A Move To Morrisons

Since moving to a new, more rural location last year, my shopping habits have changed somewhat.

At my old home, I did my main grocery shopping at the local Tesco Extra, with smaller top-up shops at Sainsburys’ and the Co-op, but all that has changed since the move.

My current nearest Tesco is rather smaller than the Extra at which I once shopped, with far fewer product lines on the shelves, making it impossible to replicate all my most common buys. Although the store can meet a lot of my needs, it falls short on others.

Similarly, I have neither a Sainsburys’ or Co-op within easy reach, so have needed to look elsewhere. Attempts at buying groceries in Aldi failed dismally, I couldn’t get on with their products at all, and although I like Lidl better, the journey to the nearest branch is too far to justify any savings. And when it comes to grocery shopping, I’m not a fan of doing it online, as I like to scrutinise the meat, carefully select the fruit and veg and take the time to mull over relevant offers.

Therefore, my weekly shop now tends to be divided between the smaller Tesco, and Morrisons’, as there is a large branch of this store near to said Tesco.

On my first few visits to Morrisons I tentatively tried a selection of own brand products, as well as selecting some well-known labels that were on offer. I decided that many of the products were of good quality and therefore represented good value, an opinion further enhanced by the introduction of the Match and More card. This loyalty card price-matches your purchases not only with other leading supermarkets, but also with Aldi and Lidl, converting any extra money that you have paid on your comparable Morrisons’ shop to points, which then accumulate until you have sufficient to be awarded a £5 voucher. Despite targeting many own brand and offer items in my shop, I always seem to earn points, and have received several £5 vouchers, further reducing my shopping bill.

In addition to this, Morrisons have been sending me a variety of additional money-off vouchers through the post – they’re really making an effort to gain custom!

I’ve now also become a fan of certain of their own brand products. Here are a few of my favourites:

Morrisons Laundry Gel (Bio) 540ml (up to 18 washes) for just £1.75 – just as good as the Ariel version in my opinion and much cheaper!

Morrisons Pure Fabric Conditioner £1.50 (up to 42 washes) is a great bargain buy that leaves my laundry really fresh.

Morrisons Bolognese Sauce 725g for 99p, we actually preferred this to many other makes that we have tried.

Morrisons Chilled 100% Fruit Juices, 1-litre bottles, 3 for £3 (£1.29 each), not only are these really tasty, but there is such a great range of flavours. In addition to the normal apple, orange and pineapple, I love the apple and mango, Clementine, apple and pear and red grape and berries.

I’m also a big fan of their deli items, such as vegetable samosas and olive selections, and am pleased to see that their meat tends to be sourced from British farmers.

It would definitely seem that I’ll be doing much more of my weekly shopping in Morrisons in the future.

Return Of The Random Thoughts

It’s been some time since I last shared some of my random thoughts with you, so here goes...

I’ve been enjoying the indulgence of the variety of little desserts that come under the heading ‘Pot Of Joy’ (current favourite Terry’s Chocolate Orange), but feel that there may have been a mistake with the labelling. I think it should read ‘Pot For Joy’, then they could all be mine!

Whilst out shopping recently, I bought an item that for some reason proceeded to set off the alarms in nearly every store that I subsequently entered. Annoying? Yes. But what was actually quite worrying was that in none of the shops that I visited did anyone check what was causing the problem. I could have been walking out with half their stock for all they knew!

So much for Tesco’s new, permanently low prices. Some of the targeted items that I’d started buying in the store have risen by as much as 40p during recent weeks. Granted, some products are still cheaper than elsewhere, but is this the start of a slippery slope, reverting back to higher prices quite quickly?

Talking of Tesco, I’m thoroughly frustrated with their freezer arrangement in my local store. The items seem to be displayed using some sort of spring-loaded system, meaning that if you select an item that you subsequently want to put back, you can’t fit it in. Even selecting an item in the first place makes you feel like you’re under attack – it’s a worrying experience.

Believe it or not, I’ve only recently discovered wine boxes! I often enjoy a glass of wine with the evening meal, sometimes adding a splash to a dish that I’m cooking, and I like to have a bit in reserve should visitors descend. I previously made sure that I had a bottle or two in stock, but after being given a box of wine as a present I’ve been converted. With boxes containing the equivalent of between three and six bottles of wine and lasting some six weeks after opening (keeping fresh, not magically refilling) they can be a handy, cost-effective buy. I’ve not been tempted to drink more because of the discovery; it’s just nice to know there’s enough to offer round if unexpected guests arrive!

