A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

GFN123

Thanks for the welcome Eliza

starsandmoon wrote: »

I think its about a week to use the voucher, you also get 30% off vouchers for certain products. I had a similar offer before Xmas and got my £5 off plus half price lemonade, crackers etc with the vouchers.

Im torn as I have a £5 off £30 for Lidl too for the same week but only in a specific Lidl due to one being closed for a refurb.

Couldnt believe the colleague who scorned Lidl saying it sold rubbish food and they only go to Tesco then today they are saying they are skint so they have got rid of their expensive car and leased a new one that is smaller but they had to pay £1,300 to get out of the other deal first! Madness.:eek:

Wanted to say thank you for posting about the coupon, I'm due a restock & it will be very useful.

To the colleague scorning Lidl - I know we all have different tastes, but I can honestly say, even as a self-confessed food snob that the quality of basically everything I've bought from Aldi or Lidl has been head & shoulders above Tesco! In fact, since I've been downsizing my food budget, I'd rate only Waitrose as really noticeably better of any of the supermarkets, although Morrison's butchery & fish counter are excellent as is their bread!

[Deleted User]

Hello, I popped into our local Mr T this morning and they were offering fresh salmon steaks on the fresh fish counter at half price only £1.00p each. Dont know if this is individual stores but it might be worth checking out . I got four and popped them into the freezer for future treats. Cheers Lyn.

Mrs_Chip

Afternoon All esp Delurkers!

Foul wet grey day here today, horrible. I hate this weather and this month, I struggle to do anything or feel positive.

On a good note, our neighbour in London has said that her daughter wants to buy our house! Thy have sold theirs and are happy to take it in its, shall we call it 'unreconstructed' :rotfl:state! And even better,we can just take out what we want here and leave any carp behind, they will clear it out :T:T:T. All got to be agreed, so don't want to get my hopes up, but would be a great weight off my mind.

Eliza - you sound like us, always holiday'd out of season and in this country. Hope OH stands his ground,and no need to feel uncomfortable, he booked first, fair and square - always used to annoy me so much when colleages played on other peoples good natures - with generally no reciprocation.

GFN - as an ex-smoker who gave up long ago (thankfully!) I think I can get away with saying this - why not put that half packet in a drawer and stop now - being able to have that packet around and not touch it will give you so much more confidence that you can do it!

You two sound like us too -we had a very good lifestyle until recently and we spent a lot in restaurants and hotels. All gone now, mainly by choice, but having to live a very different way. I see this as a great chance to regain a grip on reality - we lived in a bit of a bubble tbh, and would never go back toour old ways! And of course it is so much easier with the help of this great bunch of Toughies!

Today I made some HM peanut butter from Mr T value salted peanuts, and very nice it is too! Now have to find a use for it - peanut butter cookies I think:D.

We have mushroom and potato curry, dug out of the freezer (I think it got transported from London :rotfl:), I'm sure I got the recipe here last year! Hope it is as delicious tonight as it was when we first had it, thanks whoever posted it!

Hugs for those requiring them, Gailey - time to put your feet up girl!

kidcat

HI GFN - welcome to the madhouse!

Mardatha - are you still snowing?:rotfl::rotfl:

Have had an ok day after waiting in worried in case DS had another bad day butu having spent last night re-inforcing guidelines and rules, offering [STRIKE]bribery[/STRIKE] rewards for good behaviour, he has apparently had a wonderful day!!:j:j

made decision over car too, have looked into a slightly older one that will mean I can pay it off within a month and am much more comfortable with that amount of money borrowed.

had energy bill for last three months too :j:j and whilst our electricity usage is constant (all those Christmas lights and outdoor stuff didnt affect it at all!) our gas usage has been cut to one third the last house:j:j am so pleased, its a saving of over £300 just for this bill alone.

katieowl_2

Afternoon everyone - it is foul here, just foul. Not an icecubes in Hades of seeing any Northern Lights

Well how on earth am I going to manage a Tesco save £5 off a £40 shop AND a £5 off £30 in Aldi? I do love a challenge! I had to pop in T today to pick up something DS has agreed to take for his lunches at college, and was tempted by an offer on Fabric softner, but I saw it's still running on Monday when I can use 'the voucher' so put it back, will by it Monday. Had a flier through from the local Factory Shop who are now doing some cleaning products and they have a massive 100 wash box of surf for £12. I've not been very happy with T's basics washing powder since it was reformulated/changed into the plastic bag - it keeps clogging up in the washing machine drawer - so god knows what it's doing inside the machine. Might give that a try. It's not getting the mancub whiff out of DS's clothes either....

