It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

GaleSF63

greyteam1959 said:

Siebrie said:

We live in a rather affluent village, and, usually, when the weather is any form of 'nice', can smell the barbecues left, right, and centre. I have not smelled a barbecue in a month! Maybe the people are guarding their money for the price hikes they expect in winter?

I live in the same sort of village but very affluent.
The number of supermarket delivery vans seen in the village  have dropped dramatically over the last 2 or 3 months.
All the major & minor supermarket vans used to follow each other up & down the village 7 days a week.
Only one or two a week now.
Maybe the same thing is happening??
A tightening of belts.

Also could be people going back to doing their own shopping - once inside the shop with everything in front of them they may even spend more!

Toonie

In an effort to spend less I try and make most of my lunches whilst I'm off work frugal. Sometimes that means making an "anything goes" salad or having some random combinations to use up bits before they go bad. Today for lunch I made bruschetta in the air fryer. Stale baguette sliced and brushed with olive oil and some rosemary from the garden, cooked for three minutes in my air fryer toasted brilliantly. Then I added chopped tomatoes which had gone a bit soft, basil from the garden, the scraps of the gammon joint I cooked yesterday, and a few bits of feta. A filling lunch in under five minutes and minimal costs.

joedenise

Toonie said:

In an effort to spend less I try and make most of my lunches whilst I'm off work frugal. Sometimes that means making an "anything goes" salad or having some random combinations to use up bits before they go bad. Today for lunch I made bruschetta in the air fryer. Stale baguette sliced and brushed with olive oil and some rosemary from the garden, cooked for three minutes in my air fryer toasted brilliantly. Then I added chopped tomatoes which had gone a bit soft, basil from the garden, the scraps of the gammon joint I cooked yesterday, and a few bits of feta. A filling lunch in under five minutes and minimal costs.

Sounds really tasty and certainly very frugal.

CKhalvashi

joedenise said:

Toonie said:

In an effort to spend less I try and make most of my lunches whilst I'm off work frugal. Sometimes that means making an "anything goes" salad or having some random combinations to use up bits before they go bad. Today for lunch I made bruschetta in the air fryer. Stale baguette sliced and brushed with olive oil and some rosemary from the garden, cooked for three minutes in my air fryer toasted brilliantly. Then I added chopped tomatoes which had gone a bit soft, basil from the garden, the scraps of the gammon joint I cooked yesterday, and a few bits of feta. A filling lunch in under five minutes and minimal costs.

Sounds really tasty and certainly very frugal.

Agreed!

I've got some carrots and sprouts in the fridge that need to be used. Will cook these later with potatoes and an onion and the leftovers will go into a wrap for lunch tomorrow. Not to everyone's taste but certainly very nice.

annieb64

The bruschetta look lovely.  We were staying in a hotel in Oporto last week and one of the starters for dinner was tomato bruschetta.

London_1

That looks delicious, and what a great way to use things up, as you say before ending up binning them. I have a stuffed full freezer now , but aim to use up the fresh stuff in my fridge before anything else. I will make a huge pile of salad for lunch consisting of shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, cucumber sticks ,chopped beetroot, grated cheese, diced pepper, some left over ham(I have two sad looking slices left in the fridge ) a hardboiled egg, liberally sloshed over with some sweet chilli sauce to liven it up and some mayo. By the time I've ploughed through that I will be totally stuffed I normally have lunch about 12,30 and then a pudding about 2.00. My DD dropped me off a big box of cherries last night ( one of her clients had droped a large tray of them in to her work so she shared them out between the girls and herself, and shared some with me as well) so it will be chopped cherries and a scoop or two of ice cream from the freezer.
I shan't bother to cook at tea time I shall just have some crackers and cheese and some fruit instead ,far too hot to cook today its still around 26c where I live in Kent and at the moment not much in the way of breeze.

One of the advantages of the hot weather is not having to cook, and just eating up odds and ends as you fancy.

I saw Martins predictions for the autumn and its not looking great is it .
At coffee morning n Tuesday we were all chatting about what we are going to do to help get through the coming months ,and as we are all around the same generation of war babies, and rememebering the rationing, we said we would probably try to emulate our Mums and lay in some essential stocks.

So we started listing what we thought of as essentials 
Lentils 
Pearl barley
Flour,
Rice, 
Sugar (granulated can be whizzed up in the blender to make caster sugar, or for a bit longer to make icing sugar )
Golden Syrup
Honey
Block butter/ block Stork margerine  (can be frozen for baking )
Gravy powder not granules (bisto)
Salt (in case of snow ) 
Pepper
Stock cubes for soup 
Pasta,
White vinegar
Tinned pichards or sardines
Tinned corned beef

anyone think of anything else to help get through what may become the next "Winter of discontent"

We said we would all buy just a few extra bits per week through the summer and stash away There are six of us and we are all good friends so if one of us runs short or can't get anything one of the rest of us will help out so not stock piling just having a back up cupboard for emergencies if things start to get scarce. All suggestions are welcome 

JackieO xx

Brambling

Jackie I always have tin tomatoes which can bulk out so much and with lentils make a great soup and some pulses either dried or tin so chick peas, butter beans etc again can be used to pad out meat dishes or added to vegetables for curries or chillies etc.  There is always spices and dried herbs in my cupboards to

YorksLass

Just off the top of my head, I'd add jelly, custard powder, tinned fruit, suet (for dumplings or suet crust pastry), some kind of pasta or noodles, lard and long life milk to Jackie's list.

I managed - at last - to get some corned beef on my last delivery (it's been out of stock for weeks) and ordered two but only got one.  I joked with the delivery driver they must be rationing it but he said they must only have had one, otherwise I would have got two.  No sense of humour!

Our clothing budget was one of the first things to be cut down this year as we have more than enough to wear and so far we haven't bought anything.  However, I did weaken yesterday and have ordered some wrap-over slipper-type mules for around the house.  Pavers sale, normally £39 a pair, reduced to £12.99, so I've ordered two pairs - better suited to the warm weather, as I find "proper" slippers too warm in the summer.  I've used my birthday cash to pay for them, so the clothing budget (little as it is) is still intact.  

GaleSF63

anyone think of anything else to help get through what may become the next "Winter of discontent"

Oats?

London_1

YorksLass and Brambling thanks for the input I shall add those to the lists. Excellent ideas, I'd forgotten about suet, jelly's are another good thought. I prefer Birds custard powder as I like custard as it will go with almost everything for a pudding. 
Keep the ideas coming chums 

JackieO xx