THURSDAY 30 NOVEMBER – “YES, WE HAVE GREEN BANANAS….”

Well I saw something today that I’ve never seen before. As I was going into the car park there was a man with a handful of chips! So what, I hear you ask. But this was a momentous sighting – to find out why you will have to hang in until the end of this week’s diary. And then there was another rare site – an outgoing customer about to return his trolley to the herd (and in the store rather than in the car park). Quick as a flash I offered him £1 which he accepted! So, no need to have to shove the coin in the slot and then wrestle with the chainy thing that always seems to get caught in the trolley as you decouple it from its mate. To be fair, I have actually done this before and I remember once getting caught out because when I came to return the trolley and recover my £1, guess what? No £1. One of those escapees from the herd I was talking about a few weeks ago. So before I ‘did the deal’ as the saying goes I had a quick look to make sure his slot was filled (not sure I should say that but you know what I mean….). So, what was in store in the store for me today? Frankly, not much and I was in a BIG rush so my usual sharp eye spent more time looking at the clock (I don’t wear a watch) than for gems from King John’s world for my diary. Anyway I did buy very green bananas today which go by the title of ‘home ripen’ rather than ‘much too soon to be picked’. I wonder if Sainsbury’s actually order unripe bananas or whether they come in with all the other bananas and rather than reject them Sainsbury’s have thought up a neat name so they can sell them as normal. And I wonder if they are cheaper than yellow bananas? I hope so as I bet Sainsbury’s pay little or nothing for them. So, I looked back over my bills (neatly ‘kept for my records’) and most of the time I buy ‘bananas loose’ at 85p per kilo, although sometimes I am charged by the bunch ‘bananas x 5’ or ‘bananas x 6’ and once, God help me, I bought some ‘Basics bananas’. Whatever were these I wonder? Anyway, as I’m a bit short of news, I think I will take stock as to what I am currently investigating and where it’s all got to. This will be helpful to new readers of my diary who can’t be bothered to go back to the beginning and read all the early stuff. So, here goes….. - 1) I’ve investigated Nectar points and I now understand how they work but I remain to be convinced all the messing about is worth it for the less than 1% ‘cashback’ I get from my purchases; 2) I’m still waiting to see the ‘Published Terms and Conditions’ as I bet these are gripping read; 3) I haven’t investigated the ‘Think 21’ and ‘Think 18’ entries that appear on my bill; 4) Neither have I investigated the items marked with a * on my bill; 5) I’ve checked out a number of Sainsbury’s leaflets offering ‘cheap this’ and ‘better that’ and most (all?) are pretty grim. Currently I’m checking out the Home Insurance offer and will report next week (which it is already as this diary entry is late!); 6) I’m worried about the ‘Basics’ range and have started to look at this; and 7) last but not least I’ve noticed that all the small chickens weigh exactly 1.3 kilograms week in, week out which I find unnerving. Anyway, the moment you have been waiting for has arrived…… the man with a handful of chips. Well he was was actually mending the car park machine! Now, how exciting is that? He had circuit boards, wires and other electronic wizardry all over his lap and, amazingly, he fixed it whilst I was doing my shopping and the exit barrier was in fine working order when I left. Just a couple of closing things – remember Lorraine Quiche and Warburton Crusty on my bill? This week I had a Pain Rustique which sounds like something you get in the lower back when you dig the garden! And, horror of horrors, this afternoon I was doing a bit of spring cleaning at home (a bit late I know, or for those of you whose cups are always half full, a little early) and I found empty boxes with the dreaded ‘orange and white smuggled in from Eastern Europe in the dead of night’ look which contained a ‘Basics’ toaster and a ‘Basics’ kettle. Aaaarrgghhh! Whenever (and whoever) bought these???? And where are they now……………..? Finally finally, for the lottery lovers amongst you to date I have gone through the following checkouts – 10, 11 (twice), 12, 13 (twice), 14 (twice), 15 (twice), 16 (twice), 19 (twice), 21 and 23. You'll remember that there are 18 real checkouts from 7 to 24 (the other 6 are cash only/10 items or less) and I've been through 10 of them in 16 weeks so there are only 8 to go (I've resolved to have gone through them all in my Year at Sainsbury's). Not bad, huh?

Items bought 22
Cost £41.05
Cost per item £1.86 (higher as I bought a DVD for my daughter’s birthday)
Checkout number 15
Nectar points balance 586