Getting out of my comfort zone

savingholmes

hi gill - hope everything is okay with mortgage... sounds like other stuff is going okay

gilligansyle

Don't like it when they ring chasing payment, but equally think PPI company should have told me the score.

By my reckoning I am will be over a thousand in credit when it all sorts itself out.

savingholmes

never nice to be chased for payment!!! will be good to be in credit tho !

gilligansyle

Plans for today:

PAYDAY!!!
Work out money
Slow cooker on - bits and bobs of remaindered beef out of freezer, with some veg, see what it turns out like.
Bread Maker on
Blitz living room - take books off bookshelves, clean properly, put ironing away
Washing machine on - whites wash loads of shirts, will use the last of proper powder rather than gloop or soapnuts.

Start on under the stairs a bit later on when DS gets up.

At the moment still have around £20 left so will be cutting food budget down from next week. I always allow £50 but need to separate it out into my stuff and DS stuff, which technically he pays for. His keep money goes into bank, so will take out £20 a week for 'his' shopping, so get a more realistic figure. Things like coke and crisps, which I wouldn't eat should come out of his money. If he didn't pay it, I wouldn't buy them.

Thinking about a holiday at the end of the year. Hadn't had a holiday for years except for short breaks, then went on a working/volunteer holiday last year. May do the same again. It's only ~£250 for the week, including food, and can get Easyjet flights for around £50 return or may look at coach/train.

BADPENNY_2

Hi,

you sound like you have had a very productive day! What are soapnuts?

holiday sounds fab and something to look forward to and well deseved by th sounds of it.

xx

gilligansyle

Badpenny soapnuts are eco friendly shells that you use to do washing. Cost about £4 for a bag and you use them again and again. Don't really understand how they work but thought I'd give them a go. So far I've been happy with them. I also make 'gloop' which costs less than a quid to make, and use that for some washing.

There are links to each on the Frugal living thread

Tried to ring today about the holiday but got no reply, so hopefully they will ring me tomorrow. They also have a scheme where you pay your deposit, and then pay monthly, so will ask about that.

gilligansyle

Was prompted to sort out bookshelves by inapickles thread about not buying books and I was a bit amazed by how many I still haven't read, or read years ago and need to read again.

All books taken off, dusted, shelves polished and books put back. Still got another shelf to do and all the books that have found their way to under my bed.

BADPENNY_2

I am exactly the same. cant resist sometimes in tesco the 2 for £7 offers they have on and i have a pile of about 10 books that i recieved for christmas by my bed that i havn't even looked at yet. i find it so hard to get rid of books even ones that i didn't enjoy so have loads eveywhere need to bite the bullett i think and get some listed on amazon as part of my decluttering project!

gilligansyle

Books, got a few on amazon and a few on GreenMetropolis, but on amazon if you put them on at a decent price, the postage is so high that people may as well go and buy a new one. Haven't sold one on GM yet, but they have a fixed price.

There is a swappit site where you pay postage and do deals with other users for a book you have.

Yesterday was such a nice morning that I spent it doing washing and putting it out on the line. Cleared the yard a bit.

Made risotto for tea as DS out, will have some for lunch but need to check up on whether it can be frozen.

Had a lousy nights sleep, woke up at 2 and couldn't get back to sleep. Eventually dozed off just before 4 only to be woken 10 minutes later by DS coming in. Cue him walking up and down the stairs like a fairy elephant for half an hour, by which time I was wide awake.

Sister coming round later so have to do a bit of a blitz. Not that she cares, but she's so house proud she can't resist tidying up and it makes me feel guilty. May also do some cake making later so I can avoid the temptation of buying cream cake.

Have taken some of tomtom's chilli out of the freezer for my tea tonight as DS is in work. Might persuade him to take some with him. Don't want to get bored with risotto:p,

hypno06

Lots of people say you shouldn't freeze cooked rice - something to do with a bacteria that likes it.....but I have to say that I have always frozen leftover risotto/kedgeree etc and never had a problem.

Today, I have a portion of something that was once either bolognese sauce or chili, which I have defrosted out of the freezer, and I will mix it with yesterday's vegetable rice (that I had with leftover curry sauce), to make a variation on the risotto theme - I will add a dried chili or two to give it a kick if needed.