Coles Online + Mr Fab’s Excellent Adventure Coles Surry Hills 5 October 2010

Mr Fabulous – f a b u l o u s by name and by nature. And if I squint, he looks just like George Clooney*. Mr Fab stopped at Coles Surry Hills tonight and bought milk. Three 3 litre bottles. I ordered three 3 litre bottles through Coles Online. The children are interstate until Sunday. I would be bathing in the stuff. We’ve doubled up on fruit as well, however that’s not a big deal, I’ve been making huge fresh fruit salads every other night. Thank goodness Coles has an option to modify the online order – which I did, with 30 minutes to spare! The site warns you the order will be cancelled and replaced into a new ‘trolley’ for you to make your modifications. The initial credit card payments are cancelled/refunded on the next business day according to the site’s FAQs, there was no message during or after the modified order that specifically addresses this issue. However, I won’t take their word for it – will check my statement online on Friday.

Online order problems – NO MIGHTYMITE . I couldn’t get everything on my list, but this is an essential. I didn’t want vegemite, promite or marmite.

Coles Surry Hills

Cadbury block Chocolate 200g **special 2 for $7.00** regular $4.29 each
Smart Buy Juice 3L $2.79
Smart Buy Coles Lite Milk 3L $3.59
Ioli Natural Spring Water 1L $1.59
Doritos Corn Chips 175g $1.30
Smiths Potato Chips 175g $1.49
Kelloggs Crunchy Nut cereal 710g $6.99
Tip Top Sunblest bread 650g $3.79
Pane Toscano pagnota 450g $3.99
Blueberries 125g $3.60
Strawberries 250g $2.98
Red Delicious Apples $3.98 / kg
Bananas $2.28 / kg

*NOT Mr Fabulous

I’m back … Woolworths Marrickville 9 September 2010 & Coles Surry Hills 19 September 2010

I’ve been sticking to my ethos of “less time in the supermarket”. Last shop was a two trolley affair. We have a 2 door car, so you can imagine the fun we had packing boot. At least it wasn’t like a visit to Bunnings, where Mini-Me & I have to cradle items in the backseat. We took delivery of our new upright freezer (yay) and filled it with food (son took the opportunity to throw in meat pies, which I personally find awful unless I have made it – hence careme pastry and a truckload of mince/veges). We bought a truck load of ice cream as well, we don’t normally but, we have a big freezer to fill…let’s call it ice cream research (mind you, we have forgotten about the ice cream a little). Plus life has been busy with visitors and school holidays, so I’ve had to use Coles Online for this week’s hunting/gathering (no mega packs of loo paper – must remember my Woolworth’s Online password. Prefer them, they have free delivery options at anti-social hours). We’ve also had to run to the local convenience store for milk – $5.50 for a 2L bottle of Dairy Farmers Lite milk is insane; and we’ve done it more than once in the past week. Could’ve bought a cow…

This month is Buy Nothing New. I broke it on the 2nd of October – bought my son a new pair of shorts and my daughter a new swimsuit. Son is growing and daughter has school swimming lessons next term. I go with her for her after school lessons and assist her getting into her fastskin (kidding she’s 5, it’s a normal butterfly back). Sadly both articles are not made here in Australia. I really have to get cracking with a list of Australian Made clothing. There’s a fab shop on King St Newtown (!!!) near the Alice St intersection that makes lovely and competitively priced women’s business attire. Name escapes me at the moment. As well, I did found some fabulous Australian Made men’s underwear at Paddington Markets 2 weeks ago – Mr Fab wasn’t keen on the prints. Sadly we, as a community, are accustomed to buying undies cheaply – $40 for a pair of bespoke men’s undies, albeit made in Australia, is excessive. Perhaps they could be the ‘good underwear” Mothers entreated us to wear for the occasion the bus ran us over… However, our house is full of items, that realistically we don’t use/need. I constantly have a bag of clothes for donation to the Salvos (I take it direct to the Salvos at Redfern). Seriously, as soon as I deliver it, another one gets started. Clothes outgrown but not outworn go to the Salvos, others get placed in my cleaning basket for dusting cloths. I did think I had reigned myself in when it comes to my children’s clothes, but it appears the reality may be different. I promise to tweet how I am travelling in that regard!

