The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

in_need_of_direction

Do you have a children's play centre called funky monkeys near you?

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon :hello:

Thank you for your comments re 'wot kids say'...... I just hope we never get invited to tea with the Dowager Countess Arbuthnott-St John-Smthye, and BG gets asked what they eat cake with....................... :eek::rotfl:

inod - no having looked at the locations of those activity centres, we don't have one near. We do have 'that sort of place' - just not that particular chain. Presumably they started in N Ireland or Eire, as 10 of their locations are based in either?

Well, we've been up and down and round about to see how far it was. And it was just far enough. We've been through all sorts of weather and seen a little bit of snow. But where we started from and went to was just wet - so for that I'm grateful.

I'm glad we went, but we'll not rush back, as the shop didn't have half of what we wanted to try on, in stock. In hindsight, a phone call would possibly have established that, but also had they got the stock in specially and we'd failed to turn up due to weather conditions........ I can see why people shop exclusively online....... Especially where 'returns' are free.

Anyhoo, a day out is a day out and most certainly not to be sniffed at! We enjoyed a car-based picnic in the car-park, as we were wet, slightly miffed and CBA'd to find anywhere more attractive. As the weather was like it was, we would probably have been car-based, even in a country park, or AONB, so........ Plus, we'd paid £1.50 for 3 hours parking - thinking we were going to be spending much longer in the town than we actually did........

In :money: news, today i saved 60p (in total) by being far to tight to pay 30p for a 'call of nature'. DH needed the facilities too, and was a bit grumpy - he could have used his own money! But we were saved by finding some alternative loos in the town centre, that were beautifully clean and tidy and it was free to wee!!! :rotfl:

There was a B&M store at the end of the street we were shopping in, so despite the rain, I pressed DH to go in for a nose. Anyway, I picked up some peanut butter for £1.89 again and a tube of garlic puree (full Moon brand) for 39p - I think it is 70g iirc. Then I said to DH was it worth popping next door to see if the c00p had any bargains. He reluctantly agreed, but i was cursing when I realised that we were at the back of the store and had to walk all the way round. But it was worth it, as I found 4 bags (750g each) of red onions, YS'd down from 89p each to 22p. So 3kgs of red onions for 88p. Don't mind if I do :money:

Tea tonight will be sweet potato and chickpea jalfrezi with rice and dhal.

Ta for popping in. Appreciated.

Greying X

Silver_Queen

:eek: £1.50 for 3 hours! It costs me £6 for 2 hours where I am :rotfl:

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Silver_Queen wrote: »

:eek: £1.50 for 3 hours! It costs me £6 for 2 hours where I am :rotfl:

Ay, but there are probably shops - that are open - and have stock for sale - and where goggle mapz says they should be, where you are We were in a very small town, and the carpark was the long-stay one, a bit out of the way.......And I would have been miffed to have paid anymore, tbh

On our travels today, the one thing that I did spot that I thought simply marvellous was...... a new aldi store..... with a (new) hom3 bargins - only right next door!!!! If the location wasn't such a tourist honey-pot at any time when there is the faintest hint of a tint of sunshine, I would request that DH, BG and I remove to there, immediately! Imagine - a HB next to a MrAl........ and imagine if it was a new mrL with a HB next door........ :j:j:j

Right, tea has been munched. In addition to the pre-prepared curry, I hoiked a small pot of dhal out the freezer, boiled up some basmati and then made a Reza Mohammed recipe of Colourful spiced cabbage, which used up the remaining heart of the savoy cabbage and the 2 remaining carrots that were in the bottom of the fridge. We are stuffed and feeling virtuous for having eaten our cruciferous veg :A:rotfl:... twice this week...... jus' sayin like....... :rotfl:;)

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

for a day out to a 'new' place - even if it wasn't quite what we'd expected, it was a welcome change of scene

Free to use loos! :T

that 'everyday' frugality means we can keep a car on the road, fuel it and have an occasional trip away from the homestead - worth it, always.

Ta for popping in, reading and joining in the conversation. Appreciated.

Greying X

in_need_of_direction

My question about funky monkeys was inspired by a younger relative's early speech. You should be relieved that BG won't be seeking a visit.

Greying_Pilgrim

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

My question about funky monkeys was inspired by a younger relative's early speech. You should be relieved that BG won't be seeking a visit.

A-ha! Gotcha inod - mmmm, rather glad we haven't got the chain in Greying Town now :rotfl::rotfl::T

Good Morning.

What a dismal day. I didn't get round to making my 'valerie' tea last night and the difference in sleep or lack, is palpable. It hasn't helped that dear BG woke up coughing, and couldn't then get back to sleep. DH has forgone a lie-in to allow me one :A and I found myself not stirring until 10am We've both got no 'up and at 'em' today, although it sounds like BG has enough for the entire street

Still, moaning never solved owt.

