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

TheAble

Onebrokelady said:

I was in Sainsbury's this morning and they had 19p veg, they were really well stocked too 

Excellent-looking quality as well. Fantastic value at 19p.

London_1

linz said:

London_1 said:

My youngest granddaughter has sadly parted with her OH, and as a teacher is on her Christmas break at the moment.She texted yesterday and asked if she could come round and make some sausge rolls tomorrow morning.

So I've just whizzed up to the large Tescos to get extra puff pastry and some sausage meat. No blocks of pastry left, so had buy some ready rolled stuff which will have to do, and the tiny trays of sausage meat at £3.50 were not really enough and no way was I paying £7.00 for two trays so, I bought instead 12 Cumberland sausages for £2.60, and 8 Lincolnshire sausages for £2.00 so more than enough for her to use to make some sausage rolls as we can strip the skins off, with bangers left over for our lunch

I used to make my own puff pastry but with the price of butter ,plus all the faff of rolling and folding it, I decided to buy ready-made as it does save a lot of work DGD Holly won't mind ,I think she just wants a bit of 'normality and cooking time with Nanny as she did when she was a little girl. I shall make her laugh  and fill her up with lots of coffee and TLC.

I was in there before 7.00 and back home by 7.30am. nice to shop without all the pushing and shoving. Only have to pop to the library later to return my books All shopping done and dusted until the New Year thank goodness

JackieO xx

THat sounds lovely, making home made sausage rolls with your nana - I wish you were my nana I love old Christmas traditions. I love watching the wartime program can't remember the name, where they show how victorians etc managed at Christmas. I have some of my nana's home made tree decorations on my tree, must be about 80+ years old now, little men made out of pipe cleaners with faces painted on shiny little baubles . Home made stuff is always the best.

Bless her she was amazing this morning, and our production line turned out 6 dozen for her Mum for Christmas ,plus I snuck across to the super bakers across the road, and treated us both the a fresh cream doughnut each.When down very well with a cuppa. We had a great morning and she's coping very well and we had a long natter as well,I'm pretty sure she will be fine as she has a good circle of friends plus her family to keep her chin up. Her colleagues at work have been pretty good as well,(she is a primary school teacher) and everyone has rallied around her and even her OH's parents are ashamed of how he has treated her But she is looking forward at the moment and doing Ok bless her. A good dollop of common sense runs through her veins, and she got plenty of TLC from me  which helps I think. 

JackieO xx

Floss

My local Asda was well stocked too, but there will be lots of pigs in blankets reduced tomorrow as almost all I could see were dated 24/12 🤷‍♀️. I managed to find some dated 27th at the back, as I don't have freezer space for them!

Floss

Oh, and granulated sugar is 89p / kg in Home Bargains, 95p in B&M.

YorksLass

Another busy day in the kitchen - leg of pork has been cooked and will be sliced tomorrow so it will just need re-heating in gravy for "The Day" with the rest going in the freezer.  Stuffing made too, along with 8 fat fruit scones to fill up the oven space.  Tomorrow I'll prep the veg and make the gravy so all I'll have to do on Sunday is roast the potatoes and turn on the hob for the pans.  No Xmas pudding as we're not fans - and usually too full anyway - but I do have a cheesecake in the freezer, should we fancy some later on.  Bread maker has been on too.  I don't mind making all these things but can't say I'm a fan of the washing up afterwards!  

Last lot of laundry done too, sadly drying indoors since we've had rain all day.  At least it's not as cold as last week and I really hope we don't get the awful weather that America is currently having.

London_1

Just what I didn't need spent the morning with DGD baking umpteen sausage rolls she went off happy with 6 dozen of them, I started after lunch to cook DGS Jack's cheese and onion ones that he likes, and they were OK then started on my youngest DDs meat ones .
Then the element went on my cooker, so I had to bin 50 half cooked sausage rolls I wasn't going to take a chance on making anyone ill.

