For Alison Godfrey, of Fleetwood, it's the "Super 6" fruit offers – 69p for three peppers, 500g grapes, 750g plums, a kilo of new potatoes, or a honeydew melon – at Aldi, Fleetwood.
For Zena and Arnold Robins, of Blackpool, it's the weekly pilgrimage to Fleetwood to honour their commitment to "proper shopkeepers". Fruit and veg from Fleetwood Market, fish from Dockside, bread from the Scotch Bakery, meat from award-winning Prime Cuts.
"We avoid supermarkets if we can," says Zena. "we may pay more but the difference in quality is astonishing and we get great special offers."
Butcher Steve Wallbank admits: "Regulars are the backbone of the trade. They wouldn't come back if quality was bad. You can buy cheaper but it's false economy. And the Cumberland and black pudding sausage at £2.29 lb just fly out!"
There's similar attention to detail at nearby Fleetwood Market, where David Owen runs the cheese and chutney stall, which specialises in Lancashire cheeses.
"It's a labour of love," he says, "and where we excel is on personal service. People try before they buy, and those living alone can buy as little as they want, so it reduces waste."
There's never been a better time to bag a bargain than in today's straitened times, whether it's a 37p large sliced own label wholemeal loaf at Tesco, 60p half price brand name golden syrup cake at Somerfield, £3 for six cokes at Morrisons or two 400g packs of rather posh lamb and apricot sausages at Booths.
The age of the born-again bargain hunter is upon belt-tighteners as the nation heads to recession faster than you can say BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free).
While there's still a market for elitist "it's not just food it's ..." campaigns, more of us are getting less sniffy about shopping or with keeping up appearances.
Discount continental chains, own labels, basic and value ranges are all on the up, along with shopping for what you need, when you need it.
The trend was underlined by discount chain Lidl recently being voted best value for money retailer of the year by the Consumers' Association.
What Lidl, Aldi and Netto, who all have outlets locally and are likely to open more, lack in frills, they make up in value for money.
And do we really need a latte each time we do the weekly shop? Does it hurt to queue longer for fewer tills?
Leading Lancashire "shopologist", marketing guru Helen Woodruffe-Burton (left) says we are what we shop .. but are casting snobbery aside in favour of more "savvy" shopping.
"There are sensitive class issues in shopping, about brands, where you shop and what you buy," she admits.
"My five-year-old loves smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, which may sound very upmarket, but Aldi's prices made it accessible.
"I shop there weekly. You'll see the big flashy 4 x 4's on the car park, with middle class well-off people buying the award-winning wines, deli produce and continental cheeses.
"The lower income shoppers buy the basics. No other activity says as much about who we are and how we live as what we buy.
"Low income schoolchildren can be sensitive about own brands – it's got to be Penguin or Walkers crisps. The poorest mums often buy the poshest prams.
"Consumer psychology shows the middle classes don't worry about that kind of thing. It extends to hand me downs. When I had my second child, I got given a pram, cot, bags of clothes.
"Yet I'm aware there are some who would be offended if I offered them things. It's an unwritten code, and you have to be finely tuned to such sensitivities.
"Back in 1930s America during the Depression, the worst-hit families would do without everything rather than let the car go – it was the symbol of the American dream.
"In Britain there are still Hyacinth Bouquets out there keeping up appearances.
"The more secure people feel in their identity, the less they worry about how they appear to others.
"Ten years ago, market researchers used to joke that if you had a focus group and one lady said she only shopped at M&S, all the rest would say so, too.
"There's a bit of that today. One of my students said she'd like to go to Aldi but would worry about bumping into someone she knew there!"
Helen highlights the success of own brand labels. Bread's one of the big indicators of the economy – with people paying up to £2 for a loaf. Yet at Tesco it's still possible to get a large wholemeal sliced own label loaf for 37p.
Freezers enable people to store more, but Helen echoes premier Gordon Brown's waste not, want not, frugality, and warns against bulk buys.
"BOGOFs encourage people to buy far more than they need, and food often goes to waste."
Lancaster-based Helen is a reader in marketing at the University of Cumbria and research fellow at Lancaster University. In her spare time she plays the tuba with Pilling Jubilee Silver Band.
"I'm not the typical academic. I didn't want to spend my life talking to small enterprises about export policy so I turned to retail therapy.
"Back in the 90s it was the buzz as credit crunch is today. I look at consumer behaviour. We've gone from shop till you drop to ethical and green consumption and saving money.
"There's a big backlash against extravagance. That suits me. I'm a Wigan girl so I love a market and if I go to a posh do, I'll buy a frock on eBay.
"Even highly fashion aware women are playing it canny, paying a tenner for a Primark outfit and mixing and matching with designer accessories.
"Young adults, up to mid-30s, don't remember what recession was, yet I think we're in one now, just haven't admitted it, so there's no shame in being savvy.
"We can't do much about petrol prices, but we can swop energy providers, switch credit cards, and manage money more effectively.
"Prudent people are in the minority. Most keep a handle on things but we need to monitor bills and be less conscious about maintaining an image through consumption.
"I'm proud of the fact that despite being a working mother, we all sit round a table to eat a meal that is three quarters home-made.
"My girls, at 15 and five, can cook. One of the greatest disservices ever done to education was the loss of domestic science.
"I still use my old school exercise books containing my handwritten recipes, yet we now have a generation of males and females who can't cook, and that's a disgrace."

jacqui.morley@blackpoolgazette.co.uk