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

London_1

So now we all know the worse,at least for the next 6 months anyway. So it tighten the belts another notch, and think how we can get through the coming months

Siebrie, you sound pretty sorted with your good ideas of eating down the freezers. maybe once one is empty, see if you can sell it. Using less energy is obviously the way ahead at the moment with costs rising so steeply.

So utilise the slow cooker if you have one ,or see if you can buy one They really do cost a lot less to run, and you can batch cook very successfully with one.

Throw Absolutely Nothing Away that's at all edible. If you can't work it into your menu then cook and freeze or just freeze. It will pay you dividends

I am eating down my freezer at the moment and have found lots of forgotten stuff in there.I found a bag of carrots I froze before December .When I have used up my present leek and potato soup they will be brought out and turned into a spicy carrot soup that will give me at least three days lunches.
I am utlising evrything I have in my store cupboards food wise and because of haveing lots of left over bits from Christmas my food shopping (which I only bought bare neccesities and essentials) was around £49 and I had an £11.00 roll over to February's food budget.
I only went fresh food shopping twice in January and as yet won't need anything until next weekend as at the moment the only thing on my shopping list is mushrooms but I can live without them for another week  

Menu plan for every day if you can and streetch stuff out as much as possible with a bowl of soup before main course ,OR a pud for dessert after main course The puds don't have to be shop bought stuff if I have any left over sponge cake in the tin I will dollop some custard on top.
A jelly with some left over sponge cake will easily make a trifle for several days (if like me you are on your own) Last night after my main meal I had the last gingerbread ring cake left from Christmas, it was from a packet given to me by one of my grandsons ,covered in dark chocolate it looked like a biscuit but was actuarlly ginger cake inside. I gave it a ten second blast in the microwaves it was just warm and the dark chocolate was starting to melt ,squished a bit of squirty cream on top and it was delicious.
Today I have just made some thick gloopy custard, which has gone on top of some stewed apples in a bowl The apples were from the freezer ,some windfalls my neighbough gave me last summer that I cooked in a squirt of lemon juice and a dessertspoon of honey.This has given me a good dessert for the next few days.
 I am out to dinner tomorrow,Sunday and Monday, but luchtime I may have some soup with some stewed apples and custard to follow. 

Soup is a great way to use up veg that perhaps is past its best and diced up couple of veg with a stock cube will soon make soup which with a good teaspoon of herbs or spices will warm you up for lunch on a cold day ,add a bit of bread and butter or a crusty roll and you will soon feel full.

Home cooking even a littel sponge cake filled with basic jam and a bit if sugar on top will give you a sweet tooth sugar rush and cheer you up.

We must think about ways to keep you full and at the same time cheerful as worrying won't help and will just depress you even more. Of course its a worry money, but we have got through the past two years and we are all survivors here.

I have had over the past 70 plus years lots of worry in my time about money, mortgages, children etc, but things really do work out and worrying never helps

 Its positive thinking and today I think we should all think of something positive and even if its only look out of the window and see how the weather is
My weather here in Kent is wet and its been raining, so on the positive side its starting to dry up, but I could think negative and think 'Oh crikey no way to get the washing dry' .

But hey I shan't be runnig around naked if the washing isn't done today I have other clothes to wear.I have a roof over my head and food in the cupboard and my family who love me ,i am indeed rich, so the bills are there ,there will always be bills and worrying won't pay them. So it may be tough at the moment but like the rain the sun will come out again and life will pick up. Positivity if possible chums 

JackieO xx

SIRENS

Thank you Floss
He did but he'd only been there less than 10 years so it won't be much, I spoke to them again yesterday so they are sending some paperwork out x

bouicca21

SIRENS said:

Thank you Floss
He did but he'd only been there less than 10 years so it won't be much, I spoke to them again yesterday so they are sending some paperwork out x

If he was in a pension scheme there may be a death in service benefit.  When I was still in work mine would have been 3x salary and I elected to have it paid to my children.

euronorris

Positive thinking for today from me:

- the tweaks we made to our energy consumption since October, have already created a reduction in our usage compared to the same time period the previous year
- the release of the actual unit rates and standing charges, meant I was able to do a more accurate prediction of our costs and it was more positive than I first thought yesterday
- I got to enjoy a leftover portion of Wednesday nights meal, for lunch (yum)

I still have a lump of a turkey breast on the freezer also, from Christmas, as the farm shop gave us the larger size in our meat pack! Has anyone done turkey in the slow cooker? Presumably the skin won't get crispy, but could produce some lovely slices for turkey sandwiches!

maddiemay

Does anyone know if there has ever been a thread for slow cooker recipes/how to use etc?
If so it might be a good time to kick it into life or start a new one perhaps?

In this vein if anyone has a Remoska they have not used for a while or know a friend/relative with an unused one I still have the (now closed) MSE thread in my bookmarks.  Mine had it's nose put out of joint by the air fryer and now Ninja Grill, but I am thinking of trying to use it again - main problem severe hand pain and dexterity problems.

SIRENS

maddiemay said:

Does anyone know if there has ever been a thread for slow cooker recipes/how to use etc?
If so it might be a good time to kick it into life or start a new one perhaps?

I'd be interested in some ideas too, mainly use mine for stew, chilli, spag and curry. I bought a new smaller one end of last year that has a non stick inner so I can brown food first. 

euronorris

There was definitely a thread in the past, as I remember looking up recipes and ideas when I first got ours.

One thing I tried it for this week was jacket potatoes. !!!!!!, rub oil over, wrap in foil and then into slow cooker on high for 4 hours. I did 4 in one go. Obviously not crispy skin, but still tasty. DH and I both had one each for lunch yesterday. I took mine to work with me, with half a pot of beans and some butter. Tasty, filling and cheap. I also happened to notice the price list for the food van that swings by every day. A jacket potato with beans from them would have cost £3.50! 😳 was glad I had my own budget version!

euronorris

The blocked out word was another way of describing poking holes into the potato with a fork lol

Wicked_Lady

In the Oxon/MK areas there are some newly set up Community Larders What is a community larder? - SOFEA

For a small weekly amount these are a great way of keeping your shopping budget low and you can also pick up free fruit and veg from the tables. Definitely worth investigating; they might be around by different names in other areas. The money saved could help towards fuel or other bills.

happydenial

maddiemay said:

Does anyone know if there has ever been a thread for slow cooker recipes/how to use etc?
If so it might be a good time to kick it into life or start a new one perhaps?

By mere coincidence, I have been reading the Slow Cooker thread recently and still have the tab open -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4273/slow-cooker-the-recipe-collection

I'm using mine right now for leek and potato soup, and made a lovely beef casserole in it either this week.