�8.25 saved on shopping

And here we have Helen, working away merrily, tearing her house down and putting it all back together again. She will have a go at anything, cutting and sanding wood, bashing tiles off the wall, ripping up laminate flooring, repairing skirting board, sanding the staircase, and painting the walls. Who says women are hopeless at DIY, ha ha. Come on, give us a smile.

Thank you. Love the safety glasses and the rubber gloves, very fetching :o))

I went to do some gardening and attacked the massive laurel bush. Managed to get most of it cut down to a more manageable height, except for three or four thick branches. Then I ran out of time because the tip closes at 4 pm and we wanted to take a couple of loads in. I filled my car with the laurel, looked like a mobile forest, ha ha. I'll go back and finish it next week, there are workmen in the house for the rest of this week, so I'll keep out of their way.

I timed it so I went to the small Tesco for 4.30pm, to look for yellow stickers. Again, I was too early for the final markdown, but I am pleased with what I found. Here is the list.
2 bags of fresh pears, reduced from �1.75 each, to 9p each.
Mushrooms reduced from �1, to 41p.
Grapes down from �2.25 to 78p.
2 bags of broccoli and cauliflower florets, were �1 each, reduced to 45p each.
2 bags of spinach, �1 each down to 45p each.
Fresh double cream was �1.16, now 48p
Leerdammer cheese slices, not reduced �1.
Total real price �12.91, I paid �4.66
I really wanted Value plain yogurt, but they didn't have any, so I opted for the not so healthy cream. As you can see I have even more broccoli to chomp my way through, very pleased with the spinach though. My fame goes before me, two shoppers in Tesco said they read my blog. Amazing.

When I got home there was a small package waiting for me. Here I am modelling a new sun visor, sent by blog reader Toni. When she saw it she thought of me. Why thank you so much, I am chuffed.

Dinner tonight had broccoli in it, well what a surprise. I chopped two small onions and eight mushrooms, cooked them in a small pan in a little oil. Added wholegrain mustard, garlic powder, a little stroganoff sauce mix, and apple juice. Cooked it for a few minutes till the onion was soft. Just before serving I added two dessertspoons of cream. Served on a bed of steamed cauliflower, carrots, spinach, and broccoli.

 The sauce was delicious, nothing was wasted, I licked the plate, ha ha.

Well my dear readers, that's the end of another day, they go too quickly. I'll hit the cross trainer before I go to bed, should sleep soundly tonight. Toodle pip.

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Savvy supermarket shopping

I did well on the yellow sticker dash last night. The fridge was looking a bit bare, and I didn't want to run out of fresh food over the weekend. I don't go to the supermarket on a Saturday or a Sunday, it's too chuffin busy, and will get even busier from now until December the 25th. Eight o clock on a weekday night suits me just fine. No crush, and no queuing at the checkouts.

I have a system when I go for the reductions. First check the chiller cabinet which is near the checkouts. Not much there last night, nothing for me in fact. Different from two weeks ago when there was stacks of yogurt. The bargains on offer are never the same, it's always pot luck.

So, moving swiftly on to the fruit and veg, I was in luck, the man with the ticket machine was just marking stuff down. This was the second sticker going on, not quite as cheap as pennies on the third sticker. But to hang on any longer would have meant I lost out, so I was happy to grab it while it was there. Three or four people were gathered around the trolley, we each had our eye on what we wanted to buy. It's best to pick the items out before the sticker goes on to make sure you get what you want. I always go for the veg first, most important to me. There was stacks of bananas, the green ones which you ripen at home. I had two bags for 10p each, original price �1 each. I wondered whether they had done away with the third sticker, as these were very cheap. Perhaps they have a new system.

I was quick to spot the whole cauliflower which I got for 20p, original price �2. And two bags of prepared cauliflower and broccoli for 12p each, were �1.15. I got two bags of prepared lettuce for 10p each, was �1 each. I was happy with that, I have some carrots and onions left from last week, and loads of potatoes out of the garden. So I'm ok for veg for a week. Then I spotted a treat, two packs of raspberries at 20p each, should have been �2 each.

After that was a dash to the bread counter. They are always a bit slow at marking down here. There was a lot of wholemeal bread which I like, I don't buy white bread, it's like cotton wool and has no taste, in my opinion. So I picked up four large Hovis loaves for 39p each, they are usually �1.50 each. I have had it cheaper before but this was still quite a good reduction, besides, I wasn't in the mood for hanging around any longer. I also got two smaller loaves for 19p each. All this has gone in the freezer, only just enough room for it.

