The shopping list - 2013 style

We had an exceptionally busy weekend, with some celebrations on Saturday so it meant that the shopping had to wait until Sunday.

I had been contemplating starting the challenge a day early (Sunday) because I thought that psychologically that would be easier, but the busy-ness of the weekend meant that I didn't actually go shopping until Sunday.

When I signed up to this year's challenge, I thought that it might be easier this year than last, because we have quite a few shops in Urmston town centre now. Not least Aldi, which everyone knows is generally cheaper than most high street supermarkets.

I had also been a little bit excited by this news article in the Guardian. But buying gin was out of the question with just £5 for five days - award winning or not.

I suppose my participation last year, and the introduction of new and cheaper shops meant that I was a little bit complacent about my shopping this year. I thought it might be easier, and didn't do the same amount of food research before buying my food than I did last year.

It is a very artificial scenario - just five days - but nobody would choose to live on £1 a day for any extended period of time. There is no room for luxury with £1 a day. And, people who do live below the poverty line, don't enjoy the luxury choice in deciding where to buy their shopping from. The additional shops in Urmston have just added to my own riches. I have greater choice and freedom to decide where to spend my £5.

I decided to go for the same shopping list as last year, what I hadn't really considered - even though I've noticed over the rest of the year in my own shopping habits - is the rising cost of food. I only had £5 to spend last year, and I had just £5 to spend this year. But I bought a lot less.

From Quality Save I bought:

Olive oil - £1.69
Porridge - 49p
Olives - 29p
Tin tomatoes - 29p


Aldi

Plain flour - 45p
Eggs - £1

Sainsbury's

Lemon curd - 22p (this is the cheapest lemon curd I've seen)
1 onion - 10p
Tin red kidney beans - 21p

From my store cupboard I bought

100g soup and broth mix - 11p (500g is 55p in Quality Save, but I thought it was a waste of food to buy a new bag for this challenge when I had an open one in the cupboard at home)

6g mild chilli powder - 12p. (I checked the price of the one I had in my cupboard on Mysupermarket and I calculated the price. It's Tesco Mild Chilli Powder, 95p for 50g)

Total spend: £4.98