Anyhow I have 2 dockets to record, one is almost a metre long (there were sidelong glances at Coles Surry Hills that day).

Woolworths Marrickville

WW lite milk 3L $3.59
Pop Tops 250ml 6 pack $2.99
Hercules sandwich sealable bags 120 pack $5.61
Lipton Ice Tea 500ml $2.29
Bulla cream 600ml $3.73
Lychees 565g tin $2.88
Moove milk 600ml $2.94
Boccocini 220g $5.99
CSR sugar cubes 450g $3.58
Arnotts Saos 250g $2.49
Arnotts Marie biscuits 250g $1.90
WW floor kitchen bathroom wipes 100 pack $4.24
WW Pavlova meringue 500g $9.78
Nescafe Gold 200g **special** $9.99
Edgell Super Sweet corn tin 420g $1.82 (this is the only type that is Made in Australia with local ingredients, other Edgell tinned corn are a combo of local & imported)
Seedless Watermelon $2.63/kg
Pink Lady Apples $3.14/kg
Bananas $1.98/kg
Cucumber Lebanese $6.98/kg
Kiwifruit green large $2.98/kg (never seen kiwifruit sold this way before, bought over a kilo!)
Broccoli $3.98/kg

Coles Surry Hills

Sargents Meat Pies 4 pack **special 2 for $8.00** regular $5.99 each
Lipton Ice Tea 1.5L ** special 2 for $5.80** regular $3.39 each
Cadbury block Chocolate **special 2 for $7.00** regular $4.29 each
Wonderwhite 700g bread **special 2 for $6.00** regular $3.99 each
Hamburger Rolls 6 pack **special 2 for $3.50** regular @.40 each
Nestle Connoisseur Ice cream 1 L $8.99
Coles Finest Icecream 500ml $6.99
Weis Ice cream 1 L $7.99
Bornhoffen Natural yog 1kg $4.99
Herbert Adams Vege pasties 700g 4 pack $6.48
Fantastic Hokkien thin noodles 450g $2.25
Wedgewood sausage rolls 40 pack $4.00
La Famiglia garlic bread 450g $3.00
Aunty Kath’s Cookie dough 450g $4.11
Ski Wild Strawberry yog 1kg $4.99
Coles floor wipes 30 pack $4.99
Pantene Shampoo 750ml $15.69
Pantene Conditioner 750ml $15.69
Coles Toilet bleach gel 500ml $2.29
Real Foods corn thins 165g $2.39
Carmens Muesli bars 540g 12 pack $8.99
Coles lite milk 3L $3.96
Sanitarium Up and Go 6 pack $7.66
Devondale UHT 2L lite milk $3.05
Sunrice thin rice cakes 195g $2.38
Arnotts 9 grain vita wheat biscuits 250g $2.99
Kelloggs Sustain cereal 575g $5.29
Arnotts Milk Arrowroot biscuits 250g $1.90
Arnotts Marie biscuits 250g $1.90
Fountain tomato sauce 600ml $2.09
Fountain Smokey BBQ squeeze sauce 500ml $1.80
Golden Circle beetroot sliced 450g $1.60
washed potatoes $1.78/kg
bunch Organic celery $3.98 (stays crispy, even after cooked in soup)
Mandarins $3.98/kg
zucchini $7.98/kg
blueberries 125g $4.48
Watermelon seedless $2.25/kg
quarter cabbage 0.78 cents
half rockmelon $1.59
half cauliflower $1.59

Remember to share prices in your area! The comment area is for you. I can only do so much of the Sydney Metropolitan area alone!

Man vs Wild; Woman vs Westfield + Coles online experience & Mandarin index + + 50 ways to save

The Fabulous family have been watching a lot of Bear Grylls’ Man vs Wild lately (thanks to IQ). SBS and Discovery Channel for the uninitiated. We watched 2 episodes this morning before heading out. I have googled Bear and discovered he has 3 sons. I understand now why he spends so much time in different regions demonstrating survival techniques. He couldn’t last an hour in a Westfield with the children. Those days where the children are simply trying. I particularly liked this comment from Bear’s twitter account: “my son’s school sports day this pm… & the parents race! Might hover around the bbq instead I think! 1:14 AM Jul 14th via web”

As Mini-me Fabette has suddenly decided mandarins are my favourite, the banana index is temporarily in hiatus. We have bought kilos of mandarins lately.

