It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

mardatha

what news angelite? what things? oooooh !

nannaC

angelite wrote: »

Hi Asda are away to bring down a lot of their products to £1. It was on the news, and they think it will start a price war between supermarkets. Hopefully this will help some family budgets but it wont do a lot for small local retailers

Just been in there and in the home baking isle they have 1kg bags of mixed fruit/currants/sultanas at £1.98 for 1 or any 2 for £2.

Stocked up with 14 packs [store cupboard & GG's come the reavolution book now look full] have mixed fruit [family wedding this summer and am making the cake] currants, great in eccles/sad cake, sultanas for cakes and scones.

cw18

Just done a Google to see what I could find about Mr A and prices, and turned up this

Off for a read myself now......

2cats1kid

Re the home grown tomatoes, the same can be said for carrots (probably anything!). I'm just harvesting the last of the carrots from our veg plot outside the back door, and we are having to get used to carrots all over again. We've all got so used to tasteless ones from the supermarkets that it's a shock to the system to have carrots that taste carroty!

sammy_kaye18

Thanks kittie, yates and 2cats

I did grow tow tumbling tom plants this year but we had a horrid week of storms and gale force winds and unfortunately my hallway is a no go zone because it si the dogs bedroom (JR terriorist) and he would destroy them so they got left outside and were lost. my little boy loved counting how many tomatoes we had though so may well do it again this year - and mother in law says we can swap as she is goign to attempt strawberries and she has wild rhubarb growign at the bottom of her garden - which she doesnt like - but hasnt the heart to kill it off - but she leaves it to its own devices and cuts out the rhubarb stems every few months and it keeps regrowing - it is in its 16th year now!:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: but at least i can swap tomatoes for rhubarb.

hoping i will get some peas, carrots, tomatoes and will find something else to do im sure. have swede and onions to try but i don't know how well they will work in our garden as it si very shaded.

Kittie - as always i watch every penny i have - the £100 is now squirrelled away - bf is one of these who will try to talk me into a good 'deal' if he knows i have savings about so it is now hidden in a jar away form his beady little mits! there's £30 in the bills cupboard which is for emergencies and a few quid in my purse so i don't over spend on anything (working in the coop is a nightmare as i tend to think 'oh that's a bargain whoopsie' and then never use it up) and all the bills for January are paid so im happy.:D

angelite_2

Hi Mardatha, sorry I went off this thread until just now, but I see cw18 has posted a link, thanks. I'm away to have a look at the asda website to see if I see any bargains, going into Aberdeen tomorrow so might pick up a few things.

I've just put past the christmas tree etc and spring cleaned the living room, I usually leave it for another few days but I was in the mood to do it today.

My mum came down earlier with some left overs from yesterdays new years dinner: lentil soup (is now gone), beef steak pie, brussels and neeps. Yum yum, she said that herself and my dad are fed up of all the food etc just now. I've got a pork joint in the fridge which should be cooked by tomorrow, so I'm going to put that in the slow cooker. There is also a packet of corn beef in the fridge which I'll make into cornbeef hash over the next few days (also has to be used) so I think I'm sorted for the next wee while. Also there was so much stuff in the fridge the other day that I thought we didnt have any bacon and we like a bacon sandwich at the weekend, so I bought more, but I found a packet along with the pork joint. Never mind, it has long dates.

Caterina

Hi all

Elona I am crossing fingers for your home sale visit!

I have read with interest the posts about buying British, avoiding supermarkets etc. We do try to do all that, although a lot of people look at me funny when I ask whether something is British (me, with my strong Italian accent - they must think I am weird).

I really struggle to avoid supermarkets, with the teens asking for this that and the other. Much as I would love to feed the family on 100% grains, pulses, veg and locally produced cheese, eggs and meat (DS is a meat eater) they often clamour for pizza, pasta, mayonnaise etc...all the things that are prohibitively expensive to buy in local shops. I wish I had the time to make homemade pasta and pizza, that would sort out my problem, but there is just so much time on this earth allotted for cooking!

I buy veg via the organic delivery boxes (Riverford mainly but occasionally Abel and Cole when they have offers) but I know that they are more expensive than market-bought non-organic veg and that many people cannot afford them.

I also hear what Mardatha is saying about using local coal etc, but from what I hear from DH (of Yorkshire mining stock) the coal is now so expensive to extract that it is not worth doing and it is much cheaper to import.

Of course if everything was de-privatised (e.g. nationalised) it might work, but how do you claw back the sale of all the industry and manufacturing that has been going on in the years since Thatcher was in power?

Take trains and public transport - it is ridiculous that the system is so fragmented by having myriads of different providers with different price schemes which fragment the whole transport system - wouldn't it be better if it all got nationalised? I know that there is ONE thing in Italy that works, and that's TRAINS, and they are cheap too, because the service is a national one, not in the hands of private investors. It could be the same in the UK and a great incentive to use public transport instead of a car (unfortunately much to my personal annoyance and shame the Italians still use too many cars instead of taking advantage of a good train service).

Much as I am sorry for all the people who are caught in this horrid credit crunch situation, I hope that the shrinking in the economy encourages more people to become more thoughtful about resources etc...

I read another post here earlier (sorry can't remember whose) saying that we are going to be fashionable - that's true, you cannot open a popular mag or paper or watch TV without finding some sort of article/report/dossier on how to beat the credit crunch. I find myself saying "done, done, done...." at all the suggestions, and no doubt most of the others here too, but at least it is moving people in the right direction.

Ciao all, now I have to get on and do some work while I still have a job (which is threatened by lack of future funding at the moment, unfortunately!).

pagangirl

Hi folks - for anyone with an Ald* store nearby - they have regular fruit/veg offers - December's were potatoes, satsumas x 9, 1 kg parsnips & carrots all 39p. Usually change offer begining of the month , not sure what new ones are - will have to investigate tomorrow. Heard today that 'Card Warehouse' are closing down Sat 10th January - all the stuff in Liverpool branches 50 % - 75% off. Who's going to be next??? :eek:

Thanks for the link to Asda article (not sure who posted it) hope prices start to come down soon!

cw18

they haven't changed the offers at A!di yet -- I was in there this afternoon, and got spuds and carrots at 39p each.

think the new offers start either Sunday or Monday.

ceridwen

angelite wrote: »

Hi Asda are away to bring down a lot of their products to £1. It was on the news, and they think it will start a price war between supermarkets. Hopefully this will help some family budgets but it wont do a lot for small local retailers

May not do a lot for supermarket suppliers either - as it is the supermarkets were in emergency talks in December to look out for new suppliers - as they thought some of their existing ones were going to go bust (nowt to do with the supermarkets playing all sorts of "games" with suppliers to beat them down in price then:cool: ).

Methinks we're in for some short-term gain...which will lead to long-term pain here.:rolleyes: