My Busy Life

sidneysmum

princesst84 - Wow the challenge looks great. It sounds as though it is working for you. Your weight loss is great.

I walked to the gym and back today which is 40 mins each way. Zumba was cancelled again and was replaced by more belly dancing. Its not my favourite thing to do, but i always feel energised after the class. I have also took the hound out for a quick run round the park - however i didn't stay long as the weather was turning dreadful. I think we are going to have snow again tomorrow which will be a proper pain as i am due to go to work in the morning and i hate driving in the snow. I am just going to get up at the usual time and decide what to do in the morning. If the snow is heavy again like last weekend, then i will be absenting myself from work and will go when the weather clears up.
Did some food shopping at Aldi today and spent....ahem £2.63. I bought bread, milk and 2 bags of carrots from the super 6 offers. I am hoping that i wont need to buy any more food until the milk runs out. The carrots were not really needed but yesterday I made a pan full of carrot and coriander soup which is delicious and i decided I wanted to make some more next weekend. I cant walk past a display selling 1kg carrots at 39p.

I hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x

sidneysmum

Today didn't go as planned. I had hoped to go to work first thing this morning but when i looked out of the window i knew there was no way i was going to get my car to the main road full stop. Quick phone call to work and told them i would probably be with them tomorrow. So, what have i done ? Well i took the hound for a marathon walk in the snow but other than that, not much. I have just sat with my feet up reading and browsing the internet. I did spend 5 mins sorting out my baking supplies so i know what needs using up. I have got tons of dried fruit (fruit buns and cakes ) and quite enough icing sugar (butter cream). For the first time since i lived on my own, I feel in control regarding my food spending. I did think my current supplies would last till the end of February with me only buying bread, milk etc. I actually think i am looking at the end of March now !! All this using up of stuff is really liberating. Food wise today I have eaten the last of the carrot and coriander soup, the last of the quiche and a small portion of cottage pie and carrots. The home baking of buns and biscuits are certainly going to last till the end of February unless my sons eat them up when they are visiting. Off to have another read now with my feet up.
Hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x

vasseur

sidneysmum wrote: »

Today didn't go as planned. I had hoped to go to work first thing this morning but when i looked out of the window i knew there was no way i was going to get my car to the main road full stop. Quick phone call to work and told them i would probably be with them tomorrow. So, what have i done ? Well i took the hound for a marathon walk in the snow but other than that, not much. I have just sat with my feet up reading and browsing the internet. I did spend 5 mins sorting out my baking supplies so i know what needs using up. I have got tons of dried fruit (fruit buns and cakes ) and quite enough icing sugar (butter cream). For the first time since i lived on my own, I feel in control regarding my food spending. I did think my current supplies would last till the end of February with me only buying bread, milk etc. I actually think i am looking at the end of March now !! All this using up of stuff is really liberating. Food wise today I have eaten the last of the carrot and coriander soup, the last of the quiche and a small portion of cottage pie and carrots. The home baking of buns and biscuits are certainly going to last till the end of February unless my sons eat them up when they are visiting. Off to have another read now with my feet up.
Hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x

Isn't it just? End of March is brilliant! I don't think the stuff in our house would last till the end of next weekend!

No snow here fortunately but it's been in the air and it is so cold outside.

Stay warm!

sidneysmum

Hi Polesalot - Thanks for dropping by. I have put basically all food stuffs in 2 cupboards now - One has all my baking stuff in it and the other one is everything else. I can now see at a glance what I have got in stock. I am not going to let this happen again !!

