Free Food (Almost) and The Bubble Wrap trick

We needed a TV guide for next week, and had run out of potatoes completely, even tinned ones so Graham's last £5 worth of Nectar points were required to top up. This is what we bought.... 

 

And this is what we spent.... 

We parted with just 42p in cash 👍£5 Nectar points

Today is Thursday 30th January and I'm fairly confident that we will not need to buy anything else this month.  The garage freezer is switched off and defrosting ready for cleaning later today. The remaining frozen items have been squeezed into the kitchen freezer and I know what frozen food I have left!

😜😎

I need to start as I mean to go on now and write everything down as it goes back into the clean freezer. I got very lazy and forgot to log things as they were put away which makes life very confusing when it comes to meal planning (or should I be trendy and say Reverse Meal Planning! 🤣)

Nectar points spent:  Graham £20.00     Angie £25.00

Boots points 565

Cash spent:  £93.50

We've eaten well and spent less than the £100 allocated.  In fact, there's £6.50 left so I'm therefore going to call this challenge a success👍

..................

Regarding bubble wrap....Vivi from What Vivi Did Next on u-tube mentioned that someone had said that if you fill any free space within a freezer with bubble wrap it make it work more efficiently, so, whilst I'm slowly re-stocking, I'll try that, I think.

Thank you so much for following me this last month.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Running Low & Eke-ing Out

 It's Sunday 26th January and we have six more days of meals to find before I can break into the February food budget.  Yesterday, Graham fancied steak for his main meal so spent £5.00 worth of his Nectar points on steak and two chicken portions.  I can't find his receipt but it cost:

£3.50 steak (small sirloin, thin cut)

£2.60 2 x chicken breast portions

£6.10 total 

£5 Nectar + £1.10 cash

I cooked the steak and served it with roast potatoes, brocolli, carrots, home grown sprouts, onion rings and yorkshire puddings, and I enjoyed a big plate of veg 👍

The chicken will be used for two more meals (4 portions) ....not sure what yet....fajita wraps maybe? Cooked and sliced with more veg?

For the forthcoming week I also have the makings of:

Cheese pie & baked beans

Quorn chilli and rice

Leftover Quorn curry

Eggs and chips

Pasta bake

The freezers are slowly emptying and by the end of the challenge I hope to defrost the garage freezer ready for re-stocking.  I've used up all the odd bits of leftovers and tiny bits left in their packaging and, in doing so, freed up a lot of storage boxes for future use.  It's been very satisfying 😊

Nectar points spent:  Graham £15.00     Angie £25.00

Boots points 565

Cash spent:  £93.08

Remaining:  £5 Nectar points and £6.92 cash

---------------

I'm also eke-ing out toiletries. I do have spares but want to make everything last as long as possible. We still seem to get through a ton of handwash (thanks to ingrained pandemic habits) and I make sure I use every drop....

My favourite cleanser is so expensive that I scrape every bit out of it by cutting off the top......

To reveal enough cleanser for several more days.....

I can't buy that on a whim now......

Right... I'm off do do some half price washing 👍

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

Angie 💗

Oh, What a Night and Help!....I'm Running Out of Books!

 Gosh, last night was dreadful.  The rain lashed down and the wind blew a hooley all night long.  One of our neighbours had left her empty black wheely bin out at the collection point right outside our bungalow and the wind was having a field day with it.  Firstly, it blew around upright and then blew over with a crash and slid up and down the road all night.  I wasn't going to go out in my PJ's in the early hours to move it so I barely slept for the sounds of wind and crashes.  I finally dropped off around 5am so have had around 4 hours sleep 😟I was dreading opening the blinds this morning but, after a good look around outside, everything seems to be ok.  We are so lucky.  I do hope you are all ok with homes free from wind damage 🙏

I'm still second in the queue at the library for The Long Winter and have finished my Richard Osman book (thoroughly enjoyable) so I am now running out of reading matter 👀

I have plenty of books to re-read but really fancied something new.  Nothing in the charity shops caught my eye (mainly crime novels written by men) and a trip to the library didn't inspire me either.  When we went to the afternoon Wednesday club this week though, I spotted a book which I had never read as a child and just had to buy it from the donated book shelf........

It's in lovely condition and cost 25p (all money raised goes to the Community Centre funds)

It will appeal to the child in me and keep me going until my library book is in.

Someone mentioned Borrowbox, (Shoestring Jane, I think) which is a website from which you can borrow books to read on an ipad or tablet but I couldn't get it to work for me.  I tried to register but neither of my nearest libraries were listed on there. 

 Does anyone know of a similar enterprise I could try please?

