Keeping up appearances.......

Honey_Bear

HappyNow wrote: »

We're in May and no new targets set. Bet you can't guess what mine are

It's a mystery to me, so I'm really glad you've clarified them.

May Modifications

• Make every penny count. I'm going extreme this month!

Yesterday Mr Happy netted £140 for his weekend's work. It will go (along with another £40) straight to the Equine Crematorium who have now billed me. Nothing from the vet yet.

I imagine they're expected to be eye-watering. *ouch*

I spent £3 on a pack of 16 Nicky toilet rolls. No other spends apart from some chocolate (see below) and no petrol used as I picked them up after my run.

L!d1 has had a pretty regular offer of 24 Cu$$he11e rolls for £7.49 for the past three years. I stock up and use it as attic insulation while it's waitingto be used. I can never predict when the offer will be on, but if I happen to be in there and see it, the car gets filled up. Wilkinson's also have a very good, heavily promoted offer occasionly at the bargain end of the spectrum.

• Healthy eating on a very tight budget

I have zero money in the grocery fund, but we have enough in the cupboards until the rent money comes in at the end of the week. Not sure how much rent we will end up with though as there's a repair bill to pay. If I can possibly manage it, I want to allow £3.95 per week for wine and £2 for chocolate. I recognise the things that keep me sane.....

I will be serving leftovers and wilty things for the next few days as part of my zero waste policy. Made a start yesterday but I don't think I managed 5 x F & V.

Leftovers, bendy soup, freezer-stew - love it all. And it's May, so things like herbs are finally beginning to grow, so they're going to be FREE! Is now the time to be learning about chickpeas and other vegetarian staples or are you too busy to take that on board.

Yesterday I bought a pack of three Fry's Chocolate Creams for £1. I decided to eat half a bar per day so they would last nearly a week. I have already eaten two and a half bars

A woman after my own heart. I can't limit myself to half a bar of anything. I'm very suspicious of anyone who can.

• Use the Fitbit I did consider ebaying my Fitbit. It was such a bargain I would probably make a profit. But I do use it and health is important, so I will hang onto it for now - it can be sold later if I have to.

I used it to map my run yesterday but I didn't input my calories so I will be starting afresh today.

Good choice. Hanging on to it for a week or three won't affect the resale value at all.

• Neat feet This again because my feet still look like hooves and I have loads of E45 so it's free.

Starting from tonight, I hadn't got as far as thinking of targets yesterday.

I can hear the belt-leather creaking as it tightens from here.

Honey_Bear

I'm a bit foxed as to what to aim for this month. Last month's really didn't float my boat, so I'm going to hold off a bit until I can come up with stuff that matters enough to me to see it through. In the meantime, I've got [STRIKE]one[/STRIKE] two, but ideally I'd like three. Amazing what happens when you start writing - before I started this post I had none. Now I have three, apparently.

• Do the brain training I've volunteered for five days a week, 15 minutes a time;
• Do at least an hour and fifteen minutes a week research on the micro-business ready for another push next January;
• Practise the skills that I'm being taught at evening classes.

Dolphin1

Honey_Bear wrote: »

A woman after my own heart. I can't limit myself to half a bar of anything. I'm very suspicious of anyone who can.

I guess it depends on the size of the bar !

zenshi

Dolphin1 wrote: »

I guess it depends on the size of the bar !

Erm, no! Chocolate is meant to be eaten in whole bars

HappyNow

chevalier wrote: »

Leftovers can be such money savers can't they. The trick is to judge between when they are leftovers and when they are compost.

:rotfl::rotfl:

Dolphin1 wrote: »

I guess it depends on the size of the bar !

Fry's chocolate creams are TINY nowadays. It was only guilt that stopped me scoffing that final half.

zenshi wrote: »

Erm, no! Chocolate is meant to be eaten in whole bars

Agreed. Half a bar per day was never going to work, it was a rubbish idea. Thanks for dropping in zenshi

HappyNow

I can't seem to quote 'quotes' anymore :cool:.

Yes, the vet bill will be huge and I wish they'd just send it so I can pay it and move on. I paid the smaller one today at £61, but the final one isn't ready yet.

Loo roll. I really resent paying a lot for boggo when you consider what we do with it! I do like the Nicky one, but I've bought Wilko's own too and been happy with that.

I do need to start with the chickpeas, but it's all about the rhubarb at the moment. Our neighbour has a garden full of the stuff and doesn't even like it, so we have an unlimited supply. I've just been eyeing it up tonight and the first stalks are almost ready. Must buy some sugar. Exciting!

