Balancing not just the budget

Tinkerbelle2000

Well Rosa you've got me in a sorting out mood. All the boxes that were shoved under my bed (out of sight) are now nicely organised. I will love this flat lol.

Hope the MOT goes well. I've got mine next week and I'm dreading it. Old car and no money.

It won't be like this next year. I'm so focused and determined in the last couple of days than I have been in the last couple of months.

Take care.

Tink xx

RosaBernicia

doingitanyway wrote: »

All this letting go sets up a cycle where there is more flow and more opportunities for you to invite the right things in...however reading that back sounds a bit new-age, but I still think it :rotfl:

Totally agree :T

It also really helps with focusing on the present - less stuff to remind me of the past, and saving things for my future is in the form of money and freedom not things.

RosaBernicia

Tinkerbelle2000 wrote: »

Well Rosa you've got me in a sorting out mood. All the boxes that were shoved under my bed (out of sight) are now nicely organised. I will love this flat lol.

Hope the MOT goes well. I've got mine next week and I'm dreading it. Old car and no money.

It won't be like this next year. I'm so focused and determined in the last couple of days than I have been in the last couple of months.

Take care.

Tink xx

Fingers crossed for your MOT Tink.

Funny how these things get easier once you get going isn't it? I have put off some of this clearing for ages - obviously, given the state of the manky cupboard :rotfl: - but it's just time to change now. Sorting one area has given me a boost and motivation to do the next, and it just simplifies actually living in the space too - less need to move things, easier to clean, lifts your mood when you come in etc. Oddly I usually start in the bedroom, but this time I decided to do the FlyLady trick of pretending I was an estate agent looking at the flat, and prioritised doing things on that basis instead. This has meant the living room got done immediately while the boxes of winter clothes are still waiting to go back under my bed - they're next on the list after tonight's eat-the-frog job clearing the last shelf of the manky cupboard.

RosaBernicia

Right, manky cupboard now cleaned and most of the stuff in it washed up. Will leave it all to dry out overnight and reorganise things tomorrow. I may need to go and get a big lidded storage box or two to ensure that as few as possible things are left exposed.

Better news is that I found a frame for a beautiful card a friend gave me - it's square, and I was having trouble finding one. A whole £2.99 :rotfl: - it fits perfectly and tones with the rest of the flat. I've put it up in my bedroom where I can see it - it represents my new start which is partly why I was so keen to find a frame for it. Now I can see it from my bed . It's replaced my vision board, which was done a while ago and feels like it needs an update. Very pleased with that. I've also taken down some other pictures which don't feel like they are working for me any more - and I know which storage box they belong in now


Rosa xx

moneyonmymindsam

Oh Petal, I love that tip - If I was my estate agent I would think ..judging by the cups and teaspoons in the sink at least 6 people live here..lol


Well done on the clear up / declutter ...

MuffinTops

I've just recommended putting cards in frames when looking for pictures. What a strange coincidence. I too have a beautiful card so it's lovely preserving it in a frame and also having it as a little home feature.

You're all putting me to shame on the decluttering! Thanks for the boost!

MTxx

RosaBernicia

Manky cupboard of doom is DONE! So glad that's over. I couldn't face leaving things out while I got more storage boxes so everything has gone back in, in fact I managed to fit in a couple of other things that were in less appropriate corners of the flat. Hopefully the dehumidifiers will keep it under control and of course I am intending to go back to FlyLady routines so should spot if it gets 'orrible again.

I also reshuffled things on the counter - the breadmaker gets used even less rarely now I am gluten free, so that's gone in the cupboard, and I've brought the slow cooker out. That's a bit of a statement of intent. In theory a slow cooker should be brilliant for me because I could leave things cooking while I'm at work, which would mean I come in and eat a meal instead of crisps while I'm too hungry too concentre on cooking, soups / stews etc would be easy to freeze and also to take for work lunches. In practice it annoyed me that I have to seal meat separately and I am a bit wary of its electrics - it's a very old one that was handed on from a family friend, and it isn't at all my style which is partly why I've not had it on the counter before. Anyway, there is a point coming, honest... I've decided to go and look for a new one that I will actually use, as some now have pots that you can put directly on the heat, and which will then live in that spot on the counter. There. We won't discuss the amount of stuff that's heading for both the CS and the bin. I think I'm going to have to make a trip to one of the CSs that has parking in a lunchtime or on the weekend, my car back seat is now full :eek: .

