The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

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  • Fortune_Smiles
    Fortune_Smiles Posts: 5,018
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    Ooooh! I love duck eggs.

    Fortune x
    Mortgage: 86% paid Mortgage Neutral: 100% Emergency Fund: 100%
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  • Good Afternoon :hello:

    Well, I'm pleased to report that we have a little of the mrL 'special offer' cheese. I'm quite glad as a) we'd run out of cheese! and b) it is a product that we normally use, so to get it discounted feels a little like a reward. DH braved the crowds. Apparently there was alot of jockeying for position at the door (DH wisely stayed in the car until the shop was open), and people 'overtaking' each other to get to the cheese aisle first. Thankfully, MrL had (in our store) put the cheese in several locations, so DH quietly pootled up to the fridge and got some without any bother.

    I returned 2 library books. And promptly took out 3 more.... will I never learn???? :rotfl:

    I also decided to risk getting some avocadoes from the over-priced on some things greengrocers. 3 for a £1. The one was very ripe - perfect for mashing, so I've had it in a sandwich for lunch :D The other 2 are firm. So fingers crossed they will ripen up nicely.

    I saw someone who didn't exactly know I'd had a baby. They had seen me with BG but didn't know if the baby was mine/got it off the internet/found it on the YS'd shelf...... :p anyway, we had a chitter chatter and they gave Baby Greying some 'luck' money, so that will be going into their savings account.

    I need to conjure up a curry for later. MrW had some aubergines that they had *generously* discounted to 30p each. Given it looked like someone had been playing football with them, I *generously* left them where they were.

    Tea last night was cheese pizza with sauted tatties. The tatties were in the oven too long, so were very well browned (perils of timing with a baby), but it all tasted OK and filled a hole.

    Right, best do a bit more pootling.

    Greying X
    Pounds for Panes £2,300/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023

    Coins for Camping (April) -  £0/£15  (Camping TTD - £60/90)

    Grocery spend March £247.85/215  Charity Blankets completed 1/24
    Grocery spend April £7.39/215
    Non-food household spend April £12.94
    Bulk Fund April 0/£10
  • :wave: Greying

    Afghan carrot hotpot :drool: :drool: :drool: I was wondering why my ears were burning... :rotfl:

    MWCx
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  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 21,196
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    try_harder wrote: »
    Thank you .I dont have a microwave but i really think i should buy one ,i have always been slightly nervous of them but we do eat a lot of jacket potatoes with our salads so im guessing i should get a bit mote with it .I often see them on freecycle too so will look out for one to try ,

    Personally I'd not chance a second hand microwave - they are rather too "dodgy if abused" for my taste on that front. You can however pick up a basic one new for around £35.00 which will almost certainly do all you - as a "new to microwaves" person would require...

    I'm glad Mr G's savvy approach served him well and he was able to slalom around the sharp elbows to reach the cheese stash Greying!

    We also had an avocado yesterday - although NOT at a bargain price like yours, sadly, it was with a salad and was extremely tasty, though!
    🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
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  • Loving the recipes and the cheese-heist adventures, GP!
    The toad in the hole looks amazing, and what a treat with gifted duck eggs too. I'm a bit partial to a boiled duck egg and soldiers - mmmm - although unfortunately no such gifted eggy luck on the horizon here and I can't justify the expense of them in the shops. Maybe as a treat soon!

    I've just acquired the happy pear cookbook, enjoyed reading it sat in a sunny spot yesterday, thought of you. Although haven't made anything from it yet, will read it through first and then go back and mark the favourites to try first :)

    Hope it's sunny with you today.

    Ave
    X
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  • try_harder
    try_harder Posts: 1,527
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    Thank you EssexHebridean ,thats a very good idea ,i only need a very basic machine i will have a look .
  • Verbatim
    Verbatim Posts: 4,830
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    How are you GP? Hope all is well.
    Vx
    CCs @0% £24k Dec 05 £19,621.41 Au £13400 S 12600 Oct £11,981 £9481 £7500 Nov £7250 D £7100 Jan 6950 F £5800 Mar£5400 May £4830 June £4660 July £4460 Aug £3200, S £900, £0 18/9/07 DFW Nerd 042
  • Good Morning :hello:

    Yes, all good at Greying Towers. We've been enjoying a mini-staycation, so have been doing chores and nice things all week.

    I need to learn a thing or three from EH about holiday budgetting, as the 'normal' budget has very much been busted. Whilst actual 'holibobs' things have come from a separate pot, the grocery budget was pretty much shot by the start of the week :( Think I'll probably just draw a line under April and start afresh for May.

    One thing that I find utterly annoying is that we spent £47.60, or the equivalent of very nearly 1/3rd of a month's food budget on 'eating out'. What did we get for this HUGE amount of money? 2 normal coffees, 2 cappucinos, 4 slices of cake - 2 were indifferent, 2 were lovely, 2 soft drinks and 2 lunch dishes of such average quality, and which did not contain half the ingredients listed on the menu; that we will not darken the doors of that cafe again. Not all that food was consumed on the same day, I hasten to add! But whilst I thought that we couldn't afford to eat out, I now know that we cannot afford to eat out. If I have learnt one thing this week, it is not to be ashamed of packing a picnic - ever. Whilst I appreciate food outlets have got to earn money, and they create employment etc, there seems to be a disconnect between quality of offering and price charged. I have never paid £3 for a slice of cake before, and won't make a habit of it in the future. M&$ chocolate cake was nice (still a bit pricey), but their carrot cake was indifferent - not too sure what it was supposed to taste of. I wouldn't buy it again. However, anyone that has ever made Viennese fingers from the bero cookbook will know how utterly delicious, those buttery biscuits can be and I certainly enjoyed the version I ate in an independent cafe - the deliciousness almost outweighed the £2.50 pricey tag.

