Alan has not been very well this week, so I took myself off nice and early this morning before he had even surfaced to get myself the few things that I needed, and a few easy, treaty type things for him for the weekend.
My shopping came to £33.64, but almost ten pounds of that was for the toilet rolls. They were on special offer again this week and as I have only five rolls left I thought it would be prudent to pick up a new pack, just in case they are not on offer again until well after Christmas.
I must have had Christmas somewhere on the back of my mind as I bought a pack of mince pies, happily the date is well into the New Year so I can try and save them until Christmas. They were £3.50 for a box of twelve, so I doubt I will be buying too many boxes this year.
I was most likely being Christmassy due to watching television with Alan last night. Unlike me he watches live television and lets the adverts run, and every bl**dy advert break had Aldi's Kevin the Carrot pushing their Christmas message, then up pops Dawn French and the M&S food adverts ... oh how they pull you in!!
The things that I got for Alan came to exactly £12, this was mostly due to a few of the things being on Sainsbury's offers and I bought him a meal deal which saved me £2.40.
I remembered to date the things that went into the cupboard. 😁
To make all this affordable in my current really tight budget I used all the Nectar points that I had available, and managed to get £27.50 off the total amount.
It all helps.
One thing that stopped me in my tracks was spotting this Nescafe offer. I almost fell for it, and got myself another jar to stock up the cupboard.
Then I spied the larger jar directly next to the 200g one, which was actually 31p per 100g cheaper. Always, always, always check the shelf edge label. It did make me wonder how many times in the past have I just gone for the offer without a closer look, not too many I hope!!
Sue xx
Some very canny buys, but I couldn't buy mince pies now, I'd eat them before Christmas!! Hope Alan will feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteI will have to really fight temptation, especially as I have some squirty cream in the fridge which sits very well on top of these little mince pies. :-)
DeleteWell done on spotting some good buys and using your Nectar points. We have a Sainsbury’s local 5 minutes from the house and I will need to walk round this morning for some fresh veg. It’s more expensive than the supermarket but doesn’t need the car to be taken out. Catriona
ReplyDeleteOf course there's also less temptation to buy too much when you have to carry it home isn't there. Win, win. :-)
DeleteVery wise to get the loo rolls on special - apart from anything else, I doubt any of us will forget the fuss when they were in short supply. I always try to have some tucked away somewhere, 'just in case'.
ReplyDeleteHoping Alan feels better soon. xx
Usually I will let the little stack go down to three rolls, but I have been very lucky with timing of the offer popping up this year.
DeleteSue, great tip on checking the prices when something's on "sale." They like to make us think we're getting a great deal, when really it might not be that great.
ReplyDeleteWe really have to have our wits about us when we are out and about shopping don't we.
DeleteSpecial offers are often not quite as good as they seem. It's easy to be caught out, especially if you're in a hurry.
ReplyDeleteYes, exactly. It must be a nightmare shopping with children distracting you, I'm glad I usually shop alone.
DeleteAgree with Joy reference the loo rolls, I've always got a cupboard full!
ReplyDeleteI always crave Lucozade when I'm poorly and I don't think the Jakemans throat sweets can be beaten.
Get well soon Alan
Alison in Devon x
Yes, I saw Lucozade in the meal deal fridge and thought it would be ideal for him. While he didn't have any sort of sore throat, those Jakemans cough sweets are always to be found in our cars for long journeys. :-)
DeleteHe was feeling much better this morning, then we went to the Cenotaph and both got very wet, so I hope it doesn't set him back.
I always check the edge label on the products I buy. If your labels are anything like ours, the printing showing the price per gram is very small. The grocery stores have a crafty bunch of people running them, don't they!
ReplyDeleteThey really do. My reading glasses are on and off every two minutes when I'm shopping. As well as prices and sizes changing regularly, ingredients no longer stay the same, even on the products that I have been buying for years. ☹️
DeleteI hope Alan feels better soon and getting wet doesn't set him back.
ReplyDeleteYou got some good deals at the grocery store and using your points to lower the bill is the way to go.
I did a price comparison on the coffee, just now. The same amount of coffee as your larger bottle (300g from what I could see on the shelf label = 10.5 oz.) would cost US$11.49 on offer at my grocery store this week (regular price is $14.79), which converts to £8.78 at today's conversion rate of $1 = £0.76. The regular price of $14.79 = £11.31.
Thanks for doing those conversions Bless. It seems as though our prices are edging up towards yours. 🤔
DeleteI hope Alan feels better very soon. You did very well shopping.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
He's definitely on the mend now, thanks. 🙂
DeleteI always go to Sainsbury's web site and check out the prices - it's easy to see the price per 100g on everything, coffee especially is so easy to get "mislead" on. I then go to Tesco and Morrisons sites and do the same thing. See who's got the best offers on things I want at that time. I bought some mincemeat instead of the ready made mince pies 'cos I know I'd only eat them if they were in the cupboard! Elaine
ReplyDeleteYes I do like checking prices on the Sainsbury's website before I shop. I really miss that old site mysupermarket.com which I used to use a lot. Being able to compare all the supermarkets in one place was brilliant. 😀
DeleteSorry to hear Alan is under the weather, it's good he has you to look out for him. I keep seeing Christmas foods like mince pies, I daren't buy any as I know they will be scoffed and then I will buy more. I have to say though every week the temptation grows. Mini stollen are one of the things i try not to buy too much of, very easy to pop one in my mouth and of course delicious. You and I know that the Christmas sweet products come out very early so we buy them several times. We must resist ha ha.
ReplyDeleteIt's very rare for Alan to be poorly, so it's always a shock. I am going to resist my little mince pies for as long as possible, I know that once I start I'll be out buying more. 😄
DeleteSorry to hear Alan is unwell.
ReplyDeleteI was getting a bit desperate on the toilet roll front as I like to use Recycled Paper tissue and not in plastic and there's nothing local that does that. Luckily, we went to my Mum's house on Saturday and she has a big Sainsburys that had big 9 roll packs in paper so I bought 3 packs. That should last a while! I'm always checking labels too though I do most shopping from Lidl opposite school so there's fewer varieties there.
I've tried all variants of recycled rolls, in paper, in boxes and in plastic and sadly none of them has been as good or as long lasting as these. So I settled on my choice over 18 months ago now. Alan is doing much better thanks, weirdly considering it was mostly a stomach upset he is ending it with a croaky, husky voice!!
DeleteI hope Alan's feeling better now.
ReplyDeleteI rarely watch the commercial TV stations so fortunately I never see adverts, although I could hear Jon swearing at the telly the other night, ranting about that brown fizzy drink and the beaded fellow in a truck! xxx
Oh gosh, the truck's already made an appearance? The only adverts I can cope with are the ones at the cinema, perhaps because I only see them a couple of times a year. Oh, and maybe the first viewing of the John Lewis Christmas ad.
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