Death Of A High Street

Many High Streets have seen a large number of shop closures over the last couple of years, with some towns suffering more severely than others.

In some cases, closures have been the result of the demise of whole shopping chains, whilst others have been due to localised closures, where retailers have had to reduce store numbers to avoid total collapse.

I’ve visited some High Streets and shopping centres that appear to be holding up quite well, but others are ghosts of their former selves. One in particular that falls into the latter category is Chatham in Kent.

I was born and bred in Medway, having lived in various locations around the towns, often using Chatham as a place to shop. Although I have now moved out of the Medway area, I have made a couple of recent trips back to Chatham High Street when visiting relatives and can’t believe the change in the place.

As a child I loved to go and spend my birthday and pocket money in the town. There were some great toy shops (Youngsters and Gees) in the town and lots of big High Street stores such as Marks and Spencer, Woolworths, British Home Stores (as it then was), Co-op and Featherstones.

In the 1970s the Pentagon shopping centre opened (I remember going there to see the Wombles turn up for the official opening) and some of the stores from the High Street, such as WHSmith and Boots moved inside, as well as new shops arriving such as C&A and Etam.

Today both the High Street and Pentagon shopping centre are shadows of their former selves. Marks and Spencer and the now rebranded BHS moved out years ago and of course, Woolworths disappeared from all of our High Streets, but what is more concerning is the number of other retailers that have pulled out of the town, seemingly making it their first choice of towns from which to withdraw.

In light of the news that Tesco needed to close a large number of stores, Chatham was put on the hit list. Now WHSmith have also announced they’re shutting up shop and rumours are flying about who else is set to go.

Over the years national chains such as Next, Peacocks, Mothercare, HMV and The Early Learning Centre have, one by one, left the town, although all still exist in nearby Maidstone.

The only new shops that seem to be opening in the town are pound stores. Poundland, 99p Stores, Poundworld, The Mighty Pound, Around-a-pound – talk about in for a pound! Now whilst these shops may have their place, there are a hell of a lot of things you can’t buy in them and not all of us want to shop in them. It seems the more that the council allow these shops (along with betting shops, pawnbrokers and dubious ‘market-stall’ type shops) move into the town, the more the long-standing stores decide to leave. I always thought councils looked carefully at the balance of shops in a town, limiting numbers of any one type of shop, to maintain diversity.

shops are packing
up and going!

There was a time when people would have travelled to the town from all around Kent because of the great selection of shops on offer. Now the choices are miserable, the town looks dowdy and people not only don’t visit there to shop anymore, but even locals choose to travel elsewhere.

The decline of the town’s High Street is very sad and is largely due, I feel, to bad town management. It will take something miraculous to revive this dismal High Street.

How are High Streets near you holding up?

Free Gifts

I love a free gift – who doesn’t? But in these times of austerity genuine freebies are not as forthcoming as they used to be.

There are still some nice little gift packages available with make-up purchases in shops such as Boots and Debenhams and of course the proverbial ‘Bogofs’ in supermarkets, but some of the little freebies that I used to love have all but disappeared.

Years ago, it was possible to accumulate a wealth of free items purely by purchasing modestly priced magazines. I’m not just talking glossies and dearer monthly publications (some of which do still sometimes appear with the odd gift), which often came with cosmetics, bags, paperback books, etc, but even weekly mags sometimes came up with interesting offerings.

Favourite publications such as ‘Woman’ and ‘Woman’s Weekly’ (of Victoria Wood bottom beating fame) on occasions came with spatulas or stitch holders – not glamorous gifts I admit, but freebies just the same!

And I seemed to acquire a huge selection of holdalls of varying sizes, assorted clocks and the odd radio just by placing a small order with a mail order catalogue from time to time. Remember those days?

Today prices of much of what we buy continue to rise (except for food items in the current supermarket wars) but gifts are less forthcoming. It’s true that we can get reward points, which are much appreciated, at certain supermarkets and enter various prize draws, but there’s something magical about an instant free gift in your hand. Not something that you may or may not get by entering a draw, but a guaranteed, on-the-spot, thank-you-here-and-now gift.

Are there certain free gifts that you miss?

Politeness Costs Nothing

Time and again I blog about customer service issues, with my biggest gripe being rudeness and complete lack of manners.

