Thursday 18 July 2013

Lucky shopper :o))

Well it had to be done, I've been holding off doing the shopping for as long as I could. The little top ups from Aldi, B & M, Poundstretcher, Asda, and my garden have kept me going. There's only so much rice, pasta, and tins you can eat on a daily basis, then the cravings start for some fresh veg.
I went to Tesco at 7.30pm last night, it's only five miles away so I consider the money I spent on petrol is a good investment when I can come away with this little haul. I struck lucky, they had over ordered on a lot of stock, and there weren't many people there ready to grab it, so I managed to get my share. I came out an hour and a half later with a trolley full. It pays to be vigilant and watch what the assistants are doing with their ticket machines. There was a nice young man marking down the veg and he knows me and what I look for. An Asian woman was in competition with me, she grabbed a couple of items which I would have liked, but she has a kids to feed and I'm pleased they will get some peaches. I beat her to the 25p cauliflower :o)  Swings and roundabouts.
Here is my list of reduced prices. The bread at 34p was due another mark down, but they are always late in that department and I didn't want to wait. Also I took the last three wholemeal loaves, because didn't want to miss out on them. Most of these are 90% off.
My, that looks better. My fridge is all scrubbed out and super clean, it's like a new one. All this will be inspected daily to make sure it is eaten before it goes off. The soft fruit will be the first to go, the swede will be the last. I got some Quorn burgers on offer for the freezer, and bags of frozen peas, sweetcorn, and broad beans. These are handy to have as a standby. The wine by the way was given to me, in exchange for delivering two dogs to the kennels and fetching them back the following day. I will do odd jobs for wine, ha ha.
So, let the scoffing begin. I know Tesco get a bad press sometimes, but I reckon they are no worse than any of the other supermarkets for price increases. They are all at it. They don't have to sell this lot at a reduced price, they could give it to the staff or bin it. Because it is about to go out of date it wouldn't be practical to donate it to charity as by the time it is collected and distributed to the people who need it, it would be inedible. Best to let it go cheaply, it has to be eaten quickly. I wouldn't have money to spend on going out, my car, computer and broadband, my cats, and other little treats, if I had to pay full price for everything. I am lucky that I can get to the store to buy it. All that fruit and veg helps me to keep healthy. Thank you Mr T.
This is not a sponsored post, most supermarkets do something similar. I choose Tesco because it is nearest to me. It is up to the individual shopper to stake out their local store, go late to see what's on offer, then base their meals around whatever is cheap. No meal planning here, I eat what is good for me, and cheap.
Toodle pip.

24 comments:

  1. Caching up on all my blog reading! I'd do a lot less for a bottle of wine!!

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  2. Some creative food combinations ahead! I look forward to reading how you use these ingredients .

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  3. I am with you all the way. We have been lucky at work to get some really good bargains in our staff shop. Massive mangoes for 5p each, trays of flat mushrooms for 50p and for the last few weeks every purchase gets a free salad bowl. This has enabled me to really stretch my money. Our dinner tonight will be Kidney Bean and Coriander burgers with free salad and will work out at about 30p each for a substantial and healthy meal.

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    1. Sounds good Pam. You have to grab it while you can. It's amazing what meals you can knock up from a minimum outlay.

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  4. That's a fantastic haul from Tesco.... talk about being in the right place at the right time....lucky you.

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  5. Well done on the shopping. I am slowly catching up on your posts and was intrigued to see the radishes - have you tried to eat the leaves? They are very tasty in a salad, and also as stir fry.

    Joyce

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    1. Hi Joyce. No I have not tried eating the radish leaves. They seem a bit tough because I leave the radishes in the ground until they reach a decent size. The trouble is I put three different sorts of seeds in this bed, and I don't know what is what till I pull it up.

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  6. What a fantastic haul! I love the 'bargain' cat that snuck into shot too. :-)

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  7. what a lovely fridge full of nutritious food!

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  8. Wow, an absolutely brilliant shop, it does pay to be in the right place at the right time. What was the overall total for all this lot?

    I'd put lots of this in free flowing bags or boxes in the freezer, especially your soft fruits and broccoli etc. Then you wouldn't have to worry about it going off at all.

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    1. Hi Sue, I didn't work out the total value but a lot was 90% off. For instance the blueberries were £2 knocked down to 20p. I paid £29.33 for the total shop, but there was some cat food in there for £5. Also three different cheeses for £4.84, and several packets of nuts.

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  9. Hi Ilona, OMG! The prices you pay are just so cheap. I enjoyed seeing your fully stocked (and super clean) fridge. As I always say, I wish we had those yellow stickers here. For instance, I paid $3.99 (US)for rocket the other day. I paid $2.99 for a small plastic container of blueberries. I could go on and on! There are some small sales once in a while but nothing compared to what you pay. I'm glad to see that you can buy food at reduced prices and eat well. The bread here has gone up to $4.50 a loaf recently. I went to the bakery and bought a loaf of rye bread instead for $2.00. Fresh and tasty! It was still warm from the oven when I brought it home. I refuse to pay $4.50 for a loaf of bread.

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  10. Wow what a haul! Is your Tesco a 24 hr one?

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    1. Hi, yes it is a 24 hour store. At 9pm they turn off some of the lights to save on electricity. It's strange when it happens because you think they are about to close, but of course they aren't. If you want to look for reductions in a store that isn't 24 hour, it's best to go an hour before closing.

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  11. All I can say is WOW, even when things are cut price here in Australia, you NEVER get it for mere cents. Well done!

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  12. You`ve certainly done well with your shopping! I tend to hit Aldi first as their fruit and veg is cheaper than Tesco, then I go to Tesco afterwards for the bargain shelf and other odds and ends. I`ve managed to cut my total shopping bill by 1/3 this way. Every saving is useful. Your fridge looks great all stocked up. Mine looks about the same at this moment until we`ve ploughed our way through all the bits.

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  13. That is amazing. I never see cut prices that cheap here in California, even adjusting for the UK pence vs US penny differences! And I love that your kitty has managed to get into the first photo.

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  14. I have Morrisons, Tesco and Asda within 2 miles, so a sweep is possible of all 3. They all seem to do the mark-downs at about the same time, but I can only be in one place, so it's just a matter of luck. They usually get down to 90% off at the very end, but there's not always a lot left, there seems to be so many people chasing the yellow stickers this year, a sign of the times I suppose?

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  15. Sad, but I can remember the days when all those items on your receipt were as cheap as that full price! Or even cheaper... No doubt you can too. Just a pity our income wasn't as much then as it it is now, or we'd all have been laughing!

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  16. That's funny - here in Germany our "yellow stickers" are often orange! Have you visited Germany, Ilona? You might be a bit perplexed having to search for a new colour sticker!

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    1. I went in Tesco the other night and some of my yellow stickers were in fact brown!

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  17. I can never get over how inexpensive the groceries are where you live. Lucky you as it really helps the budget.

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  18. That's some serious shopping! Healthy too, we don't see bargains like this in Australia.

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  19. Your shopping receipt is a sight for sore eyes and all that food is amazing for the price. I wouldn't say the supermarkets are doing us a favour as such with the reductions, i think its because they don't want to be seen throwing food away and it would cost them for waste disposal. From Tesco's point of view selling it off cheap is their best option. Also from a 'behind the scenes agency drivers view' its a pure guess as to how much produce they'll sell on any given day.
    Dave.

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