From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Bluegreen143

I love my air fryer Greying, I use it pretty much daily. BUT I am mainly using it to cook the meat or fish portion of my meal. Very occasionally chips or roasted veg, but I’m not convinced I would use it much if I was a vegetarian. 

Capacity of ours is fine to cook a meal for four in. It’s a two basket one but I can fit protein for four in one basket and veg or chips in the other if I want. I don’t worry about the stuff overlapping on top of each other, I just shake it around through the cooking time and give it a little extra time if needed and it’s fine. 

Greying_Pilgrim

Ay up Bluegreen - yeah, I tend to think the same about airfryers for veggie cooking.  I did think the same for slow cookers for a long time, but did finally indulge, and on balance, it's 'just about' useful.  But there's quite a price differential between those two appliances, so I think I'll not be having one for a while longer yet.  Besides which, there is just not the space in the kitchen to store/use it.

Have done the shopping.  MrL very quiet this morning.  Either everyone has flown off to find some sun for a holiday, or they're getting tired of lack of pricing on shelves alongside empty shelves and freezers as well as prices that seem to go up every week.  My very small shop came to £16.67.  I then went to MrS and did a smartyshop to get a couple of items for less. I did have to scramble about on the floor to get to some non-food items that were right.at.the.back.of.the.shelf.  The member of staff who was stock replenishing was most apologetic and said that they'd not reached that section yet.  It was no reflection on them - and I was just glad that there were actually cartons in stock - I avoided having to come back on another day.  I spent £16.50 on food in MrS and £6 on non-food.  I actually felt I had bought very little (in both shops) given that £33.17/£6 had been spent.  But at least there is a tiny bit of wiggle room/milk money left to get me to the end of the month to potentially avoid digging into the £100.  Having said that, February could be a tight month with only that cash and a few vouchers - which have to be spent in MrT 😟

MrS wasn't overly busy - not for that time on a Thursday.

Need to amend siggie and start prepping tea.  LG has club tonight so we're eating at different times, but I think lentil bolognese will be a good option.  LG will be happy with pasta, DH and i may have a microwaved tattie - I bought a new bag of tatties today, and there looked a couple of baking sized ones in there.  

Greying X

beanielou

So what are you doing with the £100 that you have saved? 

redofromstart

I thought of you in MrM earlier as the 'man from..' branded tinned pineapple is on offer again, 2 for £1 on the 140g tins, 2 for £1.50 on the 220g.  And then ever since my head has been stuck on wanting the lovely pineapple fruit cake with a nice piece of cheese. . 

Greying_Pilgrim

beanielou said:

So what are you doing with the £100 that you have saved? 

Carry it over to February's grocery budget beanie - I'm going to try to only spend that £100, plus any n*ctar points I've got and some MrT coupons that I've got (need to print them off to find the total available).  IF (and it's a big IF), I could do that, I would put February's grocery budget of £300 into the windows fund, as we've got a bit behind with saving and DH's employer has railed back big style on any bonus this year (to be fair, last years was a pleasant surprise).  So I'm trying to bolster pots where I can.

Aw redo you were thinking of me?  Our MrL has got really bad at not having pineapple in stock - so I may have to take a closer look at MrM's offer!  Really don't know what's going on with our store - personnel have changed (again), and there are several who are always shelf-stacking - and yet the place is always OOS of so much.  

Greying X

beanielou

Good plan. 

rtandon27

Our town has two MrL's, one that serves those who drive large cars, live in the new developments, and need a car to get everywhere and anywhere.  The other is in the middle of town, near the central bus depot and can be accessed by foot.  Most who shop there only pick up a few items at a time, generally what will fit into a backpack or foldable cloth tote.  The business park MrL is poorly managed, always out of stock, a bit of a mess, and most of the staff need remedial customer service training.  The one in town is smaller (more of a European feel iyswim) always well stocked, the staff are a joy to interact with and fellow customers seem to have a modicum of common sense and manners!  They both supposedly carry the same stock, but it always feels as if there is more in the smaller cozier store!  I never understand how one location can feel so right and the other so wrong!

On another note - I'm loving your Frugal February plan!

Greying_Pilgrim

Morning MFW'rs

I hope everyone is keeping safe in the storm.  I know that MSE'rs live all over the place - but I'm especially thinking of inod and kayannie, hoping they are safe and still have power connections.

rt - thank you that is kind.  I do have some stock in the storecupboards, so it's not as if I'm starting from scratch, but I think it'll be a stretch to accomplish.  I'm certainly going to have to stop myself from 'defaulting' to cash and shopping at MrS and MrL - I need to use up the MrT vouchers.  

Our two MrL's serve very different socio-economic catchments, but both are 'out of town', although one is significantly smaller in sq footage.  But yes, with us the smaller store has much nicer staff - who don't seem to turnover - some have been there for years.  It does always look like a jumble sale in there, but given the footfall, and the....... manner in which some customers conduct themselves, this isn't particularly unexpected - and just adds to how great the staff are for putting up with so much and STILL remaining cheerful and kind.  

When I took LG to club last night the council gritters were out - presumably gritting as they had their lights flashing.  There was no forecast for ice, and we're not usual suspects for snow at the drop of a hat - but what we did have was rain.  Plenty of it overnight.  So when the council tell us there's no grit left to treat the roads if we do have a cold snap.......

Tea last night was lentil bolognese with pasta for LG and with baked tatties for DH and I.  There is tommie sauce, cooked lentils and a small portion of lentil bolognese in the freezer for another day.  

Not too sure what will be on the menu for tea tonight.  LG and DH have had the last of the YS'd fruity muffins I picked up in M&$ a couple of weeks ago, in their snap boxes, so at least lunch will be a little bit cheerful.  

I don't know whether the clothes would have stopped pegged on the line had I put on a wash today, but I didn't because we had rain forecast for most of the day.  Since we got up for breakfast, not a drop has fallen, and in fact we have lovely winter sunshine at the minute 🙄 I do hope I haven't lost a laundry opportunity.......

Ta for popping by.  Greying X

kayannie

Thank you for thinking of me GP, we are safe here although others not far away are not so lucky. I filled 4 flasks with boiling water first thing in case we lost power. So far so good, but houses a mile away lost their power supply in the early hours, & apparently some trees are down. The house next door (holiday home) has some damage - a large piece of glass from their patio was swinging around in the wind. No-one is there this week so I rang the person who looks after the place in between lets - he's been round & dismantled it altogether.

Although we are about half a mile from the sea as the crow flies, we are on a hill overlooking it & my windows are covered in sand! I've not had this happen before.

The sun's shining now so I'm going to brave the wind & pop to the pharmacy to collect a prescription.

KA x

badmemory

Don't let that sun fool you.  We have it too & only 40 mph winds.  I nearly got blown off my feet.  That sun is very misleading - please check on the local wind speed before you go out.