Happy New Year!

 Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and peaceful 2025

Angie ❤️

A January Challenge

 

At the start of each January when I write a budget for the forthcoming year, we resolve to spend less on food for January to give us a bit of recovery time from the expense of Christmas.  This year, 2025, it's a necessity to re-jig the whole budget because:

1. We have lost Graham's part time earnings
2. We didn't get Winter Fuel Allowance 
3. Energy prices are not coming down
4. Our rent will be going up in March
5. As will Council Tax

As usual, the only wriggle room left is in the food budget so we are setting ourselves a challenge of a low spend January. I want to see how long we can last by eating from our stores and only buying groceries using Nectar points.  Gray usually has a £50 Asda voucher from work and, of course, we don't have one to help us this year so are already at a disadvantage.  What we do have is:

My Sainsburys Nectar points £22.42

Graham's Nectar points £18.47

Boots points 624 (worth £6.24)

We have lots of veg in the fridge and freezers, long life milk, a huge tub of Clover spread,  Cheddar cheese etc  We will only need to shop for protein like eggs and some meat for Gray or when we run out of things we really need.  We will also buy any yellow sticker reduced items we come across. Meals will be simpler and, hopefully, healthier too.

With this challenge in mind, I'm looking for some recipes for cheap veggie meals and I'm also following the u tuber ALI LIVES WELL ON LESS  She is a retired teacher, living on a small teachers pension and she is FAB! She is so inspirational and so far has donated every penny raised from u tube to local (to her) charities.  Do check her out 😃

Anyway, I digress......

The question is can we survive on points and no more than £100 cash until 31st January?

Let the fun begin 👍😎

Thanks for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be, 

Angie 💓

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All Change, Feeling Saddened and a Challenge

I'm fed up with Christmas now and want to pack it all away until next year. Christmas day at our daughter's house was lovely. The meal was delicious and we left around 8.30pm to drive home in the fog and mizzle.

Boxing day here was a repeat but I cooked salmon instead of turkey. Our Granddaughter was working so there were just 5 of us. We took turns playing Connect 4 board game until 5pm when our Granddaughter arrived (she was supposed to let us know when she was on her way 😟), she was absolutely starving and very tired.  What ensued was a mad rush to put the oven on once again and prepare food, mainly ham baps, salad stuff and hot nibbles which everyone wolfed down..... mainly whilst standing 😳 not at all the quiet relaxing tea I had planned. Granddaughter then nodded off to sleep on the sofa draped in a blanket. She slept for almost an hour, took a shower, washed her hair, put on clean clothes and then drove herself and her brother home 😏

So much for a traditional get together. At least I got a big hug and a thank you from her.

I have a suspicion that next year might be completely different as I can feel a shift from traditions of the past, which I love, to the modern trend away from family gatherings now the kids are grown.  I felt quite saddened really which is why I want Christmas gone.  I think I need to pack away the decorations as soon as possible and move my thoughts on to plans for the new year.....

We won't be celebrating New Year as I usually like to go to bed early and wake up to a fresh new year quietly.....

And....

I feel a challenge coming on 😁😎

Thanks for popping in.  I know how busy it is at this time of year. 

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be.

Angie 💗

Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas

and a Blessed, Peaceful New Year ★★★

Angie 💗

Almost There...Relax!

 

Almost there! Only one day to go!

Yesterday, I finished my ironing so that washing and ironing baskets will be totally empty for almost a week.  I'll be popping a bit of washing on during the Peak Save time on Sunday next, although it will probably just be towels.  I'll have extra because I always put small guest towels out for any visitors and my Granddaughter might enjoy a bath once she finishes work on Boxing Day and comes to join us 😂 I must remind her to bring clean clothes !

Talking about clothes, I haven't bought anything new for Christmas.  We never go out to celebrate Christmas other than to our Daughter's house on Christmas Day and I have a new'ish jumper with stars on which will be fine.  I have succumbed to new underwear from M & S (one bra and a pack of knickers) so I'll be fine if I'm run over by a bus 🙄😂  When I was ironing I noticed how shabby some of my T shirts and PJ's are and Graham has actual HOLES in his PJ tops so I hope Santa has noticed and brings him a new one ! Gray has loads of day clothes he never wears so he'll be fine for another year.  Me, on the other hand, I wear everything I own all year round so might need to factor in a small clothing allowance for 2025. Watch this space!

