Just an Average Carboot Sale

At this time of year, the carboot sale can very much be a hit or miss affair. Last week I bought loads whereas today I did reasonably well but nothing overly sparkling. It was just an average carboot sale.

Here are my purchases:

One large Yankee Candle jar at £8. This is in the scent of Christmas Eve and smells heavenly. I lit two of the smaller jars last Christmas and they gave a comforting smell to my home. Considering these are now £23.99 to buy I did well saving £15.99.

I also bought four of the medium Yankee Candle jars at £20 for 4, so £5 each. I chose two of my favourite Christmas Cookie scent, one Season of Peace and one Gingerbread Maple. These sell for £19.99 each so I've saved £59.96 on the full price. I'll save the Christmas Cookie and Season of Peace ones until this Christmas but the Gingerbread Maple will be burnt over the next few weeks.

I bought two cookery books and a BBC gardening book for £1 for all three. I already have the Nigella  Express book so bought this for my niece who I am sure will enjoy trying out some of the recipes and at 33p it can be flicked through and given to charity if it is not her thing.

I also bought a massive River Cottage Fish cookery book that weighs a ton and has a £30 price tag on it. I bought a few things from this guy's stall and reckon this cost me £2 in the end.

The other items that I bought were two massive chopping boards that I reckon are made from corian at £1 each and a carved marble door stop for £1.

I found the lady who I had bought the House & Garden magazines from last week and bought 10 Cheshire Life and Red magazines from her for 20p each. They are all late 2016 editions.

I also bought a scarf from her for 50p. I have been trying to find blue toned scarves so was happy to find this stripey one.

I was pleased to find a Catseye toiletry bag which is as new for 50p. I had been looking at this same bag when we were staying at Portmeirion in March. I thought it would be lovely for my niece but it was priced around £8 - £9 and I thought this was too expensive but 50p is fine by me.

I also found this large and unused pop art print Soap & Glory toiletry case. I'll fill this with some Soap & Glory products that I have already put away to make a gift for my sister or niece.

While David was looking at a guitar stand I spotted this glass ornament and thought it was lovely. The lady selling it told me it had cost her £30 from a glass handicraft shop in Devon or Cornwall (I can't remember exactly where). In the end David bought the guitar stand and bought this for me at £1.

The Macmillan cancer research charity had a stall today and I bought this new Disney mug for just £1. I love large mugs for me to drink my tea from and I particularly like Winnie the Pooh ones. This still has a £9 reduced to £7 price sticker on the base of it.

I bought two Nevo Dead Sea hand kits for £1 for the two. The packaging is a bit bashed but the products inside are fine. All new and unused. I'd not heard of the brand before so had a look on line when I got home and was flabbergasted to find the same kits sell for £28.90 online. Blimey!

Two other small items from one stall were this boxed Atrixo hand cream and gardening gloves set for £1. The handcream is currently £4.99 to buy so £1 seems a good price for the set.

The last item was a roll of Lakeland roasting film for 50p. This is pretty good for sealing in the meat juices and so easy to make gravy with the juices saved in the bag. The stall holder wanted me to have them free but we agreed on £1.50 for this and the Atrixo set in the end.

Well that was it for the day. My right foot and left knee ached from all the walking by the time we had finished but the exercise will have done me good. We'll see how we get on tomorrow although the weather forcast is for rain so I don't have high hopes.

A Few More Reductions

I've been a bit slapdash this week with my meal planning as I did not prepare any mid week meals for us last weekend. I normally like to pre plan meals for the week and do some prep so that I can just get something ready made out of the fridge and pop it in the oven or cook quickly on the hob.

This has meant that I have called into the supermarket twice on the way home from work. I usually call into the Marks & Spencers at the retail park which I know can usually be expensive but as my regular readers also know I normally manage to find some great bargains with their reductions.

This week I bought this gorgeous planter in white ceramic containing two minature Cala lilies in a sunny yellow. This was reduced from £15 to £5.25 which I think is pretty good. The lady at the till said she had bought some a couple of years ago and had planted them out in her garden once they had finished flowering. She said they had flourished so I think I may try this myself.

I bought some wood fired pizzas that were reduced from £6 each to £1.50. I think £6 is pretty steep for a pizza but £1.50 is a good price for these large fancy pizzas. I had one for my evening meal last night and it was delicious. The crust was still slightly soft but crisp and not hard and crunchy - just the way I like them.

I found a couple of old style minced beef and onion pies that were on a half price offer at £2 from £4, and then managed to find a couple that were reduced further to £1.60. This is the kind of food that David loves - "man's food" - so I'll treat him to pie and chips in the next week or so. They are currently in my freezer.