Long waiting times in queues, lack of stock, poorly informed assistants and staff shortages can all be very annoying, but the situation can be lightened a little by apologies, explanations and generally polite service. Why is it then, that time and again, some assistants forget this basic rule?

Several days ago, my husband called in at a branch of Boots (Strood in Kent to be precise) to pick up some pain relief tablets for me, as I was suffering a flare up of my joints. He arrived just in time for opening, which was unfortunately delayed due to the pharmacist being held up.

Bad service makes me mad!

That in itself is fair enough. We all get caught in traffic at times or suffer some other setback and, by law, shops offering pharmacy services aren’t allowed to open without a pharmacist on site. What was unforgivable, however, is the way the situation was handled by the person who was seemingly in charge – an unhelpful individual named Richard.

A line of customers patiently formed outside the store, but at no time did Richard, or anyone else for that matter, pop their head out to offer an explanation or even post a notice on the door.

When Richard did open up shop following the arrival of the tardy pharmacist, instead of issuing a polite “excuse me” to customers so that he could push back the doors, he ‘shooed’ them away with an irritated gesture.

Things didn’t get any better. When he served my husband with the requested medication, he grudgingly muttered ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ through gritted teeth, exuding an air of “I don’t really want to serve you and I don’t like you”!

Needless to say my husband was seething when he returned home, having received such appalling treatment. We immediately looked up the contact details for Boots head office and emailed a complaint.

This is where I can report some happier news. The area manager of Boots stores phoned my husband with an apology and assured him that she would be visiting the branch to address the situation. And let’s face it, when we make this kind of complaint, that’s exactly what we want – an apology, an explanation and reassurance that our bad experience will not be repeated. A positive response to our complaint can make the difference between us returning to a store or shopping elsewhere.

It’s true that we don’t know whether Richard was having a bad day. There may be horrors in his life, problems galore – but these should never be taken out on unsuspecting customers, who just want to be served politely and go on their way.

As customers I believe that we always have the duty to report bad service, so that it can be improved for ourselves and others in the future. In turn shops have a duty to respond appropriately.

A Chilly Reception

Last week we had to say goodbye to our old Samsung Fridge/Freezer, which should have come as no great surprise as for some time its so-called ‘frost-free’ status had become more than questionable and it would often refuse to come back on for ages after a power cut.

In recent times the appliance had started making odd noises, although the instruction manual had informed us that it “may bicker, but this is not a trouble”. Finally though the end came, literally with a puff of smoke!

Obviously we wanted a replacement without too long a wait and headed off to Currys where we’d bought many appliances in the past. After some deliberation we selected a model that was reasonably sized and reasonably priced, bearing in mind this is not the time to be buying expensive items, living as we are in an old workshop that we’re renovating (read ruraljoy.blogspot.co.uk for more on that) where conditions are a bit dusty and things have to be frequently moved around.

Anyway, having chosen our desired model we then endeavoured to find an assistant. This was not an easy task, although one was finally located via a request at a neighbouring department. When the availability of the freezer was checked, we were told that delivery would be in three weeks. Three weeks? Were they kidding? When we’d landed back down from the ceiling, we explained that our need was somewhat more urgent and we needed to investigate alternatives, to which the assistant just looked at us, shrugged and walked away.

It's the Co-op I'll consider for future electrical appliances

For one moment we started to turn round to go back and view more by ourselves, until it dawned on us that the unspoken sentiment actually amounted to, “We don’t want you custom.” So we initiated plan B.

Reluctant as I am to buy things online without viewing them, I went home and Googled electrical retailers, as I'd already had the opportunity to browse a range of models in Currys. Let’s face it though, electrical shops aren’t that plentiful these days, with the likes of Comet and electricity board stores long gone, many retailers are online.

I had a quick look at tesco.com but then coopelectricalshop.co.uk caught my eye as it is a ‘Which? Recommended Provider’. I quickly found a fridge/freezer of the same make, but a slightly better model for the same price as Currys, with the silver option only being 1p (yes, 1p) more than the white, as opposed to £20-£30 more for this colour difference in Currys. What’s more it was available for delivery within just three days as opposed to weeks, and delivery was free!

The afternoon before delivery day, I received a text informing me that my delivery slot would be between 15.01 and 16.01. All I had to do was to wait and see how it all worked out.

I’m pleased to say that delivery actually occurred halfway through the allotted time slot. The driver and his assistant were friendly and helpful, promptly removing all packaging from the appliance (and taking it away) and ensuring that the fridge/freezer was installed where requested.

