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

wort

I'm sure it's quite obvious to staff those that might be not too honest shopping.@annabanana2 as someone who works in retail and dealing with this type of thing, you would be amazed how many are not what you would expect.
very well dressed middle aged people who chat to staff and then stuff steak and wine in their bags !! As with scan and shop we identified a young couple with a baby in a very expensive pram who were fraudulent.
not everyone is a drug addict who steals,though we do get those too. unfortunately it’s not a recent thing either.

sammy_kaye18

Hello all

I have been AWOL for a little bit but just checking in to let you know we are still going here. 
Tried to have a smart meter for the gas fitted that we can top up online and keep track of but for some reason it wouldn't connect to the other meter so now we have to wait to have both meters changed at the same time even though the electric one itself is pretty new. 

Man did manage to mess up my electric meter though which meant I couldn't then top up so he switched it to constant electric which he then told me my meter won't go off and I am effectively on free electric until they come out to sort it. No idea but I havent heard anything yet and that was 2 days ago. 

Managed to catch some horrible cold bug that seemed to linger longer than it needed too. Now my in laws are getting over it and my husband has woken up today not feeling well. Doh! Thankfully I was well stocked with orange, paracetamol and honey which seemed to work wonders. I do need to stock the medicine cabinet again with vicks vapo rub! 

My son has been given more hours on his contract in work - he was on 8 hours and they have upped him to 16 so he is happy to be bringing in more money as well. 

I pulled the veg in the garden up and have been using it up slowly as I have an abundance of cucumbers and peas. But I am hoping if we get dry days over the winter then I will be able to focus on prepping for next year and hopefully pick up a few bits and pieces cheaply to get me ahead. I have already stocked up on 29p seeds so I have most of the things Im hoping to grow already.

No heating on here yet but I am going to spend today winter proofing a few bits because the weather is awful here with wind and rain and a bit of mixed hail in there too. Needless to say my daughter asked for a fleece last night (I have a big pink one she always steals) but despite having a fleece on her bed she prefers to sleep under a fleece so I think I might put her quilt under the bottom sheet instead. 

Also we have welcomed a newbie to the family - a bull greyhound x saluki puppy called Hamish. He is currently 16 weeks and doing well. Learning the joys of potty training and our other dogs seem much happier to have a playmate again. Our dog Angus is lurcher x whippet (think small lurcher) and our other dog Nicky is a chihuahua x jack russell (looks like a jack but chihuahua size) so they couldnt really play together - enter Hamish who is now giving Angus a run for his money. Also they are cuddle monsters and act as good hot water bottles! 

But all alright here.
Now off to find out the knitted socks, fleece blankets, door curtains etc. 

Stay safe and warm all 
x

Elisheba

newlywed said:

Nancy birtwhistle suggests half a lemon (a used one is ok) pushed over the spout and left overnight. I shall be trying it later!

Nancy Birtwhistle's book, Clean and Green, has become my household bible.  And it was only 99p in a Kindle sale .  Rhonda Hetzel's books are very good as well, but cover many topics, whereas Clean and Green is just about cheap, environmental ways to clean.

Nonnadiluca

@sammy_kaye18, so jealous of you having a new puppy, my two are 10 and 8 but there's nothing in the world as cute as a puppy! Nice to see you back posting.

London_1

I'm a cheery old dear this afternoon Shell Energy  have just reduced my payments by £10,00 a month as I was so much in credit. (£376) so now I will only pay £26.00 a month for at least three months plus the £66.00 I get automatically which including the credit balance should see me through the worst of the winter .I had managed to get a two year fix in August 2021and I'm not a high user anyway .(careful one at best,  as I have lots of throws and hot water bottles and a heated throw as well.)

