Sepa seeks freedom

katsu

Sepa74 wrote: »

Ha ha, Katsu, that is VERY true!!

Thanks

:money: We have to get in all the moneysaving we can, right? :money:

Sepa74

Hi everyone.

The kitchen is now painted and looks great. I just need my splash backs installed and one or two other items delivered and it will be finished! Hooray!

Bathroom is next... at the quoting stage at the moment.

This week has been OK MSE wise, especially as I went out to dinner on Friday night. I have been pretty thrifty otherwise. Unfortunately I have fallen off the wagon a bit when it comes to taking lunches to work - but I still managed 3 out of 5 days, so can't complain!

I ordered a veg box from my local greengrocers as I didn't have time to get there last weekend and I was running low on pretty much everything. I can't tell you how many potatoes they sent me - must be 4kg, perhaps. I don't eat much potato - it takes me a couple of months to get through 1kg of new potatoes, and these things are massive! AND to top it all off, I have more potatoes growing in my garden!!! I have potatoes running out of my ears!!!

They also sent a massive butternut squash, so I've just spent the afternoon boiling up half the patatoes to mash and freeze - I can eat them either as mash or use them for soups - and have roasted the butternut squash for soup. I roasted some spuds too - they can go in the freezer also.... if any last the evening as they taste great and I've started snacking on them!

Now trying to decide if I want to make some muffins.

Had the best time yesterday - joined the Really Big Chorus event recording a couple of movements from Karl Jenkins new work at.... Abbey Road Studios... it was brilliant - the studios were amazing, and it was really interesting to be recording music as I've never done it before. Karl Jenkins himself directed us which was wonderful. There was a nice surprise at the end - they wanted to record us singing the Agnus Dei from the Armed Man as well... they just started playing the accompaniment and everyone in the studio just joined in singing it... it's lovely when something like that happens. Here's a YouTube clip of it... but it's not us singing it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWmRasYYGHI

Sepa74

My steamer looks like it's given up the ghost. What a pain! However, I can't complain too loudly as it was a cheapie from Lidl. I wasn't sure how much I would use it so decided to get a cheap one to trial. I have used it a LOT so will buy a better quality one next time. It will have to wait until I get back from my holiday in July, however.

Sepa74

Have had an OK week, was up in Manchester for work Monday and Tuesday, and then I was very good for the rest of the week and had HM lunches.

The splashbacks have been installed, and it looks really good. They are blue and the rest of the kitchen is white or cream, so they are a real focal point. I'll take some photos now it's finished.

I'm really tired and run down at the moment, but only 4 more days of work and then I have a two week holiday. Hooray!!

BF is having another crisis... but at least this time he says he'll get therapy. I fought so hard to get back together when we split up last month, but this time round I'm beginning to feel enough is enough. The thing is the crises are not his fault - he's had a string of really difficult things happen to him since Christmas, any one of which would have been a real knock for anyone, let along having 3 or 4 things all happen one after the other. His resilience is very low because they have hit him one after the other, so even small things have a disproportionate effect at the moment.

Anyway... enough of him. I hope everyone has had a good MS week. I have a choir concert tonight, so wish me luck!

Sepa74

I've downloaded an app on to my phone which allows me to track all my expenses closely. June is the first month where I've done it for a whole month.

It doesn't cover a lot of the direct debits utilities, just the more discretionary stuff.

So, I spent £243.95 on food. :eek: yikes!!

That breaks down as £63 eating out (which should really go in the 'entertainment' section) and £21 for lunches and evening meals on the run eg before my Italian class. Not too bad really, considering that it's been a bit of a chaotic month and it has been a struggle to take something in for lunch at work.

So that leaves genuine groceries as £153. I am really shocked! For one person! and I'm NOT a gourmand. I will have to try and get that down next month.

Healthcare is quite high. I have acupuncture once a month, and I also bought some insoles and a couple of prescriptions. The other big item is household stuff, but a big chunk is pet food and the other big chunk is my cleaner, so I'm not surprised.

But the food bill has really shocked me!

I'm on holiday for the next couple of weeks. Hooray! My new nephew was born today, so I'm looking forward to meeting him.

I hope everyone has had a MS good month too.

Radish72

:j Have a great holiday

:T Enjoy meeting your new nephew

:eek: to the food bill but at least now you can make some changes

cha97michelle

I don't think it is necessarily a lot cheaper cooking for just one compared to me for a family. Food has got shockingly expensive hasn't it, and it is easy to get a bit out of control with it.

My DH suggested we did a BBQ today and i vetoed it as we didn't have in the stuff we needed, but we do have a lot of stuff in that can be cooked, so i will be doing that instead.

CathT

Food costs are extortionate and I don't think cooking for one should necessarily be cheap as we bulk meals out etc to make the go further. I've also reduced our portion sizes too and we have a second meal of leftovers the following day.

Lois_E

Congratulations on the new nephew, Sepa. I hope you get a lovely cuddle with him and he doesn't cry when you're holding him.

Sepa74

Thanks guys

You're right, I don't really 'bulk out' my food both because it is just me, and also because starchy foods (bread, potato, pasta) make me pile on the pounds! I eat huge amounts of vegies, which aren't cheap.

I have lots and lots of food in the freezer, but a lot of it is intended for winter, or at least later in the year when I feel like having soup at work again. I'm running out of room! I have lots of fruit syrups in there - strawberry, sour cherries from my own tree, rhubarb and apple. It isn't even blackberry season yet! I've had my first crop of potatoes, have been researching online how to store them, and I think I might just put them in the garagewrapped in old paper. Ideally I would freeze them, but like I said, I'm running out of room!!

In my little flat there is definitely no room for a chest freezer

I put out some organic slug pellets today as I've decided the reason my beans are doing so poorly is they are being decimated by the creatures. I have bean envy... my neighbours have beans on their vines, not just flowers, while mine still only have about 5 leaves!!

My tomatilloes are flowering and my tomatoes are just starting to bud. Yay! as for my raspberries, I am getting SO many. Hooray!! I'm so pleased, especially after last year's debacle when I had pruned the new growth the previous autumn so didn't get more than a handful.

The courgettes are flowering happily, and I've had my first female flowers and can see little courgettes starting to swell up!

I'll be sad to leave my garden, but a neighbour has promised to water it, and when I get back I the courgettes should be just about ready to harvest, so it's really not a bad time to be going away - better than August, at least.