April Austerity - Fallout 4

Last month I started growing one lonely lettuce stalk on the ledge in the lounge.  I now have three of them, a regrown bunch of spring onions and a cabbage.  The latter is interesting.  As all the other veggies have sprouted upwards from the centre without growing any roots, I was expecting the cabbage to do just that.  It hasn't obliged.  The cabbage has developed from the gaps between the leaves of the original stalk; I have 5-6 new growths and a load lot of roots.  I am actually considering buying some compost and seeing if I can separate the new plants and grow them individually.

I think there is a difference in how lettuce may grow, according to how the stem is cut.  The two by themselves (in the middle pot) seem to be opening up, whereas the third lettuce (left hand side, right hand pot) seems to look more like its original shape.  I *think that is the one that I managed to cut dead flat across.  Mum's said she may get me one of those put-me-up plastic greenhouses for the garden to see if I can grow veggies in there.  She's already bought me a rosemary plant and a tomato plant.

Continuing with a veggie theme, if you ever open up the fridge and find vegetables that look as if they have had a night out (bendy and beyond their best), have you tried standing them in water, in the fridge for a few hours?  Carrots, cabbage, broccoli and a few others all seem to gain a bit of ompf back after a little TLC.  Sad lettuce?  Peel off the leaves and plunge them in ice cold water for 20 minutes!

Finally, the fun and games with Tosca continue.  Below is this week's shop: £21 worth of stock for £10.50 - give or take a few pennies.

April Austerity - Fallout 3

I'm definitely watching my cash now.  It's not that I was really *that frivilous with the stuff in the first place, but I am now on the equivalent of the state pension, which is paid to me by the teacher pension lot and I have a huge mortgage which is not covered by this!

So, to try and make sure the pot does not sink too fast it's now Eve vs. Tosca: in May for example, Tosca has supplied me with £220.36 worth of goods - food, toiletries, washing powder, cat litter etc etc.  I gave them £122.15.  My best shop was around £73; I paid about £25 for it. Another good one was about £50, down to £28. Huzzah.

I do this with a combination of strategies:

1. My glitch trick - next date for a good change over to new ½ price goods is 03/06.  I try not to do this *too often, I don't want them banning me ;) And if there isn't enough of what I want, I don't do it, just because I can ;p
2. Vouchers and coupons I find in free magazines, and online
3. Using these coupons against deals in the shop - for example, I use Johnsons Baby Bath, because my skin is so delicate.  It's £2.76 in Tosca.  It's currently ½ price = £1.38.  I used my three email addresses and printed off three £1.00 voucher.  I bought three bottles for 38p each!
4. I always rummage through the reduced sections and find things to freeze - seeded bread?  I haven't a hope of eating a loaf in a week, but I'd rather pay 60p for a loaf at 6pm, than £1.40 for it at 3pm.  Pick your shopping times.  
5. I ring up and moan like billio, at the slightest thing.  Last night I realised the dark chocolate has whey powder in the ingredients list on the packs I was sent.  It's not on the ingredients list on their site.  I shall ring and create havoc.  They'll send a gift card.  It was £1.20 worth of choclate, shall I aim for £5.00?
6. Because I have a Tosca credit card, I do all my shopping with it.  I earn points for everything I buy - in their shop, for their petrol and on every other purchase.  I may as well get a few more pennies back in coupons from them, for this!
7. I womble vouchers.  I've only been doing this for a few months.  I must have picked up £15 worth of free money that way.
8. I know exactly what is in my stockpile, in Narnia (cupboard that goes on forever), so I have a list of things I am targeting for special offers and the Tosca glitch.  I don't need to buy any household cleaning, or personal care items for about two years and what I have bought has all been paid for at knock-down prices.
9. I don't pay full price, if I can help it.  I'm fast coming round to the idea that ½ price is the right price and every penny after is profit.
10. I don't buy anything I don't use
11. I don't use a coupon to buy something, if it is not something I would use - just because it's a bargain, does not make it a bargain if you don't want it.  There's no point me printing off three vouchers for bisuits, if I am not eating them...

