From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Cheery_Daff

Glad you can now add baked spuds to your repertoire!

I usually screenshot a digital pass just in case of WiFi issues. I've never had one not accepted - they're usually scanning a code,  so they can tell if it's being used already even from the photo.

Doesn't help if your phone runs out of battery though!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFWr's

badmemory - I am finding that LG is eating a much, much wider range of things.  Not all are liked any better, but they will at least eat things now.  Some things still remain - 'that's not my favourite', or they ask for "not too much/many" - but on the whole, we're losing the 'outright refusal', more and more.  I still haven't tried them on scrambled nor boiled eggs, but if they eat omlette, and the occasional egg mayo sanger, is there any point?  After all, I never bother cooking fried eggs, as I don't particularly like them, but at least I eat eggs in different ways. 

I can absolutely get behind the "I don't like X because it tastes weird to my palate" situation - we've recently been discussing rocket in that light.  I am less accepting of the "I don't like X... this week" situation.  LG had mentioned not liking school baked tatties (it's been a looooong time since they've eaten school cuisine), but to me school make "proper" baked tatties, with a lovely crispy skin. But LG sees that just as blackened/burnt food.  But if I can get them to start eating baked tatties, at home, who knows where we'll get to, and I have to say, I'm appreciating the additional fibre win of them eating baked tatties (in addition to the not having to make separate dishes for us all for tea), which is supposed to be important to gut health.  

Blackcats - go you!  I'm guessing there may have been ginger, allspice, cinnamon, star anise in that dish?  YES! to houses smelling aromatic due to a puttering SC in the corner!  Ours was a buttery, warm potato aroma last night..... yum!

I normally go shopping on Thursday's, but I think I'm going to pass today.  We're low on bread - that might be the only pressure point, but there are road works on the bypass, and it's causing chaos, so access to the shops isn't impossible, it's just difficult (by car), so my thinking is to wait until tomorrow, and pootle across to the next market town along instead (weather depending).  I will double check if I've got enough sliced bread/bread products for brekkie/snap to make that happen though.  

I need to pay the beetee bill.  They've already been sending me hysterical texts reminding me my bill is due 🙄 How come for nearly 2 years a DD has sufficed on a date that we've not yet hit, and yet they've constantly reminding me now 🙄  I cannot wait to be out of contract with them.  Naturally an elderly relative did ring me on the landline yesterday.... first landline call in about 3 months.  The last caller was...... my elderly relative.

Right, I've developed a case of hiccups and holding my breath isn't working, so I shall go in search of a glass of water. 

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon MFW'rs

I did a couple of washes and pegged out this morning.  I think it highly unlikely anything will dry, as whilst it's not raining, it's probably too still and too dreich.  Ho hum.

I remembered to pay beetee, so that will stop their chasing (and no, I am not in arrears with them, they just get twitchy when you're not giving them free rein to plunder you bank account).

I walked into Greying Town, the incentive wasn't high, but I kicked myself up the bahookie and went.  I needed to check some account balances, and ensure money was where it needed to be.  I did pick up another paper for the voucher, a TV guide, some crackers (for cheese), and some greek seasoning.  The crackers were a 99p box from hB, and I wish I had got them over the jAycobbs ones for Christmas.  The choice is far better in the cheapy box, and the J's had substituted plain water biscuits for cornish wafers 😡 At £1.79 for a small box, they are too bl00dy expensive to be playing cheapen the contents with!  If I wanted plain water biscuits, I would have bought a box!  I won't be caught out next Christmas - the company will have to do without my business (I'm sure they'll be heartbroken).  

Walking back out of town, I heard a strange bird in a tree above my head.   I got the merl1n app out and it was identified as a song thrush - although a robin was giving it a run for it's money.  The app also picked up a marsh t1t, but I'm less convinced about that - although technically, I was in an area that can be damp/boggy, and there is plenty of tree/shrub cover, so maybe.  

Right, I suspect I need go and get the washing in, and (probably) set it up in front of the dehu.  I will also amend my siggie figgie.