I'm reading Nella Last's War ATM, and although I'm 'enjoying' it, I'm finding it a bit grim TBH. I really empathise with Nella dreadfully, and I keep thinking about the damage it must have done to the mental health of all our grannies having lived through such dreadful times.

Watched Superscrimpers last night too, and was amazed to see the daughters of my neighbour opposite us when we lived in London in the sewing class!!! Not sure I picked up any good new tips, except the freezing lime wedges, but think that is just brilliant, so I'll give that a go in the summer.

I picked up a piece of belly of pork (rolled) when I was in T, and have got that simmering in a very low Rayburn for "red cooked pork" as given in an ancient Chinese cookbook I have called "Cheap Chow" by Kenneth Lo - it's been quite informative over the years as most of the dishes are cheap as anything. I've spiced this up with Star Anise, Five spice, chilli and garlic, and I have to say it smells divine. Don't know whether I'll get to it today, but I also bought some buckwheat flour to make some noodles...they'll be GF and as I am missing pasta dreadfully I hope they might fit the bill. If they turn out, I'll pass on the recipe. Bought GF pasta is hot (when cooked!) and has a vague rubberyness to it, but actually tastes a lot like eating nothing. I usually make a jacket spud for me when the family have pasta now!

I've also managed to knock out a couple of jobs that have been hanging over me today. Dunno why it's taken so long, as actually when I sat down it took two ticks. One of the jobs was to find a logo I used ages ago, and knock up a letter head, very pleased with the result as I now don't need to spend on Vistaprint, I must try and track down some sort of programme that I can use with the laptop though, as my very elderly copy of print shop won't run on it. I found it really useful as I could do all sorts of labels and stuff on it...

Anyway...onwards and upwards, today I have mainly been doing washing as the mancub decided everything on the floor in his room must be dirty again :mad: Mind you it all smells like and old pub carpet so needs washing regardless...Grrrr.

Kate

GFN123

Thanks for the welcome all

I'm dashing between loads of washing and doing some cleaning (but mostly reading MSE ) so apologies for being rubbish at replying to everyone & the various comments & stories.

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

GFN - as an ex-smoker who gave up long ago (thankfully!) I think I can get away with saying this - why not put that half packet in a drawer and stop now - being able to have that packet around and not touch it will give you so much more confidence that you can do it!

You two sound like us too -we had a very good lifestyle until recently and we spent a lot in restaurants and hotels. All gone now, mainly by choice, but having to live a very different way. I see this as a great chance to regain a grip on reality - we lived in a bit of a bubble tbh, and would never go back toour old ways! And of course it is so much easier with the help of this great bunch of Toughies!

Honest answer? I'd just smoke them! Vaguely MSE answer - it'd be a waste of money (yeah, I know that's just an excuse!)
I know I can do it, I've done it before & it is simply mind over matter, and this time it does matter. Thanks for the thoughts though.

OH, years before he was with me, gave up quite a good career in finance stuff as it just made him unhappy. He now earns a lot less, and has debt, but is a contented soul & I truly admire him for being so unmaterialistic. He got the hang of simplifying life way before we were together, but like me, is a bit of a spendthrift at heart & does enjoy the good stuff. I downsized my whole life out of necessity & it all came as a bit of a shock at first. But meeting him has consolidated it all for me & we are working as a happy team to stay on track.

Happily, the more we stop wasting, the more we can enjoy good things. We just have to budget for them rather than being our impulsive selves!

I was chatting to a friend earlier & saying just how much I love being more & more OS. It's not simply about saving money, I find it a genuinely fulfilling way of life that fills me with contentment.

It's been great to find & 'meet' you Toughies of varying circumstances as it's so inspiring & lovely to connect with like minded people.

Margaret54

Hi all:) Welcome to all who are new. I know you will enjoy here and will learn so much. We all learn from each other:) Going to the library in the morning, as have read my last book. I finished reading Helen Forrester(By the Waters of Liverpool) I also read two of her other books called Lime Street at Two, and Twopence to Cross The Mersey. Very honest and moving writing about her early poverty stricken life in Liverpool.

Fervent37

GFN123 wrote: »

Greetings Toughies, am I too late to join in the party?

I've read this thread from the beginning & ironically about every 10 pages a topic crops up which weirdly reflects something I was already thinking about (the last one I recall was eggy bread, I went on about it to OH till he made me some, then read you all chatting about wanting it on here!).I kept meaning to join in but then kept feeling shy, stupid I know!

I've just been inspired by paidinchickens post to write as I am about to quit smoking. I stupidly stopped a couple of weeks ago & found it OK, then the demon wine got me while I was out & I fell disgracefully off the wagon. Me, weakwilled...? :rotfl:I have half a pack left, and when that's gone, I refuse to waste a single penny more on it, vile! I promise to post here as motivation if no one minds?

