From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Blackcats

When I was recuperating from what was always known as a bilious attack and I'd worked my way through a bottle of medicinal lucozade, my Nan would put a pile of mashed potato into tinned chicken soup to build up my strength.  I can't abide tinned chicken soup anymore.

I do, however, love homemade soup and would certainly be happy to have a slurp of soup chez la maison Greying.

Greying_Pilgrim

Ha ha - thanks for your recollections Watty and Blackcats. 

I suppose that oxtails would have to be ordered from a butchers these days - last time I saw some 'for sale', I was in a metropolitan city, that had a market hall, that once had clearly been thriving (indoor and as many/more stalls outside), but the butchers stalls were pretty much all that remained.  Mind, you could get everything, cow heels, oxtails, any amount of tripe, and all the offal you can imagine.  

Blackcats - I just know that your lucozade would have been a glass 'bobbly' bottle with orange cellophane wrapped around it........ *sigh*  

Mmm, I ran out of oomph today.  I erroneously did cheese and crackers for lunch.  I've learnt something - and that is, in future, to stick to buying selection boxes of crackers, as I bought a few different packets from hB before Christmas and they were far too similar - mea culpa.  I won't make that mistake again. I didn't enjoy lunch, too fatty and too salty ☹️.  I shan't buy smoked cheese again.  The MrL one was too fatty and MrS was more like the cheese I recall, but was quite expensive, and the 'wax' surround is difficult to remove without wasting some cheese each time.  

I went for a walk on my own in the afternoon.  I was out for just shy of an hour, and walked 3.75 miles apparently.  When I returned, none of the housework fairies had brought the washing in 🙄 So I set to setting up the wetter washing in front of the dehu (I brought the one lot in before lunch, and that had been drying whilst I went out).  I put more in front of the dehu, and made up a bed with fresh bedding.  By the time I'd done all that - and have since done another swap of what's in front of the dehu - I really couldn't be arsed to start prepping tea.  So I dug out some plant-based mince, and some prepped tommie sauce and cooked up the last of the 'special' rigatoni that I bought for our Christmas Eve (subsequently abandoned) meal.  I steamed some green beans to go with, and have to say, the beans were the best bit.......  I'm so over festive foods now..... 🫤

I'm a right grump bucket, aren't I 🙄

I just wrote a whole load more - but somehow the computer managed to hop out of this screen and I lost it...... 😡

Anyway, it was just reflections on 'Christmas' - what worked, what didn't, what I'm ditching and what we'll keep and develop as 'our' traditions.  Whilst I feel 'externally' Christmas has seemed subdued this year, I'm beginning to become more confident in following our own path.  It has helped that LG isn't currently on SM, and hasn't (yet) had any negative comments on what they did/didn't receive - and by the time school resumes, everyone will have forgotten Christmas anyway, but I realise that won't last forever, and we'll be in the thick of mobiles monitoring our every move and decision before long 🙄LG said they liked their gifts, both from 🎅😉 and from other relatives and friends who remembered them on their gift lists.  LG still loves their Advent calendar 🥰 and they liked the Advent activities - the illuminated tractor run and doing the FB donation got a special mention, whereas the tree festival didn't float their boat this year (I have to say, it didn't work for me this year either - whereas last year was just the Christmas spirit we needed at that time).  They loved that we were all together for Christmas, which just made my heart melt 🥰I think I like the Solstice tradition we're starting to make for ourselves, with our 'special' meal being on the 21st.  OK, so Christmas Eve got messed up because of mouldy mozzarella, but we still had a good time on the 21st.  And next year, it won't clash with the 4th Advent service, which I'd like us to go to - just to experience, there's no obligation for anyone to convert or take holy orders.  

I've been having some thoughts about expenditure next year - not just at Christmas, although that has been in my thinking.  DH has been pursuing a quote for a tow-bar, naturally that will probably come back after the hols are over, but it'll be good to get an idea.  

Ta for listening.  Greying X

Cheery_Daff

What a nuisance about the washing! Sounds like everyone is fed and watered and relatively clean and dry so I count that as a successful day

I thought of you yesterday when we happened upon a festive tractor run on the way home from a family visit - fortunately going the other way, so we didn't inadvertently become part of it but it all went past us on the other side of the road, so we got the full view. 

edinburgher

Morrisons sells oxtail. Another "cheap" cut that is anything but! 

Greying_Pilgrim

Oh Cheery - how fab 😁 Things like that are quite a sight, but I must admit, for me, an 'added extra' of the tractor show was that people came together to watch 😁 But you did make me laugh - girl, you would totally have 'owned' being part of the parade if you'd have been coming the other direction 👍😁

I've just come back from having a pootle on Cheery and rt's thread and something else I forgot to mention, is that whilst I have overspent the grocery budget in December - but it was stupidly self-imposed tight - I have achieved (broadly) what I set out to do, which was to prove to DH that whilst 2 weeks sick pay boogered up November's pay packet, it didn't break us.  This was in part due to prior planning, and in part because we did keep spending to a minimum in December (thankfully most present spending occurred before December).  And yes, of course, if things had been different and DH had more time off sick, well then maybe things wouldn't be as straightforward - so no room for complacency.  But having said that, it did reinforce the benefits of working to make the finances stack up, even if you're starting with only being able to keep hold of the pennies, it all helps. 

