Friday 17 January 2014

Buying what is cheap, and choosing carefully

Last night was shopping night, my fridge was bare, now it is full. I checked my money off vouchers before I went, and found there was a possibility that I might use some of them. Tesco look at your spending habits and send the vouchers they think you are most likely to use. They don't know that I am not in the habit of buying a whole melon, organic milk, double thick cream, pre packed leeks, grated cheese, or extra strong mints, except if they are reduced, or are a once a year purchase. If they think I am going to pay full price for these items just to use a voucher, they have another think coming. However, I was able to use £2.50 worth of vouchers against things I do normally buy. There was one exception though. I don't normally buy small apple pies from the bakery, but at a price of 10p for two it would be silly not to get them, and with a voucher for 25p off, it seems they have paid me 15p for taking them away, ha ha.

My normal choice of vegetables were not reduced, so I had to have what was available. Bags of prepared sprouts, leeks, broccoli, and green cabbage for 13p a bag. At that price they had to be bought. Roasting vegetables for 18p, and mixed salad leaves for 14p. I am not a fan of green cabbage, it's too darn tough, but I have made a big pan of tasty stew out of it, and smashed it to bits in the food processor, so now it's soup, and won't take so much chewing. Enough for tomorrow at a cost of 31p, and still more prepared veg in the fridge to make some more.

There was a lot of reduced  bread to be had, so I have stocked the freezer up again, now it's bursting. I bought two packs of mini doughnuts at 10p each, one for me, and one for the two postmen who come to my village. I often buy a bit extra at that price to give some away. I did pay normal price for a few things, but I choose carefully. Because I don't eat meat, I don't mind adding nuts to my diet, they are not cheap, but I buy what I can afford.

All in all a good shop, £20.27  paid after the vouchers were deducted. Included was a tin of tuna fish and some reduced turkey slices, a treat for the cats. This shop will last me two weeks hopefully.

I went over to the next village today for a dog walk with my friend. She had made some lovely roasted butternut squash soup for us, a welcome treat after battling the cold wind.

I've just thought of something I missed on yesterdays post about the rag rug. If you are going to make one, start in the middle of your backing, and work your way out towards the edge. If you are not sure how big you want your rug, you don't need to measure the backing first, just get a piece an approximate size, and stop when you have done enough. When you get to the edge fold under a border of about two inches, and peg through the two layers, that will make the edge stronger.

That's all for tonight. Have a nice weekend. See you tomorrow.
Toodle pip.

13 comments:

  1. My shopping bill is going to be tiny this weekend because we have a gastric flu thing and nobody wants to eat the food we bought last week, so it's all in the freezer and the vegetables turned into soup and frozen. Well done on your bargains. Cabbage is ok if finely shredded and turned into coleslaw or stir fry or popped into soup. Our dogs also love it chopped up and added to their meal.

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  2. I love your rug. I was at a charity shop today and saw quite a few smaller crib blankets for .99 cents. Do you think these would work well for a rug?

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  3. I have just bought an Approved Shop , and I will be giving away most of it - - I do not want the stuff but my friends will so it seems like a good idea

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  4. Nice little reductions you got there. Our local Tesco never gives such reductions, no matter what time you might look for the bargains. Stepson treated us to some croissants last Sunday. His branch of Morrison`s had a pack of 5 reduced to £0.09, so he came home with 2 packs. We indulged in them for Sunday breakfast. Warming them up in the oven brought them back to near perfect. They were delicious with some of my boozy bramble jam! Not a treat to have too often, I might add. But, there is nothing wrong in the occasional treat to lift your spirits.

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  5. 'START IN THE MIDDLE' as an experienced rugger I needed to re -emphasise this because my I didn't for my first, and it turned out badly! (mishaped) .

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  6. Those prices are so good. I am so envious. Here we are lucky to get twenty cents off something costing ten dollars.

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  7. Greetings!
    I love hearing about your yellow sticker shopping. We don't have anything like that here, at all! I'm expanding the garden, so that will be my 'yellow sticker' savings!
    A lovely friend you have!

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  8. Ooh, looks like I'm the first to comment! Or maybe not, we'll see. Anyway, yes, I laugh at these vouchers too. I had one from Mr Asda the other day, offering to give me three months' home delivery charges for £15. Well, I only spend £3 per month on my one delivery from them, so that wasn't a lot of good was it?

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  9. I love a bargain shop, I can't quite believe that people just fill the trolley with out a care. I really can't see how they can afford it.

    X x

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  10. I agree, you have to be very careful with Mr Tesco, but like you we do very well when using the vouchers against goods already reduced. Looks like you had another very good bargain veggie haul and the apple pies - that made me laugh. I really like the rag rug and am tempted with having a go at making one. I'm going to have a scout around the house today to see what I can use - thanks for the tips. Sarah

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  11. Some good bargains there, and like you I always think it's a good idea to 'go with the flow' a bit and see what's on offer first rather than having a fixed idea of your veggies for the week ahead.

    I'm hoping to be able to get some really good reductions from the supermarkets soon as I start to shop again, but there hasn't been much available recently, luckily my cupboards are full, but I always keep my eyes open just in case because there's room in the freezer.

    A good way to get cabbage goodness into yourself using it for soup :-)

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  12. I got loads of reduced stuff tonight for £7. Can't stand Splash on TV so had to go out!

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  13. Well done on the shopping. Love getting reduced stuff. Makes far more sense than the supermarkets throwing it away. I bought a 4ft (needed) Xmas tree from W*lkos yestersday for the grand price of £2.50. Was well chuffed! Louise x

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