So would I recommend Co-operative Electrical to others? Too right I would, it was a completely painless experience.

A final mention to Currys (or Currys PC World as they are known these days) as their ‘Know-How’ team picked up on a tweet I posted about my experience in the store, offering to help me select an alternative. Sadly this was too little, too late and I’m much more likely to repeat my Co-op experience than my Currys one!

Merging Into One

I’ve recently heard about a couple of companies that are about to be ‘swallowed up’ by larger ones, which is bound to have an effect on consumer choice.

The Competitions and Markets Authority (formerly the Competition Commission, in turn formerly The Monopolies and Mergers Commission) is supposedly meant to strengthen competition in the marketplace, thus protecting consumer choice. Why is it then that in some areas our choices are becoming increasingly more limited?

One of the big issues at the moment, I feel, is that of mobile phone providers. I used to be a customer of Orange, which merged with TMobile (referred to in our household as Torange), which then became part of EE. It has now been announced that EE are to be bought out by BT – just the company I do not want to provide my service!

One of my concerns is that my current, excellently priced SIM deal will change. Originally taken out with Orange, but honoured by EE (although that stopped providing it to new customers) my immediate concern is that this will be scrapped. But from a wider point of view, I realise that if I’m not happy with the new service, there will be very little choice of other providers available. With it appearing that O2 is about to be taken over by the owner of the ‘3’ network, that leaves only Vodafone as a mobile provider on its own.

With our choices of mobile provider basically down to three, where is the incentive for the remaining companies to offer the best deals? With competition rapidly dwindling it certainly makes their life easier, but not ours!

Also in the news is the plan for Poundland to buy out 99p Stores – another bad move I believe. Certainly in my area, the 99p Stores are much better than the Poundland equivalents, stocking better products in a more welcoming environment. Of course, that may not be the case nationwide, but it’s still nice to be given the choice of where to shop.

Time and again shops and companies are being taken over by larger concerns, reducing competition and limiting our choices. Competition is healthy for businesses. It encourages them to deliver the best possible customer service, product ranges and consumer care. Insufficient competition can create complacency, resulting in poorer deals for customers and severe lack of service and care.

I’ve always believed that if I don’t get good service from a company, I should take my custom elsewhere. But if my choices are limited, where do I turn?

Where Have All The Shoe Shops Gone?

There’s no doubt about it, shopping for shoes is not the straightforward experience that it once was. Locating a shoe shop can be an ordeal in itself.

Way back in that hinterland know as the 1970s, my then local High Street was positively teeming with shoe shops, as was the shopping centre that opened there during that decade. We were spoilt for choice – Manfield, Saxone, Dolcis, Curtess, TrueForm, John Farmer – the list went on!

Are shoe shops becoming as extinct as the dinosaurs/

However, a visit back to that same High Street today is quite a different story. All that exists is a branch of Shoe Zone and a small Chockers store. Even venturing to an out-of-town retail park only yields a rather sad looking Brantano, which I view as a kind of shoe jumble sale – lots of random styles in random sizes, but not normally the one you’re actually seeking.

Of course, I realise that many High Street stores now include a shoe department – New Look, BHS, Matalan and Select to name a few – but many of these only offer women’s shoes. Where are you supposed to go to buy footwear for children and men?

This week I faced the unenviable task of buying new school shoes for my son. Needless to say, the choice was very limited. He may not be particularly fashion conscious when choosing footwear, but it would be nice to have more options available to him. My husband is also frustrated about the lack of choice – it’s not always an option to buy from premium shoe retailers and certainly shouldn’t be viewed as a necessity.

There are, of course, a number of online shoe retailers, but footwear is the last item that I would consider buying on the Internet. Finding the right fit can be a nightmare! How many pairs would I end up ordering and returning before I found the ideal fit? I want to go into a shop (or several if I’m honest), view a large selection of shoes and try on as many pairs as I like before making my choice.

I dream of walking down a High Street that hosts a range of reasonably-priced, well-stocked shoe shops and trying on endless pairs until I find my ideal style of fit. But tell me, where have all the shoe shops gone?

January’s A Good Month To ...