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

Angie 💗

Nectar points spent:  Graham £10.00     Angie £25.00

Boots points 565

Cash spent:  £91.98

A Decision Made & Shopping Again

Today is 22nd January.  I had to make a decision this week.  Did I want to do another 'big' shop or wait until next week to do it?  I needed dishwasher tablets, tissues, kitchen roll etc and the Nectar points remaining wouldn't cover the cost so I did an online order.  I kept it to a minimum (min order value has to be £40) and the cost came in at £40.25  

It would have cost a bit more but my bread was out of stock 😢  but I now have yeast to make some myself.

The cauliflower is lovely and will be turned into cauliflower cheese, and I have a dozen brown eggs 😎to bake with and make omelettes, eggs and chips etc

That leaves £8.02 in cash and Graham's £10 in Nectar points.  It seems to have been a very long, cold month so far, but....the end is in sight!

Nectar points spent:  Graham £10.00     Angie £25.00

Boots points 565

Cash spent:  £91.98

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

Angie 💗

A Little 'Free' Food

 As I had forgotten to buy tomatoes and also a TV guide for next week, we nipped into Sainsburys yesterday with me clutching my Nectar card containing £2.50 in spendable rewards.  This is what we bought....

After the Nectar points were deducted, it cost just 34p in cash and I've updated the total below. .....

Nectar points spent:  Graham £10.00     Angie £25.00

Boots points 565

Cash spent:  £51.73

Today has been absolutely freezing so Graham has been pottering in the garage with seeds and pots whilst I stayed in the warmth of the kitchen making soup and more flapjacks with the last of the dried fruit and golden syrup 😀  Tea tonight will be Quorn curry and rice with a single naan bread I found at the bottom of a freezer drawer 👍And, yes, I can actually see the bottom now! 👀

Thanks for popping in.

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

First Big Shop of January

Our first big shop of the year was delivered on 14th Jan and the cost came to £50.62  I had ordered protein in the shape of salmon fillets, Quorn pieces, eggs, cheese and some vegetarian stuff like Linda McCartney pies & spicy beanburgers, and some bacon.  I have lots of frozen veg left as well as some fresh carrots, a leek, Little Gem lettuce (which stays fresh for ages) and apples.  I now have the makings of meals for at least 9 days.  I know I could have saved a bit more but I'm paying for convenience eg

Bottled water 12 for £2.15 = 18p per bottle

I need to take a drink with me wherever we go and it's much cheaper to bring one from home than to pay upwards of £1 each from a shop.  The bottles get recycled, some used at the allotment....

The Nectar bonus points gained on this order have taken my remaining total to £2.92 meaning that I can spend another £2.50 next time I need a few bits.  The one thing I did forget to order was tomatoes so it might be spent on those. Graham still has £10 remaining on his account.

Nectar points spent:  Graham £10.00     Angie £22.50

Boots points 565

Cash spent:  £51.39

Already half way through the month so I think we're on track!

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

A Birthday Treat and First Batch of Card Donations

We had a lovely treat at the local nurseries' restaurant on Monday with Graham's birthday voucher.  I chose a fruit strudel and a pot of tea and Graham plumped for lemon meringue and coffee....

Both were absolutely delicious  and Graham ate every crumb.  Mine was far too big so I was glad I had taken a plastic box with me as I cut it in half and brought the rest home with me 🙂

Waste not, want not.... 

Over the weekend I managed to do a little more crafting and have finished a batch of cards which will be donated to the Hospice charity shop when I next go to the village.  The light is terrible today for photography.  In reality, the cards are much prettier than they look as the colours are not showing true.....

I want to work on some more female birthday cards next as I would like to give the charity shop a reasonable selection to try.  I'm using up the bits and pieces in my stash and if the Hospice can get £1 each for my cards I will be more than happy.  Every penny helps.....

What have you been up to this week?

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

Angie 💗

Still Eating Up The Bits, More Frugal Meals

 It's 13th January and we're still finishing off the odds and sods from the freezer, fridge and cupboards.  On Friday we ate jacket potatoes cooked in the air fryer with salad and prawns for Gray and cheese for me.......

 On Saturday I cooked a quorn cottage pie which was served with carrots, peas and lashings of vegetarian gravy 😁  It made 4 portions so we had the same again on Sunday, making it super easy for me to get on with other jobs to make use of our half price electricity slot.  

For today's lunch, I will air fry the potato slices which I picked up on Christmas Eve and put into the freezer......

......and serve them with a poached egg each (the last of the eggs) and a small tin of baked beans (the last tin shared)

I'm struggling to find a protein to serve with meals now so I've arranged a Sainsbury's delivery for tomorrow afternoon.  This should, hopefully, give me enough for another week or so, I hope for a bit longer in honesty.  That's if everything is in stock 🤞 Many of the prices have increased again since my last order before Christmas 😒 My £50 limit hasn't gone very far....

