A Year of Living Frugabulously

Karmacat

If I have any envy in my life, its of being near a Waitrose! I adore them ... They're definitely on the "must have" list if I move again. Mind you, my mum has one nearby nowadays, and I'm off there on Christmas Eve to construct a hamper for my brother and his wife (all in one go, oops).

:xmassign:

Hope Grumpy doesn't manage to lasso you in. And *loving* the radioactive sheep description :T

lizzie_dripping

Where did Z get that picture of me from?

Cherryjack

Hi Lula, love the hamper idea.. and its good to have a xmas fund in place :-)
Can someone let me into the waitrose secret.. my understanding from people is its over priced? Ive never been lol... so please if i have this wrong sort me out :-) Im an Asda wallmart person.. everything seems to be a £1.00 lol xx

vasseur

Cherryjack wrote: »

Can someone let me into the waitrose secret.. my understanding from people is its over priced? Ive never been lol... so please if i have this wrong sort me out :-) Im an Asda wallmart person.. everything seems to be a £1.00 lol xx

I think it's just a more pleasant shopping experience and - dare I say it - a better class of shopper . I have Waitrose tastes with an Aldi budget

fedupandskint

Deffo hampers a good idea to buy bits throughout the year - so my spare room is jammed full of things and they're ready to go for making up and wrapping now. Whenever I get to this point it usually surprises me have much there is, for a much lower cost as I usually keep an eye out for offers once I've decided what kind of hampers I'm doing

Merry Crimbo hun! Before I forget

Amyway I've now finished work and back at home for the next week or so. Today's jobs are making a huge vat of mushroom soup (2x 10p large basic boxes to use up hurridly), spiced bread is baking away for the next few hours and oh festive joy, cleaning.

Horribly miserable here today with a lot of rain and very grey sky - I'm all done and dusted (not cleaning wise) and staying away from the shops today and tomorrow to catch up at home before the 'big day'.

2012 - a year of frugality for me, its almost here!

RosaBernicia

I loooove Waitrose but am spending much less time (and money) in ours now that the Sainsbugs has improved and I have more time for cooking. I'm not sure how overpriced it is - some things are equal, but I noticed my fave chocolate is 10p more than Sainsbugs. I am mainly using it now for things I can't get elsewhere, like a particularly fab mozzarella, and stocking up each time.

The Tatco here is awful too, I don't know why it is somehow much less pleasant than the others but it is. And somehow contains an entire half the shop that I never go into because it's all alcohol and processed food.

I have had a 'gifts' fund for the last year which covers Christmas, birthdays, etc. Means a good bit seems to disappear into it every month but there is much less panic when several birthdays run together or Christmas turns up unexpectedly.

I also like the hampers plan... hamper preparation thread next autumn, then?

Lula I am glad you are choosing your men by what William Morris said and not what he did - would be concerned if you were picking men obsessed with large print fabrics and willing to share you with their business partners :rotfl:

Rosa xx

lizzie_dripping

Cherryjack wrote: »

Can someone let me into the waitrose secret.. my understanding from people is its over priced? Ive never been lol... so please if i have this wrong sort me out :-) Im an Asda wallmart person.. everything seems to be a £1.00 lol xx

Can't really comment about the prices as I don't buy everyday groceries there, however it's the only place that I will buy meat from other than my butcher and their pork and red onion sausages are delicious!

The real secret is that, I've always found at Christmas, there are no queues to get into the car park, you can always find a parking space, the checkouts are all manned and there is at most one person in front of you in the queue .

Souk08

Can't do Waitrose myself. Firstly it's not that nearby and secondly I fear I may run up hundreds of pounds on their 'food !!!!!!' type offerings. I stick to Aldi and Lidl and get Asda to deliver every few months for my storecupboard and that keeps my spend low. I also dislike Tatco, it's just too dear and the one nearest me appears to be full of raving loons, no matter what time of the day or night I go!!!

Lula just in case I dont get on later (my router is playing up) I just want to wish you and the girls a very Merry Xmas when it comes XXX

short_bird

lizzie_dripping wrote: »

The real secret is that, I've always found at Christmas, there are no queues to get into the car park, you can always find a parking space, the checkouts are all manned and there is at most one person in front of you in the queue .

And they keep the queues well managed with an assistant handing out chocolate and saying when to move forward...:D

Lula-Hula

Hi all,

just a brief post to say that due to Christmas & family stuff I may not be on for a few days, but that I'm fine & will be back soon.

My lovely Grandmother died in the early hours of Friday morning. She'd been in hospital for a few weeks & was just getting weaker each day so my overwhelming feeling is that she has been released. She had a long (97 years) & happy life & it was her time to go. I'll miss her, but overall I'm ok about it.

My thoughts are with all those who have lost someone & those who face their first christmas without their loved ones.

***

Wishing all you lovely posters & lurkers a Happy & Peaceful Christmas
xx