From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Morning MFW'rs

Shopping day today.  Wish the low-spend news was brighter, but of course, it isn't.  I did pop to MrAl yesterday to get some bits - and stocked up on a lunchbox item, to last to the end of term.  By my own admission yesterday's shop lent further toward the 'junk/snacky' end of the scale than I'd of liked, but also I bought a bottle of olive oil which accounted for half my ££ spend, so.......  I have also had to cater for a school trip, even so, today's lunch was balanced, and did contain vegetables and fruit, along with a little treat.

I did spot some beer on offer in MrL this morning - it's regularly on sale 'somewhere', and it happened that it was a penny cheaper in MrL than in MrM (the cheapest that I had seen), so I plumped to buy it in MrL. 

It did all cost an eye-watering £53.02 though, and given I had already spent £27 in MrS earlier this week, is just mind-boggling.  I keep on thinking that the next shop will be 'low cost', but then you pick up another packet, box, jar and find that it is nearly empty..........  

Greying X

EssexHebridean

Morning GP - sorry to hear that the struggle bus is currently parked on your drive in relation to food spending. I think some of the issue is that even though inflation has slowed, of course prices are still increasing, and that added to the period of massively steep rises means we've never quite mentally "caught up" with the current price-states on things, because stuff has been going up so fast, and for so long, it's tricky to keep track! It sounds like it also depends a bit on where people live as well - I noticed someone mentioned milk still increasing for example, but where we are, both milk and butter have actually dropped back a bit in price - which was a (welcome!) surprise! Sigh. It's not even like we have a choice about spending money on the basics, is it! 

As far as the space apps take up - I think the majority are fairly small, although the bird song recognition one we have all been discussing is quite large I think in comparison to some/. one tip with that one though - remember to periodically delete the saved sound files from that! It only occurred to me last week that I ought to do that, and there was quite a lot of them! 

Greying_Pilgrim

EssexHebridean said:
....... one tip with that one though - remember to periodically delete the saved sound files from that! It only occurred to me last week that I ought to do that, and there was quite a lot of them! 

Hey EH! Welcome back!  I get to polish my halo!  Purely - and it is purely down to the ancientness of my previous phone - I had got into the habit of deleting the sound recordings from the bird app.  Partially because 'normally' they have been blackbird/robin/wren heavy, and partially because anything too onerous would have caused the utter mental collapse of my previous phone, so I molly-coddled it along to try to keep it functioning.  

Mmm, it's an interesting point about apps.  Of course, when you can pick and choose which ones you want to have, it is one thing; but I wonder what will happen if 'every' aspect of life is dependent on a person having the relevant app on their functioning phone, in wi-fi receiving zone at all times.  I expect the technology is there to have a gazinty-million apps on a device, without performance suffering.  

It's the fact that I always seem to be buying " the basics", rather than components for whole meals that worries me.  It always makes me think I am doing something wrong because I seem to be spending 'alot' (for me - it is all relative for each household), and not actually carrying many bags out of the shop - and when all said and done, I've just replaced the sugar bag, or the coffee jar or bought bread for the week.  Had I exited with 'luxury, pre-prepared gourmet foods', I could see where i was going wrong.  But bread and milk for the week???   I was musing today at how many brands seem to be getting shelf space in the 'discounters'.  I can't keep my costs down buying primarily 'own label'.  Really not sure how doing the 'up to brand' shift challenge is actually going to help me cut costs.......

Greying X

EssexHebridean

My £40 in Lils on Friday made me gulp - but of course when I broke it down it DID include washing liquid - OK, their own brand so not really "much" of a spend, but still £2.39. Also £12+ was frozen stuff - sure, there were some treaty ice-creams in there (which were actually more than I had thought they were, and definitely more than I paid in Al's for something extremely similar a few weeks back, so may not be purchasing those there again) but there were also the protein (fish) components for at least 4 main meals, I may squeeze 5 from it. Another £4.50 was storecupboard type stuff. So - once broken down, that means that around £21 was actual pure "basics for the week" stuff...and that wasn't all I bought, either, as we made further purchases - albeit not major ones - elsewhere. It's definitely more of a squeeze than it used to be though - after all, the bulk, protein and storecupboard components of the shop do all have to be bought at some stage - so removing them from the "bigger picture" while helping with the breakdown, really doesn't make any difference to the overall result does it! 

