When it comes to shopping, I'm very guilty of sticking to what I know, which means using the usual inner-city locations such as Tesco or Sainsburys. While I like the idea of going further afield for my shopping, I'm usually limited to what I can easily carry in my backpack.
That said, if there was the promise of saving a little bit by going that bit further, I'm sure I could make it work. So I challenged myself to see what I pick up at the new Nottingham Bazaar Cash n Carry on Hucknall Road.
It's easy to see why there was so much excitement around the opening of this supermarket as it's huge. It's stocked with absolutely huge rows of terrifyingly tall neatly stacked products which span almost up to the roof. I was disappointed not to see someone attempt to retrieve something from one of the top tiers while I was there as it seemed like quite the challenge.
I made a few rookie mistakes at this point that I will hold my hands up to. My mother taught me better than to go into a supermarket without a list near lunchtime but it appears I like to live dangerously. This is possibly why I spent half an hour wondering if I could justify a 3kg tub of Nutella for £16.99.
Sadly I realised I couldn't really make it work and besides, the challenge was for under ten pounds so I put the Nutella back begrudgingly. It wasn't as easy as I thought to buy for under a tenner in the store but for the simple reason that I don't drive. If you have the car then you have capacity which means buying in bulk.
If you are shopping for one and on foot, then the savings aren't as good but there are still some bargains to be had. I managed to pick up larger bags of pasta for .49p each in shapes I couldn't normally find in other supermarkets. Every pasta needs a good sauce so with that in mind, I managed to grab a larger tin of tomato sauce for £1.29. If I had wanted to get the herbs there and then, the store also did huge bags of everything from Oregon to spices.
If I had a car then I would have invested in one of the big 5kg bags of long grain rice for £7.99 which would have kept me going for a month. However, I didn't fancy my chances of being able to lift it further than the car park let alone the bus stop.
Confusingly, it's very difficult to work out what the prices are if you are buying in bulk. The smaller items are fine but the larger ones show the price minus VAT which means you have to do the math yourself. I can't stand doing anything math-related nor do I know what the VAT actually is, so I was secretly delighted that to be buying smaller items that had it already added in.
I noted that a big slab of 24 cans of Diet Coke priced at £8.49 + VAT but without knowing how much extra that was - it's hard to know what the saving is. Tesco has the exact same amount of cans at £9 but then you have to pay for delivery on top of that. If you spend below £40 then you have another £4 added to the shop so that same box of cans is actually closer to £15 if you add on the cheapest small delivery costs. The big draw for the Cash and Carry is that you don't need to wait or pay extra as you can just drive up and buy.
I did settle for a large Turkish coffee for £3.99 which I was keen to try then got distracted by a 59p jelly. This is what happens when you go in without a list - you come out with the world's worst dinner of jelly with coffee and mayonnaise. I did treat myself to a tin of stuffed vine leaves for £1.50 which is about an average price. Again, if I had had the ability to carry more then I would have saved on buying in bulk.
At the end of the day, I got some good cupboard staples of coffee, mayo and pasta which will last me for £9.83. However, the real winners will be those who can drive. But I will definitely know where to go if I ever need a giant tub of Nutella.
