Batten down the hatches.....

Orange_Ena

Evening

Today
* NSD
* 0nep0ll surveys
* VO survey
* Youg0v survey
* P0pulusLive survey

Nothing else to report........I still need to ring the plumber..........I still need to break my arm to get me out of work..........:rotfl:

Orange_Ena

I've managed to log in 4 days running

Today
* NSD
* 0nep0ll surveys
* VO survey
* PA survey
* 236SB earned and 31SB for October bonus and a £5 Am@zon voucher redeemed

I managed to ring the plumber today and he should be coming next week to give me a quote. :T I'm really hoping to get the bathroom done and the hall stairs and landing decorated before Christmas which just leaves the garden to do. if I can get it on the market by the middle of January I'll be chuffed! Ahoy there new life :rotfl::D

doingitanyway

Exciting Orange Ena I hope you get the work done before Christmas. Think how nice that will be?

Orange_Ena

Thanks DIA, I hope so too. it will be lovely to spend my last Christmas in a house that is fully decorated and probably as decluttered as it's ever going to be :)

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Friday 4th November
* £8.80 in the c0-op for lunch and a nice box of chocs for a Christmas present
* £9.74 in T3sco
* 0nep0ll surveys
* PA survey

Today
* NSD, the 3rd of the month :T
* Youg0v prize draw survey

I joined feed yourself for a £1 a day on Fac3book a little while ago and the people on there are amazingly frugal. It's really made me think how much I spend on food and how much I actually hoard so I'm going to try and cut down my food spend this month.

I've spent all day cleaning and have cleaned all my kitchen cupboards out, moved things around and now I have a bit more space. Not for hoarding more food though :rotfl: I've run out of "nice" fresh food but the freezer is full and I do have some things in the cupboard and fridge. I probably could have done with going shopping on Thursday or Friday but I was too tired to do a full shop. I just nipped to T3sco expr3ss after work on Friday to get milk and cheese and some ham to get me through until tomorrow but I really want to eat what I've got already. I do need some more milk and maybe some eggs and veg so I'll nip to T3sco expr3ss again so I'm not too tempted to go mad as their range is quite limited. I want to try and wait until Wednesday until I do a bigger shop which sort of forces me to eat what I've got. Maybe I need to pretend there's been an apocalypse.......:eek:;)

More decluttering:
66. random mismatched cutlery
67. saucepan and lid
68. out of date mayo, sauces, pasta, not much really
69. mug....it was one of those ones where something is revealed when hot water is poured in only the little black covering has come off so the thing is permanently on display and let's just say *ahem* it's rude :eek::D:p

While I was cleaning the cupboards I found a jar of F0rtnum and Mason honey that I was gifted. I've probably had it a couple of years (it's still in date) and I remember thinking at the time that it was too nice to use! I do this a lot, I save things cause they're too nice to use. When I was at school, my friend gave me some gorgeous stationery sets for my birthday, my 16th I think. I've still got them in a box, unused, cause you know, they're too nice. I'm 39 now :eek: I'm never going to use them, and even if I did write a letter to someone, they'll have the pleasure (lol) of owning a very old set of now used writing paper with matching envelope :rotfl: It's only sentimentality that makes me keep this stuff but actually, owning it doesn't add to my life. I should just use it and have a brief moment of pleasure or pass it on to someone that will use it and not give it's history a second thought

GoingToDoIt

;)Hi Ena, it's good progress, sounds as if you're really getting into the Kondo there!
I attempted (ahem) similar food efficiency and in my experience, it's all in the planning. If you look through the tins and frozen packs and list a few meals/recipies it's much more appealing than getting hungry and thinking "if I bought x/y/z then I could have made...."
I"m restocking my freezer this week. Keeping home made frozen pots of chopped onion, leeks, celery, garlic has been working well for me. In the past 12 months I have spent under £1 on garlic but have used it to cook with most weeks...3 bulbs from lydl chopped and frozen 79p
Hope you're good, you sound cheerful;)

doingitanyway

Orange_Ena wrote: »

While I was cleaning the cupboards I found a jar of F0rtnum and Mason honey that I was gifted. I've probably had it a couple of years (it's still in date) and I remember thinking at the time that it was too nice to use! I do this a lot, I save things cause they're too nice to use. When I was at school, my friend gave me some gorgeous stationery sets for my birthday, my 16th I think. I've still got them in a box, unused, cause you know, they're too nice.