    The lunch outlet was a certain genre of cuisine . Whilst they clearly feel they have the monopoly in Greying Town, their cook/chef is clearly not experienced, and the food was utterly indifferent, meanly portioned and a triumph of style over substance. At £23 for 2 dishes, that is not good enough in my world. Probably most of that revenue goes to buy 'funky crockery' so you don't notice what's placed on it.....
    We won't be going again.

    Chores have been predominantly limited to 'maintenance' with no 'development' chores undertaken. Something which I find frustrating. But maintenance is better than nothing I suppose.

    We've enjoyed some walking and visits, as well as calling in on family, which was nice. Baby Greying was oooohed and ahhhed over, showered with gifts, money and a banana :D and it was a thoroughly lovely trip, rounded off with a picnic lunch at a beautiful location, where we were entertained by the birdlife, just going about, doing their thing :D

    So, whilst additional money has been spent, the actual things that have given us maximum joy have been free/inexpensive. I've benefitted from some help from the Natty Healthy Service - hopefully I'm not a decrepit auld wreck........ and we've enjoyed time together as a family, so no complaints really, from us. Just never, ever, ever going to that cafe again for lunch!!!! They're not getting their hands on our hand-earned moola.

    We've a slow-start happening today, as BG had a very disturbed night - I'm not sure why. Probably just because, and which hopefully means that it will be an isolated night, and not set a pattern........

    We've been following a vague meal-plan, but have switched around to accomodate what we've been doing. We had our 'fish supper' on Friday night, as we had been out all day, so it was an easy prep/eat. Last night we had Jack Monroe's Peach and chickpea curry, Tina's dhal and rice. A cheap eat in view of overspends! I'm hopeful tonight will be pizza - I should get on and prep the dough now, so that there are no excuses if we decide to pop out for a while this arvo.

    Right, can't think of anything else money-spending nor money-saving to report, so I had better shuffle orf.

    ta for popping in, reading and joining in. Appreciated.

    Greying X
    Pounds for Panes £2,300/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023

    Coins for Camping (April) -  £0/£15  (Camping TTD - £60/90)

    Grocery spend March £247.85/215  Charity Blankets completed 1/24
    Grocery spend April £7.39/215
    Non-food household spend April £12.94
    Bulk Fund April 0/£10
  • apple_muncher
    apple_muncher Posts: 14,662
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    We also have a 'we're-never-going-back-there-again' eatery. We had lunch there and then came home and had lunch again as it was so un-filling! About 2 hours later, dd threw all her food up (supposedly gluten free food - we now have serious doubts...) and I also had a dodgy tum, having had some of her gf pancake. A waste of money and time indeed.

    Like you, we am not afraid to pick and choose where we partake of decently priced beverages, (if at all) and will happily munch our own snacks whilst out and about.

    But it is a lesson learned, as so much of today's culture is geared around eating out, and having someone else cook for you, that it is easy to consider it a 'thing that ought to be done every so often'. But when you spend the time there thinking about how you could do it better and cheaper and with a lot less faff, then it is time to leave those doorsteps to be darkened by the unenlightened :D.
    NST March lion #8; NSD ; MFW9/3/23 Whoop Whoop!!!

  • But it is a lesson learned, as so much of today's culture is geared around eating out, and having someone else cook for you, that it is easy to consider it a 'thing that ought to be done every so often'. But when you spend the time there thinking about how you could do it better and cheaper and with a lot less faff, then it is time to leave those doorsteps to be darkened by the unenlightened :D.


    Gosh, applemuncher - I could have written your post word for word - that is EXACTLY how I feel. I can report that we weren't ill following our lunch out - which would have added insult to injury and I WOULD have joined faceache to complain about the joint, had it occured! But I think that you have hit the nail on the head. This eatery was a particular genre, some would still call it niche food - although they are waaayyyyyy behind the times, as it's getting mainstream by the day.

    But I would hazard a guess and say that the clientele were predominantly omnivores, possibly prone to eating out alot, possibly not well-versed in the type of cuisine to know what is possible in terms of variety, deliciousness etc etc. I'm generalising - of course - but I think the bar was set pretty low to accommodate all-comers, rather than to showcase the best that they could offer. I suppose if you can get away with charging top price for average, well, why not?

    But yes, we too will leave it to others to support that eatery in future.

    Greying X
    Pounds for Panes £2,300/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023

    Coins for Camping (April) -  £0/£15  (Camping TTD - £60/90)

    Grocery spend March £247.85/215  Charity Blankets completed 1/24
    Grocery spend April £7.39/215
    Non-food household spend April £12.94
    Bulk Fund April 0/£10
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