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

Wednesday2000

Pollycat said:

I've taken my thermal long-sleeved top and leggings off (wearing in the house) with the change in the weather.

The abrupt change is weather is so bizarre. I just walked to the Coop and back and the weather is so mild. I was wearing a dress and a light cardigan with boots and tights and I took off my cardigan on the way back as I got too warm.

RobM99

Wednesday2000 said:

Pollycat said:

I've taken my thermal long-sleeved top and leggings off (wearing in the house) with the change in the weather.

The abrupt change is weather is so bizarre. I just walked to the Coop and back and the weather is so mild. I was wearing a dress and a light cardigan with boots and tights and I took off my cardigan on the way back as I got too warm.

Phwoar!     The change is certainly welcome. Looking at my IHD thingy,  £0.83 thus far today including Standing Charge. Happy with that.

A few days ago it was £7. EEK!

YorksLass

This morning I added the frosted topping to the carrot cake and have also made a cheese dip to use with breadsticks, so that's taken care of the tub of cream cheese.  Sausage rolls made, half pork/onion/sage and half pork/apple/cheese - another job done and it's used up the meat from the chipolata sausages I'd bought for pigs in blankets.  After years of making them, DH announced he wasn't that bothered about them!    

Meter readings done and sent, with trepidation - waiting for the bill now.  Based on my calculations it's certainly not going to be a cheap one.     Good job we have a decent credit balance.     Mild again today, sunny this morning and cloudier in the afternoon.  Lovely red clouds at dusk.

Wondering if our (communal) bins will be emptied this week.  I hope so, they were missed last week and are overflowing.  That probably has something to do with the fact that some residents don't flatten their cardboard boxes before binning them.  Grrr.

zaxdog

Cheap Tesco steaks, roasted (from old sprouting) tatties and steamed broccoli (19p Tesco veg offer)

Meat on a weekday  but after a hard day WFH Mr Z and I crafted a pair of angel wings for a neighbour's daughter. It's her first nativity play and she is an angel so an old set of reins, sturdy cardboard wings, lots of paper feathers, wool wrapping to cover the harness, silver spray paint and rainbow glitter spray made a pretty great pair. 

Stocked up on the 19p veg at Aldi and Tesco yesterday so curried parsnip soup being made tomorrow morning for lunch (thickened with left over roasties).

Warm enough not to light the stove today but getting chilly so into bed with HWB.

Pollycat

zaxdog said:

Cheap Tesco steaks, roasted (from old sprouting) tatties and steamed broccoli (19p Tesco veg offer)

Meat on a weekday  but after a hard day WFH Mr Z and I crafted a pair of angel wings for a neighbour's daughter. It's her first nativity play and she is an angel so an old set of reins, sturdy cardboard wings, lots of paper feathers, wool wrapping to cover the harness, silver spray paint and rainbow glitter spray made a pretty great pair. 

Stocked up on the 19p veg at Aldi and Tesco yesterday so curried parsnip soup being made tomorrow morning for lunch (thickened with left over roasties).

Warm enough not to light the stove today but getting chilly so into bed with HWB.

I posted this warning about hot water bottles on another thread the other day:

 Pollycat said:

I caught this segment on This Morning a few weeks ago, may be worth a read: for people using hot water bottles:

Expert's urgent warning over hot water bottles - after device leads to hospitalisations 'once a week' - Chronicle Live

Who knew that hot water bottles had a best before date...

newlywed

Thanks @Pollycat. Rubber does perish, but didn’t know it was three years.  Glad I replaced mine last year now

Toonie

We're having a use up week as well, so tonight is chicken breast wrapped in a couple rashers of bacon. DP will have pasta and pesto with his (plus we'll make extra pasta so he can have tuna pasta for work tomorrow as we're out of bread), I'll have air fried veggies and some cabbage or green beans. The chicken was from a yellow stickered whole bird which I jointed and froze most of before making stock with the carcass. The breasts are the last bits from this bird. My lunch today is some leftover boiled potatoes which I'll turn into potato salad with a hard boiled egg, the last bit of ham, and some salad bits including the peashoots I have growing on the window sill and the fresh basil which is still going well. I've also got the slow cooker going with some carrot and swede soup which I'll blend up later and that will be my lunch tomorrow and Friday.

Katiehound

The shortest day: roll on warmth, spring & summer

Battled round Aldi this morning- picked the wrong time: when I was leaving the car park had loads of space. Tempers were a bit frayed in store. Stocked up with the cheapie veg, seems that they had a smaller delivery yesterday and sold out long before closing time. managed to get a large box of eggs, only 3 (boxes) left..... well pleased as my oldie hound eats an egg a day- but doesn't 'go to work' on it!!!!

Just found a large jar of mincemeat at the back of the cupboard, bb sometime in 2019 but perfectly fine. Some is now in a tart mixed with apple cooking in the Remoska.

Wish I had a bottle of Baileys now. Maybe a tipple of mulled wine?

Lovely sunny day here so the panels are working well.........

annieb64

Our local Aldi was very quiet this morning.  Loads of people got on the bus into town so I thought I'd do Aldi first but it was the quickest it's ever been. I had time to go to the greengrocers and bakers afterwards - again both quiet. The assistant in the greengrocers said it had been quiet all morning.  I ended up at the bus stop 15 minutes early. 

London_1

As I am away for most of next week, I  just sorted my fridge out, and peeled the last of the spuds, and they are in water, on Friday as I will be baking most of the day I will boil and mash and freeze them for the New Year.

The three large carrots I had left in the fridge I peeled sliced, blanched and froze in a small bag to use when life gets back to normal after the holiday.I hate to waste anything. 

I had a couple of the last of the sausage rolls I made on Sunday heated up with some diced tomato and shredded ham and beetroot salad for lunch.

I have dug a bit of steak from the freezer for dinner tonight, and will have it with the left over boiled salad potato from last night and some frozen mixed veg.

I have some roquefort cheese left in the fridge, which I will have on crackers perhaps for tomorrows lunch with some soup.

I still have a sweetheart cabbage wrapped in foil to use , so on Friday once I have some room in the freezer I will shred it and freeze it in some small dump zip -locked bags to use after the New Year. I will also peel and dice the three onions in my veg box and freeze those as well

Zero wasteage, and I will have plenty of bits to use up in January, but my fridge will be empty  

I have started my January 'big shop'  list, and I will use the spare cash I have stashed away over the past 6 months ,left over at the end of every month from my monthly budget.
I have around £119 tucked away which will cover washing up liquids, loo rols, detergents toothpaste and any dried good I can buy to stash away in my upstairs book slefs that I cleared a couple of months ago for the overspill from my kitchen cupboards.

January will be the start of the New Years budgets, and this coming year it will be belt tightening all round to keep solvent. I have a good amount in vouchers to use up both with nectar, Waitrose and tesco vouchers ,plus some left over cash on some M & S cards as well. So I maybe using vouchers during January to keep the cash in reserve for any large heating bills.

I usually check all my outgoing DD and see what I can haggle down I have EE ringing me on Boxing Day with hopefully a decent discount on my sim-only account. I spoke to a delightful lady last week to advised me to hang on until then as the Boxing day deals were usually not too bad and she will ring me to let me know how much she can get it down to
Every little helps as is said. trimming a few pounds here and there can soon mount up

JackieO xx