Day 8: Shop til I drop

I may be a week in, but I've only really been playing at this cuts business. I need to start making some tough choices and really start cutting. 

Saturday was a trip to Sainsbury's to do a weekly shop so chance to do some benchmarking (lovely PR phrase, sorry)...

Bottled water: Hideous expense. 4 litre bottles of Volvic (useful for going to the gym) is £3.60.  Today I spent £3 on a 750ml water bottle from JD Sports, so I no longer have to buy these. 100% cut.

Lunch: £2 for 2 bags of rocket, 70p for a cucumber, £1.19 for a loaf of bread, £1.29 for some hummous. Lunch for a week £5.18.  75% saving compared to buying 5 Pret sandwiches (about £15-£20)

Weekend breakfast: 2 packs of bacon £5.58, free range organic eggs £1.63.  The only savings here would be to stop buying British bacon (for some reason Sainsbury's own brand basic bacon is only Dutch... and is full of water anyway) or to go for battery eggs.  Having debated my chicken dilemma I really think I'd rather be vegetarian than eat battery hens / cows / pigs.

5 a day: 4 litres of Tropicana fruit juice (on special, 2 for £3). Nectarines (buy one get one free). Bag of Cox's apples £1.99 (cheaper than buying individually).  Only way of saving here is getting juice made from concentrate, but reckon that's not as good for you...

Tea: £1.99 for large box of Peppermint tea.  Seems reasonable... 

Snacks: 99p for a big bag of Bombay mix.  Not very good for you, but very tasty. Reckon this is probably a luxury. All snacks abolished.

Beauty aisle: Hideously expensive.  Think this sums up much of the problem, quality or cost. It's tough.  Deodorant was 2 for 1, so that seems like a bargain (although you have to look out for supermarkets being tricky on these deals). Moisturiser £7.99... I've tried cheaper but they just don't work as well. Toothpaste £2... again experience tells me that if I want a toothpaste to work, stick with what works. Corsodyl everyday mouthwash £4.40 or Listerine for £2... I prefer my mouth to be clean, not stripped of life, so stick with Corsodyl. Shower gel £2.85, not bad and it's stuff (Menex) which doesn't dry your skin.

Anyway, enough of this advertising for products.  Using Mysupermarket, it seems that Sainsbury's is as cheap as Tesco, Asda and Ocado.  So next week I'll try Morrisons or the new Aldi on Camden High Street... or sacrifice my quality and ethics.

Day 6: Go Spoons

Last night didn't turn out exactly as planned as the birthday party in Camden spilled over to the Hawley.

But still relatively low spend and even dinner at Bintang on Kentish Town Road was under a tenner (it is an amazing restaurant, even if your not on a budget, you should go).

Today's spend has been a pricey (£100) trip to Sainsburys - analysis of the bill later. Followed by a night at the Wetherspoons (ongoing) before guest list spots at Crimes Against Pop.

Lovely burger at the Spoons and some decent ale... May have to come back, especially if more people have arguments at the bar that start with "I don't want you to marry me, I don't even want you to talk to me."

Day 3: A Chicken Based Triumph

A major victory today.

Apart from my compulsory TfL spending, I've had a frugal day.

Only expenditure has been on dinner. Should I buy the free range Chicken fillets and cook them quickly in some breadcrumbs, or something (£5) OR the £2 for 4 Southern Fried Chicken.  Well, no contest really - processed chicken it was.

Add to that the £1.50 for 2 sweetcorn and my dinner cost just £2.50. A 60% saving.

The only downside is that I couldn't help but read the label.  9% of the cheap chicken was actually water.  And the meat was the 'produce of Britain and Brazil'.  So let's face it, these chickens won't have had a happy life.

So, here's the ethical dilemma. Fuck chicken welfare and keep with the cuts or spend more and try and ensure an ethical treatment of the animals I eat.

I know what the government would want me to do...