The good news is that our Daughter bought a voucher for tea/coffee and cakes at our local nurseries for Graham's birthday and we are visiting them this afternoon to choose our seeds for the allotment (to be paid for using birthday vouchers) and Gray suggested having some cake this afternoon.  As the slices of cake are huge, usually costing just under £5 each 👀,  I will probably take a box with me to bring back any surplus cake for later.  Waste not, want not!

Right-o I'm off to cook lunch....

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

Angie 💗

Free Toiletries From Boots....

I needed bubble bath and was also running out of handwash so took a trip to Boots in the next village in order to use my points.......

Bubble bath was 300 points

Carex Handwash 140 points

Dove Handwash 125 points 

Therefore 565 points used (59 left)

It was the ideal opportunity to pop into my favourite Hospice charity shop and ask if they wanted to take some of my handmade cards to sell. The manager was very enthusiastic and I've promised to make a selection and pop them in for him to see.  If he likes them, I'll donate as many as I have time to make this year.  That will be my new project!

We are still on track for a low food spend in January.  As the aim is to spend no more than £100 in cash , and I still have food in the fridge & freezer, I aim to have a Sainsbury's delivery of staples and fresh stuff next week.  The cap has been set at £50 for this order, which will leave another £50 max at the end of the month if we need it.

Graham also had over £8 in Nectar points left after the first shop, and they have gifted him another 250 FREE points worth £1.25 via the App, so he now has another lovely £10 to spend during the month 😁 This will come in handy week after next for topping up 👍

Nectar points spent:  Graham £10.00     Angie £22.50

Boots points 565

Cash spent:  77p

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

Angie 💗

Is There an Egg Shortage? And Traceability.....

We fancied poached eggs for tea yesterday and I was idly reading the egg box whilst waiting for the water to boil.....

Wow! White eggs!  I haven't seen any of those in a long while......

Inside the box is a lot of information on the markings on the shells.

O = organic

1= Free Range

2=Barn eggs

UK =origin

There is also an ID number, in this case 23064 which you can use to trace the actual source......

Wow! Who knew??

I wondered about the sudden change from the usual brown eggs to white ones and whether or not it's related to the recent bird flu outbreak. Perhaps the farmer has had to replace his flock with a new breed of hens?  Anyway, they had lovely golden yolks and tasted delicious...

I hope you are all keeping warm in this very cold and icy spell.  It was -4C last night, obviously nowhere near as cold as in Scotland, but I was glad of my dressing gown laid over the bed and my hot water bottle to cuddle up to.

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

Angie 💗

Second January Shop, and a Busy Sunday

Sunday turned out to be extremely cold, with alternate snow and showers of rain, so we stayed indoors as much as possible.  It was half price electricity day so the washer, dishwasher and tumble dryer came into play.  I also cooked lunch in the oven making roast potatoes, roast parsnips and onion rings which we ate with the last of the carrots from Christmas, some sprouts from the allotment, and some peas for protein, topped with vegetarian gravy.  Delicious!

Whilst the oven was on, I made flapjacks with the last of the porridge oats and a bit of dried fruit.  Oops....someone had to test them for quality 😉

 Other than feeding the birds and dealing with the tumble dryer, which is in the garage, we stayed in the warm.

I did manage to get a bit of cardmaking done, luckily; after finishing chores on Saturday afternoon and then again after 3pm on Sunday.  I'll share my makes in another post.

Today we decided to do our shop for the week as the snow had melted and there was just drizzle.  It's forecast for more snow later in the week and we didn't want to wait and then miss the chance to go out.  This is what we bought ......

It came to a total of £22.57  I had Nectar points worth £22.50 so the shopping came to 7p in cash 👍 I didn't intend to buy bread but this loaf was just 40p, too good to miss.  I've put it into the freezer and can make bread pudding later in the month......

We ate the stir fry for lunch to warm us up and tonight I will be making cider veggie hotpot using the onion, broccoli, one leek and some carrots ( I already have potatoes and cheese) which will serve 4 portions.  That's dinner/tea for 2 days sorted 👍😁

 We will share the veg biryani and naan bread on another day......

Nectar points spent:  Graham £10.00     Angie £22.50

Cash spent:  77p

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

Angie 💗

First Book of 2025, A Bit of Colour & Crafting Mojo

I had received £10 birthday money in a card from my friend in November, which I hadn't spent, so just before Christmas I treated myself to the new Richard Osman book from the supermarket. I'd reserved it at the library but was still about 153rd in the queue and didn't want to wait a year or more to read it!  So I splurged £12 for my own copy and kept it back for the new year.  I read the first couple of chapters in bed last night and I really like it 😀

I'm a bit short of reading matter at the moment.  I've reserved The Long Winter at the library and am 3rd in the queue so might get that soon but other than that I will have to re-read books I already have.  The weather forecast is for snow this weekend so I will need something to read snuggled up on the sofa.....