I'm determined to start some tidying in the 'office of doom' today. I'm going to start with the untidiest bit and work around. I usually start with the 'tidiest' and never get around to the other bit No more!

Tea tonight will probably be cardboard box fish, oven chips and mushy peas. Unless I get inspiration from somewhere and cook up a feast from stores.

Given that I have been using - and I really mean using - stores and 'what I have', I am mega disappointed that the grocery money has seemed to 'evaporate' this month. If I'm not very careful, even 'bread, milk and yoghurt' will leave us in the red at the end of the month When I look through my spending diary, I see no 'caviar' 'beef rib' nor 'langoustines' :( It's all really mundane stuff And also, as I've detailed, whilst some things have gone up in price, or I've had to buy pricier alternatives, somethings I have saved on, by finding deals, or just better prices in different shops. Marmite, peanut butter, cheese and tea-bags are savings of 20 - 50p each that spring to mind.

Right, best shift-a-tail-feather and do something. even if it it just to relieve DH from child-minding duties, so that he can return to bed.

Ta for popping in and making me larf. Appreciated.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Well, I made a start at the office of doom! I've started at the 'grotty' end, and have certainly made inroads into the grot - although it doesn't look like it.........

We're pondering whether BG is coming down with something. They are intermittently coughing, have an intermittently runny nose, are intermittently teary and intermittently sleepy. In the meantime, they are racing round like a greyhound and singing all the songs :rotfl:

Tea has been munched and was as slated

I updated my accounts book and it is worse than I thought :eek: Serioulsy, I do not know where the money has gone I mean, i know what it's been spent on, but it's all stuff you are *supposed* to eat. Fruit - fresh and a little frozen, veg - fresh and frozen, wholewheat bread, some dairy etc. It pains me to think that £150 can just evaporate OK, so i paid 'full price' for most things (rather than being in the right place for YS'd stuff), but pretty much most of what I buy is bought from more or less the cheapest source (which is exhausting to try to keep on top of - I recently found that i was paying 50p more buying T-bags in HB than the same product was retailing for in MrAl.....) We eat very little 'brand' stuff - and again, what is branded, mArm1te and wh0l3 eArth peanut butter are 2 things that spring to mind, are the cheapest that I can get them, and either differ by a few pennies from generic goods or are at a quality level that I won't further compromise on, because we don't particularly like the cheaper versions.

Sure, i could probably shave a few pounds off if we, eg gave up drinking tea or coffee (I don't drink much tea, and try to keep to 1 coffee a day). We could drink tap water. But isn't that starting to impinge on quality of life? I think even Liz (Frugalwoods) allows herself coffe; just buys it at the best price for her favoured sort.

Tis a conundrum, for sure.

Think I'm gonna have to try really harder to munch down stores in February.

Feeling a bit down about it to be honest. I want to put nice food on the table, but can't seem to cut costs anymore than I already have. I do wonder if I'm doing something wrong? That is so ingrained that I don't realise that I'm doing it? I mean I've switched to buying frozen veg from MrAl - yet to try the broc and green beans I have bought. I realise that h3r0n was no longer cost effective - but they were more convenient. I've only so much room in the freezer anyway (small, under the counter, 2 and a half drawer job). There is no way BG is eating us out of house and home, and i do use some of the CHB to put toward the grocery bill.

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

making a start - it's progress

beginning the end - of a craft project

that we've made a joint decision to sever a tie - what started out as a money saving, green activity, has become a time-consuming frustration that has seen us 'lumbered' more than once. Time to let go and be grateful for what was.

Ta for popping in and reading. Appreciated.

Greying (slightly grumpy version) X

beanielou

Good idea to server the tie if it no longer serves you well.
I think you do remarkably well on the food front.
I a sorry that I have no suggestions to make.

Silver_Queen

I think you do amazingly to feed 2.5 people on £150 a month! Perhaps it is time to see whether you can increase the food budget slightly?

Greying_Pilgrim

beanielou wrote: »

I think you do remarkably well on the food front.
I a sorry that I have no suggestions to make.

Silver_Queen wrote: »

I think you do amazingly to feed 2.5 people on £150 a month! Perhaps it is time to see whether you can increase the food budget slightly?

Thank you both for taking the time to post - appreciated

SilverQueen - I'm not too sure where any additional funding would come from to 'up' the budget. Our household income hasn't grown. I'll admit to being confused even more, because there always seems to be some question whenever someone appears 'in the press' - feeding their family of 2/3/5/7/10 for 'X'. as to what that money is actually buying - is it just 'teas' or brekkie, lunches and teas etc. I spend £150 - sometimes more - on all food that we eat in the home or on a picnic. A treat at a greasy spoon is usually out of DH's 'fun' money. We don't have takeaways (I really can make that claim, as the takeaways round here are pants.......). Perhaps I am wrong to think it could be done cheaper, it just seems like a lot of money gets spent each month. Still, no point in making our selves ill by not eating properly. A conundrum, for sure.

Greying X