Mandarin Index

David Jones Food Hall Westfield Bondi Junction $7.50 / kg
Organic fruit & veg stall @ Bondi Junction Village Markets $3.99 / kg
Dr Earth Bondi Junction (organic) $8.25
Paddington Fresh Foods Oxford St Paddington (daisy) $6.96 / kg
Woolworths Bondi Junction (murcott) $2.54 / kg

I bought free-range eggs from Cathy the Egg Lady at Bondi Junction Village Markets today. 30 medium eggs for $6.00 or 20 cents each. Her medium eggs are the size of supermarket large eggs. We have been baking and making lots of omelettes over the past few months, so I felt a 30 pack was justified. A 15 pack of free range at Coles/Woolworths is $5.99 or 40 cents each. If you aren’t a big egg eater, you could go halves or quarters with friends, family or neighbours.

Coles Online

My delivery arrived at the start of the time frame I selected and the delivery driver was wonderful. Placed all the groceries on the kitchen bench & was generally lovely. I rang the customer care number after putting away my groceries to let Coles know how good the experience was for me, and complimented the driver in particular. The surprise I had from the other end of the line was telling. They were delighted I was calling to give a compliment rather than a complaint, and said they’d email the supervisor to pass on my compliments. I like calling and complimenting service. I will tell the person I was happy and follow it up. It’s quite sad that, to paraphrase a CBA compliment/complaint line customer service officer, they always hear complaints. I complained recently about Coles (Westfield) Bondi Junction and received an apology from the manager, but I’ll never go into that Coles again. If I haven’t bothered to complain, I simply don’t use that business again.

I felt the prices were on par with the regular supermarket prices. Some items, such as saos, cost 30 cents per pack more. The fruit selected were unblemished (tick), and I received everything I ordered (tick), and, as stated, my delivery came right on time (triple tick).

Apples braeburn $2.99 / kg
Bananas organic red tip $3.98 / kg
Arnotts Sao crackers 250g $2.71
Gippsland Organic vanilla Yog 200g $1.84
Tamar Valley Greek Yog mixed 4 pack $6.31 (this was something I had not come across in the supermarket, usually buy singles)
Perfect Italiano Parmesan Cheese shredded 250g $5.43
Lean Cuisine Honey Soy Beef with Wholemeal noodles 280g $6.20
Kalli Bros Nile Perch fillets (imported ) $15.99 / kg
Coles Savings brand Lite milk 3 L $3.59
Mr Sheen Pot Pourri Furniture polish 375ml $5.40

I believe there is a lot of football on tonight, so I can sit with my list and the computer. It is Mr Fab’s birthday. Yes we made the cake, not from scratch, a packet mix. Greens, Australian Made, however bought out by the Guiness Peat Group in 2007. The plan is to do another online shop, with Woolworths. I will order some of the items I bought with Coles as a comparison, as well as the items on my shopping list. I am so enjoying no impulse buys!!

UPDATE: WOOLWORTHS ONLINE REGISTRATION + ORDER

Done. Plus there’s an option to state what sort of things you like, I selected the “low gi” option. And I’m getting free delivery. The original option I selected was $5.00, then I decided to change it and it’s free. The prices are slightly cheaper than Coles online.

UPDATE NO: 2

John Rolfe, Public Defender, the Daily Telegraph “Fifty ways to save a fortune”

Have a read of the article suggesting ways you can go about reducing your $$$. Here are my responses:

