Coffee and chocolate

miggy

NSD on our behalf so far, though I've got some stuff for Mum and it won't stay an NSD as we're getting chips later.

I've just brought Mum's bill up to date but I can't charge her account until a) the Bank lets me know they've added my details to her account and b) the other Attorney is also added to the account. Once it's sorted it will go some way to putting our finances straight.

I've been trying unsuccessfully to speak to her solicitor to find out if she can pay me directly by cheque - a very simple piece of information which doesn't seem to be readily available. If she can, she's quite happy to do that and our account would look a lot better.

miggy

Last week's budget fell into the amber zone - that area between what we give ourselves as an ideal and what we allow as max. I havea feeling this week's may go into the red unless I put some real work in.

Today was far too wet to go car booting so there may be a few pounds saved there. However, we had to get shampoo, my decaff coffee and some things for dinner, so we have already spent quite a bit. We had a guest to dinner so I made spaghetti bolognese and followed it up with a (tinned) peach and (frozen) raspberry flan with cream: a success and not massively expensive: 99p for the flan base, 54p for the gel, 45p for cream, 30p for peaches and £1.39 for raspberries = £2.67.

Last week's mango cheesecake was: lime 34p, biscuits 28p, cream 60p, tinned mango 59p, soft cheese £2.14, chocolate £2.20, butter I already had = £6.15. :eek: Though there were lots of biscuits left, also about a third of the cheese and a quarter of the chocolate so if I allow say 30p (guessing here) for the butter that makes er... about a fiver actually spent on the cheesecake - good job it fed so many people so well! I would never have spent that if I'd thought it through - no wonder I was running low on cash later in the week. (But it was nice, very nice!)

It's half term and my youngest and I are at home tomorrow. I bought some fruit and veg that had been marked down today and have begun a list of things that somehow need to be converted into a dinner at some point soon. If you like puzzles, have a go at this:

about 200g beef mince
mushrooms
half small carton of cream
half small natural yogurt
lots of celery
nearly full bag of new potatoes
tin of tomatoes which I opened by accident
all the weird and wonderful collection of things in the cupboards, such as jellies, anchovies, olives, custard, curry powder, lemon curd, pesto, grapefruit segments, cous cous galore, walnuts, apple puree...

miggy

I think I might see stroganoff emerging... doesn't do much to reduce stocks of grapefruits so I shall put a couple of tins out tonight with a note to the effect that they are available for breakfast.

ani_26

Childhood memories, grapefruits. My mum hated all things, fruity, and never ate fruit. Except grapefruits, for some bizarre reason. She used to cut them in half, cover them in sugar, and leave them overnight on the breakfast table. Not tinned, but fresh, obviously. It was the only fruit she ever ate. Strangely, i don't like grapefruit. Yuk.

miggy

I seem to remember my Mother in Law wasn't keen on bananas because her parents always had over-ripe ones in the house... I wonder what my children will avoid because they associate it with me?!

I quite like grapefruit, actually, though I must admit my favourite way to have it is topped with brown sugar and grilled...

Well today dented the budget good and proper. Washing powder, loo rolls and paper kitchen towels. We used to do without the kitchen towels as they were too expensive... yes, things have been worse than they are now but it matters to me to know where the money's going and that it's not just being spent on junk. Restricting what we spend as we are doing is atleast making us more aware.

I need to set aside a few 'pots' for the more expensive items that don't come up every week: the milk bill, washing powder and dishwasher tablets come to mind.

We didn't have stroganoff in the end: there were sausages in the freezer so we had bangers and mash and finished off yesterday's pudding - yummy. Then DD came in from work with things that had been marked down including a luscious chocolate cake and for a while all our kids did a very good imitation of an idealised family. Wonderful what cake will do. The sunset raid, as it were, cost us a couple of pounds but that will probably reappear next time I get on the scales.