Oh Ena, I do this too. I recently opened an 8 year old bottle of pink champagne and it gave me an acidic stomach as it had gone off. What was I waiting for? We must do better Orange Ena

Orange_Ena

GoingToDoIt wrote: »

;)Hi Ena, it's good progress, sounds as if you're really getting into the Kondo there!
I attempted (ahem) similar food efficiency and in my experience, it's all in the planning. If you look through the tins and frozen packs and list a few meals/recipies it's much more appealing than getting hungry and thinking "if I bought x/y/z then I could have made...."
I"m restocking my freezer this week. Keeping home made frozen pots of chopped onion, leeks, celery, garlic has been working well for me. In the past 12 months I have spent under £1 on garlic but have used it to cook with most weeks...3 bulbs from lydl chopped and frozen 79p
Hope you're good, you sound cheerful;)

Hi Gonna, nice to "see" you.

Haha I really am decluttering all the easy stuff, but then I need to properly Kondo :eek:

You're so right about the planning and actually coming up with meals cause it's so easy to buy a load of random stuff that doesn't make a meal. It's something I'm definitely working on!

Brilliant idea about the garlic. I bought some today, first time in ages, but I don't think I've ever previously finished a whole bulb before. I think I'll try your trick with the rest as I presume it defrosts pretty quick when cooking?

I'm feeling ok, apart from working looming towards me!

Orange_Ena

doingitanyway wrote: »

Oh Ena, I do this too. I recently opened an 8 year old bottle of pink champagne and it gave me an acidic stomach as it had gone off. What was I waiting for? We must do better Orange Ena

Oh no, that's a shame about the champers. Yes we must both do better then. This is the year of opening things we've been saving, or using the nice tea towels instead of the stained old rags :rotfl::D

Orange_Ena

I don't want to go to work tomorrow But after tomorrow there's only 5 more Mondays that I have to work before the new year :j:j:D

Today
* £17.74 in M0rrisons, got a few more bits than I was planning originally, and this includes a nail polish that I needed / wanted for a crafty project Plus I'll use it on my nails
* £30 for fuel

I made mushroom and bacon orzo for my dinner and it's so yummy, I'd forgotten as it's been a while since I made it. I've costed it out, just for fun.........

Orzo 125g - 19p
Onion - 10p
3 mushrooms - 25p
Garlic clove - 3p
Stock pot - 25p
3 bacon rashers - 60p

Total £1.42 (71p per portion)

I also made garlic and cheese bread to go with it, can't have too much stodge on a Sunday
YS bread roll - 14p
Garlic clove - 3p
Cheese - 8p
Butter - 5p

Total 30p

For brunch, I had a scrambled egg on a toasted muffin:

Muffin - 12p
Egg - 16p

Total 28p

So my food today has cost £2 which is a great start but I'm not sure I'll ever feed myself for £1 a day like that group on Fac3book! Even if I can be a little more conscious about my shopping, food hoarding and what I'm cooking some of time, it'll be an improvement. Oops, just remembered I haven't costed in all the ginger biscuits I've shoved down me gob :rotfl::p

While I came over a bit "Delia" I also made fruit jelly from an out of date sachet lurking at the back of the cupboard and added some frozen fruit which cost 16p per portion. And I made flapjacks but I only used half the ingredients the recipe said incase they went wrong as I'd never made them before. It made 8 at a cost 9p each. Blimming lovely too, from the little bit I had. Better add 2p to my food costs for today :rotfl::p

GoingToDoIt

Hi Ena good to "see" you too! Or should we say Nigella
I bought a 3 pack of garlics, peeled the lot and then chopped them in the mixer (yes I am that lazy) I added a tiny pinch of salt (someone told me this, not sure why but seems fine) then into a little plastic pot in the freezer. Same for onions etc but I put those in ziplock bags.
When I want to use, I either put it on the side for afew mins to thaw or hack at the frozen mass with a fork if I'm impatient. Slight defrost/refrost does not seem to affect it, it's only a plant after all and it's not chunky enough to be a "texture".
I like "cooking on a bootstrap" for easy cheap ideas!