Xmas Xcess

I decided that last night was to be Xmas Shopping Night. Not that I needed actual presents: I've bought all those online. No, this was for Provisions.

A few years ago, when I was living the lifestyle that got me into debt, my Xmas shopping list looked somewhat like this:
Nuts, crisps, vodka, crisps, beer, crisps, party snacks, whisky, nuts, mince pies, wine, cream, champage, nuts, popcorn, high-grade vodka, 12 bottles cola, 12 bottles lemonade, crisps, wine, nuts, beer, Alka Seltzer.

Last year it looked more like this:
Nuts, wine, vodka, turkey crown, basic veg, gravy, basic crackers.

Last night was just surreal. It was like worshipping at the altar of Mammon. (Going shopping with my Mum is always like this.)

My Mum maintains that she hates Xmas and would just as soon not have it. That's not an option this year since I have littl'un coming.

So this leaves me feeling like I should let her buy anything if it helps her get into the spirit. Especially since she is cooking Xmas dinner, hehe. However, given my Mum's expensive tastes, this makes it, well, expensive.

For example... "Littl'un will need a new duvet cover." Why? We've got duvet covers spilling out of the cupboard! "Yes, but they're all a bit feminine." He won't even notice! It's not like they're pink with flowers! "Oh, we could do with a unisex one anyway..."

She also bought loads of chocolate. I don't begrudge this, because she always shows me diet solidarity and doesn't eat snacky things usually, but bloody hell it's expensive!

I mean, I don't really begrudge her any of it. It's just that I know if it was just me and littl'un for the holidays, I'd have spent less than half of what we did. And if I was really pulling my belt in, I'd probably have spent less than a third.

Still, having those Sainsburys vouchers from work meant that it didn't cost me anything in cash, and still leaves me plenty of vouchers to use on petrol and further shopping.

Speaking of petrol, I've got my plan for the trip to Wales and back when I fetch littl'un (and take him back.) I can't quite get to Wales and back on one tank of petrol, and what with having petrol vouchers, I wanted to only fill up at Sainsburys so I can use those, get Nectar points, and not have to pay the extortionate prices that you tend to get on the motorway service stations.

So I thought, OK, I'll fill up here before I leave, and then fill up again when I get to Cardiff. Only problem is, the Cardiff Sainsburys all shut at 10pm, don't open until 7am. And while I think and hope I will be tucked up in bed in my Travelodge by 9.30pm, considering it's 2 days before Xmas, I can't count on the traffic being in my favour. And the following morning I'll be picking littl'un up around 6am.

So with the aid of the Sainsburys store locator and Google maps, I've decided to break my journey at Worcester to fill up. While this will add 10-15 mins to the journey time, I'll be glad of a break from the motorway by then anyway.

*

Just when I think I've got all my ducks in a row, I do something stupid like leaving my lunch at home - negating the whole bring-my-lunch-in-to-avoid-spending thing. Chalk that one up to insufficient caffeine before leaving home...

Image credit: stockvault.net