It's was flipping freezing yesterday too.  We drove to our Daughter's house to collect something and it was 0.5C on the car display ❄❄

She made us a lovely mug of tea and offered us a pasta bake lunch.  How could we refuse?  It saved us cooking a meal at home last night and we had cheese toasties instead, using up the stale bread 😉

One thing that cheered us up yesterday was the sight of our Hellibores in flower.....

 I hope the frost doesn't ruin them..... 

I've really been neglecting my crafting over the last year.  I haven't made a single card, done any cross stitch, knitting or feltwork for the whole of 2023.  Not a bit of it and I'm beginning to feel the need to get creative again.  I hope to try some cardmaking today (Saturday) but it depends on whether or not Graham finds something to do by himself.  If I keep getting interrupted I will get frustrated and annoyed.  I really want to relax a bit....no....NEED to relax a bit....

Wish me luck!

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

Angie 💗

A Whole New Month

When I turned over the calendar I was met by a shockingly blank sheet of paper.  What to do with the month?  No idea yet. I'll begin by writing up birthdays, of which there are two this month.  Graham will be 75 on the 9th and my Brother-in-Law will be 85 on the 16th.  We have 2 club afternoons to go to in the next village along, and my haircut on 13th.

There...that's not so scary.....😊

I bought the £3 calendar from a local charity, Action Heart, so the illustrations are all local views.  January's photo is of Highgate Common which Gray and I used to visit in our youth as it was free!  We had very little money when we were 18 too.......

Maybe that's a place we could drive to now.  It's not all that far but I know that access is far more restricted now than when we were young.  We could drive our mini van right onto the common and walk up into the hills.  Sadly, not any more. How things change....

What sorts of thing did you do in your youth which you can't do now?

Right....let 2025 begin! 

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

Angie 💗

First Shopping Trip of 2025

On new year's day we decided to do a small Sainsbury's shop as Wednesday is our usual 'big shop' day anyway.   We compared prices and offers on our Nectar Apps and Graham had better deals, so we agreed to use his points and keep mine for next week. This is what we bought....

I'm ashamed to say that a box of mince pies fell into the trolley as they were reduced to 42p a box, down from £1.70  If it had been left to Gray he would have spent most of his points stocking up with them!  Sanity returned and we stuck at one box 👀

The total cost was £10.70 so, after using £10 worth of points, we had to part with just 70p in cash.....

This still leaves £8.53 to spend........

Nectar points spent:  Graham £10.00     Angie £0.00

Cash spent:  70p

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

Angie 💗

Eating Frugally & Bargain Buys

Welcome  to 2025!

I can't believe that today is the first day of 2025.  A quarter of a century since the millennium  😱 How the blazes did that happen??? It's the first day of my shopping challenge too. 

On Monday, to start off our eating from stores challenge I rummaged in the garage freezer and found some pies which we had bought for pence from Sainsbury's on Christmas eve.  I thought I had photographed them but the pic has disappeared into space 👀

Anyway, there was a steak pie for Gray (reduced to 50p) and I had to abandon my principles and have a chicken and mushroom one (reduced to 35p)  To be fair, there was very little chicken in it, mainly mushrooms and white sauce.  I wouldn't normally buy these but the price had drawn me in.  There was also some carrot and potato mash costing 20p.  And I did manage to photograph that! ......

With the last 4 sprouts and the remaining petit pois from Boxing Day it turned into a decent meal, not very healthy really but tasty and absolutely frugal with the pies heated up in the air fryer and the mash microwaved.   This was mine.....

 On our Christmas Eve Sainsbury's trip we snapped up a lot of stuff which was heavily reduced and it will be making an appearance at some point this month.  All will be revealed but don't get too excited 😂 I really wish now that I had written a garage freezer inventory because meals this month will be a bit of a lucky dip 😖

Day 2 (New Year's Eve)

Gray offered to cook lunch so I happily took up his offer......

I don't usually eat bacon but it was so crisp that I couldn't resist a couple of slices of streaky left over from the pigs in blankets, a poached egg (note to self: no more left so add to the shopping list) half a small tin of baked beans, mushrooms and a slice of toast.  It was deliciously filling 😜and that left homemade vegetable soup for our evening meal. Yum!

I weighed myself this morning and I haven't put on a single ounce over Christmas, thankfully.  It would be lovely if I could lose a few pounds over the month of January though.  I feel a bit podged so more fruit and veg and fewer carbs will be consumed if I can manage it within the challenge.

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

Angie 💗