Have you splashed the cash for new party clothes this year?

Thanks for popping in and stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie💗

Am I Ready? Are You Ready? 🎄

 

Three days to go until Christmas.  I can't believe the big day is almost here, its come round so fast but I am ready (I think) 😁

1. Gifts have been bought and wrapped
2. All cards have been sent or given in plenty of time
3. I have extra food in the freezer, all bought within budget, pretty much
4. I have bought bargain packs of veg and written a meal plan for the next week
5. The huge swede has been microwaved whole and the flesh scooped out and frozen in  portions
6. I have made bread and vegetable soup for lunch today with extra portions of soup cooling for tomorrow's lunch
7. I have placed an online order for Monday delivery from Sainsburys (the last order for 2024)
8. On Christmas eve our daughter is collecting my order of a side of salmon for us all on boxing day, along with her  Christmas day turkey 
9. We have some wine, a few beers and plenty of soft drinks

 If Sainsburys deliver everything I ordered, then I AM DONE ✔  and can relax 😌 

All being well we will spend two days with the family, still sleeping at home though, and on Christmas Eve evening we will message our Son in Sydney to wish him a Happy Birthday, as Christmas day comes sooner there 😀 He has never forgiven me for my timing with his birth 🙄

In the new year we plan to have a low spend month for food and I'll let you know the details later.  There is always plenty of food left over after Christmas and we have Nectar  points to use instead of cash to top up anything we run out of.

Are you ready now?

Thanks for popping in and stay safe and well wherever you happen to be, 

Angie 💗

A Welcome Garden Visitor!

 We were over the moon the other day when we saw an unusual visitor to the bird feeding station.  We didn't recognise it at first but Google showed it to be a Nuthatch which made sense as he was hanging upside down on the peanut container and having a right old feast.  I do hope we see him again soon.....

I love watching the antics of the birds at the feeders and the squirrels who try to negotiate the anti-climb dome!  We have regular visits from Robins, a Blue Tit, Blackbirds, Magpies, and a Spotted Woodpecker came a couple of times too.  

What birds do you have visiting your garden?

Do you have any tips on what food to put out that doesn't cost a fortune please?

We would love to encourage more types of birds to visit but would rather not attract rats and pigeons 😏

Thanks so much for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be ,

Angie 💗

15p Veg Bargains. Grab 'em Now!

We popped to Sainsburys this afternoon to see if the cheap veg had arrived.  It had :

2kg Osprey white potatoes

1kg carrots

500g parsnips

500g sprouts

Swede 

All at 15p each. All in the photo above cost me 75p.....

I bought another bag of potatoes for my daughter, as everything was being snapped up and I think the shelves will be pretty empty by closing time tonight.  I'm sure they will be replenished but I didn't want to be greedy so I just took one pack of each (apart from spuds) to make sure everyone gets a chance to grab a bargain.  If there are any left by the weekend I might grab some more carrots and parsnips. There were also red cabbages on offer at 15p each but I left those. 

The thing I felt most sad about is that these wonderful offers are for Nectar card holders only, which certainly will exclude some people.  I expect Morrisons, Asda, and Aldi will follow suit with the cheaper price exclusively for card holders  😞

However....I just read that LIDL veg will be 9p and no loyalty card needed!!

Hats off to LIDL!!

Did you manage to get any?

Thanks for popping in, and stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie💗

Back to Plan A Unfortunately.........

 I didn't think I'd be saying this so soon but Graham is no longer working.......again.

The garden centre took on a 16 year old lad a couple of weeks ago in the same department, and on Sunday Gray was told he was no longer required.  Now, as Gray was on minimum wage of £11.44 per hr and the lad is on the under 18's wage of £6.40 per hr, I think that says it all 😢

 'Nuff said....