So glad to have sorted another bit of the house... now the bedroom needs a tidy and then it will be time to tackle the garden. I did dare to look in the shed today and was pleasantly surprised to find that most of it is sensible stuff, so I don't think there is much to be done there, just tidying the rest.

Budget is still OK... spent a hideous amount in Wa1tro3e today but it did include basics and stuff for work lunches. Also got petrol... it's funny, one of the things I love about not worrying about money so much is not worrying about petrol. I just fill the tank every time instead of adding a tenner's worth here and there and still worrying about running out or having to make extra detours when I realise I need more. It still feels a good surprise when I look at the tank and realise it's full :rotfl: . The other spend is a couple of 3bay purchases, technically not necessary but I've wanted them for ages and they ended up costing less than I'd expected, so that's OK. I have now unfollowed the search I had on 3bay so I'm not tempted to buy anything related!

OK enough rambling, off for an early night so can continue my fabulously effective fad tomorrow!


Rosa xx

ZTD

RosaBernicia wrote: »

I also reshuffled things on the counter - the breadmaker gets used even less rarely now I am gluten free,

Are you completely gluten free, or can you eat spelt?

RosaBernicia wrote: »

so that's gone in the cupboard, and I've brought the slow cooker out. That's a bit of a statement of intent. In theory a slow cooker should be brilliant for me because I could leave things cooking while I'm at work, which would mean I come in and eat a meal instead of crisps while I'm too hungry too concentre on cooking,

RosaBernicia wrote: »

soups / stews etc would be easy to freeze and also to take for work lunches.

Don't forget HM rice pudding.

RosaBernicia wrote: »

In practice it annoyed me that I have to seal meat separately

"Seal meat" - what is this witchcraft of which you speak?

Take ye, a slab of flesh, and deposit into the bottom of aforesaid contraption. It should maketh a meaty meat sound. A weedy meat sound means you have bought the joint of a wastrel pauper, and that is no good. It should be remedied with the purchase of another slab of meat of non-pauper dimensions.

Mix up a jug of gravy from powered onion gravy powder. Tarry ye not in the Satanic vices of "cubes" or "granules" for they contain "Monosodium glutamate" and "Hydrolysed yeast proteins" and other results of dark sorcery. Stay within the light of good saucery and walk the path of the righteous.

Pour said gravy until the meat is submerged to near its crown. A low tide indicates that thou has once again tarried too long in the company of small meat. Big meat is good meat. Put forth chopped root vegetables until the tide rises to cover all of the bounty you have provided to your contraption.

Set your contraption to "high" for as long as it can take. Then leave it to perform its ritual. Return when the night comes, and take forth the bounty with a ladle onto a welcoming plate. Plenty of gravy is the sauce of pleasure.

Some profane their gravy by pouring it into a vessel such as this.



Fall not into this manner, for thou shall not run shrieking away from the good taste of nature's bounty.

RosaBernicia wrote: »

and I am a bit wary of its electrics - it's a very old one that was handed on from a family friend, and it isn't at all my style which is partly why I've not had it on the counter before. Anyway, there is a point coming, honest... I've decided to go and look for a new one that I will actually use, as some now have pots that you can put directly on the heat,

I never have done that "pre-cooking" thing, and all meals that have come out of mine have been great.

doingitanyway

I experimented with a lamb stew. For one stew I sealed the meat, the other time I didn't. Both lamb stews were fab. I seal for braising but stopped bothering for slow cooking.
As you know i am gluten free too. I sold my bread maker in the end as I rarely used it. I used gumtree and got £50 for it.
Well done on all the decluttering. Very inspiring.:T

MuffinTops

I also agree on not sealing meat. In fact, I never precooked anything at all for the slow cooker as it seemed pointless having a slow cooker if I was just going to faff about cooking it normally anyway. The only thing I have done is slow cooked a joint of beef in a red wine gravy and then popped it into the oven after for 30 minutes to brown it up. That was during my meat eating days, obviously!

MTxx