After a couple of weeks of feeling really poorly, this flu virus thing has a lot to answer for, this week I am really starting to feel better, in fact this morning my voice has almost come back, the family are really going to miss Little Miss Croaky from now on :-)
On Tuesday as I was half way to T*sco (driving through to the village to pick up a prescription) so I decided to carry on and go there, we needed some fresh stuff, I mean we really needed some fresh stuff, when you've felt this rough for so long just the sight of a piece of fruit makes you feel healthier, it's as though my body is screaming out "feed me fruit", so I am listening to it for once. (And even eating grapes as I type.)
Of course once there I was struck by temptation and the lure of the bargain, so my trolley was soon also holding onto more than just healthy fruit. It had a couple of half price pizzas, less than half price fish fillets, a few yellow stickered 'must haves' and some blocks of puff pastry reduced to just £1 each, I can't make it for that price and would I want to, what with all that rolling and turning, although funnily enough it was something we used to make week after week at school and I loved doing it then, (I think our Domestic Science teacher had a passion for puff pastry or maybe shares in a butter factory!). Unfortunately there were only two packs of the reduced pastry left so I picked them both up.
I also bought us a pack of T*sco's own brand bagels as a treat, we both love the cinnamon and raisin flavour ones for breakfast at weekends but usually buy a certain well known brand, so in the interests of money saving I thought we would try these (they were almost a pound cheaper). I bought my usual copy of Radio Times, the only magazine I actually buy now and then on the way out picked up a copy of the T*sco freebie for an extra bit of reading.
I must have enjoyed my shopping expedition even more than I thought as yesterday I had an urge to shop again, I didn't really need anything, but as I discovered last week that Wednesday was the quietest day ever to shop in our Sainsb*ry's I thought I would check out this phenomenon again (and yes it is).
I wandered round pushing my trolley in no real rush to put anything in it, taking the time to read packets and notice prices again (some things have gone up since last week believe it or not). It was actually very enjoyable, shopping without a real need to shop, just browsing the food aisles, something I used to do with clothes or bags or shoes but now have absolutely no inclination to do.
I thought I would buy us a couple of the Basics range of foods to try to compare to other brands that we usually buy. I've used the vegetable stock cubes before (during Live Below the Line week see HERE) at 10p for a pack of ten they are brilliant value, so I thought I would buy some of the 'meaty' ones for Lovely Hubby to try in his dishes. The Mackerel fillets look exactly the same as all the other packs on the shelves and were so much cheaper, they're well worth a try and the crackers well they were just 59p, the brand they are a copy of 'Tuc' crackers were £1.39, not a bad saving if they taste anywhere near as good.
For some reason I thought I had missed Pancake Day (or Shrove Tueday as it is really called), but wandering round there were lots of displays of frying pans, lemons and pancake batter mixes both in plastic bottles and bags, and I realised that it is in fact next Tuesday. Of course I was in no way tempted to buy any of the mixes as all you need is flour, eggs and milk, but something in my brain went 'ding' and when I got home I rummaged around in the storecupboard and look what I unearthed ...
... 14 yes fourteen bags of Batter Mix.
Bought from Approved Foods when they were on offer for some silly price (I think they were 50p for a tray of 7 packs). So I guess we will be having some pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday and Easter Monday and maybe even Bank Holiday Monday in August, you get the picture :-)
So what have I spent this week from my £2 Housekeeping money....... well I shocked myself I spent £30.32 at T*sco and a whopping £4.81 at Sainsb*rys so a total spend this week of £35.13, which on the face of it is a really good spend for a weeks shopping but when your budget for the week is actually £9.23 NOT quite so good..... oops!! In fact it's almost a months money.
So after careful consideration I am setting myself a mini Challenge for the rest of this month, I'll let you in on it tomorrow, I took a couple of photos to go with my idea and then the camera died on me so it is currently recharging, so I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.
Needless to say I enjoyed my retail therapy and I think (I hope) I have got it out of my system for now. Browsing the shelves is one thing ....... but it does make you spend money you needn't no matter how hard you try ...... I mean did we really need cheapo crackers when I have a years supply of Ryvita nestling in my cupboard :-)
Sue xx
Sometimes you need to break out of the "need" thing and venture into "want" though Sue - and particularly after you've been poorly. It's good for the soul, which needs just as much nurturing as the body and the wallet I'd say! I was very good indeed with my shopping last week, but do wonder if with the temptations of a wander around Morrisons planned for Monday, I will manage the same again!