HappyNow

Honey_Bear wrote: »

I have three, apparently.

• Do the brain training I've volunteered for five days a week, 15 minutes a time

Brain training. I've heard of it but never known anyone who's done it. Interesting. Is it done via a phone app?

• Do at least an hour and fifteen minutes a week research on the micro-business ready for another push next January;

Excellent. Are you shelving it for the rest of this year though, even after your recent biggest order?

• Practise the skills that I'm being taught at evening classes.

More wedge-making?

Update for yesterday:

• Make every penny count Zero spend just as planned.
• Healthy eating on a very tight budget More fridge emptying and this time I did manage the 5 x F & V.
• Use the Fitbit Apparently I ate 1812 calories and burnt 1805 calories yesterday. Good enough I suppose. I took 14248 steps and had 83 active minutes. Only 5 hrs 7 minutes sleep though.....
• Neat feet Sanded them down after my shower but completely forgot the E45.

chevalier

HappyNow wrote: »

Yes, the vet bill will be huge and I wish they'd just send it so I can pay it and move on. I paid the smaller one today at £61, but the final one isn't ready yet.

Why not just start paying money to them anyway. Then you will have less to pay when they finally get around to it. Or would they not be amenable to that?

Mmmmmm rhubarb. Very difficult to get here. I envy you your neighbour's garden
chev

Honey_Bear

Dolphin1 wrote: »

I guess it depends on the size of the bar !

Nope.

zenshi wrote: »

Erm, no! Chocolate is meant to be eaten in whole bars

Quite.

HappyNow wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl:

Fry's chocolate creams are TINY nowadays. It was only guilt that stopped me scoffing that final half.

Agreed. Half a bar per day was never going to work, it was a rubbish idea. Thanks for dropping in zenshi

I've had to stop buying the L!d1 whole nut in milk chocolate bars completely because I was starting to scoff the whole thing in one sitting. They're rather large. Every time I try buying small bars I buy several because I'm going to allow myself one a day and then end up eating four or five because they're too small.

Because the fab Chocaccino is just around the corner we treat ourselves to some regularly and ration ourselves three a day max. Chocolate rationing of the handmades only works when OH is about.

He is away.

My bad.

Honey_Bear

HappyNow wrote: »

I can't seem to quote 'quotes' anymore :cool:.

I find getting the quotey thing to work a bit sporadic sometimes, but logging out and logging back in usually sorts it out.

I do need to start with the chickpeas, but it's all about the rhubarb at the moment. Our neighbour has a garden full of the stuff and doesn't even like it, so we have an unlimited supply. I've just been eyeing it up tonight and the first stalks are almost ready. Must buy some sugar. Exciting!

Sometime ago you said you didn't really do pulses (weird, with you being veggie and all, but there you go) so I wanted to pass on a nifty thing I discovered completely by accident. This mustn't, absolutely mustn't be done with dried kidney beans, but for chickpeas the fastest way to get them ready for use is to bung dried one in cold water in a slow cooker with at least three times the volume of the chickpeas, more is even better. If you've got them, a whole peeled onion,some black peppercorns, an unpeeled garlic clove and a bayleaf will boost flavour but no matter if you haven't. Switch it to high and walk away.

About two and a half hours later you'll have lovely buttery soft chickpeas with no hassle, no standing over a pan wasting gas or hobtype electricity. It's considerably quicker than soaking them overnight and boiling them for hours. It would probably work on low, if you wanted to leave them for longer.

If you're going to do kidney beans you absolutely must, must, must boil them hard for 10 minutes before you shove them in the slow cooker.

I've got back into using them because I'm a burger addict and as even OH loves gently spiced veggie burgers that's one of our weekly treat meals. And cheap as chips.

HappyNow wrote: »

Update for yesterday:

• Make every penny count Zero spend just as planned.

Not even to top up the Fry's shortfall?

• Healthy eating on a very tight budget More fridge emptying and this time I did manage the 5 x F & V.

Excellent. The rhubarb will help boost those numbers, too. I'm all in favour of people growing stuff they don't like so they have to give it away. We know a hobby fisherman who doesn't like eating fish - Why yes, I'd be happy to help you out ....

• Use the Fitbit Apparently I ate 1812 calories and burnt 1805 calories yesterday. Good enough I suppose. I took 14248 steps and had 83 active minutes. Only 5 hrs 7 minutes sleep though.....

Good going on the calorie front, but I hope you manage a bit more sleep over the next few nights.

• Neat feet Sanded them down after my shower but completely forgot the E45.

Probably what kept you awake, worrying, because you knew you'd forgotten something.