Dirk 02/09-08/09

Opening this edition on a Tuesday morning, most people are carrying two lists at once: the things that have to be eaten this week, and one purchase that has been put off for months. This folder happens to hold both.

It is valid from 2 September to 8 September, a full seven days, and runs to 31 pages. Among the three highlighted choices sits a machine close to thirty euro, while the other two together come to under two. So the order to read it in is to place the two chilled items into this week's meals first, and only then to consider the machine on its own terms.

• Nestle Dolce Gusto Piccolo KP1A3 at EUR 29,99: a capsule coffee machine, answering the morning where there is no time but there is still a cup wanted. It is not something to use up this week, so it is judged differently from food: divide 29,99 by the number of months you expect to keep it and set that beside what you currently spend on coffee out of the house each month.
• Almhof hoekje 150 g at EUR 0,69: a yoghurt pot with a jam corner, priced per pot, which suits breakfast or a mid-morning break at work. Chilled items carry a date, so the number to take follows how many mornings this particular week will actually use, not how low the price looks.
• Alpro vers of houdbaar at EUR 1,29: plant drink, with the same price covering both the chilled and the long-life version. That is worth noticing, because the long-life carton waits in a cupboard while the chilled one has to be finished within a few days of opening, so a one-person household wastes less with the long-life one.

Hokimi field note: this edition puts something that lasts years next to something that lasts a week on the same page, and the two do not take the same test. The machine is a cost per month; the yoghurt and the plant drink are a quantity this week can finish. With the plant drink, check which version you are picking up, because chilled and long-life behave completely differently once opened. Prices and participating stores are as marked in the shop.