We’ve all been there. You’ve just made yourself a cup of tea or coffee, maybe a bowl of cereal, or you might even be baking and the next step of the recipe says you need one thing: milk. You open the fridge and realise that your last drop was finished by someone else. No matter! You can just nip out and get some, right?
Not exactly. That one trip to the shops could end up costing you a lot more money than just the couple of pounds you might think is ineffectual towards your monthly or yearly budget. But what can this wallet hit look like in terms of money? Well, we’ve broken it down.
Convenience Supermarkets and Mark Up Prices
The first concern should be with your choice of supermarket that you visit. This will obviously depend on distance and convenience, as you may have one round the corner that is easier to walk to. However, did you know your choice of supermarket could actually be costing you more for the same items?
The Independent found that the convenience branches of well-known supermarket brands could cost upwards of 21% more than their larger locations, adding up to more than £832 per year.
The cost of milk is hugely affected by these markups, as are other essentials like bread and butter, and could be costing you 8% more than larger supermarket locations.
A Trip for Milk Never Stays a Trip for Milk
Have you ever thought about the location of milk in your local supermarket? It’s usually right at the back of the shop, requiring you to go past so many sweets, treats, and other delights to get there, and by that point, you’ve uttered the classic phrase: “Why not?”
There’s nothing wrong with treating yourself, it’s just never one or two items that we end up buying when we “nip out for milk”, and that couple of extra pounds on snacks, reduced items, and whatever grabs our attention can quickly become a £20 receipt. If that happens once a fortnight, that can quickly rack up to around £520 a year!
It can also be that once you’re there, you remember other things on your shopping list that you needed to get. Before you know it, you’ve got a trolley full of items to stock up for the next few days, with the objective of milk being completely forgotten.
Petrol Costs Add Up Quickly
You might be one of the many shoppers who has to drive to get to your local supermarket chain. This presents a very specific additional cost that we often forget adds up incredibly fast in the fuel we put in our vehicles.
For electric cars, while it’s been cheaper in the past relative to the fluctuating costs of petrol and diesel, modern electric cars can have larger batteries for more distance. If you tend to charge your car at a public charging point or network, then it depends on the type of charger you use. Slow and fast chargers replenish at 53p per kilowatt-hour (kWh), about 16 pence per mile, while rapid and ultra-rapid chargers are around 81p per kWh, about 24 pence per mile.
At the time of writing this, the current cost of a litre of petrol is 157p to 158p, with diesel being significantly higher, averaging around 188p per litre. The average tank in UK cars is around 45 to 65 litres, meaning that at the lowest, it could cost you around £71 to refill your car to the top. Over time, these little runs to the shops blending into your commute, school runs, and other trips can drain your tank considerably, meaning you’ll have to take time, and more importantly money, to refill to make sure you can get home.
The Human Cost – Time, Energy, & Stress
“I’ll be back in 10 minutes.”
It would be a safe bet that no one who has ever said this has ever just been 10 minutes. A quick run to the shops to grab a single item is so rarely accomplished, and it can be for a myriad of reasons beyond grabbing some extra essentials or treats when you get there.
For the drivers who are tasked with acquiring the milk, it all starts with trying to remember where you left your keys, before leading to sitting in traffic, finding a spot to park, buying the items, getting back to the car, sitting in more traffic, and getting home. Before you know it, 10 minutes is now 30 or 45.
While we always attach money to the idea of value, how much of those wasted minutes could have been spent unwinding after a long day, getting some exercise in, or spending time with family and friends? The loss of nearly a full hour for a single item is rarely worth it.
How to Avoid The Convenience Milk Shop
The idea of a milkman might feel old-fashioned, but the convenience of milk delivery straight to your door offers the chance to save you significant time and money that would otherwise go to waste having to nip out.
At Hanover Dairies, we offer pints of fresh milk in glass bottles to your doorstep, in whole, semi-skimmed, and skimmed options all over the country. Sign up for delivery today and save yourself a bit extra.
