Hello Dear Reader,
This week, I took my week’s shopping budget to Tesco. I had my shopping list and made sure I spent my entire budget on everything on the list. I was told not to buy tea bags, pasta or baked beans, so I didn’t. I was specifically asked to buy coffee, tinned meat, veg and puddings. A lady commented that just a tiny treat such as a cup of coffee and a biscuit is so much more than the local users of the Foodbank can afford.
For heaven’s sake!
How many of us just take for granted that moment of switching on the kettle, making a coffee and having a dunk of a custard cream.
She also mentioned that the clients really missed some jam to put on their bread.
The heartbreaking reality of families who can’t afford a cuppa, a slice of toast and jam.
I was careful with my budget and made sure I bought as much as I could.
You see, I have food in my freezer, a store cupboard of staples. A cupboard full of loo rolls, san-pro, cleaning materials which I buy in bulk when they are on offer. I’m not going hungry but so many people do. this week, my food budget wasn’t needed in our home but it was needed in someone else’s home!
Here’s my shopping list for today. I did my best to buy several of the items on that list. I wanted to do the very best I could with my budget. After all, I am the Frugal Queen. I added extra items such as blackcurrant squash and wondered how many children went without.
The collection lady was a bit confused when I gave her the trolley and then walked away empty handed.
“Pardon, you’ve left your shopping”
She gave me the loveliest smile when I told her it was all for the Foodbank. She told me that local families often have to wait weeks and weeks for overdue benefits and that if the Foodbank didn’t feed them, that children could go hungry.
I am now determined to do this more often. I can stretch my budget and be creative with food so I can so this on a regular basis. I left the shop feeling silly that I hadn’t done this before. Today, £12.85 of food will be donated on top of my donation by Tesco who are adding 30% to each donation.
If you have time, get along to Tesco today and add a few items to your trolley as there will be a bonus for the Trussell Trust Foodbank today.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxx
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Fabulous!
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Why not tea? I don't drink coffee and I'm sure others out there do not drink coffee.
Julie
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Lovely thing to do, I bet the lady's smile and amazement at a trolley full just for the food bank was worth every moment of deliberating how to make your money buy as much needed food as possible.
If only everyone just bought one or two extra items it would make such a difference.
We have a trolley permanently available in our nearest Sainsbury's for a local Foodbank, if I've forgotten the couple of items I like to get for it each time I go there I simply give something that I've bought for myself, after all I can shop anytime I need to there are so many who can't. We've both been in that situation in the past, it does make you extra grateful for what you have now 🙂
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You are to be commended, well done. I experienced bad times when I was bringing my children up single handed, unfortunately there were no such things as food banks then, and I/we just had to go without.
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What a fabulous thing to do. I shall definately pop something in their trolley each time i go.xx
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Possibly the food bank has enough tea bags in stock.
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This is wonderful Froogs! I wish the stores near me did this! Occasionally, there is a fold out table outside but it never looks really official 😦 I do give when I can (when I visit this particular store). Most of the time, the official homeless/food bank charity is only there at Thanksgiving or Christmas. People need to eat year round and having a volunteer there to collect foodstufff would be fab since shoppers would see them and buy even just one canned item.
~ Pru
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I guess that they already had a load of tea bags - I see they are on the official list.
Really good idea though, does anyone know is asda participate in a scheme like this?
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When I spoke to the volunteers today, I mentioned that we live out of town and I'm never in town during the foodbank collection times. I rarely shop at Tesco but apparently they have a permanent collection box in their store. It would be great to see lots of other supermarkets having permanent collection boxes/trolleys. What a really lovely thing to do Froogs xx
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I work with one of these centre and like Charlotte said we have a large stock of tea bags but run out of coffee.
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Come and visit our Newport Tesco 🙂 Permanent foodbank box, smiling foodbank collectors and young people encouraging all ages to donate . Our Tesco places great faith in the young and old. Donating has become a daily event with smiles and no pressure. So pleased that the kindness is spreading.x
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I am truly shocked and humbled by this post. I am off to Sainsbury’s tomorrow to contribute. If they don’t already - they soon will.
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How nice. Last year my husband and I donated about 600 dollars worth of groceries to our local food pantry. It's a blessing for those who need the help.
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After reading last nights post I made a point of visiting my local Tesco after I'd finished work today with the aim of buying one of every item on the list.Although I am now a widow I am lucky enough to afford food and a warm home and all my family are thankfully in employment and can feed their families,It's incredible to think that there is a need for foodbanks in this country in this day and age and I am now determined to continue helping whenever I can.Thanks Froogs for your inspiration x
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We very rarely shop at Tesco, however went today so we could donate a bag of groceries. So glad I bought some jam. I guess when every penny counts, jam is a luxury that can be foregone. Makes me so sad to think that in this day and age a jam butty can be considered a luxury!