I keep reflecting back to how much has changed since I joined the forums, debt riddled & unhappy. I'm very pleased to report that's no longer the case, thanks in no small part to MSE.

Lately I have become addicted to OS hence I read it every day.

About me: I live with my OH and we are both early 30s. Luckily he is an absolute gem of a man, I couldn't wish for better & consider myself very lucky. Since I started getting very in to OS he has supported everything. He is now the household's official baker and turns out a mean loaf! We both work full time. I'm lucky enough to work from home sometimes which allows me to indulge my OS ways and *cough* spend quite a bit of time reading up on here - all in the name of research of course

Last night was my first bolognese with added lentils, oats AND grated carrots! It was a roaring success and we're making a chilli tonight with the rest, which usually would have only made one meal, not two (healthy appetites ). We both love cooking and food, OH is a fab cook but during the week I do most of it due to aforesaid homeworking giving me more time.

Thanks to OS we are about to finish a revamping of a lovely Art Deco style sideboard (I read a lot of the shabby chic thread!) which we bought for peanuts, which will give back much needed cupboard space in the kitchen for all the jam jars & tubs I am beginning to hoard! Plans for spring, when it finally comes, will be to get a shed built & start our veg patch in the garden. I'm stupidly excited about it.

Our main drive at the moment is to cut down our grocery bill. I am ashamed to admit that when we first met, our shared love of food saw us spending hundreds on top of going out. I've had a drastic lifestyle change (another long story I'll save for when someone posts saying they are struggling to sleep!), and have recently discovered Aldi which I think is brilliant and we have already halved our outgoings for this month on food OH is trying to clear his debt now & I want to help as much as I can. Bless him, but he is generous to a fault & doesn't, I think, want to be seen to not be contributing equally, so I am doing my best to be frugal in the extreme to help him get it sorted.

Anyway, I know I can ramble for hours, so sorry But I look forward to joining in, offering support & advice if I have any to give & to keep on learning from all you lovely folk who have genuinely really inspired me on the path I have taken.

Welcome GFN123 this is a lovely thread and one of the reasons I stopped being a lurker in December 2011. Still do more reading then posting though!

3v3

On my drive home from Uni today, I plucked up the courage to go to the house with the skip to ask if I could "recycle" the ladder I'd spied yesterday.

I think the young woman was a little bit taken aback, but was more than happy for me to have it - even to the point she suggested her husband dig it out and to call back tomorrow. I did say that if it was ok, I could take it there and then and she was fine with that. As I pulled it out, I realised it wasn't really a ladder-ladder, but a ladder shaped thingy which I think came from a built in wardrobe.

Still looking bemused, I explained to the woman that I kept chickens and I was going to use it in the coop. Well, well, well, what do you know? Her previous neighbour used to keep chickens, moved out 6 weeks ago and she believes the coop remained behind and suggested I speak to the new neighbour. Having braved "skip-scrounging " mode, I decided that was enough for one day, but will pop back and knock on the neighbours door at the weekend

With a bit of remedial work, that "ladder" is just what I was looking for for my chooks :j Frrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :T

:think: With a bit more practice, I think I could get in the habit of "skip shopping" :rotfl:

gardenia101

Byatt wrote: »

Oddities of the universe questions...I don't go out often, so why when I make an appointment and it's the only thing marked in my diary, is that date or dates then needed for something else too? Why? :cool:

I've been wondering this too Byatt. Either one of my kids is ill that day, or something will crop up. I've still not even 'phoned about the WI as each month I have just one thing planned for the same day that simply can't be moved. Its sooo frustrating, specially when it is something I don't even want to do.

Good luck with quitting PIC :T

B&T - well done with the BM. I can't remember when I last bought a loaf (except mega cheap white rubbish for savoury B&B pudding & then only when its on offer).

Catbells - I quite often have a panic every now & then. Often when friends talk about the OHs/family who help them out quite often - I get reminded that I'm the only grown up making decisions about very important stuff like mortgages & I feel a bit :eek:. But it does mean I don't have to consider anyone elses silly opinions about such stuff either when they disagree with me (& are therefore wrong :rotfl:). Swings & roundabouts...

Hugs to all those who are struggling (as I was last week, but fell a bit better today) & hello to the other newbies :beer:

Any reports from WI meetings ladies?

Just done a big Aldi shop as had a friend take me in a car. Not quite rivalling GQ's stash, but I did stock up on tinned tomatos & other heavy stuff. Also got some fab workmens socks that appear indestructible (we shall se). I may bimble over later this week to use the MOV, but may struggle to carry it all back on the bus. Getting dangerously close to GC limit & not paid milkman yet...