Bargain hunting!

I have been intending to go to supermarkets less and use local farm shops etc more. I haven't managed yet this month to do that mostly because I drive past the farm shop on the way to and from work however the times I am driving past the shop is not open. Then at the weekends the farm shop is in the opposite direction to anything else and so I end up driving past the supermarket and popping in.
 I have however been considering my spending in the supermarket, so that where possible I am buying local produce. So yesterdays little excursion meant that I bought Kentish (what do you mean is that a real word?!) apples and potatoes. On items that I can't get locally I consider my intention of saving and buy as cheap as possible so smart price pasta, reduced sticker bread etc etc.
As I was wandering round I saw a coat for Stephanie on the sale rail for £5, I am intending to make more of our clothes ourselves however there is no way I could make a coat for £5 myself so I bought it in a larger size ready for next winter.

And the top for myself was also very reduced. I have lots of summer tops and lots of jumpers but not much for the in between weather I am hopeful of getting soon.

These are the reduced bread items I got, some of them only I will eat, some Stephanie will share, others Dylan will eat. I just freeze them in 2's and remove what we need from the freezer each day. The plates and napkins you can see were reduced to 38p because they were apparently Christmas stock. They are not Christmassy (of course that is a word!) at all. Stephanie's birthday is 3 months away and she wants a crafty princess/castle type theme ( we are working out the details currently). So I thought the gold plates and napkins were perfect for this theme. Those are squirrelled away ready for April.

I love shopping for bargains, I am sussing out the best times to go to the supermarket to get the bargains that I need. In my local one evening time is best for bread. Early morning if you want meats/fish.
I also found that the butchers in the town by the library has good offers on with different meats. I went last week to get something for a Sunday roast and got a large pork joint for £10, the supermarket sell half the size joints for the same price. This large joint was far too big for the 3 of us so I cut it into 4 pieces; cooked one and froze the others.
On the subject of frozen foods we are nearing the ends of our leftover turkey ready meals I made at Christmas. I have found it so much easier to manage dinner times on work days since I had such a large bake-off at Christmas I am planning on doing the same thing in a fortnight when half term arrives. One of the half term days will be devoted to making enough meals for the next term.

I am planning on working out my budget for the coming month today, I will then be able to reveal the total I have saved this month through shopping this way. All savings are going towards the much needed new car!