UK people - supermarket choices.

I've food Aldi or Lidl, but often local greengrocers are the cheapest for buying individual items.
So fair enough 4 peppers from Tesco are on offer for £1.50 or whatever, I never end up using 4 so buying 1 from the greengrocer is cheaper than buying 1 from a supermarket. I think think just depends on whether you have a cheap local greengrocer or an organic one which can end up being far more expensive.

Farm foods meat is often cheap and good quality, but you do need to buy large amounts to save the money.

Shop around in markets and local shops is what I'd suggest and avoid supermarkets where possible as they are often most expensive.

Just went to Tesco to buy some coffee and thought I'd have a look for deals. It's appalling. The "Value" shelves were packed with junk food - microwave burgers, cheesestrings, crisps, biscuits, confectionery, cheesecakes - all processed crap. The freezer sales section was the same - all deep fried, ice cream, etc. No fresh produce "sales" section, no wholefoods sales section. They proliferate obesity with no shame.

Still bought my coffee from there....

For fruit, veg, herbs, spices, flour, sugar, pulses, cheese, bread, coffee, tea, stock cubes and spreads such as peanut butter and honey I always go to the market (I'm lucky that Norwich has a fabulous outdoor market 6 days per week) as the food is way cheaper, fresher and usually more local than I've found in any of the major supermarkets. Also, the fruit and veg in the market tend to be seasonal as well as local, so by shopping there I avoid the supermarket-pitfall of being tempted to buy asparagus in March or strawberries in December and then finding they've come all the way from New Zealand!

Pulses I always buy dry from the market, because that way they're dead cheap...spices too. I pay about a tenth of the price I'd pay for a can of pre-cooked pulses or a jar of Schwartz spices.

Milk I get from the milkman - it's more expensive than the supermarket, but I like the returnable bottles!

I also grow a lot of my own veg in growbags in the garden, and I have herbs and salad leaves growing in pots on all my windowsills, and a mushroom log in my airing cupboard. I have a tiny garden, but it's amazing how much veg I can fit into a small space.

For meat and fish I buy from my local farmer's market...the meat and fish are locally produced, and whilst they're not as cheap as the supermarket, I tend to buy less and make it go further by serving in casseroles and bakes etc.

Eggs I get organic free-range ones from the many houses and farms that sell them by their garden gates on my daily walks...I guess this may not be easy if you live in the city not the countryside...

That leaves groceries, such as cereals, washing powder etc..... for those I tend to shop at Sainsbury's because it's the closest supermarket to home. I'm not wedded to Sainsbury's though - I'd equally well shop at Morrisons, LIDL or Aldi...the only 2 supermarkets I won't use are Tesco and Asda, Tesco because I think it's on a campaign of world domination and Asda because it's part of the equally huge Walmart chain, and I don't like to play a part in increasing the profits of corporate giants!

Shop mostly at Morrisons, they have weekly deals on Fruit and Veg that are usually pretty good, and so can always try something different every week. And they are the best at reducing items I find! We go on a Monday evening and get so much reduced stuff!! Recently got 4 Pork Steaks for 40p!!! Cottage cheese for 14p, and got loads of deli meats for 15p per 150g this week! Lovely...

Sometimes nip into Lidl, but never have everything I want for a weekly shop, and Tesco is closest so go there on occasion, but I just don't like tesco that much, don't know why...

Birmingham Market is the best though for meat and veg! If I could I would go there every Saturday and stock up for the week

tend to use aldi or lidi. If l use supermarkets l go for their value range, its just as good. I tend to get my fruit and veg from local shops or markets, far cheaper and not full of pesticides

Asda, but I go to a local farm shop for fruit, veg and eggs :-)

Shop mainly at Sainsburys once a week. Used to shop at Morrisons but found the fruit and veg didn't last for very long. Sainsburys may be a bit more expensive but quality is better so we don't throw out as much stuff. Always get the longest 'use by' date you can even if it's at the back of the shelf or the box underneath the one on display.

Own brand isn't always cheaper if a branded name is running an offer. Same applies to pack sizes. We find that sometimes the smaller packs work out cheaper than the bigger, so called economical, packs. Check the price per kg to compare. Other thing to check is the weight of the contents. A lot of manufacturers have reduced pack, tin, bag sizes but kept the same price. So you're paying the same but for less. You have to be a lot more savvy these days to make sure you're getting a good deal.

Check out your local independent shops and markets too. We have a very good Q butcher that we go to once a month. A lot cheaper than the supermarket, saves at least a tenner a month even after petrol costs to get there and the meat is all local. They list where it's from so no horse meat pretending to be a beefburger.

We have Asda and Aldi too. All the supermarkets are within 1/2 mile of each other. We check out the price of foods we buy a lot of online and pop into one of the others if Sainsburys doesn't have the same offer. Morrisons is the exception but will be online later this year.

Our Morrisons has just re-vamped their store and it's a lot better now. Even has 'chilled' displays that blows out cold air over the herbs and unusual veg like 'tiger' aubergines and yellow courgettes (zucchini). Think they'll give Sainsburys a run for their money now and we've decided to go there more often.

My stepmother lives near a Waitrose so sometimes we shop there. Their own brand can also be worth checking out and for 'luxury' items you can't get elsewhere, like Lapsang Souchong loose tea which we drink. Great ice-cream too! I rate them better than M&S. (I'm an ex Chef)

Marks and Spencers for their 3 for £10 meat offers. Good quality food!
Find Tesco is getting over priced lately

Marks and Spencers for their 3 for £10 meat offers. Good quality food!
Find Tesco is getting over priced lately

Oh yeah M&S do some good meal deals sometimes for two and their stir fry selection, they can be relatively healthy and the meal for two tends to feed four of us when we want a treat

Can't beat Lidl/Aldi for price and quality - especially on fresh stuff like fruit, veg and meat.