1. Have.
2. Pack lunch daily for all of us.
3. Don’t drink beer, though my son wants me to make things for the Glebe markets, so he can pocket the dosh. My children think I can sew.
4. Do buy quality & do mend/resole.
5. Hmm haven’t found anything like that here in Sydney, and my family of fussy eaters don’t mesh with restaurants. My last birthday dinner was at Bodhi’s at Cook + Philip Park. Fab food, but not my choice but the pretend vegetarians in my house.
6. Must check it out.
7. Ditto.
8. Everytime Mr Fab passes a servo this happens. I get the lecture re tyre pressure and fuel consumption everytime.
9. Done.
10. Do, I’m too stingy. My Mum’s a Scot 🙂
11. Hmm, happy with mine.
12. I’ve tried unsuccessfully!
13. Sounds interesting, but we don’t have broadband 😦
14. Can’t, strata title, though no one is too fussed here. I do hang clothes inside to dry where I can – no sun fade, great for clothes!
15. Do have a Whirlpool front loader. The big 7.5kg.
16. Do.
17. We could be better at this, however, have improved 100% in this household.
18. I can’t do a barber, Mr Fab is fussy…when it comes to hair, the Fabulous family has to go Fabulous!
19. Do.
20. Not applicable.
21. Do.
22. Can’t.
23. Did.
24. Do.
25. Uniform costs as a tax rebate is unfair to the childless. Would rather low income earners received free dental coverage.
26. Do.
27. We have the best deal for our situation.
28. Do, hello EJ Cafe Hunter Connection Sydney xxx
29. NO and apparently you have to be in it to win it. See #10 I’m too stingy.
30. I’ve never defaulted. The free copy is available if one is able to wait 10 working days.
31. C’mon, I don’t drink, gamble or do anything bad!!
32. We don’t drink at home. See #10.
33. What is this movies thing? We go so rarely that when we do go, it’s Gold Class baby!! Yes our children are social outcasts. They’ve seen Toy Story 3 and Mstr Fab saw the A team.
34. I respectfullydisagree. I find in the Whirlpool the powder doesn’t dissolve and have had to buy a liquid for those items that need cold wash.
35. Too hard basket.
36. Do, fab!!
37. Always pay up front, no disputes regarding coverage 😉
38. Do. Except if parking at Broadway Shopping Centre.
39. Do see #10
40. See #5
41. Did.
42. Have. Plus plasmas have burn and longevity issues.
43. Great tip. Must check it out.
44. Do.
45. Do.
46. Do.
47. Gym membership… B.C. 🙂
48. Correct.
49. Or read it for free on the web or at a cafe 😉
50. Think of the environment 😉

Broadway…they say the neon lights are bright on… 24 July 2010 + Coles online shopping adventure

Mstr Fab needed footy boots, so we rang around the local Rebel Sports to check who stocked the boots he was after, and Broadway had ’em. Shame, as I really wanted to go to WBJ. Blades or cleats, who knew blades are the go in football boots. And black boots are not good apparently. White was Mstr Fab’s choice. I can remember when Warwick Capper was playing AFL – his wearing of, what then was thought of as lairy white footy boots. Now the brighter the better. I saw a pair of purple and orange footy boots, and suggested them (tongue-in-cheek). Backfired, he thought they were ok. So white with red blades. Obviously I’m teetering on dinosaur territory.

Parking is a nightmare at Broadway. For those of you unfamiliar with Sydney’s Broadway, there’s nothing theatrical about it. Unless you count Mini-me Fabette. She was in good form today. Singing, dancing, skipping. She was an astronaut for a while. Back to the parking. We chose to leave the car with the car park carwash rather than get dizzy searching for a park with the fleet of cars surrounding us. One of my ‘tricks’. However this impedes grocery shopping, as you end up returning laden down with bags and trudging like a pack horse back to your car. So we chose to get a couple of items only. Car looks fab.

Bi-Lo is part of the Coles group. So for novelty value, I went in. I only bought a couple of items, and basically the prices are on par with those of Coles. Their bananas were $2.68/kg. 3 L lite milk, Coles Smart buy brand, was $3.59, and Arnotts Milk Arrowroots 250g $1.90.

Update: Mr Fab was watching the Wallabies, so I decided to shop online with Coles. I haven’t really watched the Wallabies since the last Rugby World Cup. Anyhow, some prices were the same as in store, others were 30 cents or so dearer. Mstr Fab has a band performance at UNSW at 9:00am tomorrow (Sunday), and getting groceries after isn’t appealing. Thank goodness the campus is a short drive away. I haven’t used Coles online since Mini-me Fabette was tiny. It was easier to use Coles online rather than schlepping a baby and a pram. The pram also took up valuable space in the boot. The site appears to have more items available, so it’s genuinely a supermarket experience rather than selected items. I only selected the items on my shopping list. Unlike shopping in-store where impulse buys certainly outweigh the $9 delivery fee 🙂 I hope the bananas and apples my personal shopper chooses are nice.

