Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Makingabobor2

Aah yes, the magic money tree. We used to have one of those, it just only produced things on credit & never grew the money to pay it back...lol

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - Yes, a good-sized roast chicken easily stretches to an impressive amount of decent meals. It's one of our 'go-to' buys if we are wanting to keep the grocery budget on track. 

@Humdinger1 - Yes, the Magic Money Tree.......to be fair, said tree did at least shake a few leaves in my direction during the Spendy Era, as between 1993 & 2003, I received inheritances from my Nan, a Godmother I'd had no contact with for years & a great uncle in Canada I didn't know I had. I'm not talking huge amounts by any means - a few thousand each time, but of course instead of providing a useful start to some savings & motivation to change my ways, I had to use two of them for emergency repairs on the house (because I had no Emergency Fund until many years later). The first one was partially used for the deposit on buying my first house. I frittered the rest by using it to clear some debt, while continuing to build it up again immediately afterwards. What an idiot!
F

foxgloves

Morning Campers!
An early post from me today as we are aiming for an early lunch before heading off to M&S & the blue & yellow plastic plant emporium before going to spend the evening with friends. I've mostly been getting everything together to take to our friends, including Christmas presents, card, bottle, a big box of nice magazines which I've been busy decluttering, etc. We will struggle to fit in another trip to that side of the county before Christmas so I want to make sure I've not forgotten anything. I've also checked our supplies of tea-lights to see if we need to pick up any more - Nope, still got enough to light up the house like a volcano come the Zombie Apocalypse. I am wanting to buy another 3 of their rectangular lidded freezer-to-oven glass dishes as we have found the last ones we bought to try extremely useful. Will also be looking at replacement fairy lights for the kitchen dresser as I am missing those much more than I thought I would, so need to take a slip of paper measured to the max. width for the plug as some of the moulded ones are way too big to fit between the dresser back & the socket. 
Mr F noticed that we were overcharged for an item yesterday so has been back to the supermarket for a refund. No problems there & it was rounded up for the inconvenience. He also availed himself of a free coffee while he was there. He also managed to buy a windscreen wiper blade for a lot less than he would pay at the Suzuki garage where our car is being MOT'd next week. However, having tried to fit it - a job which he is usually able to do - he thinks there is a small piece missing so has driven back into town to exchange it. 
Have I done anything else of a budget-helping nature? Well, I did a survey first thing & have also cashed out my November PA earnings at £41-76. I'm going to work on re-knitting that pesky lace shawl section between now & going out, but first I am going to put up our Advent wall hanging. I have already filled it with sweeties. It's one of those pretty fabric hanging ones with pockets, which Mum made for me ages ago & it comes out every year. I have the odd numbers & Mr F the evens.......an arrangement which works around him getting extra scoffs on his birthday, lol!
Right, must crack on. Wishing everyone a lovely day,
F x

Makingabobor2

Have a lovely day. Sounds like you have plenty to do. 
Was trying to work out the blue & yellow shop....do you mean the one that starts with £?  Is that where you get your glass freezer to oven dishes?  I need some more, but the last ones I had came from L!d!, but they don'r have them now. Real Pyrex is so expensive. But I always wonder with the cheaper ones if they really are freezer to oven & MW without actually breaking.  So always happy to hear what others use. 

badmemory

I thought DS & I were the only ones that did alternate days on an advent calendar, only a bought one mind you but it helps me get back into Xmas when I have got bored with seeing stuff since the end of August.

rtandon27

@Makingabobor2 - we have a few of the Pyrex ones sourced in a sale and the rest from the Swedish store (blue & yellow) and were much cheaper! - the Pyrex ones are defiantly better quality, thinner and lightweight - but the Swedish ones, though they are thicker and heavier, are also deeper so can hold a full roast dinner for one!  Both versions are equal when it comes to versatility.  As far as freezer to microwave, I've done it from frozen solid to the defrost cycle but I think the food warms through better if it sits on the counter or in the fridge to defrost partially for a few hours first.  I've never been brave enough to go straight from freezer to oven as ours is gas, but have done freezer to defrost in microwave to reheat in the oven which works a treat for Sheppard's pie or anything with a pastry top that you want to crisp up.

PennysIntoPounds

Have a lovely evening foxgloves, and happy advent for tomorrow! Who's starting?! And will you be guilt tripped into making a treats advent for Soot and Ash 😁

Makingabobor2

rtandon27 said:

@Makingabobor2 - we have a few of the Pyrex ones sourced in a sale and the rest from the Swedish store (blue & yellow) and were much cheaper! - the Pyrex ones are defiantly better quality, thinner and lightweight - but the Swedish ones, though they are thicker and heavier, are also deeper so can hold a full roast dinner for one!  Both versions are equal when it comes to versatility.  As far as freezer to microwave, I've done it from frozen solid to the defrost cycle but I think the food warms through better if it sits on the counter or in the fridge to defrost partially for a few hours first.  I've never been brave enough to go straight from freezer to oven as ours is gas, but have done freezer to defrost in microwave to reheat in the oven which works a treat for Sheppard's pie or anything with a pastry top that you want to crisp up.

Aah, thanks. Now I know which store it is. We don't have one down our way, the one in the city about 15miles from us closed down and our nearest one is now the one I think FG must go to, which is about 30 miles north of us. Not been there for years. Used to love browsing round there and having meatballs in the cafe.   I'm always on the lookout for pyrex in CSs.  I have a pyrex jug that I have had for well over 25 years and it gets used almost daily. 

badmemory

I still use some pyrex jugs & bowls I had as a wedding present 55 years ago.  They have lasted over 50 years longer than the wedding did & I have some pyrex plates that I inherited 40 years ago & are in daily use although the pattern has all gone.  I have looked for more but they don't seem to do plates now.  This sort of thing always makes me feel very old because I keep thinking they don't make things like they used to!

foxgloves

Thanks for all your comments. Yes, I agree that the well-known brand of ovenproof glass dishes is expensive. What a good idea to look in charity shops. I must add it to the mental list of things I look out for when I visit them. We are getting on really well with the ones from the blue & yellow plastic plant emporium, so we bought a couple more while we were there yesterday. I was a slightly naughty as there were absolutely stacks of the glass dishes but not a freezer lid in sight for them, just the alternative bamboo ones, which I do like for pantry storage or lunchboxes but not for the freezer. We checked every display, even tracing our route right back to the entrance where we'd seen a storage container display, but there were no lids (sold separately) so I opened a pack from a multi-set of containers, so we could actually buy a pair with lids. I say 'slightly naughty', they were Mr F's words. I felt I had been pragmatic given that we had searched everywhere & it was the main thing we'd come to buy. I did manage to get an inexpensive replacement set of fairy lights for the kitchen dresser & we also bought a doormat to replace one we moved to a muddier doorway plus a cheap new china bowl each for Soot & Ash, so not an expensive visit, I'm pleased to say.
I haven't ever put those glass dishes straight into the oven from the freezer. I always defrost them first so as to use less gas on re-heating (I've never owned a microwave). I find them very useful for batch cooking.
F