Avoid making a New Year’s Resolution. Yes, seriously. Many people find that the pressure of undertaking a big life change at New Year makes it more difficult to accomplish their goals. Deciding to lose weight, quit smoking, get fitter etc is sometimes easier to accomplish at a time of your own choosing, or when the weather is warmer to make you feel more optimistic. The only resolution I’ve ever made and stuck to, is not to make a New Year’s resolution!

Raid the ‘End of Sale’ rails. I’ve never been one to queue on the first day of a sale, or even turn up within the first few days of one starting. I’m much more the type of shopper that scours the shops for ‘End of Sale’ bargains. Past finds have included Marks and Spencer jeans for £5, M&S boots for £3 and toiletry gift sets from Boots at 90% reduction. OK, so there’s not so much choice towards the end of a sale, but the savings can be huge!

Fill up those charity bags. Now’s the time to clear out all of those cupboards and drawers to make room for all of the goodies that you received for Christmas. And if you received some unwanted gifts, why not donate those to a local charity shop too? Beware, however, of some of the so-called charity bags that are posted through your door. Whilst some are genuine, others most definitely are not. If in doubt, try to take your donations directly to a charity shop, to ensure that your gifts are helping the people that you intend to help, as opposed to lining the pockets of unscrupulous individuals.

Curl up with a good book. Whilst I accept that e-readers have their place, I feel you can’t beat holding an actual book in your hand, with it’s intriguing cover beckoning you to discover its treasures within. I love to turn the pages – sometimes with some speed when I reach a particularly exciting bit – enjoying the feel of the paper and weight of the tome. Snuggling up by the fire on a winter’s day, book in hand, is sheer bliss!

Celebrity Endorsements

Advertisements can often be controversial, but I do despair at the amount of celebrity appearances and voiceovers in TV commercials, which must cost a fair whack, money probably better spent on the products themselves – or reducing their prices!

I’ve touched on this subject before, see good ads, but I’m becoming increasingly irritated by the cheesiness and pointlessness of these so-called celeb endorsements. Do I care what Cheryl is (supposedly) using on her hair, which yogurt Nicole Scherzinger (allegedly) prefers or that Victoria Wood appears to extol the virtues of a Dyson? Does it make me more likely to buy these products? Actually, no.

In fact the insincerity of some of the celebrity ads makes the products appear less credible to me. Their only use is to play a game of “Name That Celebrity” – can you recognise that famous voice in the background?

Random kittens in blog,
Much like random celebs in ads

I mean, do we really imagine that Peter André regularly pushes a trolley around his local branch of Iceland and that Mel Giedroyc really believes that “You’re better off at Asda”? The amount of different Asda ads featuring our Mel’s voice in the course of one week probably earns her enough to be far more extravagant with her weekly shop!

Personally, I’d prefer more ads featuring ‘real people’, which would be more cost-effective to make and more believable. It’s not really the TV advertising that encourages me to buy a product or visit a certain shop anyway, but introductory offers for products and loyalty incentives in the shops.

The odd advert can be quite entertaining, with some of the recent Christmas ones certainly worthy of a mention. I loved the Waitrose ad with its traumatic tale of the girl preparing the gingerbread stall and the John Lewis commercial with the lad and his penguins. But whilst the Sainsburys’ World War One ad was a poignant piece of film, I rather wish it hadn’t been an advert at all, just a short film to make us all think.

So does seeing or hearing a celebrity on a TV ad make you more likely to buy a product, or do you think there presence is just a total waste of money?

Open All Hours

It’s been reported that a record number of convenience stores will be opening their doors on Christmas Day this year. OK, so technically the word ‘convenience’ implies that they’re there for you, but surely there has to be a time when even these shops close for a well-earned break.

The thought of all shops being closed on December 25^th appears to horrify some customers. “What if we suddenly discover we’ve forgotten the brandy butter or batteries?” they despair. So what? You carry on without them just like we did in the days when shops not only closed for the one big day, but several others too. If Christmas Day and Boxing Day fell at the weekend, Monday and Tuesday were declared Bank Holidays, with shops shutting for the full four days! And this in the days before a lot of homes featured a freezer!

Celebrate don't shop!

Another argument for allowing shops to open on this date is that not all religions celebrate Christmas, so should be allowed to do as they please on this day. Fair enough up to a point. However, I see no harm in declaring December 25^th a National Kinship Day, where people have the day off (with the exception of those providing vital services, of course) to celebrate family and friendship. Sometimes we all need a bit of time out of our busy schedules to appreciate those around us, unwind and be grateful for our lives. Whatever your beliefs this is a concept that we can share.