I set the alarm to go to work early this morning not knowing what to expect and a lot of the snow had thawed away so I went to work ! I spent a busy day there, then took the dog for a quick once round the park as I was at my WI meeting tonight. Its a pound for subs for each event and we get a drink and some cakes or biscuits if you want something. Money well spent for a night out. Although I was really tired tonight I feel as though I want to make the effort to go to this kind of thing as it would be just so easy to sit in and stagnate. Now i live on my own i know I need some company other than the hound !! Tonight was nice and we made plans for a couple more events - a pancake night next Tuesday at someone's house and the luncheon club have decided on their next Friday lunchtime get together at the local carvery. That suits me just fine as it is a short walk from my house and the price is really good. I have taken next week off work as annual leave so I get an extra amount of time off. I am hoping to keep busy and do lots of nice things - loads of walking and cinema.
Food wise I took leftovers to work and had pretty much the same at tea time. Its all calorie counted so I had a couple of biscuits at the WI tonight. I am about to start a new book as I finished my last one at tea time. I am about to read - "Blue lights and Long nights" by Les Pringle. It is about an ambulance driver in the 1970`s. All the books I have been reading have been passed on to the ladies at the WI who will pass them amongst themselves.
I hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x

sidneysmum

It has just been great being off work today. I love being at home and cant wait for the day when i can stop work full stop ! I set the alarm this morning and was up, showered and dressed before 8.30. The chickens had been cleaned out too. Most of the day has been spent visiting my aunt and uncle, which i enjoyed. I took the dog and we walked the 5 miles each way. It has passed the day very nicely ! I also managed to watch a tv film when i got back home.
Food wise i have been eating leftovers and stuff from the food cupboard. Breakfast was some all bran, lunch was some tomato soup which has been languishing in the cupboard for approximately 2 years - however it was delicious. Evening meal was the remains of my stash of new potatoes and some pork chasseur which i had made and previously frozen. All this has been calorie counted along with the fruit buns which are tonight's little treat. The buns and biscuits i made at weekend are going strong. In fact as long as i only have a couple a day, they should last a few weeks. I am saving money by not having to buy fun size bars of chocolate as a treat. I feel as though i am doing my best to be frugal at the moment and i cant remember the last time i bough anything but bread and milk etc from a shop. At the moment i dont feel like i want to spend much money. I am supposed to be going clothes shopping with my friend on Sunday but i dont think i will be buying anything as i want to wait till i have got to my goal weight which may be some time in April if i carry on doing ok. I will let her do all the spending.
Anyway I hope evryone is having a great moneysaving day x

sidneysmum

Today has been another full day for me so far. I did very well at getting up reasonably early this morning. I was out with the dog before 9 and had done my morning jobs, made a pan of corned beef hash and sorted the chickens out by that time. WE walked for a couple of hours and i stopped off at Asda to by a couple more squeezy containers of golden syrup. They are on offer at 2 for a £1 which is a great bargain. I needed to stock up because on Tuesday I have been invited to a pancake night at a friends and i was asked to take some syrup. This afternoon i went to the cinema to see "Hitchcock" with Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren. It was ok - not brilliant but very watchable. On the way to the cinema i decided to fill my car up with LPG as my tank was almost empty. I dont plan on using the car a great deal over the next week or so but decided to err on the side of caution as the bad weather is supposed to be hitting us again tomorrow.
The corned beef hash is now sat in 4 containers and i will be eating them up over the next few days. They are not massive portions and have been calorie counted. I have been doing a bit of a menu plan in my head with the food i have in stores and i think i might be wrong in saying i have enough stuff to last till the end of March. Apart from a few fresh ingredients and one or two other things, I think i have enough food to last till......ahem, mid April. :eek: I think because i own chickens, its easy to have eggs for either breakfast or lunch so i need one less meal out of my stocks. I just feel so liberated having used up what has already gone. I have saved a fortune because i haven't actually bought very much of anything since mid December - hardly any food, no toiletries, no cleaning stuff. Another good thing is that i have hardly set foot in a shop and haven't missed it one bit !
I hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x