Actually, if you want to know how well this is going for me, look at these figures:

Actual shopping costs Jan-May - £872.36

Amount I have paid to Tosca -  £529.30

If Tosca goes under, I'll change my name and address.

April Austerity - Last Leg

I still had quite a few bits and pieces left yesterday, so they all went in the slow cooker: mince turkey, a pepper, a courgette, ¾ of a red onion, the tin of red kidney beans, the jar of Everyday Value pasta sauce and some vegetable stock and mixed herbs.  I made four portions and I think it  was about 90p a portion.  With the free pasta from the Orchard Programme and left over broccoli, this was a pretty tasty dish, with plenty left over!

I needed bread and found this in Tosca.  Several days later, it's still fine in the kitchen - absolutely fine!  It does make you wonder why one loaf lasts and lasts and then another one is green and gross within a couple of days.

Anyway, tomorrow I can come off the 'diet'.  Will I?  Well, yes and no.  I am certainly going to keep my shopping costs down, but I am looking forward to having some 'nicer' extras backin my  diet.  And then there is the small matter of the Food Bank shop.  I've saved approximately £60 this month and Tosca have oblidged by sending me a £10 voucher, for a £70 spend.  Ahhhh, they must have been missing me ;p

So you know what I am going to do...I'll put my shop in full price at £70, wait for it to drop half price, add £1 delivery and then deduct the £10 voucher.  £70 for £26.  I think that will make quite a nice donation :D

April Austerity - Lifetime Lettuce

I saw an article on good 'ol Facebook about growing lettuce without the need for mucky things like soil, digging and seeds.  Basically you shove the base of the lettuce in some water, stick it on a window ledge, change the water daily and wait for the lettuce to grow.  In keeping with the month, I thought it may be a good way to save a little bit of cash; apparently you can expect to achieve 5-6 'lettuces' from one!  This is the first one at about three days.

This is about a week into the lettuce growing experiment.  The second one has just been 'planted' today.  If this actually works, I'll be buying one of those mini plastic greenhouses for the garden and regrowing lots of lettuce, spring onions and having a go at cabbages etc!

Owing to the truckload of lettuce and milk that Tosca sent me in error, I made scones - carrot, courgette, cheese and herb.  They are rather yummy, if I may say so myself and rather economical.  I know, I should post the recipes, but I am essay writing at the moment, so this is what you're getting for now!

Dinner and lunch underneath were a lot more exciting than some of the meals I've eaten this month; with a lot of  extras I haven't had to make a choice between lettuce and cucumber, or deciding whether I save the last inch of carrot for another meal.  I wish Tosca would muck up so spectacularly more often!

Houmous wraps with carrot, lettuce, cucumber, courgette and tomato!  Nice :D

April Austerity - Tales of Tosca!

Oh Tosca, you are so inept!  I'll get back to that in a minute, but a quick update that this weeks austerity shop actually only came to £7.61 as they didn't bring the bread that I wanted, so I still have enough for some milk next week - but I won't need to buy any more of that because Tosca are total twits...

My shop this week - including stuff for next month's cupboard and the freezer - should have cost me £27.95.  It came to £21.95, because of my wombled voucher, plus a few other coupons that I had.  The delivery was 15 minutes late, so I rang and moaned - £3.50 refund.  Result.  Then just as I was unpacking the delivery driver pitched up again with some of my shopping - I didn't think anything of it, until I got everything out:

Two legs of lamb (free range - on deal + coupon:  I always get some lamb when going to see mum, as it's her favourite: that's the next two trips sorted then!)

Two pots of plain yogurt

Two lots of pate

Two lots of lettuce

Four pots of houmous 

Four lots of Philidelphia Cheese

Yes - they'd doubled up my order.  I rang them; I keep the stuff and I haven't been charged. That's £14.73 worth of free food.  Now I am waiting for my £5 vouher for spending over £20 and to see if I have any money back on their Price Promise.

So um...yes, in terms of this month, I have a truck load of milk and lettuce, two tubs of houmous and philly... I can't get anything else in my freezer and I'll be spending next to nothing next month too.  It's a shame they didn't double up on the tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, courgettes :D

My doubles - the others were already packed away.

I love Tosca!