So personally, whatever I find that I’ve neglected to buy on Christmas morning, I will definitely not be venturing out to the shops to track down. Nor will I be scuttling out come Boxing Day to attack the sales. This time of year, I’m quite happy for shopping to take a back seat.

Sadly with our 24/7 culture many people want everything permanently on tap. But here’s a thought, you can survive when the shops are shut!

Say No To Plastic Carrier Bags

There’s no doubt about it, we’ve become a nation of plastic carrier bag dependent shoppers. Why are so many people so reluctant to make use of more permanent, reusable shopping bags?

When I was a child, everyone seemed to go shopping armed with a collection of bags in which to stow their groceries. For those who preferred not to use this option, supermarkets tended to keep a healthy supply of cardboard boxes close to the checkouts, which were certainly handy to transport heavier, bulkier items.

Over the years, however, it has become more the norm for shoppers to expect plastic carrier bags to not only be supplied, but to be provided free of charge.

In my teens I had a Saturday job at Fine Fare (there’s a blast from the past) who at that time made bags available (some early bags were paper) but at a cost. But as time went on, supermarkets introduced a limitless supply of plastic carrier bags – and all for free!

Some supermarkets do offer incentives to reuse bags, in the form of points for loyalty card holders, but this it would seem is not sufficient encouragement to induce shoppers to break the habit.

Now there are calls to charge for all plastic carrier bags in shops, a move with which I wholeheartedly agree. What’s wrong with reusing bags, which can be bought very cheaply in the first place, thus reducing the impact that all of this surplus plastic is making on the environment.

The proposed charge is 5p per single use plastic carrier bag, thus mirroring a system already employed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Hopefully, this will discourage their use at least to some degree, reducing the estimated 60,000 tonnes of plastic carrier bags used per year. For those who still opt to use the bags despite this move, the hope is that the money raised can at least be diverted to ‘good causes’. Ideally, I would hope, more environmentally friendly incentives.

Cloth bags are a stronger option, which are not too bulky or heavy, and prove no hardship to take with you on a shopping trip. Yes, you do have to remember to take them in the first place, but it’s just a question of learning a new habit!

Where do you stand on the plastic carrier bag debate?

I Love My Loyalty Cards

Like many shoppers, I was quite incensed to hear that Sainsburys’ are halving the amount of Nectar points that they award to customers as of April next year. They will only be awarding one point per pound spent, as opposed to the current two (two points are only worth 1p ).

It’s true to say that Nectar points always have been slightly inferior to those awarded by Tesco Clubcard, with the exchange rate of the latter being four times their face value when converted to Days Out vouchers, and each point being equal to 1p .

There are some shoppers (misguided in my opinion) that question the value of loyalty cards, but I believe that any reward you are given for shopping is better than no reward at all.

Less effective than a loyalty card

The argument goes, that if stores are operating reward schemes, they subsequently have to set their prices a little higher to offset these incentives. However, I would refute this, as many good value items I buy are purchased in shops that offer reward points.

Many of the products that I purchase in places such as Tesco and Superdrug, are not only cheaper or at least comparable to those offered at other shops, but earn me points. Over the years I have acquired so many points under the Clubcard scheme, that we have been able to pay for several family days out each year, including trips to expensive theme parks, which we would not otherwise have afforded. Even if I have occasionally paid a few pence more for the odd product or two, I have received this amount back umpteen times over. It’s true to say, that if I could have bought some items slightly cheaper elsewhere and put the pennies I’d saved into a savings account, I would not have accumulated anywhere near enough to pay for the equivalent number of fun outings.

I regard all loyalty cards (and I can boast a considerable collection) as mini saving schemes that allow me to enjoy life’s little extras. Unless prices are considerably higher in a shop that offers a good value scheme, I am unlikely to shop for identical products somewhere that does not offer me these extra benefits.

So my message to Sainsburys’, and any other stores planning to reduce or withdraw their points schemes, is that this may result in a customer-cutting exercise as opposed to your intended cost-cutting one!

Shopping Habits

Despite my recent move, which means that I’m now much further away from the nearest supermarket (see ruraljoy ) I’m not about to change from doing my weekly shop in person, to ordering online.

I’ve heard tales from friends and family, bemoaning incomplete orders and poor substitution of products, which certainly don’t inspire me to join the online shopping revolution.