sidneysmum

I am going to sit on my backside tonight on the sofa and read my book all being well. I am tired and I think i might have an early night as well.
Today I had a nice surprise when i got on the scales this morning. I have lost a further 3lb....so that's 1st3lb since the start of the year. I didn't think i could do it ! I still want to lose about another stone but i am not sure if i will do it or not. I have felt hungry all the time since starting dieting (calorie counting) but the alternative is not going to happen - being fat and feeling full !!
I took the hound out for a quick once round the park as i had a busy time planned. The park is only round the corner from my house and i picked up 3 carrier bags full of cans and plastic bottles in such a short distance. I hate litter and collect loads if it near where i live every day. I just dont know what's wrong with people dropping so much. I also made a slow cooker full of carrot and coriander soup which should last a few days. Afterwards i just had time to nip to the hairdressers for a dry cut. Thankfully my hair pretty much looks after itself. Its wavy an shoulder length so i just go and have it tidied up every couple of months. Thankfully i haven't got any grey either !! This afternoon i spent a pleasant few hours with my aunt and cousin. I walked to their hose and back which i think is about 5 miles round trip so i think i have done enough walking for today. I have really tried not to use my car other than for work and for at night when i go out. My petrol and LPG consumption has been less but i dont think i have saved much money as everything else is going up so much at the same time.
Anyway i am off to make a coffee and get my feet up.
I hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x

vasseur

Are you sure you're actually eating enough if you're feeling hungry all the time? Just thinking with all the walking you do, you could probably up your calorie intake a bit.

Lucky you having no grey! My hair is naturally dark brown but I dye it black/brown and any grey shows through quite often. It needs dyeing now actually..

sidneysmum

Hi Polesalot - I think you are right regarding the calories. Before I embarked on this calorie counting business, I saw the nurse at the doctors and did a couple of checks on some dieting sites on the internet. They all said pretty much the same. I wanted to lose about 1.5 stone at about 1.5lb per week and they all said for my current weight and height I needed to have about 1300 calories per day. Well its been upped to 1500 per day as of today !!! Thank you x

Had a really nice day today. Walked to belly dancing and back at the gym and thoroughly enjoyed myself. My friend picked me up at noon and we went to the Trafford centre just outside of Manchester. I spent £2 on a cup of tea and bought some m&s knickers with a voucher I still had from Christmas. We had a great time. My friend spent a bit of money on herself but i didn't feel in the least bit envious because I just want to save up for the time being and also i dont want to buy any clothes until I am at the size I want to be. it was just lovely to spend time with her as we get on like a house on fire.
My son who works in catering has just been round and dropped off some bread for me and for the chickens to snack on. I am going to put my bread in the freezer and use it for bread and butter pudding next weekend when i have my next baking day. He also brought me loads of peppers, cucumber and tomatoes. The tomatoes are going to be made into soup in the slow cooker tomorrow. The cucumber will be fed to the tortoise. Not sure what to do with the peppers as they are all green. I might look for a recipe for soup on the internet.
Food wise I am still eating up and haven't bought anything yet ! Had pilchards on toast from stocks. Also corned beef hash. Going to have some of my home made buns and biscuits later up to my new 1500 calorie limit. Yum, yum.
Next Sunday my boys are coming for tea again so it will be cooking day. So far I am planning on homemade lasagne with carrots for our meal. I will be putting other stuff in the oven with the lasagne. This will include some bread and butter pudding as I have loads of bread, dried fruit and eggs. I am going to make it using marvel as for some reason I have 2 boxes in the cupboard. I think I should be taken away and shot !! This is not going to be happening again. It just feels so great to be thinning stuff out and not replacing it.
I hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x

sidneysmum

Enjoyed myself today. This is the life - just being able to do what i want to !! For now, no man in my life, no children to look after !! I went to belly dancing again this morning at the gym. It should actually be a zumba class but the zumba teacher has left and a replacement has not been found, so belly dancing it is again. Walked it there and back. Had to have a massive spend this morning - £1 for some milk. Before i set off this morning I put the slow cooker on to make some experimental soup. I put some tomatoes and pieces of cucumber in with some carrot and onion plus stock cube. When it was cooked I blitzed it with the blender and the outcome was surprisingly ok. Basically a load of stuff that was being thrown out at my sons place of work has been made into soup which is now sat at the bottom of my fridge. If i dont get to eat it all myself, I am sure sidney will have some !! This afternoon I went to the cinema to see - "I give it a year". I would give it a wide birth. It was very average. When i got back I gave the car a quick wash before jumping in the shower myself. All nice and clean now. No work for me tomorrow so I am just going to enjoy my Monday night. I am usually organising food and clothes for work. Might just have a read or start another jigsaw !!
I hope everyone is having a great moneysaving day x