Not Buying It- A Consumer Holiday 2016

[Deleted User]

Good Morning everyone ,a bit on the nippy side again I have a small shopping list of food stuff to buy, but nothing that's essential that it will make me go out into the cold,I will wait until Saturday as nothing is on there that can't be done without

I too can't see the appeal of wandering around large shopping centres, it seems to me a total waste of time and energy,but each to their own I guess.

I am doing well using up some of my food mountain this month :)last night I peeled and mashed some potato's for dinner and had quite a bit left over so it was 'balled' up with my ice cream scoop and I now have five portions in my freezer for use later.

I'm just about to delve into the freezer and fish something out for dinner tonight.I have more than enough veg to keep me going this week.

I too cannot understand the way fares are worked out. Although I remember when I went to visit my nephew just outside Manchester I wanted to go by train, and after checking with 'The Man on the Train' website for a advance booking I went to my local station and the chap there worked out a better fare for me. Admittedly I only needed a one way fare as he was giving me a lift back to London which helped.

:):) I have this vision of you Lyn with a little red spotted hanky thumbing down to Cornwall :):) Cheap,but wise ???

Right time to get the coffee pot on,my Dd gave me a good sized pack of coffee on Sunday which she had as part of her Christmas present and its from Borneo of all places and its really nice .My grandson got her a subscription for coffees from all over the world and she gets a pack a month for the next 12 months :):)She brought it down to me as we are the only serious coffee drinkers in the family, we are not fans of the instant stuff.I must admit its really nice and does get your motor going in the morning

have a good NBI day chums and keep warm and dry

JackieO xxx

GrannyKate

JackieO
I travel by train long distance several times most years (Rail card pays for itself after 2 trips) and usually research on line and then go buy at my local station where they often have practical ideas and don't charge booking or CC fees.

mavvymoo

Still on Board ship No silly spending and I cant believe how good it feels

I am lucky that I live in Norfolk quite near the seals and they are a fantastic sight. But I think you saw your Seals a bit futher round the coast as there is no Home Bargains near me :rotfl:

But as I AM NOT BUYING IT I am quite glad there isnt one close by.

But I am so glad you had a great time and enjoyed it always makes me feel proud to live here

Mav x

[Deleted User]

mavvymoo wrote: »

Still on Board ship No silly spending and I cant believe how good it feels

I am lucky that I live in Norfolk quite near the seals and they are a fantastic sight. But I think you saw your Seals a bit futher round the coast as there is no Home Bargains near me :rotfl:

But as I AM NOT BUYING IT I am quite glad there isnt one close by.

But I am so glad you had a great time and enjoyed it always makes me feel proud to live here

Mav x

Yes we went to see the colony at Horsey and they were just fantastic! Very envious that you live so close! :j

We were also incredibly lucky to see a pair of Common (or not so common!) cranes whilst we were there, and as you might guess from my username, I was over the moon! We will definitely be visiting again!

grunnie

Still on board here too except I bought next year's Christmas crackers for 25p instead of £15 and wrapping paper for 10p in mr Ts when I went to buy milk yesterday. Have lost the joy of shopping and think it was my favourite hobby till I joined this thread last year. Now any spare money is going on holidays and all the cc are paid off:j

nursemaggie

Jackie The red spotted hankie is a train booking service. Your nephew taking you home was rather a waste of money as at the most it would have cost you £2 to get home. It may even have been cheaper to book a return.

[Deleted User]

nursemaggie wrote: »

Jackie The red spotted hankie is a train booking service. Your nephew taking you home was rather a waste of money as at the most it would have cost you £2 to get home. It may even have been cheaper to book a return.

True, but he was coming down to London as he had to see his boss at Lambeth Palace (he is a CoE vicar) anyway and we had a jolly good natter on the way.

Grunnie; when I have managed to get crackers reduce I was told by the assistant to store them in a warm dry place to keep the 'snappers' dry and I put them on the top shelf of the airing cupboard at the back:rotfl:

Deleted_User; Last time I was on holiday in Norfolk we took the boys out on a wild life trip from near to the Horsey Windpump windmill.The chap who took us out on the Broads was an amazing chap who pointed out to us all the different species we could see and we were lucky enough to spot some cranes in flight.They are really spectacular and absolutely huge aren't they.