Some caramel crisp bites reduced from £2.50 to £1.30 although these had been on offer at 2 tubs for £4. These are great as a little treat with a cup of tea or coffee or for taking into the office as part of my  lunch.

I often look for reductions on the tinned and dry goods aisles and I found a couple of packs of mini lemon meringues reduced from £1.20 to 40p although they were on offer at 2 packs for £2. I have a couple of ideas on how to use these and my favourite will be to make some individual lemon Eton mess desserts.

I'll use some of the home made lemon curd that the lady from the carboot sale gave me last weekend. I tried some on my morning toast this week and it is absolutely delicious and definitely beats shop bought hands down. If I see her this weekend I think I'll be buying her full stock as I love a curd over a jam anytime.

I also found a tin of mango slices reduced from £1 to 40p. These are in syrup whereas I'm normally a juice person but I thought I'd try these anyway given the price. These will be lovely with some plain yogurt for a dessert or for breakfast.

We have the bank holiday weekend ahead so plenty time to eat some if my bargain finds from this week but more importantly two days of carboot sales. I'll post my finds on Sunday and Monday. Have a lovely weekend everyone.

PS - I have recently seen a huge increase in traffic from readers in the USA. Do I really have this many readers in America? I would love it if someone could leave a comment to let me know that they are a USA reader as I am sure it must be a mistake - surely I'm not getting 250 readers a day from the USA for my little blog!

Bargain Shopping at Expensive Supermarkets

Since David retired he has more time on hands and nowadays sometimes comes food shopping with me. When he worked he never came food shopping with me at all. To be honest I preferred it that way as he is rubbish at loading items at the checkout and packing and initially I had to re-pack it all. He now knows to keep out of the way and just stand there while I do all the work and is usually glared at by any female cashiers who clearly think he should be lending me a hand. I sometimes explain to them that I prefer to pack and they knowingly nod at me.

He does have his uses in that he now has both a Waitrose card and a Booths card so I get double bubble on vouchers, newspapers and we both get a free coffee too. He was given £8 off a £40 shop on Saturday with his card whereas I got a boring voucher for a half price fancy pie that I was never going to buy. I snaffled his voucher and popped over to Waitrose late this afternoon for a top up of fresh vegetables and wine and I also had four vouchers from Saturday's paper for £4.30 magazines at £2.50 each. I know I just bought a load of magazines on Sunday at the carboot sale, but I am a real magazine lover and do like to treat myself to the odd new one when it is on offer or has a good freebie with it.

I struck lucky with Jersey Royal potatoes reduced from £2.50 a bag to 39p each. There were loads of bags reduced (who pays £2.50 for a small bag of potatoes even if they are Jersey Royals?) so I bought 6 bags. I always empty my potatoes into one of two pillow cases that I have just for keeping my potatoes fresh. They get a chance to breathe so don't go sweaty or sprout, stay in the dark so don't go green and last a long time. I have one pillow case for new potatoes and one for standard potatoes.

I also managed to buy two bags of Maris Pipers reduced from £1.71 to 49p. We are now at capacity for potatoes which should last a good couple of weeks.

Two packs of 4 un-waxed lemons reduced from £1.20 to 29p. Gin & tonic anyone?

Two packs of organic raspberries from Duchy Originals. This company is owned by Prince Charles so I do hope he picked them for me (!!!) These were reduced from £2.50 to 99p a pack. I will take one pack for lunch tomorrow at work which I will have with some of the reduced yogurt that I bought at 89p reduced from £1.95. Again who buys yogurt at £1.95 a pot? I know that it is a fancy brand and a large pot but I think that is pricey.

I was somewhat shocked to see the price of cauliflower. These two should have cost £1.80 each. I think that is an extortionate price to pay but I don't mind paying 69p. I will cut these into florets and use some fresh and plain along with some other boiled veg. Most of it I will partially cook, drain and then smother with a home made cheese sauce with a little grated cheese on top. I'll portion these up into two portion dishes and then freeze them for using later on. I keep the metal dishes that some ready made meals come in, wash them and then re-use them for times like this.

My favourite finds were the reduced bottles of wine - both white and red and all reduced from between £5.99 and £6.49 a bottle to £3.49 each. Now that is a good price for a half decent bottle of plonk. I bought four reds and four whites. The reds I bought were two bottles of Californian Cabernet Sauvignon and two bottles of French Shiraz and the whites were four bottles of  Fench Semillon Sauvignon Blanc. Now £3.49 a bottle was a result.

I know that I could buy cheaper ranges in cheaper supermarkets but over time we have come to love the idea of having expensive brands but only if we can buy them at an affordable price and so this means at a reduced price. 

