The Zohan

Well it has us.

Northampton town centre - parking costs, pedestrianised centre that you cannot park that close to, especially with two kids in tow

Busses, vile smelly and usually complete with yobbo's again not an option with two kids and shopping to manage

subsequently the last time i shopped in the town was Christmas.

Whilst the town has a lot of the shops we used to use, it is more trouble that it is worth, get back to the car 5 mins late and fine a 30 ukp fine waiting for you. Whilst Northampton may be short of a few cops on the beat the same cannot be said for parking wardens!

All of this has conspired and now we shop at out local out of towns retail parks which are very close and convenient

we do pretty all our weekly shopping at Tesco or Sainsburys, free and easy parking and they sell most of the stuff we need on a weekly/monthly basis. I stop at out local butcher on the way as i refuse to buy meat from the supermarkets as it is generally rubbish.

And TBH for clothes, etc we go to Wellingborough (Thanks clare) or CMK Both free parking and easy to get into around. Plus online shopping. Brought our last TV from Amazon.

anyone else?

StickyMicky

tend to do most shopping over the net to be honest.

very, very rare i go into newcastle now to buy anything, in fact the last time i was in newcastle was around 6 months ago for a japanese restaurant, last time i did any shopping ? simply can not remember (probably a few years ago)

i would rather pay for postage, then waste my time and my temper pissing about in the city center

davegtt

Clothing shopping is being done online, easy to find cheap branded clothes in sales if you sign up to all the websites linking you to the offers page.

Food shopping, well, Pasta, Sauce, Bread, Milk and Bacon is about all I keep in stock. Price of Pizzas at the local Pizza Place hasnt gone up. Although an extra 15p a pint for Lager in the boozer now, unimpressed cause now I cant even get 2 pints for £5. Ridiculous

PeteBrant

Drink one at a time then Dave, for god's sake man, it's not a race

davegtt

Ahhh but then it'd need to be a marathon if I wanted to get pissed and theres only so many hours in a day

Paul3446

Had to laugh yesterday when they announced inflation hadn't gone up.

Things that had gone up, were petrol, oil, food etc.

Things that had gone down, were furniture and computer games.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Have done our weekly shop online with Tesco for over a year now - loads less hassle than getting the car dinged every week and traipsing around the shop just to buy the same things every week.

Apart from odd bits and pieces I need during the week, which I always get from the local village shops, I do most of my shopping online as its much easier.

This is one thing they neglect to mention when the media reports about retail shops closing and how this is showing a downturn in spending - it isnt necessarily, spending is just moving to online shopping, as it has been over the past 5 years, but since a lot more people have broadband now it is even easier than it was before.

stilover

Yeah, me too. With everything going up I have less money in my pocket every month. What does this mean for me?

I can now only visit the Massage parlour once a week now, while before it was twice. The price of a BJ has gone up by a Tenner

r32

No I'm sorry but inflation isnt really that bad, you must be mistaken. HMG have data to prove it.

Clarebabes

Glad you took my advice about Wellingborough! I know it doesn't have the range of shops, but I hardly ever go into Northampton as I can get generally everything day-to-day I need in Wellingborough at lunch.

Have always avoided Northampton when possible. It's full of horrible people who seem to have the time to walk around there all day spending their dole cheques on fast food and dropping litter. Town centres are their own worst enemy TBH. If the parking wasn't so extortionate, more people would go and they wouldn't be losing shops!

j4ckos mate

we go to aldi or netto occaisionally, but thats got more to do with not giving my money to the big supermarket nearby

Julz1983

We do nearly all our food shopping online with Tesco (waiting for one arriving at the mo), I can get everything we need (3 of us) for around £50-£60 and that will last us a week, if we run out of any essentials I usually just pop across the road to the co-op but won't use them for alot of things as I find there prices a bit high on certain items. Noticed the rising fuel, but isn't always. Clothes etc we usually go to the metro centre, royal quays or just do it online to save the stress, alot of our daughters clothes I go and buy from asda as I see no point in paying ridiculous prices for a 5 year old who will grow out of everything in a few months time, must admit I will get brand named trainers for her all the time and for christmases and birthdays I'll use next etc for her but otherwise I think it's a rip off!