OK I know that for every negative story that I hear, there are probably many positive experiences to be shared, but my aversion to online supermarket shopping goes much deeper than all that.

The problem is I’m a very fussy shopper (you may have realised that by now if you’re a regular reader of my blog) and take great pains to select the right items fit for my shopping trolley. I turn over many a bunch of bananas, bag of potatoes, pack of meat etc before making my final choice. The thought of someone else making these decisions for me brings me out in a cold sweat – I need to be in control of the shopping!

Well, maybe that sounds a bit extreme, but there’s no getting away from the fact that I like what I like – and I quite like to shop. So no matter how much longer it may now take to get to the shops or how far the distance involved, I will continue to trawl the supermarket aisles and fill my trolley with exactly what I want.

Are you a fussy shopper?

A New Chapter

It's been a busy few weeks, packing up the last remnants of our 'old life' and moving on to pastures new - quite literally as I am writing this in my new setting, surrounded by green fields!

Shopping, as so much else, has taken a bit of a back seat at the moment, finding homes for all that we already have, has left little time (or need) to accumulate more. We are still in the early stages of a multi-layered move, currently living in a building not really designed for family life, but which has lots of, what an estate agent would call, potential. The fact that we are living a semi-camping existence is quite forgiven, when we look at the views of rolling hills, picturesque countryside and a tranquil river.

We are now starting to embrace our new rural, village life. It was certainly a different experience to hear the sound of bell ringing practice at the village church as opposed to the traffic noise and sirens of busy town life. Indeed there is no traffic passing our front door (or our home at all) except for boats, which are restricted as to when they pass by the tides.

The first view that I saw when I got up yesterday morning was the sight of cormorants diving for food - makes a change from just seeing the odd sparrow in the garden.

Of course, I will still be venturing to supermarkets for the weekly shop (supplemented by visits to our local village store) and to High Street shops for the odd browse and purchase, but I feel my life is about to become far more village-based - and not just because there is only an hourly (sometimes two-hourly) bus service.

This is indeed a whole new chapter of my life!

Not So Simple

I’m always looking in the shops for interesting products to add to my make-up collection. I’d been growing tired of the same old moisturiser and foundation routine and decided to look at what BB creams have to offer.

After some deliberation I chose to buy Simple Perfecting BB Beauty Balm, which states that it is in a ‘universal shade’ and offers SPF15. It claims to ‘moisturise’, ‘even skin tone’ and contain ‘illuminating particles’. Well, I could certainly do with a bit of illuminating and like the fact that Simple products are suitable for sensitive skin, so it seemed like a good choice.

The cream felt nice on my skin and was easy to apply, but sadly I looked like I’d been ‘Tangoed’. So much for the universal shade, it’s obviously aimed at orange aliens.

Still, not to be beaten, and always loathe to waste money or purchases, (even though I did the Shoppers’ Joy classic thing of buying on offer) I found that if I combined a dab of the BB cream with a spot of Simple Illuminating Radiance Cream (I’m determined to be illuminated) the result was far more natural!

On the subject of dodgy beauty buys, I was also disappointed with my recent purchase of L’Oreal 3 in 1 Micellar Solution. This did not leave my skin feeling anywhere near as fresh and clean as with other micellar lotions that I have tried, the best to date being Avène Micellar Lotion, which left my skin feeling gloriously cleansed and refreshed.

Which make-up and beauty products do you recommend?

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Toddler Toys

I’ve had great fun shopping for toys recently, ready for my grandson’s first birthday. Although I have to say, the onslaught of noisy, flashing, brightly coloured toddler ‘gadgets’ greeting me in the shops has become a bit overwhelming.

Much as I can see that many of these toys are educational and fun, I think there is a limit to how many of these ‘full-on’ toys any one small person needs.

My first purchase was an eye-catching fire engine from Carousel. Yes it does have a flashing light (it’s a fire engine), yes it does make a noise (it’s a fire engine) but it also has several features for a child to operate manually – i.e. you push it to make it move and it has little doors that open up to reveal activities.

When choosing a second toy I was looking for something with a bit less ‘bling’, electronic learning toys can be great, but it is possible to have too much of a good thing. The only problem was everything I touched in the shops seemed to beep and flash at me, rather than hint at more traditional play. 

