Tips on Supermarket Shopping

I have asked some wonderful local bloggers to write guest posts and I have the extremely funny and charming Lisa from Mrs BC's house of Chaos guest posting today. Lisa is one of my favourite bloggers and I know you will love her as much as I do....

Hello! I blog over at Mrs BC’s house of Chaos, but today I am sharing some pearls of wisdom for you here, at Redcliffe Style.

I was going to give you my style tips, considering this is a stylish blog, but that could be considered slightly fraudulent as I really don’t have any. It would be a very short post – 
  leggings; 
  thongs, ballet flats or boots (seasonal);  
  hopefully nice shirt that covers your lady bumps; 
  cardigan if required.
Thanks for having me!


No, I thought I might share some hints on something I was clearly born to do, something I spend hours and hours doing, something I have done in different states and different countries. Something I practise every single day.


Tips on Supermarket Shopping

1.    Shopping is hard work, so reward yourself. I like to sit down and read a glossy magazine, but I can’t do that after shopping or my frozen items will thaw. It’s also hard to shop for new shoes or have a cocktail with a full trolley by your side, so think ahead and get your reward first!

2.    Find a supermarket you like and get to know it intimately. Know where everything is so you don’t waste time wandering about. Write your shopping list in order of your trolleys route, so you don’t waste time searching for things.  

3.    Don’t shop on an empty stomach, because you will buy all sorts of so called food stuffs that you don’t need and can’t afford. If you can’t avoid it, at least buy a coffee and a little sustenance to get you through the aisles.

4.    Handle a trolley like you handle a car, with confidence and mastery. If you hold your head high and stride purposefully, people will jump out of your way.

5.    Its one thing to avoid trolley rage, but it is another thing entirely to take any unnecessary nonsense from people who have no business in the supermarket (looking at you, retired husbands) at the very least, a snippy look will give them something to discuss at bowls besides the weather; so really, you are doing them a service.

6.    If your favourite brand is on special, buy only as much as you can store. Sounds simple, but how much toilet paper can you fit in your bathroom
?

7.    Generic brands are great. I never used to think so, but now I love them. I started off with basics like flour and soda water, and then expanded to other items. My current favourites are Woolworth’s cocoa powder which is like Dutch process cocoa, and chicken nuggets. Yes! Chicken nuggets! Get over it!

8.    Check out the supermarkets secret timetable. What day is the meat on sale? When do they mark down the seafood? Sometimes the trolley traffic flow changes depending on the day or hour. Sometimes (if you are in the city) there is an unofficial singles night, and it probably won’t be Thursday or Friday night. On singles night, it might be a special code to put bananas in your trolley, so, umm...it pays to be aware Mmkay?

9.    Most supermarkets are pretty good at keeping their shelves stocked, but if you want it and the shelf is empty, ask a shop assistant to get it off the top shelf, or look out the back. They might not want to, but it is their job so they are obliged.

10. At the checkout, let the person with 4 items go ahead of you and your full trolley. Make sure you smile nicely at them. The shop assistant will think you are a lovely person and won’t be so reluctant to look out the back for you next time. The retired husband you offended back in aisle 2 will decide it must have been his fault after all. His wife, who has been listening to him complain all this time will decide he has finally lost the plot and leave him at home next time. Supermarket karma is a funny thing!

Happy shopping!

Mrs BC

xx


You can find Lisa at Mrs BC House of Chaos and on Facebook. Make sure you drop by and say hello.

Styled for Reality

I have asked some wonderful local bloggers to write guest posts and I have the awesome and ridiculously funny Michelle aka Blundermum guest posting today. I spit my coffee at the screen laughing whenever I read a new Blundermum post. Here she is....

There’s a discrepancy between fiction and reality we need to address.

Namely, how well dressed people on TV are. They’re not just well styled, but they’re actually fully dressed at all times! Perhaps I’ve been raised in a semi-nudist colony, but if one my friends dropped by to invite me to the movies, this is how the scene would play out:

Friend: Hey, you want to go to a movie?
Me: Hmm, yeah. Suppose. I just need to put on a bra.
Friend: And clean pants.
Me: *looks down at crusted cornflake patch* Huh. When did that happen? Yes, and clean pants.
Me: Can you find my left sneaker?

Etc. Then we miss the session and end up strolling through the shops instead, buying more clothes we won’t wear at home. Or anywhere. I probably still forgot to brush my hair. None of this grabbing-a-jacket-that-was-strategically-hung-by-the-door-and-setting-off business.

In reality, leaving the house is hard work. Then I’ll spend the entire time wishing I could go home and peel off those skinny jeans and finally eat something. If I could be bothered wearing heels, they would come off first, but only because I would have fallen up the stairs and through the door onto my bum, into perfect shoe removing position.

That’s if I make it home alive, some days I suspect my scarf is out to get me. Not only does it drop itself in my coffee, and get stuck in my seatbelt, it actually tightens like a boa constrictor in high winds. 

They never show that on TV.

Women on TV also never get a static zap from synthetic fibres. They never get their watch snagged on their blouse while sneaking a boob scratch, resulting in a severe wardrobe malfunction.

And they never get out of their pyjamas at lunch time, purely for the purpose of putting on a fluffier set instead.

TV has been setting an impossible standard of style and I object. I object as vehemently as someone wearing Elmo pyjamas at 2pm on a Monday afternoon possibly can.

Please drop by and visit Michelle's blog, Blundermum. You won't regret it.