MY wife and I regularly do the weekend shop together at the local supermarket. My wife refuses to make a list, saying that she will remember what we need. I always want to make a list, but inevitably forget to do so. As a result, we are not very disciplined when it comes to supermarket shopping.

In other words we are the perfect customers - we have a general sense of what we want, but can be persuaded to buy something on promotion, or well displayed, i.e. we buy on impulse. I am lured by the special offer , "buy one and get 50 per cent off the next purchase" or "get a free newspaper if I spend over x".

I usually fall for these seductive offers. However, after I leave the shop, I often feel a sense of frustration. Why do I succumb to these gimmicks? Could the supermarket not just give me their best price? If they can sell two cartons of orange juice for 1.5 times the price of one, just sell me one carton for 75 per cent of the price.

We see these offers across a whole range of products, how ever heavy. Not everyone drives to the supermarket. Just spare a thought for the octogenarian who walks to the shop and who has to decide whether to buy that extra carton of orange juice - and then has to lug it home, often uphill!

But my gripe is not just about potential discrimination against the infirm, against the non drivers, and against single people (who only want one carton of juice). I also suspect that it increases food waste. I might buy the two cartons, but may not always drink both of them. Sometimes part of the extra one might go down the drain. The same with other perishable items bought on special offer.

This wastage is probably worse now. So many items have a "use by" date. Good idea for our health, I am sure, but if you are like me, not everything gets eaten by that date. So what do you do to that product that is two days past its use by date? I suspect many of us take the safe route and throw it away. That special offer that tempted me to buy more has ended up costing me more.

So what's to be done? Well, tell your supermarket what you think. Tell your elected representatives. You can even tell me at giles.archibald@south
lakeland.gov.uk.

And while on the subject of supermarkets, have you noticed how much of the litter around the shops are discarded receipts? My understanding is that some supermarkets will send you a receipt via email, thus obviating the need for these pesky receipts. It's perhaps worth asking if your supermarket provides that service.