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

London_1

Thanks for the head up re the salt and spice shop.Just back from Macknades £28.89 lighter but got soem super stuff including some lemon pepper which I had run out of. Also bought some delicious looking lamb mince and several different sorts of cheese and ham. The bill actually was £33.89 but I had a vouvher for £5.00 from the new John Lewis card provider (they have changed providers ) if I used it with my apple pay so I did and it brought the bill down a bit But a great mornings shop and I have some smashing goodies in my freezer and cupboards now.

DD bought some super trout there, not cheap, but they had bought some a couple of weeks ago, and she said it was gorgeous,also some sea bass.

I was very tempted with the fish, but didn't think there was enough space left in my freezer, but hopefully next time they go I'll have some wriggle room in there so get some fish I do have a nice wet fish shop inear where I live in Rainham and also there is the fish market at Whitstable which I like to visit now and again ,although I've not been for a good while because of lockdowns. 

Living in the Garden of England we do have some amazing places to buy stuff, and I like to use independants now and again for variety.I must admit there are some really nice farm shops.Macknades is not cheap, but as an occasional treat well worrth the trip. We also had a nice pot of tea as well  
JackieO xx

Katiehound

Yours is VERY much better than my spend today- nearly £170 at the vet! and not out of hours- 2 injections & 10 days antibiotics for my old girl.
 very ouch.
The one  positive thing I can say is : phoned at 11.55, appointment at 12.30.
Luckily my girl hasn't cost a fortune over the years- she is now 15 & 1/2

maryb

I feel most put out.  The weight of the packet of suet has gone down and whereas it used to be just right for my mincemeat recipe, now it's just a bit short.  But more to the point, there's a huge amount of flour in there.  They always used to include a bit to stop it clumping but this time there was so much I had to sieve it.  Which meant, of course, that the weight of suet was even more short by the time you took a good ounce and a half of flour out of the equation.  Swindlers!

Florenceem

I use some cornflour in a crumble to thicken up the fruit juices.
Been for our booster jabs today - got caught in heavy rain.
D - the rough sleeper has been taken to hospital in an ambulance suffering from hypothermia.

ladyholly

Katiehound said:

Yours is VERY much better than my spend today- nearly £170 at the vet! and not out of hours- 2 injections & 10 days antibiotics for my old girl.
 very ouch.
The one  positive thing I can say is : phoned at 11.55, appointment at 12.30.
Luckily my girl hasn't cost a fortune over the years- she is now 15 & 1/2

I feel your pain at the vet bit. We have just lost our 2 old dogs ( within 4 days of ach other) and the bill was over £500 for euthanasia etc. I hope your old girl makes a full recovery.

Floss

I always have cornflour as DS1 is wheat intolerant, I buy it in B&M. I have used it to thicken gravy for donkey's years (before we worked out what upset DS1) and it makes fab Yorkies

Katiehound

ladyholly said:

Katiehound said:

Yours is VERY much better than my spend today- nearly £170 at the vet! and not out of hours- 2 injections & 10 days antibiotics for my old girl.
 very ouch.
The one  positive thing I can say is : phoned at 11.55, appointment at 12.30.
Luckily my girl hasn't cost a fortune over the years- she is now 15 & 1/2

I feel your pain at the vet bit. We have just lost our 2 old dogs ( within 4 days of ach other) and the bill was over £500 for euthanasia etc. I hope your old girl makes a full recovery.

Sorry to hear your news- that must be VERY upsetting and a huge gap in your home & hearts. 

My hound has something very minor.
If we have to have antibiotics again I will ask the cost of an injection beforehand- £58 for injection! £58 for tablets. I was expecting up to £100 not a load more.
I buy all the wormers, flea treatments & supplements online and the only  other time we have been to the vet this year is for animal health check/ new pet passports.

happydenial

London_1 said:

Thanks for the head up re the salt and spice shop.Just back from Macknades £28.89 lighter but got soem super stuff including some lemon pepper which I had run out of. Also bought some delicious looking lamb mince and several different sorts of cheese and ham. The bill actually was £33.89 but I had a vouvher for £5.00 from the new John Lewis card provider (they have changed providers ) if I used it with my apple pay so I did and it brought the bill down a bit But a great mornings shop and I have some smashing goodies in my freezer and cupboards now. 
JackieO xx

@London_1 - Jackie, how did you get the £5 voucher to use with Apple Pay? I’ve had a JL card forever so it’s just swopped over, and I don’t recall seeing that offer? Thank you. 

I use cornflour mixed with plain flour when I make a slow cooker casserole to thicken the gravy, today I made a huge beef & veg (lots of veg!!) one as we had relatives over, fried off the meat in the flour mix beforehand, was delicious. I had hoped there would be some left for tomorrow, but no, the dish was scraped clean ☹️😬

t14cy_t

ladyholly, so sorry to hear of your loss, sending virtual hugs. our eldest dog has cancer again after 4 years in remission, found out after taking a large lump off her leg. nothing can be done sadly due to her age, luckily she seems well in herself so we plod on. £800 lighter this month!! itis what it is would do anything for my animals. xx

London_1

happydenial said:

London_1 said:

Thanks for the head up re the salt and spice shop.Just back from Macknades £28.89 lighter but got soem super stuff including some lemon pepper which I had run out of. Also bought some delicious looking lamb mince and several different sorts of cheese and ham. The bill actually was £33.89 but I had a vouvher for £5.00 from the new John Lewis card provider (they have changed providers ) if I used it with my apple pay so I did and it brought the bill down a bit But a great mornings shop and I have some smashing goodies in my freezer and cupboards now. 
JackieO xx

@London_1 - Jackie, how did you get the £5 voucher to use with Apple Pay? I’ve had a JL card forever so it’s just swopped over, and I don’t recall seeing that offer? Thank you. 

 

I had an email from JL saying if I used my Newday card before 23 November via applepay I would get a £5.00 credited to my account, and on Friday I did when I had to buy something and yesterday morning when I checked my online account it was there. I literally as I use it as a type of debit card, and as soon as its on my online account I pay it from my current bank account. I am now just waiting for the 372 points left over from my previous JL account to land on the new card. As its been almost three years sine I used my accrued JL vouchers that are sent from the points (my nearest JL is at Bluewater) I have £95 in vouchers to use in JL next time I go there. At the moment I can't think of anything I could want or need from there so have just been tucking them away as they come in.I will possibly go after Christmas for a look around . Why not give them a ring and ask.I was surprised and as it cost me nothing extra I was quite pleased to get the fiver off my Macknades shopping
JackieO xx