Down Shifting

One of the easiest ways to save money on your grocery shopping bill is downshifting.  I have been slowly doing this for a few years and in the main with huge success as I've moved from a top brand, to a lower priced brand, to the supermarkets own brand then finally to the value/basic range.  

Down shifting is in itself a journey of trying and tasting and see what you can / will change.  I love food, I wont eat rubbish and certain things I wont compromise on, nor will I support questionable farming and animal husbandry techniques so for example my eggs will only ever be free range.  

I am however lucky I can still financially afford to make those decisions, I don’t judge, my mum brought up 5 kids on barely nothing and she didn’t have the luxury to make or consider those issues, she simply had to feed 5 hungry kids, that was her only concern and she did an amazing job.  

I would say nearly 80% of my shopping basket now is the value/ basic range, below is just a flavour of what I used to buy and what I now buy

Just a selection of what I used to buy

Napolina Penne £2.09

Homepride Flour £1.49

Kerry Gold Butter £1.40

Flora spread £1.70

Napolina Chopped Tomatoes £1.35

Schwartz mixed herbs £1.05

Florette Salad £1.74                                            Total Cost £10.82

And now what I buy by downshifting

Basic Pasta  £0.39

Value Flour £0.52

Value Butter £1.19

Value sunflower spread £0.75

Value chopped tomatoes £0.31

Value mixed herbs £0.19

Value crunchy salad £0.99                                Total Cost:  £4.34

All of these staples are eaten daily/ weekly in this household and my annual grocery bill has reduced in the region of 40% over the past 2 years, this has been achieved by not consuming any less (my next challenge) but simply by downshifting.

Tried and tested but no compromise

There are certain brands however that I stick with, we’ve tried others, but either me or hubby refuse to downshift

Heinz Baked Beans

Weetabix

Nescafe Coffee

Dips – this is what has inspired todays blog.  We had friends over last night and I decided to opt for some frugal nibbles with drinks, I chose basic range multi-dips which were quite frankly vile, really vingegary and sour.  Thankfully I had lots of other good, yummy stuff to eat, its not a product we eat often but I wont be buying the basic/ value range again J

Its really just being a little brave, stepping outside your habits/ comfort zone and seeing what changes you can and will make.   In a lot of downshifting I defy anyone to actually notice the difference in taste, but you will see a huge difference in how much you can and will save. 

Where's the loyalty?

Whilst I am a relative novice in my new found frugal ways, I have to say there has always been one area that I have tried to excel .... I never automatically renew anything, I have absolutely no customer loyalty, always determined to beat any quote. Most insurance companies these days are quite canny, forcing you on automatic renewals done so under the altruistic guise that they are making life easier for you, so you don't have to go to the hassle of doing anything and you will be insured, my cynical self convinced they rely upon the complacency of many to do just that "nothing" and they are assured repeat custom. Hubby's car insurance is due and his renewal quote has come in for a little over £487, whilst we manage the insurance on line, to cancel this auto renewal required a telephone call ( to try and persuade me to remain, obviously I would have done if they met my new quote, they couldn't and I didn't). I have just renewed his insurance with a new company for £303. About an hour of my time, by using comparison site plus trawling a few I know who are not on comparison websites, added to that 5 minutes of a telephone call to cancel said auto renew, I have made a saving of £184, I would say the time was well spent. Cx

Make hay while the sun shines

Well it’s a bit early in the year for hay making but took advantage of the sunshine none the less J  Now I am just at the beginning of this frugal journey, I have a lot to learn and I have a lot to change.  Today was a day of change.  I have always (religiously) used a tumble dryer and I use it every day.  I do a minimum of 7 loads of washing a week and usually about 10 loads, I know this is mad as it’s just me, hubby and a little dog, but when it comes to cleaning I am a bit mad. 

The average cost of each load of drying is about 60p in electricity (according to the t’internet), based upon my conservative 7 loads a week this comes in at a staggering £218.40 per year.  So today I made the first step in changing this and I bought a retractable washing line (this was only £2.99 at B&M bargains), hubby doubts it will last long as it is quite flimsy and he’s already had to change the mount and screws to give it additional strength, but I have faith.  He has also made me a clothes pole for free.  When we moved into this house, there were odd lengths of 2x4 wood in the garage and hubby has taken one and cut a v in it and its doing a grand job holding the heavy line up. 

The British weather will dictate how often it will be used but providing I use it 5 times it has paid for itself.  I will use it every fine day we have and will keep a record of how often I do use to see how much I will be saving.

It’s one small step, but they all count J