And now we go again...

badmemory

The last time I went in that store it was for printer cartridges.  Thinking that they sold these all the time & should be a decent price.  When I picked myself up from my faint I went a couple of doors along to mrT, still not cheap but over £10 apiece cheaper.  The time before when I was looking for something I too got read the label.  The problem was that the label obviously did not refer to the article it was near which was why I was asking.  So 2 major fails so now out of bounds.

LadyWithAPlan

I bought my video phone and cameras from C&rrys instead of Big River as was cheaper and no delivery charge if I picked up 
the item was wrong but they then sent me the replacement and waived the delivery charge so it was a good experience 

I rarely cycle nowadays in london - traffic too crazy despite the cycle lanes - they often get dug up!

EssexHebridean

Ha LaPLan yes I too have got fed up with cycle lanes either being closed for maintenance or so full of holes that they OUGHT to be closed! 

Forgive me MSE for I have sinned....I have added food to the freezer! However the food in question was beigels from the Brick Lane Beigel bake which also provided our tea last night - Oh my I had forgotten quite how good they were, it did NOT disappoint! As well as the salt beef, gherkin & mustard options for tea, MrEH also bought half a dozen fresh ones to feed us for lunch today with the remaining 4 heading to the freezer - they're 45p each and so tasty! 

MSE Stuff
- Night out with pal last night for beers - food and beers will be covered from personal spends and frankly for feel-good factor was worth every penny! 
- Travel from last night done via Oyster for the London bit and personal spends for the bus back from the tube, and I had enough on my Oyster to cover the tube bit too so hurrah for that! 
- Agile high prices continue but are looking substantially better from tomorrow - which is good as we are now down to £2.32 up on SVR for the month - I'll be looking for some low prices over the weekend to balance things out a bit! 
- A quick discussion last night while walking back from the bus relating to joint account surplus for this month, and we are agreed that as we have the balance to clear for the new office door, it makes more sense to take £200 of that surplus against that rather than adding to PB's this month. As ERNIE already clearly has a grudge against us for withdrawing previously, we don't imagine it will make much difference!
- We will have the balance to pay in a month or so for our exciting trip to stay in a fort with pals in May, so some more of the surplus will be being dedicated to that. That will also need more consideration on how we cover the remaining outstanding sum too - although personal savings will probably take the hit.
- Tonight we will be skipping the pub as we both have cars in London, and had midweek beers last night too of course.
- The leftover beef stew from the weekend will be pressed into service for tea this evening - and I'll probably do a small jacket potato each with that as there isn't quite a full portion each really.

Very few plans for the weekend aside from an online meeting to do with our volunteer role on Saturday, and the big garden birdwatch to be squeezed in somewhere too! 

rtandon27

Beigels are always forgivable! (Especially real ones) - when we go back across the pond, I always try and bring back some from Montreal when possible! - sometimes it is cheaper to fly there and then fly domestic for the rest!

EssexHebridean

Morning all - it is BREEEEZY down here, although I know some of you are getting far more of a battering so I hope all is well in your worlds! I’ve taken the bold step of pegging some washing out as there is a good breeze and it’s not that cold…and allegedly were not forecast any more rain…although I think that all fell when MrEH and I were out for a walk this morning - we got drenched! 

The nice man has been to talk about the state of our roof, and he is of the opinion that there is life in the old girl yet, so he’s going to source some of the tiles (original from the late 40’s/early 50’s - and, get this, requires a trip to the reclamation yard to source - does this mean we have a period property?! 😂) and come back and repair in a few weeks. Excellent money saving right here, I would say - although it does mean our solar quest is pushed back down the line again of course. 

Other MSE stuff:
- banks checked and all fine 
- paperwork through from Pr1nc1pal1ty confirming our 6 month regular saver maturity dates and offering us a possible option or two for new ones - that needs looking at and a decision made. 

- no refund from the Big River site but miraculously the app now tells me it’s on its way - I  suspect I would have l lost out on that had I not checked up on it! 

- WM and DW both run through overnight on the first properly cheap electric we have seen in what feels like WEEKS! As a result we are currently at 3.75kWh used today for a cost of 62p - I will take that!
- ingredients out for fish pie later - yum! That does mean I’ll want a stroll round to Al’s for some parsley later but that’s fine, and we have everything else we’ll need for that although if the super 6 leeks are available I may buy some of those. I suspect I will get enough out of it to make myself a spare portion for tomorrow lunchtime too. 
- I can do the bulk of the cooking for that directly after lunch (19p/kWh) and then just leave it to reheat later. 

- 2 more of the beigels out for lunch today - with apologies for cultural misappropriation we intend to have the last rashers of bacon from the part pack I got out of the freezer, with some Y/S’d Gorgonzola cheese and cranberry sauce in them.
- logs and coal replenished ready for the fire tonight 
- bird food all topped up ready for big garden bird watch on Sunday - this time the fat-filled half coconut has had its hanging twine replaced with wire as the chuffing Squirrel chewed through the last one and literally ran off with the whole flipping thing! 

I think I am going to nip round to Al’s now ahead of lunch - gets it done and means I am ready to start cooking as soon as the cheaper Agile slots kick in at 2pm.

rtandon27

😁 We have your squirrel's twin living locall.  The neighbours insist on putting out peanuts for him, and he dutifully gathers up and buries one by one in our garden!  (The neighbours have a plastic lawn)  I have an allergy to monkey-nuts, so when gardening I have to get the OH to deal with them.

OH has been collecting them in a glass jar and in the spring when the blooming neighbours inevitably complain about the spring influx of MrRatty & his friends from the nearby river/cemetery, he's going to present them with this winter's finds and explain to them that rodents have an incredible sense of smell.🤣🤣🤣

lucielle

lol at the squirrel. Our birds are quite fussy and only appear at the feeders now and then. 

L

Watty1

LOL at the squirrel although it must be frustrating if you are allergic.

greenbee

Re. Your roof … might it be worth you looking at either an in-roof system or getting it done at the same time as the roof repair to avoid two lots of scaffolding? 

GeorgianaCavendish

We also have a stash of fancy bagels in the freezer at the moment    I tried an 'everything' bagel for the first time a few months ago and can't get enough of them! 

There's a good article in the Guardian today about how to get the best from your freezer actually. I've been relying on the freezer a lot more since we moved out to the hamlet, so it was interesting reading!