Doing sums

 I have done my sums and I think I have failed.

It is the dratted Morrisons Voucher thingy.  You collect pretty tickets for eight weeks in the run up to Christmas by spending at least £40 each week.  This seemed like a good idea as OH collects little bear and I from Morrisons every Wednesday after piano lessons so I pick up groceries then, and spending more than £40 is not a problem.  Spending less than £40 is a bigger challenge.  And I would get a lovely £30 voucher for doing stuff that I would do anyway.  It seemed an obvious thing to do. 

That is the theory.  We didn't go to Morrisons this week due to little bear, so I needed to go today to get the pretty ticket to complete the set for the £30 voucher.  I went straight from dropping off little bear so my bus fare cost £4.60.  If I missed this week I would still get a voucher, but for £25.  The difference is £5 and the bus ticket accounted for all but 40p of it. 

However I wanted to get out, and I needed a present for a birthday party little bear is going to, so I decided it was worth it.  And I couldn't be having with hanging around getting the bus to Morrisons in Kirkstall, with one bus an hour and a lot to do.  I went to Morrisons in Leeds. 

This was a mistake.  I had to carry all the stuff home on the bus, I had left my trolley at home, and I am not that strong.  I had also called in to the Works on the way in to Morrisons, which meant I picked up a nice present for the little lad also meant that with all the bits I had picked up for little bear as well I was already carrying a load.  My tactic was going to be to stock up on alcohol, as it is relatively low weight to price ratio.  After all, it doesn't go off and it does get used up.  We had some stashed, but there is always room for another bottle of Famous Grouse.  However Morrisons in Leeds has a separate off licence.  Any alcohol would not be included in the £40.  If I wanted the £40 to get the £30 voucher then I would have to work out what I could buy that we actually needed that came to £40 and that I could carry. 

What I should have done is looked at dvds, but we don't watch that many.  I am sure I could have bought some to give as gifts, but that is always a bit tricky.  So I headed for the meat counter and bought a loin of pork to have on New Year's Day.  That was more expensive than I normally consider, but at this time of year I grit my teeth.  I bought a nice cheese basket for darling father, though my preference would be to re-use a basket and collect the items myself.  Looking at the contents, I did get a decent deal, but it still seems a lot.  I also bought a stand pie, which we rarely bother with, but will do nicely on Christmas Day night.  Together with a kilo of onions and some sandwich ham for over the break, that was me just about breaking the £40 barrier and managing just to get the bags home. 

The voucher needs to be spent by 31 December.  So on Christmas Eve I am leaving little bear with darling father, hoping that the house stays standing, dash to Kirkstall Morrisons, get the voucher, the meat for Christmas Day and anything that was missed off the delivery coming Sunday. 

I am really not sure that the voucher is actually worth it.