Ease of use of the site. The option to “browse aisles” is clunky, so I used the search option and typed in the items I was after, eg: Saos, Mr Sheen. There is also an online only specials tab, such as a medium sized box of seasonal fruit and veges for $20.00. You are given a general idea of what is in the box, and as I already have fresh corn, broccoli and mushrooms in the crisper, I decided to leave that. Plus there’s no indication as to the size of the box. What’s medium to Coles may be extra small to me ;). It’s quite user friendly, there are nutrional value graphs so you can read the labels, I do that in store. Also has place of origin, so I skipped the seafood as most of it was imported. They do have Australian prawns, but Mr Fab is allergic.

I may re-visit the “browse aisles” option to report back. I shall also do a Woolies online shop as well. What I like about online grocery shopping is:
(a) there are no distractions (those Shrek & Toy Story toys in Coles lure Mini-me Fabette),
(b) you can stick to your shopping list,
(c) no one can sneak chocolate into the trolley,
(d) carrying the items in from the front door beats lugging a trolley to the car, then carrying the endless bags to the kitchen,
(e) can make changes up until midday the day before

So although there is a delivery fee, the benefits outweigh that fee.

I wish my brother and sister-in-law would try online grocery shopping. Four children under 7 and supermarkets do not mix! Queensland and NT have the option to ‘click and collect’ **scroll down to read the click and collect faq**. This involves placing an order online and Coles does the shopping. Then you need to do is visit the ‘click & collect’ store and they load the shopping into your car! No fee involved. There’s one handy to my brother, I’m green with envy.

T & R Gourmet Butchery + Woolworths Double Bay 14 May 2010

T & R Gourmet Butchery is in the Cosmopolitan Centre, Double Bay. I bought 4 crumbed steaks @ $34.99 / kg and chicken breast @ $19.99 / kg.

I intended on cooking 2 steaks for the children tonight, but was too exhausted. They had french toast & we adults had toast, albeit a new bread product on the market purchased in Woolies, Tip Top Cafe Scone Toast Classic Buttermilk. Have never seen it before, and it was divine (go back and repeat those last 4 words in a drama queen tone, deserves it). I’ve added the link so you can check it out, but I don’t plan to buy it again – carb OD. I had 3 slices dripping with melted (Lurpak) butter. I’m getting giddy and distracted just thinking about that toast.

This was a quick visit, to get things to stave off starvation & neglect while I wait on my online order. Woolies management, if you are reading this, the Double Bay store is in desperate need of a reno. Looking rather tatty & tired. I have gotten used to the wider aisles in stores that have had the Woolies ‘tart up’.

Just for badness, (the boys are hogging the TV -Tahs and Titans – and Miss Fab-ette is asleep) I will also put the price of the product found on the Woolies Homeshop AND Coles online shopping service.

Tandaco yeast 84g 12 pack $4.49 ($4.84 Woolies online) (Coles online $5.11)
Streets Blue ribbon ice cream 2L $5.88 ( ***online on special**was $7.11 now $5.88) (Coles online $7.18)
Pandaroo Ginger sushi 200g $2.79 ($3.01 on Woolies online) N/A
Ocean Spray Cranberry juice 1.5L $4.69 ( ***online on special**was $5.92 now $5.07) (Coles online $5.98)
S & B Wasabi paste 43g $2.65 N/A (Coles online $2.89)
Tip Top Cafe Scone Toast Classic Buttermilk 700g $4.49 N/A (Coles online $4.59)
Kraft Philadelphia extra light mini tubs 160G $1.27 ($3.43 Woolies online) (Coles online $3.47)
Wrigleys extra chewing gum 2 pack $2.89 ($3.12 Woolies online) (Coles online $3.15)
Arnotts milk arrowroot 250g $1.90 ($2.05 Woolies online) (Coles online $2.07)
Woolworths Lite Milk 3L $3.59 ($3.87 Woolies online) (Obviously this will be Coles brand – – $3.96) interesting, same as in store
Tip Top Sunblest Up White Sandwich Bread 700g **** 2 for $6.00 regular price $3.99****** ($3.99 on Woolies online – NOT listed as a special) (Coles online $3.79)