So we are back to plan A and another financial re-jig.  I think I will hang onto my car for another year as planned, then let it go.  Its not really worth much money, so if I sold it now there wouldn't be an awful lot to put in the bank.  It would be counter productive.  Oh well, best laid plans and all that.......

Our energy supplier, British Gas, has sent me an email asking if I want to participate in a Green Flex Saver event tonight.  Can a duck swim? 😃  So, yes, tonight between 9pm and 11pm we will get half price electricity which means: half price TV drama, half price mugs of tea, half price load of washing, and half price dishwashing ! Yay! In the words of a famous supermarket 'every little helps' 😁

Thanks for popping in and stay safe and well wherever you happen to be, 

Angie 💗

Is it worth the effort?

On Sunday we had the usual half price electricity offer between 11am and 4pm.  It's a bit of an effort to use it effectively, as I have to resist the temptation of putting the washing machine on before 11am and I'm clock watching 👀 But, yes, I think it is.....

I seem to be saving just under £1 each week and so far have saved £5.23 in total since I took up the offer a few weeks ago.  The money gets knocked off my monthly bill and anything is very welcome.  

Frugal things done: 

2 loads of washing ✔

2 loads of tumble drying✔

Baking✔

Vacuuming throughout✔

 My reward 😉

Thanks for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Charity Shopping, Donating and Unwinding

On Friday we decided to get some fresh air despite the drizzle, and ventured into the village for a few bits and pieces that we needed.  We also popped into the Hospice shop to have a browse round.  Anyone who needs a fully decorated tree would have loved this.....

no

I spotted some interesting glassware on the shelf, Dartington etched on the base.... 

There was a box of 2 of these stemless wine glasses...... 

And the price? 

They just had to come home with me 😁

I checked on the list of what was needed by the food bank...... 

And settled on a pack of 4 tins of beans, 2 tins of rice pudding, and toothpaste.... 

So that's another £4.60 donated. 

Graham offered to treat me to a glass of wine in the village pub. Who was I to argue? 😜😇

What have you been up to lately?

Have you begun celebrating yet?

Thanks for popping in and stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie ❤️

A Reprieve....such a relief!

My trusty little VW Fox  went in for its annual MOT on Tuesday.  I gave her a little lecture about staying calm and behaving, and explained it would be just like me having my dental checkup.  Nothing to worry about 😊 (yes, I know I'm becoming eccentric 😜). A few hours later I had a phone call to say that she had failed......... .but only on the windscreen wipers! It would cost under £20 to put her right and they could do it there and then as they had some  wipers in stock.  Phew 😓 The total cost was £68.37 and I'm officially roadworthy for another year.  Such a relief.....

Oh, and they did a free health check on my battery for peace of mind. It's 90% so no worries there. 

The staff at the garage are so lovely and never let me tip them in cash so I took a box of biscuits for them to enjoy with their mugs of tea. Sean was happy to accept those 😂 and I was happy to say a big thank you in that way.

As my Fox is now 14 years old I've splashed the cash from savings to pay for local recovery insurance for 12 months. £33.49 gives me a years worth of not worrying about breaking down anywhere. I don't travel far but would be able to summon help if I did break down.  Well worth the cost, I think.

Do you have breakdown insurance?

Have you needed to use it recently? 

Thanks so much for popping in and stay safe wherever you happen to be, 

Angie ❤️

A Christmas Pledge

 

Now don't get too excited but I've just got my Christmas bonus from the government, a whole £10......  The sum hasn't changed in years. My mum and dad used to get the same amount and dad would have been 110 years old this year!  Of course, it's not to be sniffed at.  I joke about it because we are not desperate for money but some people are and it made me think about how I can do more to help others.  I already shop at charity shops, as you know, as well as donate unwanted items to them but I want to do more.  