Then I picked up a few other items around the store, but kept going back to see if any other reductions had appeared. I got a treat for the cats, three ready roasted chicken thighs from the rotisserie for 75p. They were all over me like a rash when I got home, they hung around the shopping bags on the floor waiting for me to unpack. Mayze doesn't meow like Bugsy does, she squeaks. I wasn't going to get any peace until I had picked the meat from one of the thighs.

Total shop was �16.89, less 75p for the chicken, total for my food �16.14. �5 of that was for a bottle of wine. I will put the full list up on the food diary page, link at the top.

Just going back to the 'selling gold' post, I was advised to hold on to any gold I had by one of my readers. Thank you for that, it was an interesting email. However curiosity has got the better of me, and I took my gold wedding ring for valuation, remember, I didn't actually get married so I wasn't fussed about keeping it. My little bonus for selling it was �23. I can buy a lot of veg for that, but maybe I will kick myself in ten years time when I could have bought a years worth of food for it. I don't know, it's all speculation and a gamble, and I am not a gambler.

Have a nice weekend, catch you tomorrow
Toodle pip   

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Cat food on a tight budget

The cost of keeping a pet can be very expensive, very very expensive if you want to feed them some of the more costly foods on the market. People who can afford to buy pedigree cats and dogs might not be bothered about how much cash they part with when it comes to choosing which gourmet food to serve up. Animals with dodgy tums might need specialist food which can work out to be quite expensive. My cats are bog standard moggies, and get the run of the mill bog standard food. I would not be able to afford fancy food for a fancy cat.

Like my own food, I also shop around when buying for my cats. They are quite happy with Felix and Whiskas, my seventeen year old Bugsy has had a lifetime on Felix, and is still plodding around the house and garden in his own sweet way. He has only had two visits to the vet in his lifetime, he has been a very healthy cat, so he has done ok on Felix.

Today I have been out and stocked up, this little haul cost �74. I went online this morning and checked out where the special offers were. Pets At Home have Felix pouches on at �2.50 a box of 12. Sainsbury's has this on at �3 a box, in Tesco it's �3.68. I got the Whiskas pouches from Tesco at �2.50 a box. In Sainsbury's it's 2 for �6, in Pets At Home it's �3.69. The Whiskas dry 2kg bags were �3.50 from Tesco. At Pets At Home it's �5.49, and at Sainsbury's it's �4.49. So no contest.  

Other supermarkets within my town were checked. I never pay full price for cat food. The special offers rotate around all the supermarkets in turn, so I stock up when I can get it. This will last me a while, but when it starts getting low I will check prices again, and find the offers.

The cat litter I am getting from Poundstretcher at the moment. This is a cheap clumping clay based one at �1 for a 10kg bag. It's a bit of a mixture when you open it, sometimes a bit dusty but I can put up with it. It's the cheapest one I can find, it's a bit like the supermarkets own brand which Tesco sell at �1.55. I have four litter boxes dotted about the house, two upstairs and two downstairs. They are just starting to use them again now the weather is cold and wet. I am sometimes woken up in the night by the pong of a freshly dropped poo which they haven't bothered to cover up. Yuk. Sweet little darlings, ha ha. I have to get up and move it.

This is Mayze's preferred place to eat. Every time she hears me moving about in the kitchen she dashes in at 100 mph and dives onto the window sill. Her saucer is always there, ready for whatever morsel I might put onto it. She won't eat wet cat food, has the dry Whiskas from the bowl on the floor, and sometimes gets a little treat of cooked ham on her saucer.

I did spend a little bit of money on my own food today. I was a bit early for the third markdown on the yellow stickers at Tesco, but I got a few with a second markdown, which was still a good saving.

I've just done the draw for the make it yourself shopping bag. Ten names went into it. I did the eeny meeny miney mo thing, and Debbie in Canada was the name to come out tops. So, Debbie, if you send me your name and address either email, or in a comment which I won't publish, I will get it off to you pronto. You mentioned something about putting a logo on it, best to do that before you sew the two sides together. Well done, and thanks to everyone for taking part.

It's very windy tonight, but I am snug and well wrapped up. No heating on yet, just the fleecy dressing gown over the top of my clothes. Hope you are snug where you are.
Toodle pip.

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