Greying X

Blackcats

We were very pleased to kick bee-tea into touch a few years ago.  We were very surprised at how frequently billing errors were made by such a big company.  Obviously the errors involved us paying more than we should have done and then having to wrangle to get our money back.  It was usually £2 or £3 and the cynic in me makes me think that some people might not bother or notice that level of overpayment.
very grey and rainy here today so washing is on the heated airer.

rtandon27

There are many days I wish we could kick B-tea to the curb, but unfortunately because of their business grade ISP, I don't have a choice if I want to work from home! Ho-hum - a small price to pay for the luxury of not commuting 2 days a week!

Greying_Pilgrim

Cheery- I missed your post this morning - so sorry!  Screenshots...... mmm.  Luddite little me has great difficulty with those.  I either get one taken, and then can't find where it's been stored, or can't take one in the first place...... 🫤  It's getting to be I'm not fit to be let out into modern civilisation by myself......... 😐

Blackcats - that's awful!  And yet, not surprising.  A £ here, £2 there - adds up over a customer base of millions.....

rt - If it works........why try and swap (even if other services are avaiable).  But our connection proved to be duff from the get go - I'm sure we were given poor service by 0p3nr3ach - the cable box is hanging off the wall 🙄And DH always had trouble connecting to the internet on his phone.  No such probs with new provider, and we've even been able to connect to blootooth - something we'd never done with beetee.  

Greying X

rtandon27

haha - because other ones are cheaper! - and I'd rather overpay even a couple of pounds to the mortgage each month!  - I'm a tightwad don't cha know!

Greying_Pilgrim

I know we're 'losing' a phone line service, but our beetee package is over twice the price of the new contract, and the new service is already miles better.  The downside is that we're not overly far away from the transmitter for the new provider.  What side effects that may bring, I don't know.  Perhaps I shall ever so slightly begin to glow in the dark, but I'd do that anyway, whether I cut ties with beetee or not.  So at least i'm a glowing, green alien with cash still in my pocket...... 😉👽📡

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening MFW'rs

No surprise, the washing was as wet when I got it in, as when it went out.  It didn't rain at all, but there wasn't enough breeze and the temperature was too cold ☹️  5 hours in front of the dehu and we're about dry.  I'll leave the stuff on the airer and hope that it is fully dried by the morning.  It is supposed to be dry, but much breezier tomorrow 🤞 I get to catch up with workwear.  

LG went to club and it was subs night.  I forgot 🙄 despite going to the bank 🙄 so for the moment, the money has been borrowed out of the grocery budget.  

Tea this evening was l/o mushroom and black olive pasta sauce with l/o pasta for LG - they loved it and 2 pots were shuffled out of the freezer.  DH and I finished off some random lentil stew that i had made and put the l/o in the freezer.  I added frozen spinach to the stew to pad it out a bit.  DH had some l/o (from the freezer) mash with his, I had a baked potato.  I am now onto the last of the 15p potatoes ☹️  We all had yoghurt for pud. in total 4 pots decluttered out of the freezer and us all fed.

I think that's about it for MSE activity today.  Thanks for popping in.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon MFW'rs

I pootled over to the market town across the way this morning.  I used their MrL, as it's new(ish), large and the staff are generally nice.  I got everything on my list.  The car park was like an ice rink tho 😬  There were no green boxes.

I then went to the town centre and had a pootle around.  I was severely tempted by several things in a discount clothing store, but kept my purse closed.  I went for a pootle around h3r0n, but nothing doing there today.  Even the discounts on their xmas stock weren't massive ☹️I visited the food waste diversion scheme.  There wasn't much on offer today - ironically there were loads of the flat/square rolls that I'd got YS'd in MrAl the other day 🙄  I could have tried them for tuppence!  Literally 🙄 I did pick up some nice oranges and threw a donation in the box.  I didn't bother getting anymore of those roll things - DH and LG had them in their lunchboxes today, and I don't know whether they're good, bad or indifferent.  

I spent £28.81 in MrL today.  I had intended to go to MrS, but had to attend to something else, so I'm a couple of things short on my list.  We for sure won't die of starvation, it's just slightly niggling that 'stoopid individuals' cause you to have to change tack.  

I put out the workwear wash before I set off.  It is actually moving on the line today, and the air temperature (here) is much warmer today, so fingers crossed that I don't need to get the dehu out.  

I had one of the oranges from the food waste for lunch - very nice. 

Greying X