Carbooting Again (Mega Haul)

It was lovely to wake up Saturday morning to sunshine and a check of the weather forecast showed the same for Sunday so yippee!! for going carbooting. The anticipation is too much sometimes. David said carbooting on a Sunday is now the highlight of his week since he retired.

We were up early as usual and at the field before 7.30am. David had such a disappointing day having bought just two items. I on the other hand had a brilliant morning and feel that I came home with a mega haul. I bought some envelopes and plastic postage bags for posting out my eBay sales but haven't taken pcictures of these as they are boring.

Here are the rest of my purchases:

A large set of Champneys health spa toiletries. I love these as they all smell divine. I was looking at a similar set on the Boots site the other day as it was half price at £25 but could not justify the cost. This one is on offer on the Boots website at £16 but is out of stock. It contents are worth £57. This cost me just £9 and I had bought from this lady last year so we got chatting. She then produced this original black leather Mulberry toiletry bag for just £4. Woohoo!! I love Mulberry and this is authentic. Sold! She then threw in a jar of her home made lemon curd (which I have bought from her before) for free. Result.

I bought two pairs of Gabor shoes (complete with their boxes priced at £65 and £55 for £2 and £1. I also bought a pair of Gabor boots from the same lady at £1.50. Brilliant buys at £4.50 for all three pairs and hardly worn, well looked after shoes.

A pair of KSwiss trainers for £2. I've not heard of this brand before but they looked nearly new and I love trainers for pottering around in. They need a clean but the laces look new and don't need washing. When I got home I had a look on line and the brand sell between £35 and £105 a pair so £2 is a good price.

A red Louis Vuitton style purse which is new and unused for £2.

A pair of Chanel glasses frames with case for £1. I save these to have my own prescription lenses put in them. I may go for prescription sunglasses in the frames.

A pair of Gucci sunglasses for £10. A bit more than I would have liked to have paid but they are genuine and I like them a lot so I paid £10.

A decent sized black DKNY tote bag for £3.

Volume 2 of Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries - a massive book for just £1. This originally was priced at £30 and has never been used (or even opened by the look of it).

A hard back copy of a Bill Bryson book that I haven't read yet. The seller said he belly laughed while reading it so I look forward to enjoying reading this. I love his books on the UK - the best out of all his books.

The "hamper man" was on again this week. He has an on-line hamper business and was selling off his stock. I bought some chocolates from him last week. I bought some more this week - two boxes of truffles and two tins of pralines. I also bought two boxes of fancy teabags and a tin of teabags. These cost me £7 in total at £1 an item.

I also bought a jar of banoffee curd for 50p. This is best before November 2018. These normally cost £2.80 a jar. I've never seen this flavour before and think it would be lovely swirled in plain yoghurt.

Three new Boots No7 cosmetics: a full size blusher in my favourite colour, Honey for £2 (costs £9) an eye shadow in another of my favourite colours, Wheatsheaf for 75p (costs £7) and Protect & Perfect Lipcare 10ml for 75p (costs £10). I use this every day.

Six travel sized bottles of REN toiletries: 2 shampoos, 2 conditioners, a body wash and body lotion for £1.50. From the same lady I bought a Bulgari soap and Lenny Deighton nail varnish for 25p each.

A large Yankee Candle jar with Christmas Garland scent for £10. These cost £23.99 normally. I'll put this away until this Christmas. It smells fresh and clean with a little spicy pine needle hit.

A Partylite glass tealight holder for £2. I was delighted to find this as I bought two of these a year or so ago and sadly one just cracked with the heat of a votive I was burning in it. I was so sad to see that it was cracked and every time I lit a candle in it the crack became even more noticeable with the glow. I can bin this cracked one now and use this new one instead.

A Bomb Cosmetics candle in a tin in Blissful Rest - float on for 50p. This smells gorgeous and would normally cost £7.99. Bargain.

A Habitat VIP range - Manola Blahnik shoe horn. Now I love these and most people would have one but not me. I have four now and have them displayed in pairs just like a pair of shoes. I paid £8 for this.

A Revlon travel toiletry bag. I have one of these already which is now version 2. Version one got a little worn and rather than throw it away, my sister has it now. If I ever see these I have to buy one and then store it until my current one wears out. I like the hanging hook, the zipped pockets and net section for bits and bobs on holidays. I can never find one I like as much as this so keep replacing them with the same.

A Mason Cash wooden spoon for just 50p.

A Jelly Belly jelly bean machine for 50p. When I got it home it had 14p inside it so I suppose it cost me 36p. I just like this so had to have it for 50p (36p).

Fourteen magazines all from 2016 for £3. Lancashire & North West magazine and Homes & Gardens.

My usual selection of DVDs at 3 for £1 for some and 50p for the boxed sets.