The Grand Experiment: Week Ten

Two weeks to go, and the Grand Experiment will be complete. I was surprised at the size of the bill this week. However, many of the things on the list are restocks of things that I need once in a great while, and so won't be counted (they just happened to all run out at once).

However, this week has shown up one more quirk in this experiment, and that was the price of soap. Asda had only one brand of soap in stock, that being the very expensive Imperial Leather. By contrast, the local Tesco has always had several brands. Now, it is likely that Adsa are cheaper for the specific brand in question... but it doesn't help them if I was intent on buying the cheap own brand soap at 30p for four bars.

Anyway, the list is as follows:

• Yoghurts (12), £5.92
• Crisps (12 bags), £3
• Milk (4 pints), £1.53
• Bananas, £1.25
• Coconut Milk, £1.10
• Soup (4 mixed tins), £3.28
• Chicken, £7
• Baked Beas (4 tins), £2.36
• Soap, £1.60
• Snickers Ice Cream (8), £3
• Olive Oil, £1.85
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil, £3.98
• Chocolate, £2.40
• Chicken Pies (4), £1.50
• Yoghurt, £0.78
• Bin Bags, £2.50
• Salt, £0.40
• Ginger, £0.30
• Gem Lettuce, £0.88
• Red Chillies, £0.54
• Peanut Butter, £1.57
• Mouthwash (blue), £2.93
• Rice, £3.36
• Almonds (2 x 150g), £2.96
• Tomatoes (6), £0.88
• Sandwich Meat, £6.54
• Celery, £0.68
• Lemons, £0.68
• Card, £1.46
• Magazine, £3.95

Annoyingly, I wasn't able to get Dijon Mustard. Apparently, that store doesn't even stock it; I would have to go elsewhere to get it. I find that very disappointing.

The total came to £70.08.

However, there are many things to be taken off that total: the crisps, chocolate, magazine, card, olive oil (and extra virgin olive oil), ice cream and rice. This gives a total deduction of £23 exactly, reducing the total to £47.08. Combined with last week's total, Asda currently stands at £81.73.

To be honest, I'm surprised at how poor the showing from Adsa has been. It is fair to say that the bill should come down in the next two weeks, since I won't have many main meals to purchase, but they are still somewhat behind Tesco. And given that the store isn't terribly well stocked (and this is the bigger Asda in Grangemouth!), this isn't exactly a selling point. Anyway, next week I'll be using the Asda in Falkirk; perhaps that will be better.