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

euronorris

I've just seen that, for nectar users in Sainsburys, there are half price Heinz products from today to 3rd September. 3 big (1kg each) bottles of ketchup for £5, 12 cans of beans for £5, 4 soups for £2 and 4 tins of spaghetti for £1.75 are a few of the deals. I think every heinz item might be in the offer, but they strike me as the best deals.

euronorris

FYI - I went to sainsburys. Quite a lot of stock already sold out. I managed to get one big bottle of Ketchup, same for Mayo, a 4 pack of spaghetti hoops and 4 pack of veggie soup. The multipacks of beans were sold (with the exception of the lower sugar one), every other flavour of soup (multipack) was sold out, and the mutli packs of the big bottles of Ketchup were also sold out. I knew they'd go fast, but wow!

YorksLass

@London_1 - A nice surprise to receive the money you'd written off and an even nicer surprise for your DGS.  You really are a very kind lady.  Bless you.

Today saw Round 2 of the freezer saga.  When I came downstairs this morning and opened the kitchen door, there was a puddle of water on the floor in front of the freezer.  I wiped that up, opened the freezer and found the drawers had frozen to the glass shelves.    After I managed to prise them out - not before one of the glass shelves fell on my foot - and I'd covered the drawers and contents in mounds of towels, DH got to work taking off the back panel and there it was - the dreaded frozen waterfall over the drain hole.  Out came the hair dryer to melt it, after which DH struggled to put the back panel in place (just 5 screws!) while I was on mopping up duties, moving wet towels and being a general dogsbody - sorry, labourer.  Two hours later - yes, two hours - we were back in business.  Let's hope that's fixed it!

Meter readings sent in yesterday, bill received today and we're now on our new, cheaper fixed price plan with a credit balance of £484 that I'll be claiming back.  Some of that will be earmarked for a new duvet and a pair of flannelette sheets but I think I'd better squirrel the rest away - just in case a new fridge/freezer is needed!     

Florenceem

Has anyone seen meat offers to freeze ready for Christmas?

elsien

There’s all you lot being good stocking up on tins and stuff for the freezer, and there’s me legging it down to Sainsbury’s for the 25% off wine offer.  😀

euronorris

Not seen any offers for meat yet. But have seen mince pies and chocolates - which had a sign saying to 'perfect for secret santa'. That was on 31st August! 🤣

@elsien 🤣🤣🤣 why not, eh? A bargains a bargain! Enjoy your wine! 🍷

sammy_kaye18

Hi all
Jeez what a shocker the last few months have been. 
Two family members diagnosed with the dreaded C, one just finishing radiation treatment, the other due to start in October and will end up with a stoma.
Grandmother managed to run herself over with her own car - yes you read that right - thankfully she was just bruised but not ideal when your mid 80s.
Niece was involved in an awful car accident. Thankfully walked away with bruising and a fractured thumb - I dont know how because if you'd seen the pictures of the car and location - Im grateful shes still with us!

But there are some silver linings - Son got a new apprenticeship, Husband got promoted to Manager and somehow Ive managed to keep my HBA1C level the same so trying to focus on positives and keep going. 

Starting to feel the pinch here. Money for the food shop does just not seem to stretch the way it use to and I'm in a house of snackers so it really doesn't stretch far. 
I have been focusing on using more pulses in my cooking and home baking a lot more than usual though so that seems to have helped. 
I do need to sort the fridge out - it has a small freezer compartment that someone left the little door flap open too so its starting to give us issues with closing the door!

Veg wise this year I am still waiting for foliage on the potatoes to start dying back, have a few cucumbers that are growing happily, a courgette on the plant and lots of flowers and a tub of carrots still going. I moved a lot of the garden round and had lots of intentions of grand planting plans but with everything else going on this year has gone a bit wayward. I don't even know where the tomatoes Ive planted went but I do know that my strawberries have gone crazy. They have broken out of the bed they were in and are slowly taking over the whole garden so I think I need to move them,

I am down to the last of last years blackberries in the freezer though so I may make some jam with the last of them as I have lemons in the fridge to use, and then head out tonight to get some fresh ones in to freeze again. 


@elsien I like your thinking!
@Florenceem Im also on the look out so if I see any I will let you know.
I generally start to put together my store cupboard / christmas cupboard about now so Im always looking for deals to put aside.
@London_1 I love hearing your stories and what you get up to Jackie. I hope your well, 
@YorksLass I hope your fridge is fixed.

