From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

in_need_of_direction

Totally agree with you on the addition of chilli to so many things. It’s not for me but I always have chilli oil and flakes for those who like it

Greying_Pilgrim

Ha ha - dearest inod - I've just been reading an article on the beebeecee news site about food "trendz" for 2026 🙄 and I regret that thee and me are in a minority, as foods are going to get even spicier, albeit with fruit as an accompaniment - apparently "Fricy" is the word that will be on every influencers lips......... 🙄  And apparently cabbage is about to attain hero status - so watch the price of those skyrocket beyond conventional folks pockets ☹️ It happened with PSB, with Brussels sprouts, and now it's savoy's turn in the spotlight 🙄How come these once frugal foods, never come back down in price, when they "fall out of favour"?  Oysters, Ox-cheeks, corned beef, lamb shanks, ox-tail.......... Colcannon will be served in an egg cup for €15/£15 a shot..... 🙄

Greying X

Cherryfudge

My 'pet grouse' with seasoning is black pepper, which I don't like, though I use a lot of other spices and seasonings. When I used to buy things like vegetarian meat substitutes, I found a lot of them were heavy on salt and pepper, which spoilt them for me. It seemed a bit insulting, as though vegetarian food didn't have enough flavour and no one would notice if we cheer the poor vegetarians up with a lot of cheap spice... am I being a grumpy old woman?  

I can and do each a small amount of chili, but a couple of times I've had a bad reaction to it so I go carefully. No more having to sit down with a racing heart! I suspect it's a particular variety of chili that does it but I've never been able to find out which.

As to cabbage... I wasn't able to get a cheap white one for Christmas but I still have most of a savoy and two red ones so perhaps I should put them in a bank vault until the market peaks and make my fortune selling them to the influenced? 

KajiKita

I made colcannon last night! 😊 Used up the last of it mixed in with left over stuffing as fried off patties with fried baby tomatoes and fried eggs for breakfast this morning (that’s tow little bowls out of the fridge! 😉) 

Oh and I’m another who is not keen on chilli - I don’t seem to be able tolerate any of it - it reappears rather too quickly for comfort! 😳🤷‍♀️ Made me smile that LG muttered about the curly fries AFTER they’d consumed them 😉

KK

Greying_Pilgrim

Cherryfudge - get those brassicas vaulted!  Be ahead of the curve for 2026! 🤣  I don't think you're being grumpy about seasonings/additives.  Speaking entirely personally, I found the qu0rn "sliced deli meats" equivalents inedible because of the over reliance on seasonings, and don't bother buying them for that reason.  I think I was lucky, and got to try a pack YS'd  - and yet in my childhood I ate meat, and actually liked haslet, which is often most peppery 🤔

KK - I thought the same about LG's "complaint" 🤣Seriously, had they been any milder, they might just as well have been 'unseasoned curly fries'.  Other brands seem to view curly fries, wedges and sometimes sweet potato fries as fair game to smother with chilli based seasoning 🥵 

So I've spent some time this morning sorting out the annualised budget pots and monthly expenditures.  I've got to the stage now, whereas it's a rolling thing, and there's no one 'time' in particular that budgets reset, as they all change at different times of the year.  But we've had a spate in the last quarter of the year of changing providers, and savings being made, so I wanted to set up a fresh 'table of contents' for the start of 2026, that give us at least an idea of what money we need in the account to meet monthly DD's and what we need to be putting aside each pay cheque to cover annualised expenditures, or bigger expenses.  I also need to have some idea of how to divvy up the CHB this year, as there are some known 'big' expenses in the calendar year - I'm not sure of exact costs to £/S/d, plus there may be one or two club events that crop up, but if I have at least some sort of plan, then that will help get us closer, than if we stick our heads in the sand.  

I've upped the 'non-food' budget to £80.  Quite a hike 😬but I am consistently busting the previous £50 budget, and like with many things, prices have risen, and take - for example - haircuts, we're now pretty much paying double what we were when the £50 budget was established.  If there's money left out of £80 each month, well then of course, I will be delighted, but I won't be booking a luxury cruise on the strength of any savings ☹️So I'm trying to be realistic with my budgetary amounts.  I have also upped the bulk food budget to £150 pa, and will present as a declining budget, as a small monthly amount tends to get unspent for much of the year, and then busted buying multiple bags of pulses or tatties at other times of the year.  

We had a piece of "Christmas" cake each for elevenses.  It's fruit cake actually, with a few extra bits - figs, cherries and raisins thrown in.  They were also soaked in orange juice and a splash of c0intreau before cooking.  I didn't bother 'feeding' it - I did think about it, but never got round to it in the end, and there is no point icing it, as we're all pretty ambivalent about iced cakes.  I think we would all accept a slice, but don't feel the need to have a fully iced cake in the house if that makes sense.  Whereas the fruit cake will be munched - probably before the month is out!

Right, orf to concoct some soup for lunch.

Greying X

Cherryfudge

Cabbages duly wrapped in golf foil and sent off with security guard.  

We don't ice our Christmas cake either. Being in Yorkshire, it's nice to have it with a bit of Wensleydale cheese  though admittedly this year I don't have any. I think the icing stopped being a treat and became extra calories, to be honest. That's adulthood for you! But I do love fruit cake so it's plenty of a treat on its own.

That's a big jump in your non-food budget but I think it's justified as prices have gone up so much and you know from this year's experience that £50 isn't going to be sustainable. Would LG consider training as a hairdresser?  

Greying_Pilgrim

Cherryfudge - initially it was the 'unnecessary additional calories' that put me off iced cake too, plus the fact that icing is too sweet generally.  Also, for many years, it was just me & DH, and even a small-ish Christmas cake = quite a lot of slices.   Fruit cake is just the right level of sweetness - and with things like cherries added in, is 'just right' in terms of a treat, I agree!

I do think £80 is possibly a bit too high, but that would have to include 'everything' - like a new frying pan, a haircut or soap/shampoo/toothpaste etc etc.  But yes, one of us training in hairdressing would be a good idea!  DH hasn't troubled a barber for a considerable number of years 🤣

Lunch has been munched vegetable and tomato soup.  It was a bit 'thin' but warming and there were no leftovers today, I made just enough.  We each had a bag of crisps and a bit of bread with our soup.  I'm considering curry for tea, probably out of the freezer - I think I have a whole meal's worth of component pots.

Well, the forecast breeze hasn't materialised and it went really overcast a few hours ago, so it was the right decision to not put a wash on.  It's also very cold, so nothing would have even dried partially.  LG's cough/cold is still as bad, but they're OK - still got an appetite and in good spirits.

Greying X

edinburgher

I'm adding lobster to the list of food that was the preserve of the poor historically and now costs more money than is bearable! 

Greying_Pilgrim

edinburgher said:

I'm adding lobster to the list of food that was the preserve of the poor historically and now costs more money than is bearable! 

Yes, indeed ed - along with cod cheeks and all manner and species of roe..........  

Greying X

badmemory

I have a theory as to why they put lots of seasoning on any prepared veg.  That is because the ones that grow the quickest and largest have very little flavour so they season them to conceal the fact that they are tasteless.

I agree with LG re curly fries.  They are designed for picking up in the fingers & not for forks.  Like chips are designed for chip butties.