Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Another very wet day, though real sun is forecast by early evening. No car boots: they are rained off and the fields are being reassigned as marshes... boatloads of my distant Dutch ancestors will be arriving to dig drainage canals at any moment. I may have made that last bit up.

DH is decorating - the really hard bit over the stairwell. I will say 'eek' right now because the most useful things I can do are stay away and assure him we can get a decorator in if necessary.

I'm mending jumpers. Three of DH's have developed either seam splits or a random and very visible hole that looks as though a thread has snapped. I've also taken to rubbing bits of walnuts into yet more furniture: the latest is an old chest of drawers and the old veneer drank up the oil and virtually smiled at me, it looks so much happier. That's a job to do in bits as and when I feel inclined but yesterday's results have really paid off.

We are wondering whether to attempt to use the £10 off a £50 spend that's arrived on my L!dl app. We could do with more fish or chicken but the freezer is full. We have cereal left over from the £5 off £25 voucher shop last month. We could maybe add a 4-pack of baked beans to the emergency cupboard and replace some packets of sugar so I can bake and besides it lasts forever. I can see I need t make a list.

WelshmansDaughter

Were you going to spend £40 today? 
That's usually how I resist the marketing offers

Cherryfudge

WelshmansDaughter said:

Were you going to spend £40 today? 
That's usually how I resist the marketing offers

No, nothing like it! The trouble is we would probably spend it over the next week. While I'm off work, although I'm on full pay for six months, I can't pick up extras and it does make a difference to my income. I'm also being careful because I managed to get overdrawn through not keeping an eye on cash flow, which has made me feel that finances can be fragile. This is despite having savings: I don't want to dip into them. Having a £10 discount therefore seems sensible even if it's set against future needs.

Of course you are right and it's a marketing ploy. Perhaps DH and I need to plan a trip in the evening when there may be reductions, but even that's not much sense if there's no freezer space.

Tonight we are having chicken chasseur using full price chicken but also mushrooms that have been sitting in the fridge long enough. In fact, the sun just came out so I will put the mushrooms out in it as they apparently then increase their vitamins value after a couple of hours, so a nice freebie.  

in_need_of_direction

The frozen food shop has their offer back on three four packs of branded baked beans for a tenner.

Sun_Addict

I got a £15 off £100 spend voucher from Lidl. They obviously think I’m rich 🤣🤣

WelshmansDaughter

I just get annoyed with stuff like that now. It is based on the psychology trick of people thinking they are getting a deal. Which means every day prices are higher than they need to be grr

Cherryfudge

in_need_of_direction said:

The frozen food shop has their offer back on three four packs of branded baked beans for a tenner.

Ooh, thanks - will have a look! I wonder if they'll combine it with the Tuesday discount for 60+es?

Sun_Addict said:

I got a £15 off £100 spend voucher from Lidl. They obviously think I’m rich 🤣🤣

I remember last time I had similar (£5 off £25 spend) and you mentioned some people getting the £10 off £50 spend. So I did my £25 shop, and I go up a stage, and now you are going up too... if it weren't time limited it would be useful but as it is, I need to eat some stuff up from last time before I stock up again. I bet next time I don't get the £10 offer. There's a limit to how much people can or want to buy!

WelshmansDaughter said:

I just get annoyed with stuff like that now. It is based on the psychology trick of people thinking they are getting a deal. Which means every day prices are higher than they need to be grr

Good point, we get the offer whether we can use it or not, but someone is still paying for it.

Cherryfudge

I've managed a few things today though I also seem to have spent a lot of time in front of the computer. The rain petered out in the afternoon, by which time DH had packed up the paint and we'd both scrubbed away various droplets that got round the dust sheets. Paint seems determined to sabotage our best efforts.

All three jumpers got mended, and some laundry got done. We decided not to go to the chippie so I made chicken chasseur for tea and there's enough for tomorrow too. I will appreciate chips all the more for a break from them! There's still half a punnet of mushrooms to use up but I threw some oddments of vegetables into the chasseur to add colour and bulk and prevent waste. I forgot I had some cous cous made up in the fridge so I'll have to be creative with that in the next day or so.

Once the weather was dry enough we went for a walk, then DH was thinking of going to the supermarket to get a pastry which reminded me I had bought things for a recipe I'd seen on social media. I spent the rest of the evening baking - some little apple puff things which are just honey and apple on puff pastry, then a cake. I forgot how to do a Victoria sponge! This is a complete turn up for the books as I've been a confident baker for years, but it's been a  while. Anyway, I made my first ever fatless sponge instead. The poor thing was overbaked but I've iced it and put desiccated coconut on top: a childhood memory of cakes my Mum used to make though I don't know if she ever did fatless sponge either.

I have to confess I've thrown out the eggs I froze a couple of months ago. They were on the 'mature' side when I froze them and although they didn't quite float, I couldn't bring myself to use them.

I've not spent anything today, I can't remember what DH bought but I don't think there was much.

Honeysucklelou2

Didn’t know that about mushrooms.  The apple turnovers sound delicious. Love baking but not so many to eat it up so am doing less these days!

Cherryfudge

Honeysucklelou2 said:

Didn’t know that about mushrooms.  The apple turnovers sound delicious. Love baking but not so many to eat it up so am doing less these days!

I checked and it's Vitamin D they produce in response to UV light.

I'm sure you've baked more than many a good-sized bakery in the past few years!