Saturday a Little shopping

Today we paid a trip to our Bakers for some crusty rolls, a cake each and a pork pie.  

From there we then went on to the Butchers, for some Bacon.  Also bought in some more Sausage; i.e. Boerwors Sausage to try.  We have not had this before.  There was also 3lb Black Pudding £4.50, Big pack of Bacon £12.50 and a couple of Gammon steaks £4.00 a 2.5kg supposedly Mature Cheddar block of cheese for £19, an extra large whole chicken for £6 as well as some Greens Pudding mixes.  I bought in 2 Creme Carmele (works out at £1.20 per packet) and 2 Lemon Meringue Pie Filling (works out at £1.20 per packet).  Previously I have bought in about 6 Cheesecake mixes (works out at £1.80 per box) I am stock-piling on pudding mixes for a quick pudding when we fancy one or when one is needed but also for use in the Winter months.    This particular Butcher also has frozen goods, and other different bits and bobs, like sweets, broken biscuits, fruit juices sauces etc. etc.  As I have said we went for Bacon.  It is all we went for.  

However,  A few good offers on with regard to steak £20 for 4 Rib Eye steaks and also some Beef joints.  Could not ignore them due to the price.  I have been looking for some small Beef joints for a while.  They did not need to be massive just enough for a couple of meals and maybe some to go in the freezer with a bit of gravy to cover in order to make more meals out of the meat.  The two joints pack came to £25 for the two which works out at £12 per joint.  Beef per kilo at this Butcher was £16.50 per kilo therefore still a good saving.  I bought two packs which equates to 4 Sunday dinners.  As a result of this unplanned expenditure,  I have had to rearrange my planned budget for this month).  Never mind but too good a bargain to miss.  I prefer to buy in a larger piece of meat when I have the funds and then cut it down into decent sized joints.  Price of Beef as well as Lamb has been horrendous of late.  Will keep my eyes peeled moving forward.  the freezer is pretty well stocked - next month though will be looking for Chicken and Minced Beef as well as some more steak.

I also bought another 4 Rib Eye steaks as we are more or less out in the Freezer. A tray of four Rib Eye steaks works out at £20 per tray i.e. £5 a steak.  This is not on the to use list for the next month though as next month I hope to buy in another tray or two, and then we can start eating steak again. I like to have a little stock of things before I actually choose to use them.  We have plenty of Pork of different kinds as well as lots of other lovely bits and bobs.  I tend to predominantly keep meat in the freezer with a little veg and a little fruit only as it is not as big a freezer as I am used to.

All the meat is now tucked safely into the freezer together with the leftover curry from last night.  Sometime during the coming week will be using up a Thai Green Curry sauce that was bought at the same time as the Chicken Tikka Masala sauce.  Thai Green Curry is something that I love and so am going to cook this up.  G though is not keen and so he will have one of the packs of cooked curry already resident in the freezer. I will then also freeze up the other part of the Thai Curry for an extra meal when I fancy it.

From the Butchers we then went on to Home Bargains. I went for cleaning materials and unfortunately did not get to look around the rest of the store today.  It is about three months since I last went for cleaning materials. I have not done badly to hold out for that long.  This includes toilet paper, fabric conditioner, stain remover and Soap powder.  I did not really get to look around the food aisles either.  However that will happen in due course.  I have mentioned before that I try and have a point of focus every month on what I plan and intend to buy in order that I get the most out of my pennies.  Sometimes though there are detours!  There has to be a certain amount of flexibility in the budget to be able to do this.  I chose to do this, this month despite my previous plans.  Next month it will be playing catch up.

Quite pleased therefore with the way things are going this month thus far.

Tomorrow (Sunday) I had planned on doing a little bit more shopping.  However, I have decided to defer matters and concentrate more on issues at home. I have a lot of sorting out to do in the house before I can concentrate on specific different areas.  I also have a lot of washing to do.  G is in a fishing match and I intend to make the best use of time whilst he is enjoying himself.  There is quite a bit of sorting to do.  Well that should keep me out of mischief and trouble, plus I am using and dealing with what I have rather than what I do not have.

Hope everyone is keeping well.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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