Nowadays it's all about who has the best name in clothes or electricals, I used to be bad for wanting everything with a brand name on but now I couldn't care less, since I've started looking out for a bargain and shopping wisely we've actually been able to get more for our money because we can buy 2 things instead of one big expensive thing and end up being skint!

Public transport......................well don't even go there, I've never used it for years!

WRX_Dazza

Good thread this one...

with both of us working, we tend to shop as and when we need stuff.

this means popping down to the local somerfield on the way home from work (free parking and empty carpark in the evening)

however i do try to support my ittle corner shop/newsagent and purchase day to day stuff from them.

distinct lack of greengrocers and butchers in the high street now and as said, the parking is permit mid week, so passing trade is no doubt suffering.

i really need to walk more, i guess!!!

the price off food going up is ridiculous (eggs up 70% or something this year, as an example)
so less is more in our household (or else the date goes and its bin time!!!)

i always eat better in France, so head there when i can for my fill of top notch food!!!

The Chief

Crikey where do i start.

Well i started by selling the Scooby

Instead of buying lunch i now bring lunches in which saves over 60 quid a month, i.e. baked potatoes and packs of coke at 99p for 6 cans.

I limit my driving where i have to and buy stuff online where possible as postage is cheaper then driving somewhere for it.

I also handwash my clothes in the sink with cold water

The Zohan

Good point re local shops Dazza, forgotten that one,

we support our local one as well for any other 'domestical' purchases, it is a mile or so away and i try to walk to this one

Julz1983

Our local shops mainly suffer from vandalism and abuse from chavs not the lack of custom.

I would try and walk to local shops to support them but can't at the mo, I will usually walk to them and would rather use them during the week if I'm in need of a few things and don't want to use the supermarket

Deep Singh

Very bothered by car related costs, I think high performance cars are going to become for the rich only. I'm thinking of flogging my car and buying a sensible diesel!

WRX_Dazza

Deep pockets,
You'll be fine mate. just cut down the smoked salmon to 3 days a week and dont heat the pool on sundays!!! lol

car costs are a right royal ****ing joke.
if i didnt get my petrol paid for and was on a regular job instead of contract work, i would definately bin it!!!

PaulC72

Yep noticed it all too.

Went to solihull the weekend to return something that was near the end of an extended warrenty the parking had gone up from 90p for the hour to £1.10, still cheap I know but still a noticable increase.

Mostly our shopping is done online wirh the occasional visit to retail parks but not very often.

Food shopping usually Asda, done online, free delivery every time using internet vouchers, no car park dinks, problems parking or even having to carry the shopping any further than the doorstep

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Paul, was just thinking of starting something similar !

Maybe it is time for the general populous to have to scrimp, save and make do and mend, including me, we have all got to the point where we think we should have everything, foreign holidays, prestige cars, upmarket food and pro level electronics, even those who don't work thanks to government handouts.

I am including myself in that, I remember what my grandad told me, how to FEED himself after his dad died he collected and sold bundles of sticks to get money to live, our society has divorced effort and application from
reward and survival, you can give up and live quite well, if you then divert your effort to claiming more than you are entitled to or selling dodgy dvd's you can do quite well, very well if you are prepared to have a go at hiding your kids .....


Perhaps when everyone accepts this and pulls their weight we can go back to the good times, also, perhaps the very rich might like to pay some tax as well rather than taking everything offshore, come on, 1 Billion or 1.5 Billion, doesnt make much difference, does it ?

StickyMicky

could have sworn i have just paid £3.75 per crate of 24 from my local cash and carry

have to say, some of the supermarket prices nowdays are cheaper then the cash and carry, the same cash and carry that the local corner shop blokes use to stock up on beers and stuff.

its mind boggling

my mam wanted a crate of cheap wine so i told her i would get some fo that echo falls stuff from the cash and carry next time i was in, iirc it was about £15/16

iirc saw the same stuff in asda on special for about £14.25 a few days later

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

'My' shop is slashing prices like there's no tomorrow, and we're cheap to start with.

In the other breath, they are saying all is fine, not sure about that as overall sales are well down on budget, and last year, but that could be partly due to the weather at the moment. Time will tell.