I hate grocery shopping here!!!

I have just gotten back from doing the shopping and I absolutely hate shopping here. The stores are way too crowded, nothing is ever in stock, and, they make you Frickin pay for a trolley (i had no cash, it's nearing payday and money's tight so I couldn't get any out) and there I was carting a basket around Asda while 5 months pregnant cause they wouldn't trust me with a flipping trolley.

Methinks you're shopping at the wrong ASDA. At the Derby ASDA you can get the large trolley without having the £1 deposit. The small ones you have to but not the large one.

You can also get a trolley token for a £1 (I keep mine on my keyring) and so you never have to worry about having an acutal pound coin on you.

Also, as a side note, I went to Aldi once and didn't have a pound, so I just went to the cashier and asked him if they had any shopping baskets I could use since I forgot my pound coin for the trolley and he loaned me a quid for the trolley, which I gave back to him after I packed up my car. Or if you have only spare change and no pound coins, the cashiers will exchange them for you. It is a pain, but I do see why they do it, as some chav might just push the trolley home or to the bus stop or whatever and not bring it back.

as some chav might just push the trolley home or to the bus stop or whatever and not bring it back.

Round our way Tesco come around with a van every couple of weeks and pick theirs up. I have found a Boots one in a hedge; the nearest Boots is about 5 miles away!

I am interested in this keychain pound thing for the trolleys...That would be so much easier!

Round our way Tesco come around with a van every couple of weeks and pick theirs up. I have found a Boots one in a hedge; the nearest Boots is about 5 miles away!

hahaha, the Tesco I live near must be pretty high-tech, then. It has barriers at the edge of its premises and if you try to take a trolley over it, the wheels lock up and won't move again until a member of staff deactivates the locking device. I've only seen one trolly outside Tesco's premises in the past year, impressively.

Ha.  None of the Tescos near me are large enough to have trolleys.    The little Waitrose has them, but given the size of the store, I rarely see anyone using them.  

Upside:  no coin locks.  

Downside:  tiny stores.

Once I got familiar with products and brands and stuff, I switched to shopping online.  I pick up little stuff throughout the week, but get the bulk delivered.  Saves lugging it home on foot, too!

I am interested in this keychain pound thing for the trolleys...That would be so much easier!

They are very useful! My regular shops don't charge for trolleys, but you never know when you might need a £1 for one and come up empty. I have several of them - sometimes charities give them away when you donate money, some organisations have them made up as promo giveaways, and I also have one with my name on that I bought at the garden centre. Just have a look around next time you're out!

You can also just go to the express line  and buy a chocolate bar or some mints or something at the counter with a 5, 10 or 20-pound note, get change, then go back outside and get your trolley.

For some reason the Asda I went to is about half a mile from the Sainsbury's and one has the stupid coin things and the other doesn't. 

The Tesco in town doesn't have coin ones, but the Aldi does (it's behind the Tesco).  The Co-op next to the Lidl doesn't require coins either, but the Lidl does.  I just don't get it and think it's just that they are mean.

I have a couple of those token things somewhere, but I can't find them.

You can also just go to the express line  and buy a chocolate bar or some mints or something at the counter with a 5, 10 or 20-pound note, get change, then go back outside and get your trolley.

That works if you have a note. Problem was that I didn't. 

Going to do the online thing next week! wish me luck!

Going to do the online thing next week! wish me luck!

LUCK - I just did mine for delivery Tuesday! woohoo
The £3.50 delivery is worth it as I would have to drive to Tesco which is 7 miles away and back and we don't have a diesel car ;-) WAY WORTH IT!

Agree to loving online shopping/delivery.  Being 8 months pregnant, I almost feel in *danger* trying to waddle around ASDA/Aldi/Tesco (etc) while guarding my belly.  I can't believe how many people have seen that I am obviously pregnant and ran into me anyway.       Inconsiderate bumholes!  I would pay way more for the delivery charge (if I had to) just to avoid the crowds...although I have gotten a lot better about "standing my ground" when shopping in the UK (I feel like I should be wearing armor most of the time!).

Going to do the online thing next week! wish me luck!

Good Luck...the big thing with online ordering is the first time you do it takes longer is a bit of a pain...but after that if you tend to order similar things it becomes super easy-- you can bring up your last order and just amend it.
So be sure to give it more than one try

I love ordering online for specific things that are harder to find in the shops sometimes, like popcorn kernels. It took me a few times to figure out I had to type in Maize for it to crop up, though, but be sure if you have been really looking for something and not finding it that you try typing it in a few different ways and see if its available online! Plus buying things like spices is easier because you can search for what you want specifically instead of having to park yourself in the aisle and read over all the bottles to find what you are looking for.  The things I love being able to order online that I rarely see in shops in my area or tend to be hard to find are black beans, pinto beans, popcorn kernels, cornmeal, tahini, okra, and green chiles. Awesome sauce.  Of course, you may not have had any trouble finding these things in the first place, but it was like a miracle to me that I could order these things online instead of having to drive for 45 minutes to the nearest big Tesco in order to get them.

I thought that the stores who have you insert £1 into the trolley wasnt due to them being stolen, but more that they dont have to employ someone to go into the carpark to collect them all? Paying £1 for a trolley wont really deter anyone who was set on stealing one.

That works if you have a note. Problem was that I didn't.  

I know. I was speaking generally, not referring to the specific situation that you happened to be in.

I think I may be the only person who doesn't like online delivery - tried it with Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's.

I found that they picked out the least fresh items (even when I specifically requested that they pick out the items that expired latest) and I ended up throwing away a lot of food because we couldn't eat it in time before it was out of date.  

I would much rather go to the shop and pick everything out myself.

Maybe it's different if you have a large family or you can stay home and wait for a delivery more than one day a week, but we're only 2 people, and we can only shop or wait for a delivery on the weekend, so whatever we get on the weekend has to last us the whole week.