Sunday Shopping

I don't usually like to do my weekly food shop on a Sunday, well, not all of it that is.  I often drop into Lidl after the gym to get some basics that see us through the rest of the weekend and part of the week, but generally do a proper food shop on a Monday.

This week, however, was an exception, as I had my last Waitrose £16 off a £75 spend voucher to use up and after unsuccessfully attempting to order my shopping online and either collect it or have it delivered in time to still qualify for the discount, I decided to head to the store to make sure I could use the voucher before it expired the same evening.

I went to a different and closer store this time, one where I would normally have to pay for parking in the shopping mall where the store is situated, but with a bit of creative thinking, I managed to persuade OH to drop LB and I off to do the shop, whilst he walked the dog in nearby parkland. (He could park for free elsewhere)  He then picked us up when we'd finished and thus we avoided any ridiculously hefty car parking charges. They're a real bug bear with me.  I think if you are spending money in the mall, you should get free parking, at least for the first couple of hours, which was the case when it first opened, but it now costs at least £5 on a weekend, which I resolutely refuse to pay. I'd rather catch the bus in and have no parking charges or more simply not go at all.

Anyway, I digress and needless to say, it was very busy with shoppers on a Sunday afternoon. The till operator indicated that a lot of people had been using up their vouchers, so I obviously wasn't the only person to make a point of doing it.  I managed to get most of my shopping bar a couple of small items, which I'll pick up today and saved £19 in total by using another voucher I had.  A good result, but I'll be happy to go back to my normal shopping routines next week and not feel compelled to shop at any particular store.  That is unless another set of vouchers come winging my way in the mean time.

We were straight in and out, the only extra that went in the trolley were some chocolate Christmas tree decorations, which although not essential, will be put away for Christmas.  I like to buy the odd thing here and there so that nearer the time we just have to buy the fresh items of food that don't keep. With two bags full of groceries each, even if we'd wanted to, we couldn't even begin to think of looking in any of the other shops in the mall.  To be honest, there wasn't anything I needed or wanted to particularly look at.  Instead we headed straight home, for our Sunday roast chicken dinner, before I spent the evening catching up with Saturday's Strictly show.  

Next weekend, we're off to France for the day on Saturday, for our once yearly booze cruise, where we'll be picking up lots of wine and spirits for ourselves throughout the year and to give away as presents this Christmas.  I will be doing some of my weekly food shop there too, which will be a treat. I'm already looking forward to buying a whole heap of French style set yoghurts.  I just love them. It will also be the first shop I've done in France since I changed to eating more wholefoods, so it will be interesting to see what they have to offer on that front.