ReplyDeleteSo true!
DeleteGood luck in Morrisons.....Lol.
Sue xx
It's so easy to spend, isn't it? I think the only way not to, is to not go near the shops. Do you buy Radio Times every week? This is a great deal, £1 for six copies:-
ReplyDeletehttp://www.radiotimes.com/magazine-subscription
Just remember to cancel the direct debit straight after the £1 has been taken otherwise they'll continue the subscription. I didn't realise Shrove Tuesday was next week, that means Eleanor will be hankering after them when she gets in from school.
I'll use that link - thanks.
DeleteI didn't used to buy it every week but just recently a lot of our favourite programmes were starting new series and we missed a couple so I decided to buy it again to have a catch up of what's on and it seems to have developed very quickly into the norm.
Although it is quite good as a magazine and it contains one of the few crosswords that I can do!!
Sue xx
Sue, can the pancake mix be used to make savoury pancakes or do they contain sugar? Whilst living in Germany a favorite dish of mine from a lovely Germany restaurant was a large pancake filled with broccoli, small chunks of feta cheese and a butter sauce. It was served with a thick tomato sauce and fried potatoes but these were really not needed. I believe Tesco and Sainsbury both sell a feta type basic cheese fairly cheaply.
ReplyDeleteI have just looked at the ingredients and do you know what it contains - simply Flour, Dried Skimmed Milk and Salt, what an absolute rip off, thank goodness I got them so cheap from AF or I would be livid. If you bought a cheap tub of dried milk, a bag of 'basics' flour and a couple of spoonfuls of salt you could make hundreds of pancakes. In fact I have just been on mysupermarket.com to check prices and you could buy all the basic ingredients for £2.09 (including a large pack of salt) the most expensive item being the dried milk. Weight for weight this would make you the same amount of pancakes or yorkshire puds as 15 bags of Batter mix which would cost you £5.55 taking the mid range, £11.85 if you take a brand such as Aunt B*ssies.
DeleteYet again it's cheaper to do it all yourself...... and just as easy in this case!!
Sue xx
It helps to carry a basket and not push a trolley. The weight of the basket stops you buying too much.
ReplyDeleteIt does, but since I need to keep whipping out my reading glasses to see the ingredients in things it makes life a lot more difficult. I can't tell you how many times I have tripped over my own basket that I've put on the floor, until I gave up on this :-)
DeleteOh age.......it's a terrible thing, or maybe they're just making all the writing smaller and smaller so we won't see what we're actually buying and eating!
Sue xx
I too need my reading glasses when shopping even just to see the best before dates. I picked up some things yesterday and spent another $10 just like that, it's so easy done.
ReplyDeleteGill in Canada
You had fun buying common sense stuff. No sin in that! I must always have a couple of boxes of stock and a jar of cubes in our cupboard. This week I picked up six boxes on sale.
ReplyDeleteYum my favourite bread!
ReplyDeleteI'm off to Sainsb*rys tomorrow with a coupon and a list - need to spend £50 to use the coupon, but I want to avoid temptation and get as near to the £50 as possible. Let's hope I can stay in control!
In a previous life, I used to do store price/product comparisons for work - before the days of mobile phones and cameras, it was easy for a woman to wonder around making 'notes' on her shopping list. I still fall into store audit mode sometimes when I'm shopping - especially when you see silly pricing mistakes. But these days, most of the time I'd rather just get in and out as quickly as possible.
ReplyDeleteThe supermarkets should package these economy items better.. But of course they don't.... They really don't want people to buy them.....
ReplyDeleteI sometimes think I will have a mad shop and buy what I like, I could afford a few more treats. I've tried, but I can't bring myself to do it.
ReplyDeleteI love pancakes but can never understand when people buy the mix (although I can for how much you paid for it!). After being ill I always crave fresh and juicy things like grapes and oranges sodon't be too hard on yourself for splashing out!
ReplyDeleteI am pleased you are feeling better you must need the goodness from the ruit I am a big believer in listening to your body
ReplyDeleteI look forward to the details of the challenge