When I was married I wasn’t allowed to to the weekly supermarket shop.

This was because I’m a sucker for packaging and ‘the good things in life’ and my weekly bills could be easily double the normal ones.

Anyway, last year I had to learn to shop properly, because I was living on my own, and there was a recession on so money became ‘finite’. I have become quite geeky about shopping now and sometimes I am proud of my adjustment to being sensible…and sometimes I wonder if I’m a little bit sad and go and buy some of those olives stuffed with almonds just to show that I haven’t lost it completely!

Anyway, the big ‘thing’ for me was to do with Cheese and Coffee. This was where I started to learn there is a ‘True Cost’ of an item.

For cheese, the “true cost” is £5 per kilo

For Coffee the “True Cost” is £2 per 100g

Cheese is amazing…not just the flavour…I mean the cost. Mostly it is sold at around £9 – £14 per kilo, but over a period of time almost every brand will have an offer that brings the cost in at around £5 per kilo. This week it was Leerdammer, mostly it’s cheddar, sometimes it’s emmental. I don’t mean the ‘basics’ or blue stripe options, I mean the nice options. So, when I see nice cheese at £5 per kilo, I buy it.

A couple of weeks ago there was no ‘true cost’ cheese. This was a test, but I am more shrewd these days. I went without.  See me, all smug!

Coffee is similar. The main ‘nice’ brands – Kenco etc are about £3 pre 100g – that’s the small jars, and £6 for the large. Except there is hardly a time when one of the nice brands isn’t being sold at £4 for a large jar. This week it was Cafe Noir, sometimes it’s Kenco and sometimes it’s Doewe Egberts.

Again, I’m not compromising on my taste, but I have got a better idea of what the True Cost is.

Oh and ‘Taste the Difference’ tinned tomatoes – priced cheaper than standard Neopolitana ones and way nicer!