Keeping up appearances.......

Honey_Bear

Targets for Astonishingly Awesome August, or whatever it's called.

1. Kelpie to come to call.
2. Five fruit and veg a day.
3. Cut out all the swearing.
4. Cut out dairy for one day the first week then two days the second week and so on to see if it makes a difference.
5. Lights out by 11.30pm.

Total fail so far, obviously.

Dolphin1

Honey_Bear wrote: »

Cut out dairy for one day the first week then two days the second week and so on to see if it makes a difference.

That's a big step. I haven't given up dairy completely, just the high fat stuff, I still have plenty of skimmed milk and some low fat cheese to top up my calcium.

Dolphin1

Update for yesterday...

1) I had a small handful of chocolate buttons.
2) Meal plan for the week already done.
3) No spends on other people.
4) Not tried the new moisturiser yet. In fact, I'm going to do it now and see how it goes.

Dolphin1

Update for yesterday...

1) I had the rest of the chocolate buttons from the pack.
2) Meal plan for the week already done.
3) No spends on other people.
4) Face and neck moisturised, no immediate bad reaction so we'll see how it goes.

Honey_Bear

1. Kelpie to come to call. Suddenly, he's more responsive when we're out, and will stop hankering after other dogs relatively quickly. I can't really take the credit because I haven't actually done any formal training so I should really get cracking on this.
2. Five fruit and veg a day. Goodness I've been eating some rubbish clearing up after the dinner on Friday. Cheesecake for breakfast anyone else?
3. Cut out all the swearing. Annoyingly this is such an ingrained habit several words slipped out yesterday. The target has made me more conscious of it, though.
4. Cut out dairy for one day the first week then two days the second week and so on to see if it makes a difference. No where near this one yet.
5. Lights out by 11.30pm. Fail.

However, I made a phone call (saving £9/month), wrote a letter (about a missing £92) and priced up Kelpie's food through a cheaper new supplier this morning that were all money saving things, having been reminded by Happy's target to do something along those lines every day.

I also meal planned for the rest of the week and listed the freezer contents as edible meals, so I can grab a quick thing when the planning's gone a bit haywire. Thanks Dolphin!

Result!

Dolphin1

Honey_Bear wrote: »

1. Kelpie to come to call. Suddenly, he's more responsive when we're out, and will stop hankering after other dogs relatively quickly. I can't really take the credit because I haven't actually done any formal training so I should really get cracking on this.
2. Five fruit and veg a day. Goodness I've been eating some rubbing clearing up after the dinner on Friday. Cheesecake for breakfast anyone else?
3. Cut out all the swearing. Annoyingly this is such an ingrained habit several words slipped out yesterday. The target has made me more conscious of it, though.
4. Cut out dairy for one day the first week then two days the second week and so on to see if it makes a difference. No where near this one yet.
5. Lights out by 11.30pm. Fail.

However, I made a phone call (saving £9/month), wrote a letter (about a missing £92) and priced up Kelpie's food through a cheaper new supplier this morning that were all money saving things, having been reminded by Happy's target to do something along those lines every day.

I also meal planned for the rest of the week and listed the freezer contents as edible meals, so I can grab a quick thing when the planning's gone a bit haywire. Thanks Dolphin!

Result!

Wow, go you! And you said you felt sluggish, yeah right!

HappyNow

Whoops, not updated since 2nd August. I will clump all the days together due to my ridiculously bad memory.

• Waste. Challenging myself to zero waste (money/food/paper/petrol - everything) has made me realise just how un-wasteful I actually am nowadays. It's my natural state. Go me!
• Money making/saving. The biggie is that I am educating myself on the new pension rules because this will affect our income from (hopefully) 2019/20 for the rest of our lives. My work pension is fine, but Mr H's are all old and inflexible and just won't do what we will need them to at retirement, so they will have to be changed. It is beyond complicated, and I have made a free initial appointment with an IFA for next Thursday, plus I am spending every spare minute on the MSE Pensions Board. Also, I have ordered a set of my favourite Olay products from Tesco Direct, where they were not only on offer at £9.99, but also available to pay for with double-up clubcard points! I should have ordered more, the offer has finished now . And I got my £1 Priority Moment Pizza and my free hot chocolate!
• Fridge/freezer meltdown Still working our way through the semi-defrosted freezer food. All still healthy so far!
• Alcohol Umm. I bought another bottle of wine and opened it yesterday. It's not waste, it's investment. Pensions are hard.
• Sleep Managed bed by 11 most nights and actually slept right through last night.