So feeling positive about the coming winter.Plus I have a good stash of squirrelled away basic stuff tins cereals etc on my emergency bookshelves in my spare room. Had to pop to the local bank this morning and made one tiny purchase (first food bit this month ) went into Savers and got a bag of granulated sugar for 62p which will once whizzed in my blender be ideal for my cakes and biscuits as caster sugar, far cheaper than buying caster sugar as its almost double the price. 
I know how to splash the cash   

JackieO xx

Doom_and_Gloom

After years of saying we wouldn't buy an electric blanket we bought one yesterday. It isn't for the bed though, we will continue with hot water bottles in there when we need them. We plan on using it on the sofa bed in bed form during the day in the colder months and using that with blankets over us to keep the use of the heater down. The wattage of the blanket is much less than our heater. It is a double heated blanket and cost £24.99 from L!do. I'm hopeful that this will work as we plan it to.

newlywed

Elisheba said:

newlywed said:

Nancy birtwhistle suggests half a lemon (a used one is ok) pushed over the spout and left overnight. I shall be trying it later!

Nancy Birtwhistle's book, Clean and Green, has become my household bible.  And it was only 99p in a Kindle sale :-).  Rhonda Hetzel's books are very good as well, but cover many topics, where as Clean and Green is just about cheap, environmental ways to clean.

Oooh thanks… always looking for extra authors.

I bought clean and green and then forgot I had it (often the way when things are on a 99p kindle sale). Then saw someone mention it a while back and Amazon told me I already had it  

the bits I have tried so far have been very impressive. Having eczema and asthma I am always looking for less chemical options for cleaning etc, but even OH was very impressed with the citric acid kettle descaling - much better and less smelly than vinegar.

Elisheba

I newlywed said:

Elisheba said:

Nancy Birtwhistle's book, Clean and Green, has become my household bible.  And it was only 99p in a Kindle sale :-).  Rhonda Hetzel's books are very good as well, but cover many topics, where as Clean and Green is just about cheap, environmental ways to clean.

Oooh thanks… always looking for extra authors.

I bought clean and green and then forgot I had it (often the way when things are on a 99p kindle sale). Then saw someone mention it a while back and Amazon told me I already had it  

the bits I have tried so far have been very impressive. Having eczema and asthma I am always looking for less chemical options for cleaning etc, but even OH was very impressed with the citric acid kettle descaling - much better and less smelly than vinegar.

I tried the bicarb oven clean and was very impressed.  I think I used a bit too much bicarb so took a while to wipe it off, but otherwise worked as well as any shop product I've tried and no harm done to our waterways. I like that she doesn't give a lot of fancy and unneeded natural ingredients.  Some books I've looked at you would need to take out a loan to pay for all the essential oils and various things they say to add 

newlywed

@Elisheba. I already have a small collection of essential oils, from making my own moisturising creams etc, though I don’t really do that much now, and also because i keep having arguments with OH on reasons why not to buy plug in stinky air fresheners (most of them trigger my asthma).

pretty sure he thinks the more a cleaning product stinks, the better it works!

YorksLass

Re cauliflowers, I've always added the leaves to the pan with the florets and, if there's a lot of leaves, sometimes mix them with cabbage or shred to use in a stir fry rather than waste them.

Offal - I can get pigs, lambs or chicken livers at Sainsburys but not kidneys.  Our local store used to have kidneys pre-Covid, both pre-packed and on the butcher's counter.  With the arrival of Covid, the butcher's counter was closed and has never re-opened and now they don't even have the pre-packed ones.  No local butcher either.  We used to have fried kidneys with tomatoes on a Sunday morning sometimes but, alas, now have to forego that treat.  Apologies to those who don't like offal.  

Some years ago I had a trapped nerve in my back that flares up every now and again and I find it responds better to a topical ibuprofen gel than to oral tablets.  Consequently, I always like to have some in my first aid box and was quite shocked at the price of the branded one I usually use - admittedly, it is some time since I last bought any.  Lots of other branded ones to choose from but I have to avoid the ones containing diclofenac that doesn't agree with me.  The good news is that the SM one is only £2.  Not the same PL number but the active ingredient (ibuprofen) is in the same 5.5% proportion.  A new tube arrived yesterday with my grocery delivery that was all P&C with just one (acceptable) sub.