The Great Supermarket Debate

Heading into controversial territory here...1. Tescoisation is a new sociological word which is the same category as Cococolanisation ... and as I don't like Coke I can quite easily adopt the moral standpoint around that one. Being against Tesco is a bit more tricky. 2. Two of my friends Sarah and Lorna work for Sainsburys and would be cross if I shopped anywhere else 3. Everyone and all the adverts say Asda is cheaper. 4. I LOVE Sainsburys and always have and go to the same one - though it has grown tremendously from the little Archer Road branch I used to go with my mum, where me and my brother would get a french stick and sit in the trolly pulling all the middle out then eating the crust. We'd eat the entire thing and mum would have to pay for the wrapper. So theres a lot to go in the mix when deciding where to shop.
A friend of mine, Rosie, was so against a new Tesco being opened next to the Spa in our area that when she once needed some nappy bags (aprox 60p) and Spa, Coop and the pharmacy didn't have any - she refused to go to the new tesco but instead drove 2 miles down the road to the massive tesco to get them from there instead!
So since my issue is money saving I am going to be motivated by this rather than getting into the ethics of big businesses. Not that I don't care about that but, lets be honest here, I don't know if Mr Asda is kinder than Mr Sainsbury - I can only speculate and probably badly. But... I will support local business where possible, I will buy fair trade where it is an available option, I will not compromise on health and fresh ingredients.
I don't agree that Asda is less. I think for brand products it may be but I'm a value shopper and find Asda dont have as much in their value range. I always spend more when I go to Asda -fact. Also its so much further so I'm also spending loads more in petrol. Generally I actually spend the least when I go to Sainsburys - fact. Bigger store here so more value range. But easily distracted by things that are magazines, DVDs, kids clothes, shampoos, makeup...dangerous territory.
So my new experiment is ... Tesco online... ! I must say I feel embarrassed when the big lorry pulls up- that the neighbours... most of whom are elderly and catch the free bus on a Monday from right outside my house... must think I'm ill, or pregnant or just plain lazy. However I am hoping that by restricting my shopping to online I will avoid the impulse purchases, offers I don't really need, the hungry shopper syndrome where I buy SO many sweets. So I should have a better idea of how much I am spending as I can keep a check on the amount as I click. To say we've had 2 birthdays, including a party shop in the last month I have kept the shop to under £200 ... which when we last budgeted 5 years ago (! man thats bad!) that is what we said we could afford for food. We're a family of 4 now but haven't got more income so still work to that. We've gone for separate trips for extra milk and bread a few times but essentially that's not bad. You do pay for delivery but some slots are just £3 which is less than a normal sweet spend... So I'll keep watching how that's going and see if I can pull that in anymore without us going hungry!