With my own £10 (Gray has one too) I have:

• Bought a box of biscuits to take to the lovely, friendly staff and volunteers at my favourite Hospice charity shop.  They can have a biscuit with their coffee in the run up to Christmas,
• Taken out a lottery subscription of £1 a week for the charity Headway via our local council website.  Headway get a proportion of sales and local causes also get a proportion.  I can pay for a chunk of 5 weeks at a time so am not totally committed if we have a difficult month financially,
• The remaining amount of £2.75 will be used to buy treats for the food bank trolley

As I was online buying the lottery tickets, I had just authorised the payment and closed the page when I heard a 'ker...ching!' on my phone. I had made a sale on eBay in the sum of.... £10.50

Now I absolutely know I have made the right decision.  Someone important told me so....

Thanks so much for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

The Dec's Are Up! And Storm Consequences

 

On Saturday, whilst Gray was at work, I put up the few decorations that I wanted to put up.  Not a massive effort, just small and simple but bright enough to give me a warm feeling of cosiness.....

 

I love this little tree.  The lights are on a timer so will switch on at around 3pm and go off at bedtime.  I won't have to do a thing 😄

I mentioned in yesterday's post that Graham has a new (temporary) job at a garden centre selling the Christmas trees.  Wow Saturday was awful.  Storm Darragh has done a lot of damage. The power went off, the ice rink was flooded, the little train wasn't working and Santa was in darkness 😢

Poor Gray couldn't feel his fingers or his feet by the time he got home and he was soaked through.  He had an immediate hot shower, a mug of tea and then a hot meal.  He warmed up just in time to go to bed with a hottie. 

 On Sunday he went in to help clean up and effect repairs. I made sure he was well layered up this time with 2 pairs of socks and a thermal top under his sweatshirt 👀

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Good News! and Bath Time Adventures

 The good news is that Graham is working!  He applied for a job at a local garden centre and was offered the post immediately.  It is still weekends only, at minimum wage, and just 10 hours per week and he seems to have been put to selling the fresh Christmas Trees despite his Horticultural expertise 😐  It might only be until the new year but it's extra money at just the right time.  He is coming home knackered and filthy from the wet trees but it's a job....

I read on the internet this morning that MP's are still getting an annual heating allowance of thousands of £'s, including Rachel Reeves 😡 who is guilty of withdrawing help for pensioners, I don't know how they can live with themselves....

On Friday evening I had just had a lovely, relaxing bath and put on my PJ's ready to have a sandwich and watch TV when I took a phone call from my daughter.  They had the sealant on the walk in shower replaced that morning and it wasn't dry.  Could our Grandson come for a shower please?  Well, as he is an apprentice welder and comes home filthy, of course we said yes.  No problem.  In the end our Granddaughter came for a hot bath too. It was a real treat for her as they had replaced their bath with a shower 😂 It ended up being a lovely family get together with hot drinks and me in my pyjamas.  The things you do for family 😍

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Storm Darragh, and a Heads Up

Eighteen days to Christmas and we have had a rough and stormy night.  The wind kept us both awake last night, howling and tossing the trees around with the rain lashing down.  

 We had laid the patio set flat in case the wind whipped it into the glass patio doors during the night.  Luckily, we have no damage at the moment, but the garden looks so bleak.  Little wonder that people feel down at this time of year.  I need colour in my life so I intend to put up our little tree today and fish out some pretty decorations.  That should help a little.  Our Son In Law always gets depressed at this time of year.  He is under stress at work and has, only this year, been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.  That is now under control but he seems to be having memory loss which the GP says is due to his diabetes.  I've never heard of that before but it's very worrying.  My poor daughter is trying to keep things on an even keel and cope with Christmas preparations as well.  I hope it doesn't take a toll on her own health.

Wales and the West coast of the UK were forecast to be the worst hit by the storm.  We are in the Heart of England but I have my phone on charge and torches ready.  A delivery driver has just dropped off a package and he said that there are floods and trees down all over our area. Parts of the UK had a warning alarm on their phones last night due to 'threat to life'. My heart goes out to people with power outages and storm damage.......

Have you been affected by the storm?

