Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Elisheba

You have prompted me to review the cost of cat food again, as I haven't in a while.

I don't use sachets as they are more expensive. Before the pandemic I used to be able to get 48 tin's of Butchers Classic from P3ts at H0me for £20 on special offer. I've currently checked and it's now £18.59 for 24, no special offers in sight. So almost 100% rise in costs.

Thankfully my two cats, despite spending their entire lives refusing to eat non brand food, now don't seem to mind it at all. So I can get 24 cans from L!dl for £15.96 currently. It's still over 50% more than I was paying, but not quite as much as it could be. I've not seen anywhere cheaper than that at the moment.

foxgloves

@Elisheba - My first cat used to love a tin of 'Classic'. My concern about pouches was the amount of them going to landfill, but recently, we've discovered that our local C**p collects them for recycling, so at least we can take them there. The price increase you mention is enormous. I think that's the thing with the current economic crisis - inflation has both struck & risen swiftly with zero chance of incomes & people's circumstances catching up. And we all know from experience that many grocery items have risen at a greater level than the headline inflation rate.
F

foxgloves

Thanks for your comments - it's always good to see readers contributing. We are living through some worrying times politically & economically, that's for certain & I am more than ready for change, starting with the local elections in May hopefully delivering a blimming good kicking.

Well, I've just got in from the garden in good spirits. Mr F made us beans on toast & coffee for our late breakfast & I think they must have been magic beans (no, he hasn't exchanged them for the family cow!).because 5 mins after he'd eaten them, he announced his intention to go to the village garden centre to get this year's compost & grow bags. I'd budgeted for these, but we intended to get them delivered. He got a bee in his bonnet that they'd either.come on the day we need to go into the city centre & would be nicked by the time we got home....or they'd arrive during sleet & he'd be taking soggy cold sacks through the house (no side access to back garden). So he made 3 trips & brought it all home himself, after which he started constructing a little rustic pathway at the back of the herb bed using oddments of slabs we already had.
I've been in the greenhouse. October-sown sweet peas potted on, staked & fed. Chilli seedlings potted on & now under bottle cloches on an upstairs windowsill. Peppers & first lot of tomatoes (Roma) sown & in heated propagator. 
Mr F's cooking night & he's making an old favourite - WW's one-pot goulash..I'm destined for the tub, as feel 'proper composty'.....then feet up time with my book.
Temperature outside had noticeably dropped when we went back outside after lunch. I can well believe this cold snap is on its way.
Get those layers on!
F x

scandimore

Mr F sounds supercharged! 

I've got chillis, aubergine and 4 x types of tom in the heated propagator and they're all sprouting. Love watching them come up a bit more every day. 

It definitely is dropping in temp, went for a walk this morning with Mr S who didn't even bother with a coat, I meanwhile had 3 layers on and a scarf! Enjoy your cosy eve

Tescodealqueen

Impressed with Mr Fs bargain. I am feeling a bit annoyed but silly because it’s nothing I could do anything about. OH spent a ludicrous amount on hearing aids from Mr B**ts  late last year. I earned 28 pounds of Advantage points which was great, they are currently offering £250 pounds worth of Advantage points on the same purchase. 

ladyholly

Funny you mentioned local elections.  We had a leaflet from Tory councillors in our area. Their policy was cleaning up paths, ensuring dog poo was cleaned up and something else equally mundane. Nice to see ambition from them. I would say most of the rubbish on the paths come from the recycling men not picking up what they drop and what blows out of boxes which have no covers or lids.

Suffolk_lass

I brought one of the heated propagators indoors on Thursday or Friday as there was no sign of chilli activity but I now have tiny green loops in all three pots (I am growing Cayenne, Tabasco and Jalopeno this year). Lots more action in the propagator of tomatoes with half of each half-tray showing shoots (4 varieties, two are already up). With the possibility of cold weather I am resisting the urge to plant more yet.

I know the neighbouring Village has had real problems with dog fouling and has resorted to CCTV on the playing fields there. Although mundane, it has resulted in a lot of vitriol by residents on the message app and FB page. The playing fields trust, rather than anybody political, has moved to install, because of the impact on the footballers and the children's play area. Our village parish council (well me, actually) has provided small finger-post mounted boxes for dog poo bags as some people forget, some drop them, and some don't care or bother. At least the first two are catered for here.

Our compost all got collected from the local agricultural merchants by both of us and our trailer. As you know fg, we might move. Can you imagine the removal company quoting...?

ladyholly

There is no excuse for not picking up dog poo and although I agree there is a problem round here dog walkers themselves could solve a lot of it by picking it up even if its not from their dog. On the green near us there are 2 bins so you dont even have to carry it far.

Having said all that yes it is something the councillors should be looking at but we have children in the area but no play equipment anywhere close except a couple of goal posts. The dog warden spends most of teir time on other things and when they are available their time is on the beaches not in the parks. We have trees that are under preservation order but never receive anyt care so they are gradually having to be felled because they are dangerous. We lost about 6 last year. This is a low wage economy and the only things we seem to get from the council is pointless bit of sculpture, shops being turned into flats for students etc.There is no ambition in the town or shown by our councillors. 

foxgloves

@scandimore & @Suffolk_lass - I love seed-sowing time & seeing them pop up.  I'm taking it slowly because of the very cold weather forecast. I've usually sown some of the hardier annuals by the end of Feb, but I think they will catch up once we get this cold snap out of the way....then I shall need to spend some serious time in the greenhouse.

@Tescodealqueen - There's nothing you could have done about missing that points offer, but I'd have been mad about it too. 

 @ladyholly - Dog poo situation improved hugely here but has recently deteriorated again. I actually think it is likely to be a single owner who couldn't care less. On my last walk around our end of the village, not only were there several nasty piles to avoid, but 3 poo bags which somebody had helpfully filled before tucking them under people's hedges. I wouldn't mind betting these also came from the same person. 
Re local council. That's frustrating, but don't forget that local authorities have had their government funding cut by 40 -50% by the current shower. That's a colossal reduction in available funds with which to get creative.....though I do agree that there needs to be a degree of creativity/flair among councillors too. My experience is that the majority of input from the public to local councils is about dog poo, cost of parking & pot holes, followed by ASB. 
F

foxgloves

Morning Campers!
Just catching up on here before breakfast is allowed! I decided to do my regular Monday morning budget updates early to free up time tomorrow, so everything's now looking nice & straight & I know where we are. I definitely prefer being in control of our finances, rather than how it was in the old pre-LBM days, always wondering if this would be the day my cards were stopped at the supermarket tills. Urrrgh, I couldn't go back to living like that again. I wasted so much mental energy feeling annoyed that I 'never had any money' but it took over 2 decades for me to connect this with the fact that I kept spending all that I earned, plus more every month. A classic case, I think, of people not being able to embrace change until they are truly ready.
Anyway, I'm digressing.....our weekly grocery shopping came in at £7.61 below target & the quarterly A*di pantry re-stock came in at £39.04 less than the maximum amount I had budgeted, so the best use of the latter is probably to off-set the next fish box, which I think will be towards the end of this month.
I've got bread dough proving, so will be baking a loaf later, & I'll also be sewing in the ends on the sock I finished knitting last night & casting on its pair. Otherwise, a generally lazy day planned here. Mr F will be roasting a chicken later, which is in my sights for 3 further days of meals & some stock. 
Enjoy your Sundays, & keep your hands on your pence,
F x