Starting to stock up on a few things

Today I have saved a lot of money on tinned goods from B & M and in some cases a lot of money per item.  I follow the teachings and practices of my Nan and my Mum in that you always had something to make a sandwich from in the Pantry in case of  unexpected visitors i.e. tinned Salmon or tinned Ham or Corned Beef, Tuna; all are useful to have on the Pantry shelf.  Today I have focused primarily on Salmon.  Nan in particular always used to keep plain biscuits in to have with morning coffee break.  However they also came in handy for using when crumbed as a cheesecake base and also to add as a "cracker" with a bit of cheese.

I have spent a total of £18.23 on the following:

4 x Regular tins of  Ocean Fresh Salmon @ £1.69 per tin (at my local Morrisons £3.50 a tin same brand and same sized tin, although Morrisons do a smaller tin than the standard tin size).

2 x tins of the Cucumber extra large tins of Salmon @ £2.79 per tin (Morrisons did not have)

4 x tins of Del Monte Pineapple Chunks @ £0.79 per tin (Morrisons have not  had pineapple for a few months now (our local shop)

Lea & Perrin large bottle of Worcester sauce @ £2.48 (Morrisons do not have Lea & Perrins)

There were lots of other bargains as well. Branston Baked Beans are £3.50 at the Morrisons round the corner for a pack of four tins of Baked Beans.  B & M were charging £2.50 per four pack.

That to me is a lot of savings that could be going towards a few more tins for the Pantry to ensure that there are supplies available during the winter months to carry you and your family through to Spring next year when the fresh ingredients start to put in an appearance again.  In case you had not realised I am starting to top up the Pantry again from as many different angles as I can do.  Home Preserving as well as gathering those items which my household uses.

The B & M store at Bridge Street Peterborough already has their autumn range out.  The store is also starting to stock some Christmas items.  Not all of them as I follow a couple of You Tube Channels that go for a walk about in various stores to showcase the new items and a lot of what I have seen on there has not landed at my local store yet, but give it time. 

Certainly all the sweeties are out and Morrisons are charging £2 per box of Matchmakers whereas B & M are charging about £1.69 per box.  No doubt there are a lot more bargains.

I have taken the view that these days you do have to shop around a bit; years ago and quite often for a lot of people they place their allegiance to a specific store.  I think common sense has to prevail and if you can shop about a bit you will get better prices.  However I do appreciate that this is not available for everyone especially the older generation who do not have transport or are a bit rocky on their legs or who are just not well.  Perhaps a neighbour or a friend could take them shopping once every so often or indeed bring some items back for them.  Yes I know you are busy too, but remember that one day you could be in a similar position to them.  A little kindness never hurt.  

Often I will go into town for a specific purpose as I did today.  I do ask the neighbour before I go to see if they want anything.  Once I have dealt with why I have gone into town in the first place I then do a recce on the items that the shop has without spending anything.  I then do a little planning and make arrangements to go back into town within a few days, money permitting - sometimes that is not viable, but a little every so often can help top up the Pantry gradually until it is stocked well and  you can eat well.

When it comes to tinned goods these are the shops that I go to, more on prices and bargains than anything else:

B & M

Home Bargains

Iceland Warehouse

Lidl and Aldi used to be good on tinned prices as well; however it is sometime since have been (need transport to get there) as they are a bit out of the way for me to walk.  I am therefore not up to date on their prices or availability.  Might just have to go and look there soon.  They always used to be very good.

I do however tend to buy the tinned goods when there are bargains available and that is how I stock the Pantry; I take advantage of the offers.  However, be careful on some so called offers.  For instance this past week Morrisons have had an offer on of buy a pack of 10 McVities Jaffa cakes for £1.25.  The sell by date on them is 6 December.  On the face of it a good offer.  So if you buy 2 packets i.e. a total of 20 Jaffa cakes per two packs it works out at £2.50.  Sitting right next to the single packs of 10 Jaffa cakes is a pack of 20 Jaffa cakes for £3 a packet of 20.  Therefore I would buy the single packs of Jaffa cakes if they had a longer sell by date.  That is the only thing putting me off this.  I am stocking for the Winter Pantry and potentially Christmas so I am looking for longer expiration dates.  However, if you just want the Jaffa Cakes for immediate eating the single packs are a bargain.

Today, I saw lots of things that I would like to add to my home. particularly on the Autumn range. However I took the view that to me at the moment the money should be going on food to stock the Pantry with and I did not deviate, although I have highlighted a couple of things that I would quite like.  You cannot have everything, but you can have a little.  I spend my pocket money on things for the house, or materials to make things for the house or second hand items and that is how I have managed to collect a lot of nice things.  This has happened over many years though.

We do not have a market in Peterborough, just a few stalls (little wooden huts) littered down Bridge Street that to me are not a market and the prices are not those of a proper market either.  There used to be so much variety in the stalls on the main market, but that site has now been sold off to build luxury flats!  I do miss the proper market which I used an awful lot and for many years I trundled into town with a shopping trolley and came back with my finds.

The next time I go into town I shall concentrate on Tuna, Tinned Ham, Corned Beef and Sardines in Tomato sauce as a priority.  We are not fans of "Spam"; both of us have memories of this and are not keen.  Tinned fruit also comes on the list as well as I like a mixture of tinned fruit to hand in order that we can if the fancy takes us have impromptu puddings.  Depends on the prices though.  We shall therefore see what is available when I go.  However, that is the outline plan at the moment, maybe with a few more things on top.  I also now have 6 packs of the Morrisons Long Life milk in-house for making custard and milky puddings throughout the month and/or for drinking if we run out of milk at an out of hours time.  Two more packs to obtain and that should be the monthly quota in-house.

In the meantime, I have a lot of preserving to get stuck into.

Have a lovely evening.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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