Friday 3 January 2014

Start as I mean to go on.

Woweeee. Wot a lot of comments on yesterdays post. I thank you all from the bottom of my big toe, all the way up to the top of my bit of hair sticking up from my uneven butchered fringe. Ha ha, I'll tell you about that later. Well last night it just had to be done, the supermarket sweep. I arrived at 8pm, hmmm, not much reduced in the chiller cabinet, went to the veg section, oh no, hardly any yellow stickers there. A load of mangetout peas marked down to 14p, oh well, looks like I will be eating those for the rest of the week. I wouldn't normally buy fresh produce that's been flown half way round the world, but I'm not going to turn my nose up at a bargain. A wave of disappointment came over me as I made my way to the bread department, maybe this was not going to be my lucky night. 
I picked up one small brown loaf, could have had more, but I already have enough in my freezer. I happened to glance back at the end of the veg aisle and saw my favourite assistant. Worth an ask I thought. She saw me coming towards her, 'Want any sprouts and carrots, I'm bringing some loose ones out, they will need to be weighed up,' she said. 'Brilliant' I said, as I helped her to weigh and label them. 
Then I nipped up to the cereals and got a box of bran flakes. They have gone up from 88p to 92p, lucky I had a 25p off voucher for those. I picked up a tub of plain yogurt on the way back to the veg for another look, still 45p, that's good. 
Big grin, they have brought some more out. In the end I got a good selection. Potatoes, I finished the last few of mine out of the garden last week, mushrooms, pineapple pieces, salad leaves, bananas, and bean salad. Fanchuffintastic.






A good haul eh! The sprouts are priced at 47p, there is nearly 2kg of them, ha ha, I love sprouts. Checking the till receipt I have been charged 87p, an error at the till. Lucky I am passing there on Sunday, I will go and get a refund. Why not, they have overcharged me :o)
I zapped the two pots of pineapple, 20p, with the blender and added some plain yogurt to it. Very nice fruity yogurt at a fraction of the price of buying it ready flavoured. Even if you can't get reduced fruit you can do this with cheap tinned fruit.  
Today I have been to the hairdressers, my cut and colour cost £1. My hair was looking pretty ropey, I was hoping I wouldn't need to cut it until after the cold weather has gone. But it was all different shades of brown where the last colour has faded and grown out, so something had to be done with it. I attacked it with a pair of dressmaking scissors, hence the sticking up fringe, no, I jest, ha ha, it looks ok.

I thought I might get away with using only half of the £1 colour, I have done this before and it has worked fine. But after applying it and waiting twenty minutes, nothing was happening, so I mixed the second half and rubbed that into my bonce as well. Bingo, it hasn't gone as blonde as I thought it would, but it's a nice shade of rich tea biscuit with an all over even colour. If anyone has short hair you could get two applications out of one box.

I had to laugh at Woman's Hour the other day. I don't usually listen to this, but I just caught a bit of it. A woman was demonstrating a recipe for a meal for one person. Throw this and that into the pan, cook over a low heat, etc. Then the presenter said it will look delicious on a plate. With that she answered, 'No, just eat it out of the saucepan'. YAY,  ha ha, common sense at last.  Here is my lunch for today, on a plate because I did a spud in the microwave, 10p for a packet of 4. The topping is some left overs from last night warmed in a pan, with a couple of mushrooms and some mangetout peas. The easy way to chop the peas into small pieces is with scissors. Very tasty.

Well that's all for now. I've got a load of carrots and peas to make into soup for the freezer. The courgette and bean soup which I made from a glut from the garden is all gone now. It is very handy to have pots of frozen soup and stew, when you can't be bothered to cook.
Have a nice weekend. Toodle pip.

35 comments:

  1. What a great haul of groceries! Beginning the year as you "mean" to go on!

    Can we see a photo of the new hair do please?

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    1. My hair looks the same as when I last cut it, that's why I didn't take a photo. I hated it when I came out of the hairdressers, they could never do it how I wanted it. Much better now I can tidy it up myself.