Of course, I’m of a generation whose toys had very few beeps and flashes and batteries were very seldom required. Many toys just needed pushing, building, playing ‘pretend’ or manual operation. Although I do remember my parents giving me a clever little train engine, that moved around the floor until it hit something, whereupon it emitted a whistle, flashed a light, reversed and headed off to repeat the whole process again. As far as I remember that was the most ‘high-tech’ toy I had as a child, and indeed the only one of its kind that I had.

But back to the present. With my mind firmly on trains I selected ‘My First Train Set’ from Tomy, which consists of a little track, tunnel, trees and a train with moving eyes. How does it work? Friction. You just pull back the little engine and watch it go – no batteries, no beeps, no flashes!

A very young me with said train engine

Flushed with success I decided to quit whilst I was ahead and completed my gift shopping with more traditional purchases of books and some character pyjamas.

Electronic toys can be fun and educational, but we must choose more traditional ones too, in order to promote motor skills and, most importantly of all, imagination!

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This April I’ve been …

… writing very few blog posts. My excuse? In a word, ‘life’. You know that thing that John Lennon sang “happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”. It’s been one of those months, umpteen viruses circulating in the household (I’ve experienced three myself), car problems of a major nature resulting in the purchase of an ‘emergency car’ to go on a planned break, some sad news and preparations for a big life change (more about that in future posts).

… opening up my static caravan in East Anglia after its winter sleep. I always love going back to it after not being able to visit for so long, and on this occasion the break was more welcome than ever. I call it my ‘happy place’ as its somewhere I can just relax, forget about the stresses of life, enjoy the sea air and countryside and just chill.

… playing pirate adventure golf, great fun and a great stress reliever!

… discovering that lots of shops seem to have had a spring change round. Some of them I can understand doing so, as they’re in the middle of refurbishment, but others I’m sure have changed things just to be awkward! For example, my local Marks and Spencer Outlet shop has put all the men’s clothes where the women’s used to be and vice versa. What’s the point of that?

… reading the series of Lake District mysteries by Martin Edwards. The books, featuring DCI Hannah Scarlett and historian Daniel Kind, are full of twists and turns in the plots and make for gripping reading.

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Easter Eggs

Is it my imagination, or are there far fewer interesting Easter eggs to choose from in the shops these days? They all seem to be displayed in bog standard rectangular boxes, with a couple of regular chocolate bars thrown in. How boring is that?

You used to be able to find chocolate eggs encased in fun boxes – trains, cartoon characters etc – irregular packaging of much more variety.

As a child I can remember receiving a milky bar train, which was much more fun than a regular box and more recyclable because I used it in games for ages after the chocolate was long gone.

Chocolate bunnies are old hat too!

It’s true to say though that as a child I received far more Easter eggs than was probably healthy, necessary and even wanted! Everyone I knew seemed to produce a chocolate egg for me with a flourish that would suggest they were the only one to think of it!

I used to take out all the eggs from their packaging, put them in a large bag and store them in the larder. From there I could just nibble one as and when I fancied. Of course in those days, packets of buttons etc were actually stowed inside the egg, which had to be broken up (often tightly sealed instead of two halves laid together) to reveal the contents. Occasionally I over-indulged and suffered – especially with Caramac! However, there were invariably bits of chocolate left that I never ate – incredible, I know!

My children have grown up only ever having one or two eggs at Easter, with people opting to give a small gift instead, or just choosing to no longer keep up the Easter tradition. Maybe the general trend is to buy fewer eggs, hence the lack of good choice.

Whatever the reason I certainly don’t feel inspired to buy many of the eggs I see, despite being a bit of a chocoholic. I’ll just stick to a bar of my favourite chocolate – large of course!

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My March Best Buys

I’ve always found the Hungry Horse chain of pub restaurants very good value, but hadn’t visited one for some time. However, last week I finally got round to having a meal at my local branch, where I spotted a few new additions to the menu. I can now highly recommend the Smothered Chicken Diane – a chicken breast covered in a tasty sauce, served with a large flat mushroom, buttered new potatoes and peas. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal, a bargain at just £4.99.

I also like the idea that Hungry Horse are offering a tiny dessert (a few mouthfuls worth) for those times when you’re really quite full, but fancy a little taste of something anyway. For just 89p you can enjoy a mini chocolate mousse topped with cream – delicious!

One of my more budget-busting craft buys is ‘Enjoy Cross Stitch’ magazine. This comes in a handy zipper wallet containing a selection of aida fabric, embroidery threads, cards, envelopes, ribbons and felt frames, all for just £7.99. The spring issue is available in the shops now.

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