Right off now to make a start on housework, Im trying to get inside in shape so I can spend the next few days of nice weather in the garden!

London_1

sammy_kaye18 I'm OK recovering slowly from my gall bladder op.Still not got a great appetite but make myself eat at least twice a day.I just discovered a large sweet potato where the veg box is that had been forgotten about so I've peeled it and diced it up and its on the stove at the moment being boil for mash it is quite a large one so once mashed I will use my ice cream scoop to 'ball' it up and once cold they will go in a small bag into the freezer.

I'm off to my youngest DDs late afternoon,I had a dig around my freezer and found several bits to go into hers as I'm trying to run mine down for a defrost before Christmas.

She was sadly flooded a couple of days ago with a bad storm but her decorator bless him turned up that evening with a water vacuum which helped her get rid of a lot of the water, then my son-in-law popped in yesterday and I emptied all my airing cupboard of towels which they will use to soak up any residue, and hopefully can get some of the carpet at the bottom of their stairs dried out a bit They have had all the windows open .basically the flash flood turned their road into about 4 inches of water as the drains just couldn't cope so although her house is around 25 feet from the road the whole of the ground floor was flooded Luckily the electrics survived OK, but the flooring in the sitting room is dreadful and her new stair carpet at the bottom of her stairs was completely ruined (its only been down three weeks) They have taken lots of photos so the insurance will help but its the awful mess thats involved. So I will be doing lots of "there there's" and making tea for her, She was really upset mostly about her carpet and its the first proper new one they have had on the stairs for 15 years (The old one had five children pounding it to bits ) and when the youngest flew the nest to Uni it was her dream to get a nice new carpet.They live in a three storey town house so its an awful lot of stairs I'm hoping its the bit on the ground floor that just needs replacing  

Eldest DD has just landed at Heathrow with her OH, they have been in New York for 10 days visiting my eldest grandson  Danny and wife, and the new much longed for baby daughter Daisy . They have been living out there for 7 years and this baby has been a long awaited arrival So I'm sure I will be seeing her tomorrow

Re stocking up the cupboards its a great idea and I do it virtually every year as because I have to use a walking stick to get around if the weather turns snowy or icy I sensibly stay indoors in the warm.

 I'm not a 'Weeble' I don't bounce back up if I fall down, and hospitals don't need daft old ladies with broken hips cluttering up their beds . So I always make sure I have a good stock of basics and tinned stuff, its surprising what you can cobble together from a few tins and some herbs or spices. I always have UHT milk in stock and fine it OK for most of my needs plus it lasts a lot longer. Several tins of tomatoes will make a nice tomato soup to keep you warm and noodles chicken into chicken soup make it a bit more heart I save the broken bits from the pasta boxes to chuck into soup as well. A good stash of books and knitting yarn and plenty of tinned stuff and I can survive the worse the weather can throw. tinned spuds are handy for curries or casseroles.You won't die if you have to eat tinned stuff for awhile  

JackieO xx

YorksLass

I did post on here yesterday but it seems to have got lost in the ether!  

@elsien - A gal's gotta have a treat sometimes!     

@sammy_kaye18 - You're certainly having more downs than ups of late so I have my fingers crossed you'll turn the corner soon and there'll be more positives for you and yours.

@London_1 - What rotten luck for your DD, I can only imagine how upset she is and hope they can replace just the ground floor bit of the carpet.

Freezer is now sorted and working again.    I'm given to understand the average lifespan of a fridge/freezer is around 10 - 12 years - although it can be longer - and mine is now 10 years old, so maybe it is living on borrowed time.  I shall be keeping a close eye on it!

We have a few days of fine and warm weather forecast so I'll be taking advantage of it.  Most of our winter stuff has already been washed and dried but there are a couple of throws that can be washed and go out on the line.  I'm planning a trip to the CS with some donations, need to collect DH's meds and want to make an in-person visit to my local Sainsburys for odds and ends that I can't get online from them.  Not all on the same day as they're all in different directions!

So far today I've cleaned the kitchen window, inside and out, before the sun gets around to it and am now having a break before I tackle the living room ones.  I don't mind doing it but it certainly takes me a lot longer these days.  Oh to be young again!      

maryb

Lol. My fridge is 40 years old!  DH replaced the thermostat when it decided to self identify as a freezer.  No plans to replace it - I’ve looked from time to time and can’t see any that are as good.  And the freezer is 20 years old