Talking of pounds - the solicitor rang and the other Attorney rang - long story short: I have a cheque for the money I was owed which I am determined to bank tomorrow. Only - do I put it into savings or current? I think I need to do what I can to sort out the OD but it would be sensible to put some into the holiday fund and I could even celebrate by paying £20 off the mortgage! Yes, that's what I was talkign about when I began this diary, before our income took the two dips it'shad in the past year, but that reminds me we need to be cautious and maybe sorting out the OD isn't such as good idea as it will give us a false sense of security and DH's work is about to make a Big Announcement - probably not a happy one, either.

Ah well, this morning I was potting on lupins in the sunshine and that makes me feel rich. And I still have cupboards full of jelly, anchovies and individual portions of milk, so we can eat... something ...

(P.S. It's not that bad, it's been a lot worse in the past and we coped. I'm just amazed at what an odd assortment of foods I've amassed).

ani_26

Thats true about the over ripe banana, too. My mum always had a bowl of fruit, on the turn, as you say, because no one ever ate it. Funny how one persons perceptions of fruit determine whether or not you are allowed to eat it. I think too acidy, was the reason, which also applied to fruit juice, which was'nt drunk, either. So i wonder why she ate grapefruits? I never eat grapefruit, although, of course, i do eat fruit and drink fruit juice, nowadays. Its my choice, to.

You do seem to have an odd collection of foods :rotfl: but you can make anything you like / fancy with them? Does the meal have to have a name? Who says? Miggy's meals. Theres an idea for a business venture? Miggy's meals on wheels?

I'm not sure i'll be making the cheesecake, though. It seems a bit expensive for one person, ( i must remember to copy it out, its disappearing).

miggy

ani_26 wrote: »

I'm not sure i'll be making the cheesecake, though. It seems a bit expensive for one person, ( i must remember to copy it out, its disappearing).

Don't feel you need to make it! I was shocked when I realised how much it cost, and you wouldn't eat anything else for a week: it's very filling.

I think you could halve the recipe if you had a mad moment and decided to try it. You would still have half the sauce left over but that would freezze if you have access to a freezer, or if you are like me it wouldn't last long enough to get to a freezer. I very much doubt the main (white) filling would freeze though, hence the making of half the quantity.

You have reminded me - I have bananas to use up!

Right - am off into town to pay the cheque in (hoping my anonymity here is good enough and I don't get mugged for it). Have revised my first aid training so I can offer appropriate support to bank staff who will doubtless collapse with shock.

I am then off to Homebase as Mum gave me a voucher for free tomato plants and I am hoping they have some left. Yay me (I should say yay Mum - she's the one who provided the voucher). I love plants - I didn't admit yesterday that I bought the last of the tiny acers that Tesco has been selling - the poor little thing has various bits broken off and was reduced to £1.50 but I had been eyeing them rather covetously. Obviously a good reason not to covet: I end up spending money I could have used elsewhere. As I think I've mentioned before, though, it's a very good sign for my mental health that I am looking after plants again. I stopped last year when there was so much pressure on, and in doing so I lost something that mattered to me but I felt it was hopeless carrying on when I couldn't care for them properly.

The lupins I potted on yesterday are looking happy. I thought the wind would stress them but in fact you can practically see them relaxing and stretching after being cooped up so long in little pots.

Oh and - I'm off to Tesco to search for the bargainacious things off the 1p thread - even if they aren't 1p! I really and truly will not buy stuff we won't eat, though.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2711727

Ani, yes, my food stocks are very odd! There is normal stuff too, but we keep eating it. Also, Ani - I am sure there were some things you wrote which I was going to reply to (sorry poor grammar but it won't be the first time I've used it) (LOL, I'm a real pedant!) - anyway I haven't forgotten the intent even if I don't knowwhere the posts are, so if at some point I come up with some random-seeming replies, that's what's going on.

What ever did we do before smilies?

miggy

I've fitted quite a bit in today and I'm not sure what, besides a lot of greenery and tired feet, I have to show for it.

I set off into town with great intentions, then the Post Office queue was so long I decided to get stamps later and never did so there's an important letter still to send.

