Travelling On

Karmacat

Thanks MV - thats interesting about WR - they were quite a bit more expensive back in the day, but then levelled out.  To find them cheaper than Asda, by 5p (so, about 8%) cheaper is something of an eye opener for me!

I managed to get my walk **jumpy smiley** - and I also managed to get home in time to get the washing in, it was constantly spitting after I'd walked a couple of hundred yards 🙄  I feel like I haven't walked in ages!  Leftovers now, heated in the microwave, pea pasta (sister can't use it any more, I can!) with baked beans, feta cheese and balsamic vinegar, lovely and tangy.

rtandon27

KC - I've found that Waitflower essentials comes out to approx the same price as Mr.S or Mr.Al - so a basic shop is much of a muchness - but I have to shop with a list & with intention to not get sucked in by all the lovely expensive things they carry!  Like you, I've found Asda to be more expensive by about 10% than the other three and the quality does not match Waitflower or Mr.Al.  Mr.S has variable quality so is very hit and miss!

Karmacat

Aha, thanks for that, RT.  I might have to take some time to reprice Sainsbo etc - if they're regularly more like that, that really adds up.   All the posh stuff at WR seems so *madly* expensive, I'm not much attracted - the only indulgence I let myself have, since I started small shops in person again a few months ago, is to buy Manchego cheese - a hard cheese 😅 that's also from sheep/goats, rather than cows.  Except this time around, it was £28.50 a kilo, and even 200g seemed too much (skinflint much?).  So I bought another fave, a Christmas one - a Stilton, that was about £20 a kilo.  Just 300 grammes or so, so doable.  I have to give myself small treats, or I'll go crazy 😊

Downpour just now.  Washing is inside  

I'm checking on my Net Worth, prior to car dealers.  And I won £300 on premium bonds  

SuperSecretSquirrel

Wow, nice win on the PBs KC! And nice cheeses are definitely a necessity of life 😋

I compared a weekly shop between WR, Mr M, Mr A, Mr T, L*dl, and A*di a few months ago. WR was clearly price matching the others on various fruit and veg, but pretty much everything else was at least a little more expensive. A lot can change in a few months as far as supermarket prices go though, so it might be worth another try!

themadvix

Excellent win there!

rtandon27

300 is nothing to sneeze at - what a lovely win! - I'd think of it as free groceries myself - LOL

Waitflower & Lidl are both the closest of the grocery stores in our town, both are walkable which also deters big expensive shops as we are limited to a backpack's worth at any given time!

beanielou

So wish I had a waitflower near me.

themadvix

They closed the one in our town Beanie and I really miss it! There's one in the next town over, but that's a train/bus journey away unless I have the car, and in any case, not that convenient for popping to. There used to be a time when JL/WR wasn't north of the border at all - I know that's not the case now, but I imagine they're still few and far between.

RT, does the backpack thing work? I find I push the limits every time I go shopping on my bike - it has a small trunk bag and I always overestimate how much more (i.e. on top of what's in the backpack) I can fit in it! It has seen various precarious loads in the past, including jars squashed into the handlebar bag too! 

beanielou

As you say @themadvix few & far between in Scotland.

rtandon27

themadvix said:

...RT, does the backpack thing work?...

Vix, when we do WR shopping with a backpack, OH arms himself with a hand basket.  If he can't carry it easily (without overflow) then neither of us will survive the pack being carried on the way home.  He's been know to say, "No, I don't care how yellow-sticker that bag of organic onions/carrots/potatoes is, it was NOT on the list and it won't fit in the basket with all the things that ARE on your list!" - so it's a combination of weight and volume - let's just say it takes two & a lot of willpower to not overload ourselves.  The method does lend itself to encouraging us off our backsides and go for a walk, so it does double duty in keeping us reasonably fit.

ETA - we live about a 15 minute drive to the WR Farm Estate & the Mr.S Farm Estate, so if they didn't have one of each store in our town I'd be shocked!