I was heartened today to see just how much was donated at the Port Glasgow store and saddened at the same time that it was even required in the first place!
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Snap Froogs, your trolley and mine were much of a muchness. I checked out labels on the tinsand some of the value range meat meals have more protean than the next level up. I did add lots of longlife milk as the women collectors said they do not get much. I bought things that can be eaten cold if needed. My first trolley full left me with nearly £8 left over, I must have hit the wrong button on my calculator so I nipped back and got a little more. It is amazing how far the money will go if you try.
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I love how plain your trolley looks, just like mine. lol.
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Bless you ❤
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you are such a good person.
I blogged last year a fair bit about the Pajama Foundation which is a charity that helps foster kids by giving them a pair of pjs and some christmas parents (foster kids often turn up with the clothes on their back and nothing else at foster homes). I got hate mail about it saying that no Australian children go without which is of course rubbish. It doesn't matter how affluent a society is, many do go without and the kids are the 1st to suffer.
Love your blog and spirit.
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good on you. Can just say food is VERY VERY CHEAP compared to New Zealand if that docket is anything to go by!
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Thank you for answering my question
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They gold us what they needed and that they had no coffee
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What a fantastic thing to do. I was surprised at how much you got for the £42.75, all that would cost a lot more in Australia by comparison.
Good onya!
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Having seen your post on Friday I went to our local Tesco's and brought a bag of shopping to put into the collection. Like you the lady collecting the donated items was pleased and slightly amazed that I'd just come to shop and donate. I made sure I told them that I'd seen the info on your blogsite, Froogs; she said she'd take a look!
I'm currently clearing a large amount of debt and am living on a much reduced budget but, as a lot of people have posted, I have a nice home, more than enough food in my cupboards and money to spare. I am a lot luckier than an awful lot of people, (and 'awful' is the operative word!).
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Well, great minds and all that, I too went to telcos, usually Lidl, and spent my budget on staples and tins, I got a lot. For £40. I hope enough to help someone who needs it like I did 30 years ago, no food banks then or cheap cloths or cheap food, but it taught me how to budget and make up receipes and the wonderful world of charity shops
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Good for you Froogs! Our grocers here in western NC have food drives and we participate. And as I mentioned yesterday our churches are very active in collecting food for the needy. I regularly go to Sams Club and pick up multipacks of tuna, baked beans and the like to donate. Please keep encouraging us to do our part!
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Brilliant post, Froogs…seeing it all laid out so clearly, food items and receipt, is really helpful, and will inspire others, I'm sure 🙂
I have to say, groceries seem to be much less expensive there than here (US), but if a person can't afford to buy them, it doesn't matter how inexpensive they are!
Here the markets often have not only a drop-point for food bank items, but also a box or barrel for donations of cat food and dog food, for local animal shelters.
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My friend works for South Liverpool foodbank and she says that very often it's the small stuff we take for granted that means a lot to the food bank clientèle. Things like loo roll, shampoo, toothpaste or brushes make such a difference to life. I try to get some stuff for them when I can, but I also signed up to give the local trust money every month so that they can spend it where it needs to be used. It's good to make a big difference!
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Thank you for doing this!! Just wonderful!!
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What a lovely thing to do Froogs. Good of Tesco to add 30% - I just wish there was some way of getting the supermarkets 'waste' food to the foodbanks as well. When I worked at Waitrose we had to throw away literally binbags full of perfectly edible pastries, bread, rotisserie chickens and delicatessen stock every single night. Heartbreaking! We were also told to lock the skips so that the homeless wouldn't rummage through for said 'waste' - though I never did. Terrible shame
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If only everyone followed your example! My friend was doing The Ring of Kerry charity cycle just last Saturday. I sponsored him €5, as that's all I could afford - but I said to him “If only all your family members and friends gave you a “fiver” each, wouldn't that be fantastic!?”. So my approach is this: doesn't matter how much or how little you can give - DO IT! As ALL the help counts! It all adds up in the end! 🙂
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We donated this weekend too, we bought tins and pasta and rice. Twiglet wanted to add some treats, so we donated biscuits, snack bars and rice pud, all his favourites. He said it was a shame we couldn't make and donate some chocolate buns 🙂
I explained about foodbanks and he thought them a great idea. My boy is a kind one and that makes me very proud.
Twiggy x
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Well done you! great inspiration.My cupboards are full of food I don't need - will sort them out tomorrow and donate.
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