craigmillar. Without being too stringent, we picked up enough food for seven dinners, lunches for both of us throughout the week, and a few extra snacks and treats. The total came to £53. In just one attempt, we halved a shop from a few weeks ago. We could have done the same shop all over again and still had change from our order on September 2.
Taking into consideration the number of items, with our Tesco delivery, we received 33, not to mention the extra ten or so that I picked up a day later in Sainsbury's. In Lidl, we picked up 41 items, and got everything we needed off our list. There will be no additional trips to the shop throughout the week, and £53 is what the weekly total will stay at.
Although the additional items picked up after our Tesco shop were on the expensive side, we also priced those items in Lidl - where meat is typically much cheaper - and still would have made a saving worth going back.
With all the items from Lidl spread out on our table in the kitchen, it was evident just how much you could get and still save an enormous amount of money. You also have the satisfaction of picking your own produce from the shelves. If you're like me, you'll be too scared to look at the bacon you've been given in your shopping delivery in case it was the worst pack on offer.
You may also be given five items that are about to go out of date and you're forced to use them straight away. By going into Lidl, we were able to pick the best-looking fruit, vegetables and meat and save money in the process.
It may not seem much, but a lot of people, including me, will pay for a delivery saver each month that saves you paying several pounds on top of your groceries just to have it delivered. Tesco's delivery saver is currently £7.99 a month, which is another potential saving to take into consideration.
Overall, the initial thought of saving £20, £30 or even in this case, £50 on our weekly shop definitely opened our eyes and made us think twice about throwing unnecessary money away during one of the toughest financial periods to date. For the foreseeable future, we will continue to look to cheaper alternatives in Lidl and Aldi and take a step back when considering the implications of thoughtless spending.
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