Oh dear its a nuisance but as I only use the oven for baking I will just have to wait until the New Year to get a new element . its put me all behind though and I am just grabbing a quick cuppa while wrapping 14 Terry's' chocolate oranges that I made little snowmen covers for all the family as table decorations.

I'm off to my eldest DGDs tomorrow morning, laden with stuff for the two little -granddaughters, then home after lunch to pack and go to the eldest DDs until mid morning on Christmas day, then from there to youngest DDs for several days then back to the eldest for New Year.I shall be worn out by January when I eventually get back to my own little house :0 but I have to split myself in two for the two DDs to keep them both happy.

Right back to the wrapping, tea break over  

JackieO xx

KxMx

I had to pay £2.19 for a 450g tub of Flora Light in Lidl today... I needed it before Christmas and Lidl was my last shopping trip before Christmas! 
I remember not so long ago when my target price was £2 per kg, easy to find it somewhere on offer, then it got a bit harder but still doable, now it's impossible with my best price at £3.60 a kg recently, and what I had to pay today!

I also had to pay £1.45 for a kilo of Lidl own brand sweetcorn (I ran out of evening meal frozen veg plus i'm batch cooking a bolognese sauce soon), I looked in Iceland the other week knowing my batch cook was upcoming, they've have shrunk their frozen veg again so £1 only gets you 600g which is quite shocking really.

I did today however manage to get Birds Eye Chicken Kiev (i've tried own brand several times and always end back with BE) 70p cheaper than I know they are in Iceland.

mumf

Unfortunately,illness has knocked me for six. Long term.   living is the plan,but who knows? There is a chance ,big chance , that life may be short. But that ain’t the plan! We are ( wife and I) into a low income now.A very low income. For the first time ever in 35 years of marriage. To be frank,we can get by right now ,but simply without a lot spare. We have lived a simple life I guess ,especially when I look at how people stress about ‘stuff’. So,in order to make positive moves ,and that is most important to us, watching costs is there! This place is excellent it appears! 

So , all being well after hospital,I will be in charge of general shopping. After house and heat ,food is so important,or perhaps more important? Thankfully,the house is long paid for,and we do have a ‘ moderate’ fund for maintenance. So food and cleaning etc. is next. 

Gone to the trouble of drawing up a list ( what a list) of what we use. Then price comparisons between 3 places we would shop. Done it old fashioned on a clip board too! Very interesting. So all being well I will chip in if that’s ok? 

Another thing too.Whilst I have always been the kinda chap who is conscious of folks not so well off,I really am now. My wife bless her works in our community and deals with that with children,so she especially gets it. 

Take care allx

London_1

mumf sorry to hear you are ill honey, I hope things may improve for you and your wife. Life sometimes throws some awful stuff at us at times

Just been listening to the wireless on LBC and there was a chap on there who ,bless him is sleeping in his car. Poor bloke is crippled with arthritis, and has lost his home and everything, and at 61 ir reduced to this.
What is happening to this caring country, when people are sleeping in a car, or a shop doorway.
OK there is Crisis at Christmas, but this is going on all year round .He has to bin dive to eat, and this is in Maidenhead, Berkshire a fairly affluent area of the south. Homelessness is on the rise sadly and I think it will get worse to be honest. One reason why I am a firm supporter of the Sally Army and they get my Christmas card and stamp cash every year.I have also donated to them this year as at least I have a roof over my head and food to eat. 

Yet he wasn't complaining  ! and said at least in his car he can lock the doors and have a little bit of safety, whereas on the street there is very little

JackieO xx

Floss

@mumf hope you're with us for the long term. You will find all sorts of tips & hints on MSE, some incredibly useful and some downright ridiculous in your circumstances (not heating one's home for example) so I'm sure there will be ways you can shave your budget. 

Are you a cook, by any chance? If you're going to be mainly at home maybe you could take on the challenge  of managing the household catering, both budget & cooking?