We too went to see the seals via a boat trip, but it bucketed down about half way there and we all got soaked,but it was lovely to see them even though we all looked like drowned rats when we got back to shore again

GrannyKate; I have a disabled railcard that pays for itself as well after a couple of trips, living in deepest Kent its very useful when I want to go into London as I find its just not worth the cost of parking to drive up there

mavvymoo

Yes we went to see the colony at Horsey and they were just fantastic! Very envious that you live so close! :j

We were also incredibly lucky to see a pair of Common (or not so common!) cranes whilst we were there, and as you might guess from my username, I was over the moon! We will definitely be visiting again!

Yes Sophie I guessed thats where you went as I am sure there is a HB in Yarmouth I am North Norfolk so Blakney point is my closest to see a colony of Seals.But saying that I have seen a small number of seals in both Cromer or Sheringham.

I am so glad you got to see the Cranes how wonderful for you as a Bird watcher.

No spending for me today

Mav x

RicardaRacoon

Evening folks

Had a little accident this morning... Had to run to catch my bus and stubbled over something... Ended up flat on my belly, got up, grabbed my stuff and went on running helter-skelter to the bus stop.... Nothing major happend but I now have a stiff neck and arms and aching muscles in places where I never thought they could ache (jaws for example...)

Does anyone of you have a tried and trusted recipe for making chicken stock ouf of chicken left overs? I will cook a hungarian paprika chicken on Saturday and want to make the most out of the bird, but how?

Lyn, train fares will forever be a mystery to me... Couple of years back I took a train from London to Brighton in the late afternoon. Normally go to the ticket machine but out of some reason went to the counter this time. I was told that I could get a return ticket for 10 bucks, while a single would have been more than 20....

Jacky, the cracker-storing tip explains why ours weren't working properly... Bought too many last year and so we had some left but they were very quiet... Shouldn't have stored them in the basement then...

Just wrote tomorrows shopping list which is fruit and veg, eggs and cocao powder, so I might manage under a tenner... Other planned spends for the weekend are catfood and a coffee out with friends on Saturday.

I'm really fighting with myself over a dress for a costume party... Will go there with two friends. Last time we went they had storebought dresses while I wore a blue polka dott dress with 50ies makeup, victory roll and headband. I'm not not sure if I should fork out something for a lovely 1920ies dress or if I should create something myself... I'm lacking ideas.... I've gone to costume parties as all sorts of things from Shaun the Sheep to WWII factory worker (which some people mistoke for a cleaner...) I might just recycle an ide from a couple years back and go as cat...

Have a nice evening everyone

chirpycheap

dND wrote: »

I bought a cheap L!dl's yoghurt maker about 15 years ago. After a couple of goes faffing about with heating the milk etc. all I got was pretty poor yoghurt. True to my hoarder self it then languished at the back of the cupboard until a few years ago :eek:

Lightbulb moment came when I read that you didn't need to steriise the milk if you use UHT and you didn't get 'starter' problems if you use a fresh starter each time. So that's what I do now; I use the live yoghurt from L!dl, which I buy as a 12-pack and will last in the fridge way past it's use by date. (simple rule, if the lid is concaved or flat it is OK, if it's domed up it isn't )

So one small bought yoghurt makes a litre of HM yoghurt with only mixing to be done. The texture is different as I use semi-skim milk and I don't add dried milk powder. It's more like a thick drinking yoghurt but I now prefer the taste to bought yoghurt. I know exactly what is in it and I use home-made jam or syrups or fresh fruit to sweeten it if I want and I know exactly how much sugar I am adding.

I also found I have to use the maximum cook time to get a reasonable set so if you have problems with the set, experiment with the warming time. Good luck

Thanks so much. That's really encouraging. I'm definitely motivated to give yoghurt making another go!:D