HappyNow

joeyjimbles wrote: »

And a really good tip to peel, chop and sautee an entire bag of onions at once then divide the mass by the same number of onions and open freeze in clumps on a tray, then pack into a box or bag and stash in the freezer. You can then use them straight from frozen. Saves fuel, saves time and saves waste as the onions won't go soft or sprout.

That is a really good idea, not just for the savings but because sometimes I put off 'from scratch' cooking because I can't face chopping the onions, so I tend to grab something less healthy from the freezer. It's on my list

Dolphin1 wrote: »

Update for yesterday...

1) I had the rest of the chocolate buttons from the pack. YUM I LOVE CHOCOLATE BUTTONS!
2) Meal plan for the week already done.
3) No spends on other people.
4) Face and neck moisturised, no immediate bad reaction so we'll see how it goes.

Ooh, which moisturiser did you end up with? Hope it's OK for you. If it's one that Tessie sell, or if they sell another one you'd like to try, remember that they are doing their 'double-up' promotion now and you can buy anything from Tessie Direct using just clubcard points - even stuff already on offer.

joeyjimbles

HappyNow wrote: »

That is a really good idea, not just for the savings but because sometimes I put off 'from scratch' cooking because I can't face chopping the onions, so I tend to grab something less healthy from the freezer. It's on my list

It has changed how I cook by quite a lot, and mostly because of that not 'cannot be bothered' feeling. I even have variations these days - some with garlic, some without, and some with butter added for using in sauces or risotto. And I confess to sometimes (most times!) using the processor to chop them all up too. Makes the whole thing a doddle.

I even have a preferred time to do it, when I get back from a biggish food shop. I peel the onions, bung them in the processor and into a pan on a low heat, and then put the rest of the shopping away giving an occasional stir. Seems to go with the process now and it doesn't feel like a separate task which I'd probably never get round to doing.

HappyNow

Honey_Bear wrote: »

Nifty! Having a takeaway is, I grant you, not very MSE but it is a treat and (as long as you limit the number) it keeps the spirits up. Lunch for four for £14.35 sounds very reasonable looked at that way, no? I hope it was lovely.

It was only sandwiches from the local baker . Very, very nice though, and my parents don't drive now so it's quite a treat for them. I had salad to keep it healthy!

Honey_Bear wrote: »

1. Kelpie to come to call. Suddenly, he's more responsive when we're out, and will stop hankering after other dogs relatively quickly. I can't really take the credit because I haven't actually done any formal training so I should really get cracking on this.
2. Five fruit and veg a day. Goodness I've been eating some rubbing clearing up after the dinner on Friday. Cheesecake for breakfast anyone else? Me please! I have a tradition of sherry trifle for breakfast every Boxing Day, it's just not Christmas without it.
3. Cut out all the swearing. Annoyingly this is such an ingrained habit several words slipped out yesterday. The target has made me more conscious of it, though. Ha ha, good luck with that one! I really should try it myself. Maybe next month, when I've sussed pensions!
4. Cut out dairy for one day the first week then two days the second week and so on to see if it makes a difference. No where near this one yet.
5. Lights out by 11.30pm. Fail.

However, I made a phone call (saving £9/month), wrote a letter (about a missing £92) and priced up Kelpie's food through a cheaper new supplier this morning that were all money saving things, having been reminded by Happy's target to do something along those lines every day.

I also meal planned for the rest of the week and listed the freezer contents as edible meals, so I can grab a quick thing when the planning's gone a bit haywire. Thanks Dolphin!

Result!

What happened to the 'dreadful inertia' you were talking about two days ago :rotfl:. Impressive!