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    2. You do a good job MQ. No need to pay someone to do it unless you enjoy having it 'done'. I have cut/coloured my own hair for years and have never been happier. I like being in control of how I look. Well done on the bargains. My supermarket seems to have stopped doing the big reductions (just a few pence off now even when I go really late).

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  2. Yum yum give us a bite of your spud x

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  3. Great bargains and a delicious looking meal!

    Sft x

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  4. A good haul lots of tasty meals in that lot. I need a hair cut and colour really but want to wait until it is a bit warmer, I wear a hat when I am out so nobody sees my roots and split ends.

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  5. What luck that you were still around when the rest of the bargains were put out, Loved the description of your hair-do! Glad to know the little furry man is ok.
    Wendy (Wales)

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  6. I also am one for eating out of the pan especially porridge, it makes sense to eat from a hot pan rather than spooning food into a cold bowl.

    I witnessed some awful food waste today, was in one of those "all you can eat" chinese buffets which we go to as a very occasional treat. Two people were piling up their plates and not eating even half of it before getting a 2nd plate brimming with food only to pick at that as well, before repeating again with yet a 3rd plate load. As someone who always keeps an eye on yellow stickers and getting the most out of what money will buy I was rather shocked.

    Congratulations on 5 years of blogging - I always look forward to your posts.

    Elaine, Oldham.

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    1. Hi Elaine. I think I would have been tempted to say something if I saw food wasted like that. It's disgraceful, don't they know people are starving.

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    2. We have a Buffet " All you Care to Eat" in our town where there is a notice posted that there is a fine for leaving too much uneaten food on the plate. I really doubt that they would or could reinforce it but it does serve to make the Greedies think a bit.

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  7. Brilliant bargains, your potato topping looks delicious. xx

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  8. What great bargains although I had to look up "mangetout peas" to find out what you were eating. We don't call them that in the US LOL.

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  9. Since the boiler broke and the electric shower about 7 years ago, I can't wash my hair in the cold weather so I too have to wear a hat when I go out. Oh well.....
    Natalie.

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    1. Hi Natalie. I washed my hair in the kitchen sink today, with two kettles of hot water, and one pan heated on the gas stove. I needed to rinse it several times because of the colour I put on. Normally it's two kettles, one for washing and one for rinsing. I didn't have a usable boiler for over three years and washed myself in the kitchen with a kettle of hot water. Now it's working but I only put it on for a bath.

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  10. Just found your blog through Our New Life In The Country.
    Can I ask what supermarket you went to? Those bargains are amazing! Do you have any tips on the best day/time to go?
    The best reduced items I have found have only been reduced 50% (which is still good but yours are amazing!).
    I will add you to my blogroll now so I can come back and read more when I have some more time xxx
    Stacey at Mortgage Free Journey xx

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    1. Hi Stacey. I shop at Tesco, it's the nearest supermarket to me. The other supermarkets do something similar. They start marking down in the afternoon, but the later you go the cheaper it gets. Usually three markdowns. I go at 8pm. It is pot luck whether there is anything left at that time, as some people are happy with 50% off. I take a chance and wait for the 90%.There doesn't seem to be one day which is better, it could be any day. It depends how busy the shop has been and if they have over ordered. My Tesco is a 24 hour one, others might get rid of their reductions one hour before the shop closes. You have to keep going to check which time is best.

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    2. Thanks for getting back to me - I might experiment with the local supermarkets and see if I can get things any cheaper.
      The nearest 24 hour supermarket to us is 35 minutes away so with fuel costs not very economical. Will try the large morrisons in our town.
      Looking forward to having a read through your archives :-)

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  11. Great post today Ilona. My one thing that I budget for is my haircut and colour at the hairdressers, because I've done it at home and it was disastrous. I made pea and ham soup using the rest of the Christmas ham and bone, and put it in the freezer. You're inspiring me to think more about how to use everything we have. Thank you !

