Moving on

Cherryfudge

WelshmansDaughter said:

I wish I’d known about the book however I’ve reserved a copy from the library.
I’ve gotten a very interesting book called Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson which I think does cover a bit of the same 

I'm sorry you missed the promotion, @WelshmansDaughter, but it might be worth keeping an eye on Kindle deals as I've seen books come up more than once.

I looked up the Home Comforts book as it's not one I'd come across - there seem to be a laundry version and a housekeeping version. I love stuff like that: it's a whole world of expertise and experience and it's evolving, but I also like that people are rediscovering old skills.

Cherryfudge

So we had a very quiet morning for some unknown reason, but that was probably all to the good as we were short of staff. That meant I had time to pop out to the supermarket for some things that were needed (they will reimburse me) and while I was there I noticed they had lots of discounted chicken so I hurriedly bought one in case they were all gone later. Then, of course, I went back after my shift and found lots more 'bargains'.

This bargain hunting is an expensive hobby, so I need to work through what I saved and what I spent and what was a good idea - or not. I can see I get very drawn in to loyalty card promotions, and buy things I hadn't planned, or plan around what Sains if offering me.

Laura_Elsewhere

WelshmansDaughter said:

I’ve gotten a very interesting book called Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson 

Her 'Home Comforts' book is one of the best books I have ever read! I used mine again and again, reading it for encouragement as well as turning to it for reference, and last year I finally wrote a dedication in the front and gave it to my Younger Niece for her to enjoy and find useful... 

WelshmansDaughter

I did Home Economics at school and I maintain it was the most useful subject. This book takes it a step further and is more what I was looking for in terms of the why behind it all

milann

Don’t save nice jam for special occasions…..every day is special 👍 I realised this after loosing some folk who were very close to me. Live every day as your last and enjoy it the best way you can😁👍👍👍👍👍 That is my motto now. 

Cherryfudge

So 'Home Comforts' is around 900 pages, eh? I'm in awe!

One of my books, 'A Student's book of Housewifery' (1940 edition) is the closest I think I have to a comprehensive guide to housekeeping, and I'd not looked at it for years till this came up. As has been said in some articles about 'Home Comforts', it's actually soothing to read. For instance the routine, exclusive of cleaning, for ordering the bedroom: air the bed, put away nightwear, empty the hot water bottle, tidy the dressing table, open the window, and in the evening, pull down the blinds, close the curtains, take off and carefully fold up the bedspread, turn down the bed clothes, put nightwear ready on the bed and add the hot water bottle...

So orderly, so neat.  

Cherryfudge

Cherryfudge said:

So we had a very quiet morning for some unknown reason, but that was probably all to the good as we were short of staff. That meant I had time to pop out to the supermarket for some things that were needed (they will reimburse me) and while I was there I noticed they had lots of discounted chicken so I hurriedly bought one in case they were all gone later. Then, of course, I went back after my shift and found lots more 'bargains'.

This bargain hunting is an expensive hobby, so I need to work through what I saved and what I spent and what was a good idea - or not. I can see I get very drawn in to loyalty card promotions, and buy things I hadn't planned, or plan around what Sains if offering me.

The above was part one of today so here's the rest.

Last night was apparently about 6 degrees outside which I read is nearly a record low for June. Then it wasn't very warm this morning, got to 'too hot in all these layers' after I got home and I've just retrieved the hot water bottle from the bed and have it warming my knees again. This is probably partly because we had chicken salad followed by fresh pineapple and strawberries for dinner, which is very indulgent but more suitable for cooling people down than warming them up.

When I got home, I put the whole chicken in the slow cooker and some chicken fillets in the freezer, then started an analysis of the receipt and realised it didn't come out as I thought it would. I ended up going all the way back to Sains and talking it through with a very helpful member of staff and the upshot is that I'd missed the bit where you have to scan your nectar card (and possibly bar codes on items?) with a separate scanner in addition to scanning the app. That means I've missed out on £3.79 of savings today, though all the straightforward nectar offers and YS items went through as they should. It's also annoying because it means we are storing various dry goods that we don't yet need, though that won't last long.

Grr - I'd gone through the app a couple of times and come to the conclusion I didn't need the shop and scan, because I missed a line of text that would have lead me to the 'how to' section and I assumed that because it was all on the nectar app, that was all I needed to operate it. You would be proud of me, though - I didn't get shirty, just thanked him and said I felt it could be clearer (he agreed and said a lot of people have said similar).

Then on the way home I called into L1dl for some tiny potatoes and the L1dl app gave me a choice of free peppers or free lemons on my next visit, so L1dl is on my side.  

All that walking and a social morning should have utterly worn me out, so I changed my plans to go to something at church this evening, but in fact I don't feel too bad at all. However, by the time I realised this it was too late to go.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £24.44

The fridge is now groaning at the seams and needs some rearrangement to get the last of the fresh food in, but at least we've had a lot of the salad stuff that was left over from yesterday.

Cherryfudge

Here's the breakdown of today's purchases with a few thoughts of mine (the obvious one being, I got carried away, didn't I?).

• Small chicken, was £3.95, reduced to £2.19 - good value and will make another two meals with the addition of other ingredients. Also Sains chicken seems to have a better welfare record than some other supermarkets, so if I choose to eat chicken, I'm glad I can afford that.

• Chicken fillets, was £6.49, now £3.99 - a more expensive way to buy chicken but there are three one-portion sized pieces, one large piece and one enormous one, so six or seven servings so around 66p each serving. All wrapped individually and frozen so I don't have to defrost too much.

• Grapes, were £1.80, reduced to 49p,  

• 4 organic pears, were £2.50, reduced to 59p.  

• Easy peelers with nectar reduction - not necessary as we already have some, so I will have to make sure I use them. Silly buy really.

• 4 packets of crispbread which DH loves - only bought because of the scan and save reduction which didn't get applied. Will get eaten but currently taking up space.

• 3 packets of DH's tea - see crispbreads.

• 2 packets of my oatcakes - see crispbreads and tea.

• Pot of coriander, was £1.50, reduced to 39p - probably as cheap as I'll get it but I have no immediate plans to use it (and my own still hasn't so much as sprouted).

• Carrier bag - I'd brought bags but bought too much to fit in them.

• Kale - grabbed it while it was available and it had loyalty points attached but I wish I'd kept hold of the recipe I bought it for., and it's taking up space because it's all volume.
• 2 packets of cous cous, see crispbreads, tea and oatcakes above. Also I already have lots in store!
• Bag of tiny potatoes, 89p - will accompany a few meals so pretty good value and all cooked together to save fuel.

WelshmansDaughter

Perhaps liquidising the kale for juice might be an option?
This might be a silly question but is there a reason why you have different meals all the time? Would it not be easier to have mostly the same then you could shop less?

redofromstart

If anyone is tempted by the home comforts book then I've found it on awesome books for £3.57 delivered - they have a few copies.