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

Floss

I want into my local Co-Op to drop off an Ebay parcel for courier collection, and was pleased to see lots of peppers (2 bags of 6 value peppers at £1.39 each came home), at least a dozen lettuces & several packs of tomatoes. 6 peppers now slow roasting in the oven underneath my baking / cottage pie, 6 left on the shelf in the chilly outside bin store to keep til next week.

boultdj

No idea @euronorris, I've not tried that brand of cheese before, but I mainly use it for cooking with or going on top of pasta.

Fingers crossed for the passata when I go.

Nelliegrace

We are going to continue to eat from the store cupboard and freezer for the next few weeks. We store the harvest, make jam, stock up for Winter, and get a bit extra for Christmas, shop in the post Christmas sales, and now it is Lent and the hungry gap for gardeners, and we make use of the reserves. The pulses we use least often, the bits put in the freezer when they would otherwise go to waste, and then forgotten. It is why they are there, and nothing is a bargain if it is wasted. 

Auntycaz

@euronorris another cheap tinned fruit for making fruited jellies is peaches. I have tried the morrisons savers and the sainsburys hubbards both 34p a tin and both nice. I sometimes put some in my porridge or just have them as they are straight out of the tin. They're handy to keep in the pantry for when you fancy something sweet but not too expensive.

weenancyinAmerica

Thank you @Auntycaz - I was trying to think of what my mother fed us when we were sick in addition to chicken soup. Canned peaches was perfect. That and applesauce or toast seemed to be the standard fare.

Siebrie

QueenJess said:

I was confused when I wasn’t charged for my prescription last week. I had to specifically ask to pay for it. Turns out they had my pregnancy exemption logged in the system still, but my daughter is nearly 2 so it ran out about a year ago!

I'm in Brussels, and waiting lists for creches (starting at 3 months) are very long. The Dutch language daycare our eldest was going to only accepted babies-to-be on the waiting list if there was a proper letter from a doctor that you were expecting. So, the moment I got pregnant again, I made sure I was on that list. I lost the pregnancy at 7 weeks, and it took another 4 months to get pregnant again. Occasionally, the daycare would ask how my pregnancy was coming along and I would just reply 'fine'. According to them, I was pregnant for almost 1.5 years!

Bluegreen143

Oh wow that’s crazy that you need to get on the daycare list before the baby is born!

I didn’t have an issue finding a childminder when my DS was 8/9 months old, for him starting at 12 months old - I also had the option of a good private nursery which had spaces. I was in denial about having to go back to work so I think that’s why I put it off 😅

When my DD was two I was able to get her straight into a nursery the next month when I was unexpectedly offered a job (as I had been a SAHM at that time) - but I think it tends to be easier to get slightly older kids in quicker, as they have more spaces for older kids. 

Preschool nursery is another story, here you need to apply when they turn 2, for them starting once they are 3.

EssexHebridean

boultdj said:

Farmfoods leaflet says prices are locked  in till the 13th March.
I'm going down this coming week as the passata is still 4 for £1 as well as wanting to stock up on the cheese, I will grate and freeze it in the size we use.

Might try to find time to swerve in to FF's at some stage over the weekend then - I usually pop in every few months to stock up on tinned tuna too. that butter would be an absolute bargain but I just bet it's nowhere to be seen in our local store! 

Cheddar cheese - T's Finest option these days is Davidstow I think, and all it's variants are on CC price at the moment, or rather, they were on Saturday. I grabbed a pack of the Vintage one when we were in as that's absolutely delicious! 

Loving the idea of using the glass ramekins for individual jelly portions - I might steal that one to take forwards I think! 

*edited to add an apostrophe otherwise the forum software though my reference to the store with two F's was being rude!   

Longwalker

Trying not to spend this week, we are on a weekend break come Saturday for 3 nights 

Its another budget break, real budget, I managed to use my Tesco vouchers on the hotel so paid less then £50 for the three nights for the 2 of us  Wetherspoons will feed and water us as usual and apart from one trip where we need to use the bus - the feet will get us about. Hotel supplies toiletries and hairdryer so we haven't even booked any luggage, a small day pack each with clean undies and a couple of changes of tops ( luggage - even a cabin bag was dearer then the flight )

So luckily theres lots of "bits" in the freezer. Odd sausages , bits of fish, pie fillings etc etc so apart from bread and milk and some root veg, I should be ok for the week. I have a decent amount of joints stashed from the Christmas reductions but I dont want to be adding more left overs to the freezer. Ive a salad drawer full of salad so will use that as well and mum likes to make herself a salad when Im not here to cook.

Hence we only have 3 night breaks a couple of times a year, mum can no longer cook for herself. She can make something on toast, heat a can of soup, but cant manage with saucepans and timing things. A friend takes the dog and the cat has a flap so a couple of days is just doable 

On the cheese front, you can not beat Lidl's extra mature imo. Its beautiful, a really good eating cheese ( too good to cook with ) But only the white - the red is awful.

QueenJess

Bluegreen143 said:

Oh wow that’s crazy that you need to get on the daycare list before the baby is born!

I didn’t have an issue finding a childminder when my DS was 8/9 months old, for him starting at 12 months old - I also had the option of a good private nursery which had spaces. I was in denial about having to go back to work so I think that’s why I put it off 😅

When my DD was two I was able to get her straight into a nursery the next month when I was unexpectedly offered a job (as I had been a SAHM at that time) - but I think it tends to be easier to get slightly older kids in quicker, as they have more spaces for older kids. 

Preschool nursery is another story, here you need to apply when they turn 2, for them starting once they are 3.

Yes, it's a nightmare round here for nursery as well.  You need to be on the list for our local one the day you find out you are pregnant.  I didn't do it then and couldn't get in... we have a place for September, but luckily managed to get in one further away until then.  It just gets worse and worse as they have built thousands of houses round us, but no extra doctors, shops (there is no supermarket here) or nurseries/nursery places.  They did build a new school, so I guess that is something..