Although our food supplies are still plentiful, aided and abetted wonderfully by the vast amount of salady things we now have coming through in the Veggie Patch and that we are making the basis for most of our meals, we are starting to run out of some non-food items.
This week it was tissues, now I know lots of you will assume I would use washable 'old fashioned' handkerchiefs, which indeed my Lovely Hubby does, but I don't, I am of the mind that germs are best in the bin not whizzing through my washing machine with my best clothes on a 30 degree wash.
So with the last box being brought into use and it being hayfever season and all, I nipped out to the supermarket and for once I decided to visit Waitrose, a supermarket I love but not one that usually has that many bargains. Although I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I got there. I did need some carrots for grating as all mine are sliced in the freezer, and some grapes as well as the tissues so it was worth going out for.
When I got there I wandered the aisles quite enjoying being in a different place for once and I noticed that my favourite brand of Oatbran was reduced in price, so as we were about to run out I bought two bags. I also spotted these 'Living Lettuces' which were reduced to clear at 69p a pack as the date was just up, so again I got two.
When I got to the checkout I was offered a Waitrose card which the lovely cashier told me all about, they really are nice the staff in our local branch. Seemingly as a card holder I now qualify for a free magazine every month as well as additional offers and the chance to win either the value of my weekly, monthly or yearly shopping free in various draws they do. Ah well the odds of me winning that one (or it being very much if I did) are not very great but a free magazine every month, as long as I'm passing in that direction is worth having the card for.
I spent a grand total of £11.26, seemingly for accepting the leaflet with the card I got 1p knocked off my shopping according to the receipt, so that was then down to £11.25, ah well they say every penny helps :-)
I got my copy of this months magazine, now for free instead of it being £1.20, and I picked up a copy of their already free 'weekend' newspaper as I knew it had an article mentioning the lovely Jack Monroe who's Blog A Girl Called Jack and exploits I follow avidly, (a really good piece by the way). Also in my trolley were two poly bags that the previous trolley user must have picked up and then not used, so I popped these in my shopping bag for use at home, if I had left them there they would have ended up in the bin, what a waste!!
When I got home I gave my 'Living Lettuces' a good drink ...
... and then an hour later after a sandwich and a sit down (for me not the lettuces), I popped them out of the tray ...
... split them, and then split them again ...
...until I had 16 separate little clumps ...
... and put them into two empty troughs, and then gave them another good drink of water.
Now we'll have lots and lots of lovely lettuces, hopefully enough to keep us going, along with all the others I have growing, for most of the Summer. Buying them this way was so cheap and gives us instant baby leaves and at least three re-cuts of each and every plant. So potentially around 48 lettuces for £1.38, which is around the price of two in the supermarket at the moment. Every little bit helps the £2 House Keeping Challenge go on for just that little bit longer.
It really made my day, an outing to a different shop, a couple of freebies AND lots of lovely lettuces :-)
Sue xx
What a fab bargain with your lettuce, I rather like popping into Waitrose when we are in Chester & their magazine is actually quite good. Hope you get lots of salad leaves now.
ReplyDeleteWe should get loads :-)
DeletePlease feel free to tell me off if I start moaning about too much lettuce over the coming weeks!!
well done on those great deals.
ReplyDeleteGill
Thank you :-)
DeleteWell done, some great bargins. I like mixing it up with supermarkets as well. I find that it stops you getting stale and buying the same stuff week in week out. Great idea to plant the lettuces out, they should keep you going for ages (especially if you use them as cut and come again). :o)
ReplyDeleteDid you know that virtually ALL lettuces are actually 'cut and come again' as are cabbages and cauliflowers, I do this to all my crops.
DeleteAnd don't faff about pulling a few leaves here and there, unless of course you actually only want to eat a few of them or some of them are so much bigger than others, simply take your scissors and cut them off a couple of centimetres above soil level and you will get a brand new plant within a couple of weeks.
Like you I only shop at Waitrose occasionally. I do like their ethical stance on meat production, and you can sometimes pick up a bargain or two. At my branch you can get a free tea or coffee every day if you wish. I went in this morning and bought a couple of things and had a free cappuccino to drink on the way to work. I had a nice chat with a young Mum who was also getting herself a drink, her little boy loves watching the frothy milk coming through the machine into the takeaway cup. She turned to me and said "ah, the simple things in life are the best". There's a few of us who would agree with that.
ReplyDeleteJean x
Unfortunately at the branch near us there is only a Costa concession, so no free coffee for me :-(
DeleteWaitrose is our nearest supermarket so we tend to do most of our shopping there. The MyWaitrose card is definitely worth having - a free tea or coffee (latte, cappuccino, Americano) every time you visit, a free Daily Mail or Telegraph, 1p off every shop and they also have various 10% off offers on different foods, not to mention the magazine. Wow, I'm really selling it and I don't even work for them!
ReplyDeleteAha....so I get 1p off every shop, and I must remember to get a newspaper next time I'm in there :-)
DeleteAh memories of Waitrose when I lived in the UK...shopped there on a Thursday evening after work!
ReplyDeleteJane x
They do seem to be really nice supermarkets :-)
DeleteVery few Waitroses here north of the border but there is a new one just opened in Stirling (where I'm moving to very soon I hope!!) Will def pop in to investigate after Justine's hard sell!! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI think the whole of the UK is slowly being taken over by supermarkets. There used to be very few Sainsburys 'up North' either but now they're spreading too.
DeleteI love Waitrose! They used to take ALL coupons a few years ago (against anything) - I wonder if they still do that?
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blog Sue. It is very inspiring. Debbie x
ReplyDeleteThat really was a good haul - especially planting out the salad leaves.
ReplyDeleteWe got a (reduced) pack of living lettuce which was separated out into about 20 plants, all of which are thriving. I'm really pleased with them.
ReplyDeleteI do like to go round the plants picking off odd leaves, though, because it means I can take just what we will eat and leave the rest growing. The rabbit likes to help out by eating up all the not-quite-so-nice leaves for me : )
Waitrose is a bit too expensive for my liking, but I agree with the idea of popping into a different shop on occasion, as you can often pick up some good bargains when you alter your shopping habits. I tend to shop in Aldi first, then pop into Tesco afterwards for other bits and bobs. Doing this has reduced my overall weekly money spent considerably. Aldi fruit and veg is far cheaper (but still good quality) than in other supermarkets I visit. For a change in habits I also go to Sainsburys once in a while.
ReplyDeleteYour lettuce plants are a great find!
Wonderful lettuce bargain, well done you. I shall be looking out for some next week, as my lettuces are starting to bolt, so I should really have put some more in already. There is lots of self-seeded rocket though, so hopefully we can survive on that for a while. I applied for a Waitrose card as well last week (I don't go there often though), but I missed the magazine and paper. Next time maybe.
ReplyDelete