Thinking back years ago, when we were in a position where things were seriously tight financially, I could make £10 feed us both for a week. It wasn't easy, although made easier by at the time living very close to a really good market and a very good butcher - plus this was before the point where the "cheap cuts" of meat had all be hijacked by celeb cheffy types. For reference, this was the very late 90's/early 2000's. How folk on THAT sort of "tight budget" cope now I have no idea though - even if you assume that £10 might have reasonably doubled to £20 now - in our location I can't think it would realistically be possible to feed two adults on that money, never mind keeping both them, house and clothes decent too! 

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Just hopped on to update my siggie.  I used my MrS voucher for shopping this week, but of my 'actual' spend only £12.13 was on food items, so that is all i have added to my grocery budget.  The other items were for LG and have been allocated to the CHB budget.

I must update my charity blanket total as I have now completed 4 and they were posted off today.  Costs out of 'giving'.  

Everything has been a bit quiet of late.  DH worked last weekend, so we didn't go out and about.  I had initially planned a little adventure, but then the forecast was for questionable weather, so we stayed home instead whilst DH worked.  

I don't know about inflation shrinking, but shrinkflation is definitely expanding.  I see Ye Olde yoghurt pots that formerly contained 500g of yoghurt are now 'new and improved' and hold 450g......... Ye Olde butter pats and Ye old Jam jars are heading down the same road to slimdown town.......

A wash is out on the line, taking advantage of the breeze and sunshine.  

Can't think of anything to add in an MSE vibe, so I shall shuffle orf.  If I was able to keep costs sensible in shopping tomorrow (will definitely require bread), then I may just limp in around budget for June.  But as ever, I shan't hold my breath or make futile promises 🙄

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Shopping at MrL done.  Budget all but bust, given that I still have one 'shopping day' left for June and will need bread and milk, even if I can squeak by with nowt else (unrealistic).

I spent £33.28 on my shop today.  That did include some alcohol, I bought a jar of coffee and the majority of our 'dairy' intake for the week (although I bought cheddar on Tuesday), and a few items for the store cupboard as I'd opened the last packet/jar etc. 

There were no boxes on the side and very, very few YS'd products.  The store was quiet too - which is a change compared to recent months.  

I had forgotten to mention that I had spied a 'too good to throw out" veg/produce box in MrS the other day - I have seen several boxes over the last couple of months.  Their offering is £2, and whilst the box on Tuesday was 'fuller' than I've seen recent MrL boxes, the produce inside was 'over'.  I fully realise that you're not going to get 'pristine' stuff in these boxes - that isn't the point of them.  And I am not averse to cutting out a blemish or composting a squishy berry.  I am not averse to making soup out of a bendy carrot, crumble with a wrinkly apple or pear, but there comes a point when the item is too squishy, too rotten or too mouldy..........This box had well and truly met this point for the majority of the contents.  

I still can't get over how expensive shopping trips are.  And even though, I know that what I buy is pretty much all we consume - we have no 'eating out', 'takeaways' or 'pub' budget, because we don't eat/drink alcohol outside our home - I can't get my head around what figure the grocery budget has got to be, in order for me to stick with it for one month, buying reasonable food choices - ie fresh/frozen fruit and vegetables.  

A wash is out on the line and a second is in the machine on the final spin.  

Tea last night was fish fingers, boiled potatoes and baked beans.  The fish fingers were from MrS.  They happen to be cod, but I have bought a box of the pollock version to try too.  We had not had the fish fingers before, and they were a higher price than I had been paying for the white fish fingers (15 in a pack??) in MrL.  But we'd got fed up of the MrL offering, as the fish was often an unappetising shade of grey and tasted a little bit weird.  I must admit, that the MrS offering restored my faith in fish fingers.  I wouldn't rush to buy them again, principally as their appearance out of the freezer prompted LG to get on their soapbox about the amount of microplastics in fish - and hadn't I heard about it???  But I have also got the pollock version to try, and I'm happy that fish is an occasional visitor to our menu.  Anyway, environmental concerns were momentarily set aside and clean plates were left all round.  

I remembered the other day to submit our energy meter readings to our supplier.  I forgot last month 😣 We came in under the DD amount, which the energy company had reduced anyway.  

Can't think of anything else MSE-related to add.  So I'll push orf.  Ta for popping in.  Appreciated.

Greying X

EssexHebridean

That bothers me about those boxes GP - if the stuff is actively rotten or mouldy, then it's not "too good to throw away" it's "been allowed to get to the point where throwing away is all it is god for" - sending fold the message that they are fine to eat mouldy fruit and veg is irresponsible of Sainsbugs, IMO. I'd expect better from them! 