And although I could dig out the receipts, and tie up loose ends of what exactly I spent, I don't think I'll bother - simply because DH's pay is in now.  He did get paid 'earlier', but we've done our usual thing of ignoring it, until the new month.  Money is in place to pay the January DD's - and again, this is due to working previously to establish sinking funds, an emergency fund, and working to have at least a month of bill money 'in hand'.  It's not easy - it never has been - and we're coming back from spending every penny earnt each month when we were in the rental.  So, it's not like you set these things up overnight and then they 'stay in place'.  Life happens.  I know you all know this, and actively 'live' budgeting and have spending pots yourselves.  But also I know that you'll agree that it's not easy, it doesn't just happen - you have to work at it, and sometimes make sacrifices, or evaluate whether your spending is aligning to your priorities and/or principles.  Many, many moons ago when DH and I first got together, not only did he get paid early in December, but he got a cash bonus too - and he was used to spending it on treats etc.  It made January an awfully loooonnnggg month ☹️  I'm so glad that we moved to budgeting, and DH really has been good over the years at getting into saving for things that he's wanted - even saving small amounts, over long periods has got him things.  

Boring as it might sound (perhaps present company excepted), we will be trying to take the same approach in 2026, and we'll see where it gets us.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon MFW'rs

LG and i set off into Greying town this morning to get some printing done at the library (aborted, as the library was closed, despite NO mention of this on their website + they are a designated warm space 🙄 bah humbug!).  LG wanted to pay in some (note, not all 🙄) of the money that they were kindly given for Christmas.  Thank heavens for the kind friends and family that do remember LG though, as yet another member of the family seems to have decided to drop LG from their giving list.....🙄 Ah well.  Then we went and had a look in h+m, and found some items for LG, just under a tenner spent, and then we went to m&$ and found a couple of items of 'everyday' wear, that were 50% off, so we snapped those up too - £5.50 spent.  We did have a wander through the food-all.  Nothing struck me as particularly barginacious.  They still wanted 56p for brussels sprouts, YS'd, 64p for YS'd melody tatties (same as you could get in MrL for 5p before Christmas), and lots of the pre-prepared foods were still quite expensive - £4.34 for a YS'd veggie pizza, £3.28 for a YS'd veggie side (root veg gratin), which fair enough had started out at £7.50, but is still an accompaniment, not a meal.......  So we left empty handed.  We picked up some thank you cards from a gift shop that looks like it's possibly closing down, and so they were half price, and then I picked up some (new) christmas cards from a charity shop that had been reduced to £2 for 10.  

Walking out of town we bumped into a neighbour so had a lovely chat.  Then we took the picturesque lane route again - super bird spotting opps, and then we came back up on the main route and discovered that someone had a 'free please take' stall outside their house of items that must originate through the food waste scheme.  We have had things from this 'stall' before - LG and i were trying to remember, and we think it was Easter - so whether the householder volunteers at one of the schemes, and offers to get rid of things when the schemes are closed?  Anyway, there was lots that we couldn't use, but we did select a leek, a bell pepper, some carrots and a lovely (still bright green) head of broccoli.  

LG and I have had cheese and crackers for lunch, along with a few pr1ngles dupes and a slice of fruit cake.  We're now gearing up to start taking the tree down.  If we weren't so tight on space, I might have the tree up for a bit longer, but as it is currently, we can't move freely, and a chair blocks off most of the radiator in the room.  LG is being very good about it, and they have enjoyed helping to put up/decorate the tree this year, so it's not all despair.  

A low spend day at least, and everything we bought was discounted, at either 33% or 50%, so not too bad.  

I'm going to have a go at making the crustless quiche for tea (again 🙄), but first we've laundry to put away, and then a tree and decorations.  

Greying X

themadvix

I too wandered through that food hall this morning (on the hunt for bargainous smoked salmon) and didn't think much of the discounts - certainly they weren't enough to tempt me when my house (and me!) is already full of food. And no cheap smoked salmon either (this is only a thing because I stumbled upon some a couple of years ago at this time of year and realised it would probably be a good time to stock up - we don't buy it generally!).

I'd like to be taking the tree down if I'm honest, but I don't think Mr MV would be too happy and we do have people visiting at some point this week. I definitely couldn't be like my friend (or Cheery) who has it up until the spring - it would drive me mad!

Cheery_Daff

Ha, I'll take mine down when something more cheerful replaces it and not before! 😂

Greying_Pilgrim

Aw, I do like our tree, even though it isn't much, and I love taking the decorations out each year and remembering where they are from, or when LG made them or whatever, and i do like twinkly little fairy lights, but we just don't have the space, in the current room permutation to have the tree in situ for long.  Hopefully next year, we can work out how to have the TV wall mounted - with cabling hidden as much as an after market fix can allow - and then in future we could have the tree out for a bit longer.  I still love wandering past houses and seeing the trees twinkling in the corner 😁

We've just finished putting everything away.  LG was most helpful 😁Yesterday's wash has been folded and put away too.  

Oh, it was never on the cards, but I didn't do any washing/outdoor drying today - far too still and overcast ☹️  I think I had the dehu on for 7 hrs in total yesterday 😬But for big and heavyweight fabrics, I guess it's par for the course.  I suppose 7hrs dehuing, is starting to get towards launderette costs, however, there would be less shrinking/damaging of the fabrics this way, so it's 6 of one, and half a dozen of the other.  But boy, did alot of water come out - even with having 'half-dried' some of the stuff outside.  

We're currently watching a 'allmark olliday' movie on the telly.  I taped it earlier in the month.  I suspect it will follow a predictable format.....  but it's shot in Scotland (allegedly), and will have some nice set design..... surely 😁  At least you can ffwd through the ads when its on tape.  

Greying X

debtfreewannabe321

I've just finished putting the trees away for this year. The living room looks empty now 🤣 need to shift all the furniture back how it was before as I've got a big gap. 

I love soup but most in this house won't eat it as a main meal, lunch yes, dinner - they actually like they've been starved. So I tend to use the veg I would have used in a soup in a curry instead and can make a curry out of pretty much anything now 🤣 last night's was sweet potato and broccoli 😆.