Month 2, Day 18: Gorilla Munch and Procrastinor

Right, I’m still half convinced that my housemate put this on Waitrose’s shelves just to wind me up:

EnviroKidz? Are you kidding me? It was £2.29. Of which, as EnviroKidz proudly boast, 1 or 2p could be expected to go to wildlife. One would presume they mean that it goes to charities and activities that support endangered wildlife. However, given that I wouldn’t have supposed anyone could be water-headed enough to either buy or produce this product, I shouldn’t then be surprised if they do actually go out into the wilderness and write cheques to pandas.

Of course, you could get Tesco value cereal to the same weight for 15p, leaving you £2.14 free to donate to reputable wildlife charities if you were so inclined. That wouldn’t be organic though would it? And what a mighty shame that would be. So even if you went for organic, gluten free cereal, you could still save £1.13 to give to wildlife charities you’ve actually heard of like the WWF.

So, for the record, you are not going to make the world a better place by spending too much at Waitrose, you credulous tossers.

P.S. As you might be able to tell, I am in procrastinor’s grip

Month 2, Day 12: A Bargain?

Went waitrose lurking again last night. Managed to bag two Caesar’s Salad kits for 20p. A true bargain. I’ve been a few times to Waitrose with my housemates, but there’s been little to tempt me of late. A typical waitrose “bargain” is shown below:

Beef Wellington, reduced to £4.99 from £11.99. On the face of it, that’s a great bargain, it’s less than half price. But let’s be honest, £11.99 is a ludicrous price to be spending on a ready meal, so much so that even at less than half the price, it’s still not tempting.

I have again indulged in Latte Wednesday, to the tune of £2.20. It’s nice to have a good coffee at least once a week

Balance = £66.64 (-3.5%)

EAPCCI

1. Houses for sale on my street = 3 (no change, was 2 at the start)
2. Price of petrol at the Tesco down the street = 104.9p/l (up 1p, was 103.9p at the start)
3. Price of 1kg of spaghetti in Lidl = 79p (no change, was 69p at the start)

Day 22: Waitrose Lurking

A new sport to get me through the next month. Waitrose is near us, and it’s as expensive as hell. No place for a man trying to save up his pennies for a trip to Argentina. Or so you’d think…

Last night at about 7.30 we went to Waitrose, just before it shut at 8pm. By keeping an eye out for the woman with the pricing gun, some bargains were to be had. Two loaves of Nimble-brand bread for 10p (reduced from £1.50) and half a pack of yoghurts for 10p (more than 90% off). It was only half a pack because Anya wanted to wet her beak too.

My housemate Carole is an adept at this game, and apparently on a good day you can get veg too. She says there’s another regular to watch out for. A woman with black & grey hair, cut in a bob. She’ll swoop on anything, a fine eye for a bargain.

Balance = £50.67 (-0.4%)

Oh, and to prevent myself from spending all my time reading up on economic apocalypse paranoia material, I’m not reading or watching the news anymore. My economic barometer will now be a composite of:

1. The number of houses for sale on my street (currently = 2)
2. The price of petrol at the Tesco in Henleaze (currently = 103.9p/l)
3. The price of 1kg of spaghetti in Lidl (currently = 69p)