How Many Times Do You Shop Each Month?

 26th - Sainsbury's £21.03

Whenever I share my shopping I get comments along the lines of 'I don't know how you manage on so little' or 'I have to spend a lot more' etc, and I've never really explained it well enough really.  So it's totally my fault.

I buy all the food that I need, and yes occasionally some of the food or treats that I just want or that  temptation leads me into buying, to top up what I already have in the house.  Most of you have seen my bulging cupboards and know all about my on/off stockpiling for a rainy day.  This year that has all been done with money that I have made selling things off while decluttering prior to our forthcoming move, and not always from my very limited food budget.  I've done well, and while I have been eating very well I have also built up quite a respectable stash of things that I need and will make good use of.  Every shopping trip has something that gets popped into the bottom cupboard, one day I just know it will all explode outwards with a flurry of assorted packages and tins littering my tiny kitchen floor, it really is that full.

I was definitely seduced by these lovely strawberries this week.  No sooner were they home than they were washed, trimmed and popped into the fridge for random snacking moments.

It's almost the law in the UK to have strawberries at the end of May and into June, then as soon as the lovely homegrown fresh flavour starts to diminish I rarely buy them anymore.

Some people eat the green tops too, while I can't stand to do that nothing gets wasted here, and they get added to the fruit scraps bag in the freezer ready for the next round of compost heap jelly.

Booths £8.35

Yesterday I had to call into Booths for some bread for Alan and while I was there I thought I would get some for myself too.  They had none of the sort I like, indeed the bread shelves were pretty spartan.  I guess everyone is either picnicking, barbequing, or simply living on sandwiches and buns.  I got myself some buns instead and will make do with those.  

I can use the teacakes in the top photo instead of breakfast toast, they are already sliced in half and in the freezer waiting to be called upon.  As you can see I was tempted by a quiche, some of the bought ones tend to be a bit hit and miss, but these Higgidy vegan quiches are full of flavour and delicious hot or cold, we both like them so I will be sharing.

The fridge is looking very healthy going into the weekend, the quiche was still on the worktop when I took this photo.

Anyway, the title of this post is 'How Many Times Do You Shop Each Month?'

 I went back and checked my own total after noting down what I had spent up to now this month, and I have shopped eight times in May. I spent a total of £99.37 all together, which averages out at a very respectable £25 for one person for a week.  Some of the cash from my limited housekeeping and some from a couple of small sales of household stuff. 

 Eight times seems excessive but we tend to stop at the supermarket on the way back from somewhere, or just pop out for a couple of things, and it's been a long time since either of us did a proper 'weekly shop'.  I find it so much easier to manage this way, and looking in a lot of the trollies in the supermarkets during the week, so do a lot of other people.

Sue xx

Living on Leftovers, Fancy Pants Pretenders

 

In this heatwave I have been careful to keep an eye on the food, even the things in the fridge so I can make sure to use everything up while it is still reasonably at it's best.

Standing out for me the other day was a chunk of red onion and a slightly sad looking courgette, so I added a few other things and roasted them, et voila ... lots of lovely cooked vegetables to add to a few different meals.

The first meal was a freshly baked baguette with leftover tuna and hummus.

With some of the hummus still leftover, I decided to add it and some of the vegetables to some pasta.

It was really tasty, and there were still lots of vegetables left over.  So they went into portion sized pots for the freezer.

They may seem like quite small pots even for a single serving, but I find they are more than adequate for me.  This is what one pot looked like on a flatbread pizza last time I did this.

Alan switches to cold drinks in this weather, me ... well I drink coffee.  Hot, black, caffeinated coffee, no iced versions or fancy pants pretenders pass my lips.  😄

Sue xx

Lawn and Order

 

*

Lawn mowers were out in force this weekend, not at our house I hasten to add, we are most definitely a lawn free zone.  But it seemed that virtually all the neighbours were either cutting grass or power washing their patios.  Oh well, if they've all got their little plots done now, peace should reign supreme for the rest of the week.  😄

Over at the bungalow the plumber has now installed an indoor stop tap that will one day be hidden under the kitchen sink ...

... and an outdoor tap.  

Which means that one day in the not too distant future, we will be able to annoy our neighbours with a jet washing session.  😁

Sue xx

* You really need to have watched Law and Order at some point to understand the joke.  😄

Cash, Food ... and Cheap Holidays

 

This is the last of my cash until my pension hits my bank account, which will be soon I hope as I was down to £31.31 at the start of the week, and it's even less now that I've been tempted to buy a few things.  

I spent £10.39 in Sainsbury's the other day, all on things that I had either on a Nectar price or a personal offer, so it was worth getting them while they were cheaper.  Even if that does mean that I now have just £20.92 left in the kitty.

I really did fancy some ice-cream for the bank holiday weekend, so even if that was the only thing not on an offer, it was well worth the £3.25 it cost me.

This morning we went to Morecambe for breakfast and it was going to be a walk on the prom, but it was so chilly with a really low lying sea mist and a cold breeze, we didn't stay for long.

Before we left though I picked up my unused sugar packs from the café, and then we went into the animal charity shop for a quick browse.  Alan bought me this tiny little cup, which will be adorning my Christmas tree along with my other miniature china pieces later this year.

On the way home Alan wanted to stop at the big Sainsbury's to get a pack of steaks for his tea, so we called in.  The 'Bake at Home' baguettes were £2 a pack or 2 packs for £3.  So Alan gave me one of the packs along with the promise of half his cucumber and a carton of orange juice. 

 Who said romance was dead.  😄 

In other news ... my bus pass arrived this morning, so there has been much teasing and planning being done by Alan.  He fancies some holidays around England being done via bus routes and bed and breakfasts, it should work out a very cheap way to do things.  We'll see. 

Sue xx

Acquiring Things, and Letting Things Go

Mum's windowsill in her care home room holds her most treasured possessions, not that she knows they are, but I can talk to her about the memories behind them over and over ... and then they make her smile. Her walls are full of family photos, and we regularly go over and over who the people are with her when she asks, but she sees no one except for me, Alan and my brother, so she really is losing track if we talk about anyone else.

It makes me realise that not acquiring things, as we have purposefully done for the last few years, (apart from a few special things), has been a really good move.  We don't need any souvenirs from our holidays apart from a few photographs, there are no fridge magnets or little jars of sand to remind us where we have been.  Just the memories and some photos to jog those memories, in case they start to slip away in the future.

When we enter the world we come with nothing, and then immediately start acquiring things, at first via our parents and relatives, and then with great gusto and lots of relish when we are independent adults striking out for the first time.

Of course while I have donated most of my randomly acquired things and ornaments in a bid to declutter my life over the years, there are some still things in the 'memory box' that I have. It being a memory in it's own right as it was made for me by a blogging buddy when we moved onto our very first farm.  I may even need to revisit that at some point and photograph the 'things' and just have them that way.  We'll see in the run up to our move what will happen.

Of course I have lots of books, but even my book buying has almost ground to a standstill.  I have paused my Amazon Prime membership. With no deliveries and little on Prime that I wanted to watch on television there didn't seem any point in supporting a huge company with a multi-multi billionaire at it's head.

Taking my life down to a simple level, and a much more satisfying stage seems to be such a good idea.  One day I too might only need a windowsill to display my possessions. 

Sue xx