Next stop the bank, and the cashier gently pointed out to me that there was an error on the cheque I was trying to pay in - yes, THAT cheque! I offered to get it reissued and left feeling slightly less bouyant.

On to Homebase where the lovely people will accept my voucher and give me instead two 13cm tomato plants. Quite how I came out with five plants I am reluctant to explain but I ought to before someone reports me for nefarious dealings. I admit it. Having been given two, I bought three more. In my defence, they were 50p each and now the budget is getting less and less elasticy I think I ought to make the effort to grow stuff.

Back home via Tesco, where I had fun trying to find the goodies of the 1p thread and discovered their scanner (customers, for the use of) is broken. They seem to have discontinued most of the Homepride sauces, the Tratorria Verdi is only available in the wrong flavours and they have 50p socks (with owls or stripes on) but no 25p ones with Easter eggs. However, for the first time I've been able to find their 8p curry sauce, so I'm happy about that, plus some chicken nuggets for DS. (I know I could make healthier ones myself but TBH by the time it comes to cooking dinner I don't usually have the oomph to do a lot. It would help if I were better organised but I do have a medical condition which can affect this too).

Just enough time at home to make inroads into the cottage cheese and hang the washing on the line before it's time to take DS for his vaccinations. He told the nurse he wasn't bothered: 'I'll have whatever you've got!'

On for an extra visit to Mum which went down well with her but took quite another hour and a half so by the time I got out it was too late to run certain other errands, but Mum had said she wanted to buy me a geranium (I love them) and when I told her I'd seen one I liked, she said to get myself one, and one for her, too. I hesitated as it was so late in the day but in the end set off back to Homebase, bought the geraniums and, er... another three discounted tomato plants. Popped into Sainsbury's on the way home for pasta sauce, bought discounted bread and biscuits while I was there, also fries for DS and discovered they do pasta for 19p! So that was a very good buy but I am now very close to the end of my budget.

Dh rang while I was paying for these so I begged a lift home and we had our pasta with the remains of two multi-packs of frozen salmon... by this time I was running out of steam but we've been with the homegroup from church this evening: a film night with pop corn - really must start that diet but what am I to do when presented with cake one day and pop corn the next!

I've always had a tendency to leave my homework till the last minute and here I am again - if I'm to stay in budget I will have to put some real work in over the next couple of days. Both freezers are full again: fries and chicken nuggets take up quite a bit of room - and DD seems to be telling me she doesn't eat Quorn any more so it will be up to me to finish a backlog of that. Wonder if I can persuade the boys into more vegetarian ways? I can dream.

miggy

On another tack, DH's work has had their Big Announcement, but it's still got to go to some sort of vote. The effect of it is likely to mean reduced hours for many people and some will definitely be without jobs though they may apply for redeployment. Dh's job doesn't seem to be in immediate danger, thankfully, though I can't rule out changes in the long term.

On an MS note, having realised I spent too much on Christmas last year, I'm trying to get ahead and be creative this year when it comes to stocking fillers. Mum was saying she never has enough bookmarks, which gave me the idea of making some nice ones for those people who read (yes, I know they could make do with till receipts but it's not very Christmassy - or maybe that depends on your point of view?) and I bought some ribbon and nice trimmings towards this end today. I've also seen some magnetic clips made using pegs and hardboard, and decorated, and I think it would be fun to do variations on these and personalise them particularly for people with unusual names. It's easy to spend more than I intend in an effort to cut back, though: last year's cookie mixes in jars went down well but actually weren't all that cheap.

Am I going to be struck off for mentioning Christmas in June?!

And what is it with June? I know it's been getting lighter and lighter in the evenings but all of a sudden there's still colour in the sky after 10.

miggy

Today's been an NSD by dint of never leaving home. I spent a lot of time in the sun potting on tomatoes instead. That's what I call civilisation.

Oh yes, I did feed people today: chicken, ham and mushroom pie, all ingredientsout of the freezer though DH wanted peas and went and bought a packet.

I have just reaslied that while technically I didn't spend anything, I handed DH the cheque book to pay the milk bill - so I suppose I ought to count that and the peas!