I'm back, still struggling along, still frugal

Blackcats

Hooray to the nanny Gladys' family cake sharing.

i got a selection of 5p veggies today.  It seems too good to be true.  I hope it's the supermarket and not the farmers who are taking the financial hit.  I do think it's great that fresh veg is so affordable at this expensive time of year.  

nannygladys

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and Boxing day.

Blackcats - I bought various veggies from Tesc@I made  and they were 15p each, 5p bags wow!!

My dgs and I made some choc chip cookies, mince pies and jam tarts to take back home with him when he came to stay, (he's only 5 yrs old) and they weren't the prettiest but they did taste ok  and I made the Xmas cake and iced it just before the big day and took it up with me on Xmas morning, and that was all the baking I did. I had planned on more but everyone has lots of goodies in anyway, so I still have all the ingredients in for the cinnamon/apple rolls, gingerbread men and shortbread I decided to wait until later on in January when the Xmas goodies are running out!

It's just been me and the dog today, so in the afternoon sun I took him a good walk over the fields and by gum it was cold, I was just happy I had a hood on my coat and didn't care what I look like whilst out! Anyway the house was nice and warm when I got back in so made a hot chocolate drink to warm up a bit and dog had a good snooze.

And that's about it, I've just been doing the usual things and seeing friends and family. And now I need to have a look what veggies etc I have in and make a tentative food plan for the next few weeks as I want to spend as little as possible between now and the end of January, two reasons, I want a good start to save for my new carpet and my two freezers are rammed with food and I could do with using some of it up to make room for other stuff.

Here's hoping you all have a good New Year and let us hope its going to be better than 2025.

Nannyg

nannygladys

Hi everyone, Happy New Year to all.
Yesterday I collected eldest dgd and she stayed overnight to celebrate the New Year and after cooking a 'Xmas' dinner for the two of us this afternoon I took her back home as she is back at work tomorrow.
I have kept busy taking the dog walks, reading frugal blogs on here and elsewhere, and getting ideas for my very low spend January. So todays 'Xmas' dinner had already been bought and the veggie were all the 15p ones so that didn't cost much to produce but as I haven't been out stocking up on any food etc so it does mean I will be using mainly my pantry stocks and freezer. Tomorrow I'm doing some dgc sitting at their house, so my heating won't be on at home  and dd is feeding me my lunch and the over the weekend I can do some serious food menus and getting my budgets as tight as I can, I'm determined to save as much as I can. I seem to have enough toiletries, kitchen/bathroom items and loo paper to last a few months!!!! (hangover from 2020!)
Nannyg

OpalGirl

Happy New Year Nannyg. Your 'Xmas' dinner with your dgd sounds like a lovely start to the new year. Good luck with the budgeting, I think we are all starting 2026 looking at how we can economise. 

Skint_yet_Again

Happy new year Nannyg. You are building some lovely memories with your dgc 😊 Have a wonderful day at your DD’s today 

fionaandphil

Happy new year! Your frugal plans look like they will be off to a good start with all the planning you are doing.

cbsexec

Happy New Year.  I’ll be joining you in trying to save money and be more frugal.  

nannygladys

Thank you for the New Year wishes.
Well so far so good on the frugal front as no money has been spent as I'm still eating what's leftover out of the fridge. Today I made a lentil and vegetable soup which will last the next few days and had left over dinner from yesterday for my tea. I will be running low on a few bits but I will try to use something else instead for the next few days. It certainly makes you think what to use when you want it to last as long as possible. I've also looked out unfinished sewing projects and plan to complete a few of those before starting anymore and  I've also found a shawl I started and gave up on as I kept making a mess of the lace pattern so that's something else I'm going to have another go at.
 It's been snowing most of the day and is quite thick now, so unless its melts by tomorrow lunchtime I won't be doing my usual school pickup for dgs, I really hate driving in the snow after I had a bit of a fright years ago, and besides that I can't get the car out of the drive unless I dig it out 
The dog is really enjoying the snow, it looked pristine for about 5 mins in my back garden when it started but as its really thick now he seems to have gone off it a bit and doesn't stay out there very long when I let him out
Anyway I'd better go to bed as I'm trying to have more sleep than normal as one of my intentions for this year, I'm trying to pick one a month instead of setting new year resolutions which I don't usually bother with.
Nannyg

ancientmum

Stay safe in the snow nannyg.  We have not had any yet this far south, but it is very cold and frosty.  
I think January is the worst month for making "new me" resolutions but your aim to get more sleep is spot on!

Cherryfudge

I used to follow your old thread and I'm so glad I've come across this one! Bookmarked, though it may take me a little while to catch up.