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

Auntycaz

YorksLass said:

This morning I logged into my Co-op account to view what membership MOCs were available this week.  They normally have 8 items to choose from - only 2 allowed per week - with either 25p or 50p off.  It seems they are also tightening their belt as the offers are now 15p or 30p off.     It hardly seems worth it BUT working it out over the year you could potentially save £31.20 so, in this day and age, every penny saved helps.

I had the same with the money off coupons on my co op accoun,t but when you factor in that their prices are higher than other shops I don't think I will bother shopping there any more.

YorksLass

Auntycaz said:

I had the same with the money off coupons on my co op accoun,t but when you factor in that their prices are higher than other shops I don't think I will bother shopping there any more.

They certainly are and I definitely don't use them for my main shop.  I go once a week for a TV guide - the cheapest one you can get - as it's the nearest place within walking distance (limited choice of shops around here) and occasionally if I'm really desperate for something.  Their ys reductions aren't always that generous either but sometimes I can strike it lucky if I choose the right time.  As per the aforementioned pack of chicken thighs.  

Auntycaz

My nearest local shops are waitrose and the co op as I live quite rurally, but even waitrose is cheaper than co op and their money off vouchers are higher value. But I need to get the bus to get to both of them as I don't drive.

linz

I regularly get YS bread/rolls from my co-op & freeze them. The money off coupons include YS stuff so sometimes i'm literally paying pence for a loaf. But yes, you have to time it well - about 18.30-19.00 in my case.

linz

Small win for today - I harvested 4 small purple carrots I planted a few months ago. Still a few left but i'm quite new to growing my own so I really enjoyed picking them and cooking them to have with my tea this evening I also have some yellow courgettes that are almost ready to pick. It's a bit trial and error at the moment while I get used to growing things. I've managed tomatoes before but this is the first time i've grown my own carrots. Am really enjoying growing veg  

London_1

I have had a nice bag of windfalls from a neighbour and just spent the last hour peeling and slicing them ,I shall cook them gently in a little water to just cover them with a hefty dollop( technical cooking term ) of soft honey.once cooked and drained and cooled down they will be portioned up in soft soup bags and frozen for those cold snowy days in january and February when an apple pie and custard are just the ticket for a hearty pud.
I hope to harvest some blackberries from  the local country park later to add to my winter freezer stores.I am definitely turning into a squirell  

I got to thinking this morning ,apart from the obvious things to keep us warm during the cold spells what else can I do 

1, Walk to our local library and sit in one of their very comfortable easy chairs and read ,its warm and bright in there and the librarians like to see folk using it.

2. Use my bus pass and go for a long ride , for me probably to Bluewater which is a good 45 minutes away, then a wander round with a treat of a coffee if needed.Don;t have to spend much to window shop and its always warm in the centre.

3.Again bus pass at the ready a trip to Maidstone and a toddle around the museum there with maybe a cuppa and cheese toastie
its a case of not being in semi lockdown indoors because of the weather, cold ,rain, etc.

I do own and run a car ,but with the cost of fuel and pollution, I am trying to use it only for certain things like heavy shopping. 
We all have had to live through lockdown situations over the past two years, and I have watched the tree opposite my house grow. This year I want to do something more 'normal' and keeping warm and getting out and about seems a good start

I have a pretty good winter coat and boots and thick tights to wear under my jeans so I shan't be cold ,and being a chatty old biddy I soon will find some one to chat to.
Also I think making the effort to get out of the house and having something to focus on is good for the equilibrium. it doesn't have to cost much and the library is warm, as is the shopping centre so I'm not using my own heating so a win-win I think. Come on chums think of some other free or low cost things we can try to brighten up the looong cold winter ahead.I know many of you are a lot younger than me, and maybe have children or babies, but you too must get out, and get a bit of fresh air and socialising to take your minds off the problems we will all be facing.

Most of the local clubs etc have been closed down by our council owing to social cuts ,so its going to be a bit like it was when I was a little girl in the 1940s with my late Mum.There were very few if any clubs to go to and she would get us on a bus in london and go to a nearby area maybe a mile or two away just for a walk around different shops .

Rarely bought anything ,but to her to be able to ride on a bus and not worry about being bombed was a treat so one day we would got perhaps to Forest Hill which had a wool shop she liked ,another to Woolwich which had a street market for excellent veg. By the time I was 10 I knew most of south of the river in London and its bus routes like the back of my hand . 
So this winter I shall do as my late Mum did and get out and about on my local buses and find somewhere different if I can to visit  

JackieO xxx

boultdj

Go to a friends for coffee and catch up, take turns so only one lot of heating on, could turn it into a craft afternoon, so small sewing, knitting, card making come to mind, so old skills shared and new ones learnt, if kiddies are around they learn making and mending stuff is normal or even fun.
Do they still do cyber cafes? 

maisie_cat

London_1 said:

Rarely bought anything ,but to her to be able to ride on a bus and not worry about being bombed was a treat so one day we would got perhaps to Forest Hill which had a wool shop she liked ,another to Woolwich which had a street market for excellent veg. By the time I was 10 I knew most of south of the river in London and its bus routes like the back of my hand . 
So this winter I shall do as my late Mum did and get out and about on my local buses and find somewhere different if I can to visit  

That reminds me of when we were children and used to get the bus from Woolwich to Farnborough, Kent which seemed like a rural heaven to us. We also got the bus from Woolwich to central London for a day trip window shopping. The Woolwich ferry back and forth was another free "trip"

annieb64

Our library runs a craft group one morning a week which is free and we even get a cup of coffee now. They have several other groups -scrabble, bridge, French conversation. It's a pity it's only open four days a week.

Before lockdown some cinemas used to do a cut price film for pensioners , I don't know if they still do but might be worth finding out. Our local Age Concern has social events,  I might not like to think I am old enough to attend them but I am.

We don't have any big shopping centres like Bluewater near here and the buses have been so unreliable lately that we might end up with hyperthermia waiting for one.

London_1

maisie_cat said:

London_1 said:

Rarely bought anything ,but to her to be able to ride on a bus and not worry about being bombed was a treat so one day we would got perhaps to Forest Hill which had a wool shop she liked ,another to Woolwich which had a street market for excellent veg. By the time I was 10 I knew most of south of the river in London and its bus routes like the back of my hand . 
So this winter I shall do as my late Mum did and get out and about on my local buses and find somewhere different if I can to visit  

That reminds me of when we were children and used to get the bus from Woolwich to Farnborough, Kent which seemed like a rural heaven to us. We also got the bus from Woolwich to central London for a day trip window shopping. The Woolwich ferry back and forth was another free "trip"

 maisie_cat I grew up on Blackheath, and in the summer holidays it was Greenwich Park, and if raining the Maritime Museum to see Nelsons uniform complete with bloodstains Gory littel monsters that we were .
Riding the free ferry backwards and forwards across the Thames was great fun, also running through the foot tunnel yelling and making a dreafdul noise just for the echoes
My childhood was spent on many bombsite 'exploring' My late Mum would have had a pink fit if she'd seen half of what we got up to.Scrumping for apples and when thirsty drinking from the outdoor water fountains in the park, and avoiding the 'Parkies' as much as possible But is was good fun and as a rule free, most of my friends had little or no money anyway so you had to make your own amusements ,but you had to be home on the dot when your Mum said 5.30 she would brook no arguements or you would be grounded and made to weed the garden or something equally boring.:) 

The 53 Bus would take you to the West end if you mnaged to wangle a red rover ticket, and central london was full of exciting things to see, and museums were saved for when it rained

JackieO xx