A quick 'heads up'......it looks like we may be in luck again this year with cheap veg for Christmas.  Sainsburys and Aldi will be offering packs of veg for 15p each from 19th December.  I daresay other supermarkets might follow suit but I sincerely hope that they are not all for loyalty card holders or App users 😡That would be so unfair on many people, including under 18's who aren't even allowed to have a loyalty card.....

That's it for now....

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Charity Shop Treasure

 Although I'm cutting my spending still further, I still like a good browse around the charity shops in the village...... 

These lovely little lead crystal glasses caught my eye.  They were handmade by Royal Brierley Crystal, where I worked for a couple of years, cut in the Bruce pattern. They would originally have been sherry glasses although drinks measures are now much bigger than they used to be so they are now perfect for liqueurs or a small port after dinner.....

I loved them at first sight. The cost? 50p each! They just had to come home with me 😉

After all..... I had just dropped off a bag of donations so there was plenty of room in my cupboard 😉😁

People don't seem to like crystal anymore. Is it because you can't put it in the dishwasher, I wonder?

Do you use yours?

Thanks for popping in and stay safe and well, 

Angie ♥️

Tuesday Treat and a Quiz

 On Tuesday evening there was a meeting at the Horticultural Guild that we joined last year. It was the annual members supper and quiz night and what a great night it turned out to be! The tickets were £5 each (the normal meeting fee is £3) and the cost included the quiz and a glass of wine. We all took food to share (our contribution being coleslaw, potato salad and crisps) and others provided sandwiches, quiche, sausage rolls, salad stuff, cheese straws, trifle and cake. My one glass of wine turned into two 😁 and Gray made coffee for himself and other drivers ☕☕ It was a really fun night of food, laughter, brain searching and chatting with new friends. There was a raffle at the end too. We didn't win either the quiz or raffle but it was the best £10 night out in years 👍 Sadly, the next meeting is not until February 2025, but the guest speaker is talking about bee keeping so we will look forward to that. 🐝🐝🐝

Who else loves bees? 

Thanks for popping in and stay safe and well, 

Angie ♥️

Monday 2nd December

 Yesterday was quite a productive day.  I set out all the family presents on the kitchen table and thought......blimey....there's not much there.  But, when I added it all up, the 4 members of our immediate family had got gifts to the value budgeted for and, indeed had gifts they would use, not tat 👀  It's just that everything is so expensive nowadays.  I actually found I had far more wrapping paper than I needed. And tags.  Drat I could have saved a bit of money there ....

Now there are the cards to be written another day.  Most will be handed out if I can as the postage is extortionate.  I have stamps left over from my Royal Mail survey days (I got paid in stamps) so I'll use those.  I don't fancy buying more just to have Christmas themed stamps.

The younger kids in the extended family will have money tucked inside a card so I'll send those first class anyway if they can't be handed out.

I went online and ordered a book for my little Granddaughter in Australia as a surprise. She'll love it because I checked first with her dad what she is reading now. Hopefully she will get it this week. 

All is in hand.  Now I can just concentrate on the food /drink. I have £15 worth of Nectar points on my loyalty card and so does Graham, so that's £30 in total.  That will be a big help.

 Thanks for popping in and stay safe and well, 

Angie ❤️

Happy 1st December!

Can you tell I'm in the Christmas mood this morning? 😂 It's the first day of December and I'm planning on getting out the wrapping paper, cards and bows and wrapping up the family gifts.  It's half price electricity today so from 11am I'll be popping in the washing too. I had a dreadful night's sleep on Friday night and woke yesterday morning feeling like a limp rag.  I had no energy all day and felt like death warmed up.  Last night was totally different and I've woken up refreshed and raring to go (luckily... because there's so much to do today!) I also want to give the flat surfaces in the bungalow a good clean so that I can arrange some Christmas stuff.  There won't be much dusting done once all the decorations are laid out 👀

Do you bother taking everything off again to dust??

We don't bother with a big tree but I bought a small lit tree last year which fits nicely on the sideboard and the lights have a timer so, once it's set, it will switch itself on and off.

Right-oh.... it's 11am so I will begin!

Thanks for popping in and stay safe and well,

Angie💗