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

silver-oldie

You can use John Lewis vouchers in Waitrose.

happydenial

@London_1 - thank you, I’ll check my email and ask DH to check his too, £5 off is very useful these days! I too use my JL card as a ‘debit’, pay it off every month and use the vouchers in Waitrose for my Xmas shopping. 

ladyholly

t14cy_t said:

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

Thank You. I am so sorry to hear of your dog. I hope she can go on a bit longer without suffering. The heartbreak is the price for all the love and joy our furry commpanions give us. x

joedenise

silver-oldie said:

You can use John Lewis vouchers in Waitrose.

I suspect that JackieO's nearest Waitrose is also at Bluewater, inside JL!  It's also my closest but I live the opposite of it to JackieO.

Wednesday2000

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.

t14cy_t said:

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

Sorry to read this.xxx

One of my dogs died last year and he had so many health problems in his final years. Touch wood but we have been lucky with our remaining pets this year.

London_1

Indeed it is there is a Waitrose at Allington,Maidstone, but that is around 12 miles away and not a very big one either as its on a small houseing estate.
I hope you get the extra fiver as its a nice little unexpected bonus
Had another unexpected bonus this morning as my EE regular payment has been reduced ,quite why I have no idea but I have Sim only on my Iphone and its gone down to £8.76 from £10.94 so an extra £2.18 I wonder if its because my contract is due to finish in January and they are hoping I will stay with them .I shall phone after Christmas and see what they say.I have been with EE for well over 20 years and when I renewed my contract almost 18 months ago I had a nice customer reward for staying with them of only paying £10.94 a month ,but I know I can find an even cheaper Sim only deal so I may have to haggle them down again  
Every little helps in these stringent times and even a coupe of pounds is extra in the coffers

JackieO xx

sammyjammy

@London_1 have a look at Giffgaff, I pay £6 a month for SIm only, gives me everything I need.

happydenial

Talking of Waitrose, DH received another six £8 off £40 vouchers this week, very useful at this time of year. 

newlywed

happydenial said:

Talking of Waitrose, DH received another six £8 off £40 vouchers this week, very useful at this time of year. 

That’s good. My last ones were £8 off £100 so left unused. Hoping for some more with a lower spend limit on them.

YorksLass

What's left of this month's grocery budget is looking a little on the lean side - a tad over £13 left - but I'm OK with that, considering I've made up for last month's overspend and I don't really need anything else for the rest of the month.     I've a good store cupboard and the freezer will provide us with meals for a good while yet.  I'm resisting the urge to make anything that fills it up even more as I need some space for the Xmas stuff.

GaleSF63 - yes, that's the kind of thing I was thinking of, they look yummy.

JackieO - I usually add curry paste to my parsnip & apple soup but nutmeg in it sounds interesting.  I'm another one who loves spices, especially nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.  Not averse to chilli or curry either.  

Our heating is now on the timer permanently - early morning for when we get up, a top-up at lunchtime and again early evenings when we're not moving around so much.  We actually had some sun this morning after seemingly endless days of rain and fog but it's definitely a lot colder here now - currently 8c and tonight we could be -1c.  Alas, the sun didn't hang around long and this coming week is predicted to be up and down weather.  It will soon be officially winter - the heatwave seems a lifetime ago - so for us the heating is a "needs must" I'm afraid.