I came to a decision this morning. Admittedly it’s been a long time coming but I have now got to the stage where I find the situation so intolerable that I need to start doing something about it for my own peace of mind.
I am giving up supermarket shopping.
This will have to happen gradually for several reasons but I hope within the next 6-12 months I will be completely supermarket free.
The reasons for the gradual approach include but are not limited to the following:
- I don’t have a car, so I currently rely on a relative giving me a lift to the supermarket they use.
- I will need to find an alternate source to purchase what I need
- I will need to find a way to get there on public transport or to have it delivered
- It needs to be within my weekly food budget
- There might not be an alternative for some things that I need, decisions need to be made about these products
Currently there are several aisles that I never venture into because they contain items that I never purchase – meat and ready meals in particular, so I’m only using about half the shop or less. They say that supermarkets give people what they want but I don’t really feel like they are catering to me and my needs. What they are doing is giving people what is perceived to be a bargain but what is in fact just cheap. The BOGOF (buy one get one free) offers are paid for by the supplier, not the supermarket who doesn’t lose any money. The “2 or 3 for the price of” offers really just encourage you to spend more money and quite often all you are “saving” is a few pennies.
Loyalty cards are called that for a reason. It’s another way of tying you in to the supermarket, because the more you spend with them the more points you will get on your loyalty card and the more you will “save”. Double point offers encourage you to buy more than you would normally so you can take advantage of the double points on everything offer. Ultimately they want your money and they don’t care what they have to do it get it. And what do you think they do with the information gleaned every time they swipe your loyalty card? They use it to target special offers to you personally sure, but more importantly they use it to track trends in your and everyone else’s shopping. But anyway I’m getting off the point here lol.
So my supermarket shopping will be phased out starting today. Over the next few months as the weather warms and the garden starts growing again, I will be able to provide a lot of my own veg and fruit at least. There is an organic box scheme running around here somewhere and hopefully they will sell other products as I won’t really need their veg. I imagine it will be a slow process and I might have some issues letting go when the time comes especially because it is so convenient isn’t it, but the decision has been made.
Parting thought:
One £ in every £8 spent in the UK is spent in one particular supermarket chain. That’s not just food but in the entire UK retail sector.