I prefer Al's fish fingers to L's ones - the texture of the fish always seems a bit better. I only ever buy the standard "white fish" ones, too. As for microplastics - I hope LG's environmental "soapbox" is entirely from ethically sourced sustainable wood, made by artisan craftsmen with not a hint of forced labour about it... (but regardless - you are ethe one cooking the meals and balancing the budget, so as nice as LG's concerns are, people have been eating fish for an awfully long while and none of us are dead yet, so they probably shouldn't believe everything they are told...!

Can you set a reminder on your phone to nudge you on the meter readings? I have mine set for weekly for my own records even now we have smart meters. 

themadvix

I’m afraid LG is right about the micro plastics EH. People haven’t been eating fish full of microplastics for very long - probably only 30 years. I don’t think the high levels of serious disease in society can all be coincidence - they are the result of the excessive chemical exposure in modern society, including plastics in things we consume, among other issues. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t eat fish, but it is a concern.

It’s great that LG is so aware of the issue - do they appreciate the flipside - that reducing plastic use is the way to go? (Think this is the hard bit for young ones, especially when it directly impacts them not having a bit of plastic tat that’s going to end up in landfill-!!!!!!-ocean.)

kayannie

I was very lucky to get a good Mr L box yesterday, but I did go out of my way to get it. Mr L is in our nearest town 10 miles away & if I get there any later than 9.30, there are none left. Yesterday I caught an 8am bus & was in the shop by 8.45. There were just 4 boxes left even at that hour - we live in a tourist hotspot & I think the self catering holiday makers are getting in early - I don't blame them though as I would probably do the same! In my box were: 4 avocados, 6 limes, 1 red pepper, a box of mini peppers, a box of apricots, 12 peaches, 6 kiwi, 3 nets of easy peelers, 3 larger oranges & 2 tomatoes! I took my shopping trolley with me & dispensed the contents of the box into a big waterproof bag inside the trolley - sometimes something leaks if its damaged & I want to keep the inside of the trolley clean. If I notice anything not worth taking home, I leave it behind in the box - yesterday just one of the avocados was obviously too ripe so that got left behind.

By the time I had added 4 pints of milk to the trolley, I could hardly lift it onto the bus & then I had a quarter mile walk home pulling it up a very steep hill! Good exercise though!

We rarely eat fish fingers, but when we do they have to be cod or haddock as anything else is an off-putting shade of grey. 

Regarding the plastics in the sea, the beach is on my doorstep & I take a bag with me every time I walk there & always pick up any plastic I find. It's literally 'a drop in the ocean' but every little helps! 

KA

Greying_Pilgrim

EH - I really should do the reminder thing.  It is only once a month, but I really don't mind submitting the readings - and the update is pretty much instantaneous (such a breath of fresh air compared to BG and their 'smart meter' nonsense).  Ha ha - yes... artisanally handcrafted......😉

tmv - cutting down, to actually consuming very, very little fish was my reaction to learning about pollution in the seas.  DH has never really liked the taste of fish.  Fish fingers are possibly the exception - but he wouldn't thank you if you popped a monkfish tail on his plate, or a line caught sea bass, just not interested.  I've always tried with LG to let them make up their own mind about what they eat (within reason - which of course doesn't mean to say we haven't had issues over certain foodstuffs). I found it interesting that they commented - and would like it if they maintain a viewpoint on matters, whilst also developing the skills of critical thinking, nuance and how situations are rarely yes/no, black/white, stop/go, for/against etc.  They are reasonable - but far from perfect with the plastics issue.  I can say hand on heart that they have had far less plastic crap than the average child, but there is still plastic in our home.  We are definitely a 'work in progress' (as a family) with plastics.  We try our best - but is there room for improvement?  Yes.  I do try very hard to eschew unnecessary plastics where I can and/or where the available budget enables me to (for example).  I am very much a child of the 1970's and stuff came loose in a brown paper bag (probably not without its own environmental impacts), or in a glass bottle that you could return for 5p, and we always used to take our own cloth bags to the shop.  

kayannie - can I come and camp in your garden?  I'll car-share you over to MrL if you like....... 😁That WAS a good box, well done you.  I like that you are saving on gym fees by using your shopping trolley as a dumbell. Most savvy!  Well done with the litter picking on the beach - I will say thank you, even if some of the other tourists to your town don't!  😁👍

Greying X