    Aussie Cheryl xo

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  12. You are a super shopper, Ilona!!! Do the checkout girls know you?cthey must think you are world's kanniest customer.

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    1. Hi. Yes most of them do know me. Some of them remember me from when I was filmed there. I have a laugh with them.

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  13. I can't believe how cheap the reductions are. Here in Tasmania, they take 20 cents off something costing ten dollars and stick an ornage label on it. I am sooooooooooo envious.

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  14. Elaine/Philly here: I enjoy noticing how you make entertainment out of chores, Ilona, and adventures out of food combination experiments. I wish they'd mark down fruit and veg here in Pennsylvania the way they do in your neck of the woods. We never see such reductions. I'm jealous (ha-ha). I think that you don't often feel bored. Or, if you do, you use your creativity to make something, visit somewhere, or give some of your time to your animals inside and outside your home. Congratulations on your positive mental attitude. Happy and Healthy New Year.

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    1. Hi Elaine. I get bored with housework, can only do it in short bursts, then have to move on to something more interesting. Writing this blog spurs me on to keep busy. If I did nothing I would have nothing to write about, so it is good for my physical and mental well being to keep on blogging.

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  15. Right place right time for the bargains. I try to check the receipt before i leave the store. It makes a good day even better if you get the overcharged money back on the way out.
    We've got some hair clippers but last time my wife didn't put the attachment on first and i ended up with a bald stripe. They say theres only a couple of days between a good and bad haircut but that took a few weeks.
    Dave.

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  16. Well done, all those stickers. I love sprouts too, lightly steamed, can't stand them soggy. I am still using stuff up I bought over Christmas, just for us as we had dinner at Son's. At least I've not had to buy anything other than £1.00 for oven chips, as I promised husband he could have sausage and chips one day, and I don't have any way of doing 'real' chips, and they're too oily, anyway. I'm seeing how long I can go before buying. It helps to have a load of UHT milk in and I make my own bread.

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    1. Hi Campfire. I don't make real chips either, no pan. I don't use the oven, so my chips come from a chip shop two or three times a year. Yes, I've started buying cartons of soya milk in bulk, I only use it on my branflakes.

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  17. Those bargains are amazing !! We'll worth the stalk. Love it

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  18. I won't shop at tesco, but we get loads of reductions in the Co OP - most of the great stuff goes to people living in Ledbury but sometimes I get lucky ( like last night!) and it is great :)

    I bet your hair looks great :)

    sarah xxx

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  19. Fantastic haul, good on you. I cant believe those savings. No such discount where I live...

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  20. I enjoy reading your blog. What a delightful lady you are.

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  21. Lol. I had to look up mangetout peas too. I couldn't imagine cutting peas with scissors. (I just woke up and the coffee pot isn't finished brewing yet. hee!)
    Glad you ended up finding more than just the peas and bread.
    I do color my own hair, but I'm too afraid to cut it. I think the last time I tried It, I was five and as punishment I had to go around like that for a few days.
    Thanks again for this blog. It's a nice start to my morning.

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  22. They are good bargains - I never find them that cheap in my local supermarket! I need to start popping a bit later maybe.

    Jane
    shoestringcottage.wordpress.com

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  23. I've done really well on the yellow sticker front recently too and also have sprouts left over. We've had steamed sprouts, bubble and squeak and I'm going to chop some up and put them in my homemade soup along with the 10p parsnips and yellow sticker spuds and broccoli stalk, then whizz it all up. The dogs are also enjoying some of the sprouts raw! Also got a beautiful trifle £3 down to 75p (pudding a rare treat here) for New Year's day, and reduced eggs and loaves. Today we got half price apples on yellow sticker and still have lots of fruit we were given as a Christmas present. Home hairdresser at our house too for the entire family!!

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  24. I agree completely about having frozen soups and stews. Especially if you find yourself often cooking for one... I'll make a big pot of soup and freeze it in all kinds of little saved containers and then I can just thaw as needed and get a nice variety of home made foods.

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