A frugal life is an easy life!

This weekend, is "Small business Saturday" (Yes I hear you sigh, yet another sales/marketing gimmick assigned to the calendar, to increase the flow of money from our pockets, but I digress).
Shopping local is a great way to ensure that money spent also helps to boost the local economy, instead of lining a shareholder's or corporate business' pockets in some far away place.

However, it is vital that those on a budget, watch their pockets (as I'm sure we do anyway) and there are some golden rules I've come across in my years of cutting back supermarket influences on our home and budget.

Avoid butchers that are on the high street!
By this I mean there are those in villages and located on main roads that have considerably lower overheads than those on the high street.
I've also found these to be cheaper, by some distance.
When missing my main road butcher, I have tried others, on main shopping streets and the price/quality differences have been substantial.
My usual weekly order of meat comes to around £25. The same meat from a "Local" high street butcher was close to £40 for the same items.

I also get my cheese (made in the area) from the butchers, the price difference between my regular butcher and the high street butcher was over £6 for two blocks of cheese.

Look out for the staff numbers - in my regular butchers, they have two staff serving, one more cutting and one more cleaning.
At the high street rival they had four people serving, three cutting and two seperate staff for their "Deli counter" - wage bills are reflected in their prices I'm sure.
The meat quality is also a factor. The old addage applies - "Tough meat is old meat!"
My regular butcher pays less attention to his deli counter and serves a close knit community from a main road (running through the area) shop.
It is always busy, with good reason, their meat is always fresh. I cannot remember the last time I had tough meat from them, I incinerate lamb chops, they still come out tender.

Many businesses are trading on the back of being "Local" and "not supermarkets" but is essential their prices and quality are good value.

Buying fresh fruit and vegetables - simple one this, use your outside market!
Look out for market stall holders that supply businesses in the area. They have less storage space, less access to freezers, make use of wholesalers more often and have a faster turnover of stock. This keeps their produce fresh!
Those with shops have more room to freeze and chill stock, prolonging shelf life for their goods, shortening the value and shelf life for you the customer.

I cannot reiterate this enough, NEVER buy fruit and vegetables from a supermarket!
They can be anything up to a year old before you pick them from the shelf. They are chilled all the way along the process, they are chilled in storage, transportation and each and everyday they are kept in the supermarket.
One easy point to make, their prices are extortionate!
I pay 40p per kilogram for my King Edward potatoes (granted I buy them once a month by the sack)
Asda price is currently 90p per kilogram (works out at £22.50 per sack!)
Tesco price is currently 90p per kilogram (coincidence?)
Waitrose price starts from £1.25 a kilogram (works out at a staggering £31.25 per sack!)
It makes you wonder why they have foodbank collections in supermarkets when these are the prices they charge!

The quality is far better as well, not starting to turn for around 5 weeks.

High street prices from greengrocer shops are running at around 85p per kilogram.

Eggs:
As my local greencgrocer also supplies businesses, they also supply eggs!
A full TRAY (2 dozen) of medium/large eggs costs me £3
How much did you pay for your last half dozen? £1? £1.10? £1.20?
My outside stall market greengrocer has lower overheads, faster turn over of stock (fresher stock) and is way better on price than anything on the high street for deals.

Fresh fish:
A market can have a few fishmonger stalls on it.
Look for the small one man band outfit that does not have the biggest counter.
The fish I get, finney haddock, kippers, beautiful white cod, huge plaice fillets, all boned and ready to go, is reasonably priced and fresher than anything I've tasted in any supermarket/high street.
Once again, he has little storage space, he has a vast knowledge and experience of how to cook his wares and lower overheads, so cheaper prices.
I haven't found anyone offering the same service he does for anywhere near the same quality and price. It's a no brainer for me.

Farmer's markets:
Many people speak highly of these and in certain areas are a welcomed break in terms of quality of goods on offer.
But for me, they are a no-go area.
They pop up every couple of weeks or month, in my experience their prices are way above what should be charged, a premium!
Anyone can run a stall on them and often do.

While there are those whom do not have the choice that I have in my area, two small towns with markets within a couple of miles of each other, I can fully see why farmer's markets appeal.
Look out beyond the town centres, look at the places surrounding you, on the way there see if you notice a road side butchers, greengrocers or little market.
People make a living from travelling around up to 6 farmer's markets every month, the cost of stalls is often higher than a regular market, which has all to be made back in profit for them to break even.
This comes from the prices they charge YOU!

I use local small businesses every week of the year. Established quality and prices are extremely better value than any supermarket can provide, they have low overheads so this is factored into their prices.
Goods are very high quality and shelf life is long.
But be aware, there are some that are trading on regenerated high streets that are milking the "shop local business" bandwagon, it's YOU that could be paying for it!