Scuba's Saving the Ha'Pennies

scubaangel

Today I have cycled a 1.5 mile route, planned to gofurther but the bike needs some adjusting so it's less uncomfortable (among other things the seat is too low, and once I've raised that I'll need to raise the handle bars to match).

As a result I didn't cycle in to the forest, I drove there to run instead, decided I wanted to find the path in to the forest I'll be using when I do cycle in and how far it is from the visitor centre to the car park there, so I ran up to the carpark, and looped around on the properly laid paths instead of the mucky muddy trails. Still did about 2.6 miles in total but happily I did it at roughly the same pace as my last run on the trail (2.6 miles 33.33 vs 2.55 miles in 33.03). Although I was expecting it to be slower given the bike ride before hand I guess the effect of running on paths not mud makes quite a big difference.

I'd completely forgotten about it but the lady just came and bought the dining table, so thats £20 which I'm chucking in to my sealed tin as I don't know when I'll be able to get to the bank and if I leave it in my purse I'll only fritter it.

scubaangel

I have about 30 minutes before I need to go and get ready for work, so I am doing some last minute revision of the tour information as today I am not only Hospitality bod but Historical House Tour Guide, and I suspect making it up as I go along wouldn't be the best plan ever.

scubaangel

Home from work.

Moves app tells me I've walked over 11k steps today covering a distance of over 5 miles in the process.....all without stepping out of the building!

The couple in for their anniversary dinner gave us an incredibly generous tip, my portion of which has been deposited in my sealed tin already for the same reason as the dining table money the other day.

Now need to peel myself off the sofa and find some food as I haven't had time today to sit down and have any lunch, and there wasn't anything left after the guests had dinner.

scubaangel

Had a lazy afternoon, got home from work an hour earlier than anticipated as the guests left early instead of having an after lunch session.

I've compiled a list of things that annoyed us about them to pass on to the booking contact as I'm reasonably certain they'll make some complaints on their feedback forms - some valid most just old people being over picky and at times out and out rude to the staff (demanding we make fresh coffee outside of coffee break times because they'd decided to sit out the session in the meeting room, refusing to use the accessible door to take luggage out instead wanting my staff to sit by the main door to open and close it for them then coming and complaining when we resecured it to go back to the dining room to do our actual jobs....).

The upside was watching a Buzzard flying around the grounds and then what we think must have been a juvenile fox playing on the lawns.

Didn't plan to but ended up having a nap when I got home so haven't achieved very much at all, but I do have a shopping list written for tomorrow and I've packed my running kit so if it's not raining too much I'll head out for a short run before I go to the shops.

scubaangel

Trip to Mr S for some bits means my bank account is £20 lighter.

Went in with a list, came out with a couple of extras as they were yellow stickered cereals I was thinking about getting next time I saw them on offer.

List was skittles (free after c/b), a ready meal (bonus points from mycoupons), sides to bulk out the ready meal, bleach, face scrub, fruit juices (4 for £3), multipacks of crisps (3 for £4 or £1.75 each), and some cheese. Total cost £22, and had a £2 off voucher so paid £20, and have £1 already cleared on shopitize.

I did also run. 2.4 miles, 28 mins on a trail route so uneven underfoot and a couple of short steep inclines.

hummingbird

I think yellow-stickered items are a bit of a mixed blessing for me - I often do get bargains, but on other occasions I get items that I wasn't planning to get or wouldn't normally have bought, and I find I've spent MORE than intended, not less! I must discipline myself to check if things are freezable!

scubaangel

I agree, I have to make a real effort to avoid buying things I really don't need - I looked at ys pizzas and cakes earlier but knew I had pasta, sauce and some left over veggies to add to it for dinner so buying pizza would have been silly as I've no freezer space and I really don't need cake at home given how much I have access to at work!

I do however pick up y.s veggies without even thinking about it as I can always cook them and use them to snack on.

I find if I only have one box of cereal on the go at a time I get bored of it and end up chucking out most of it after it goes stale but if I have two I alternate and generally finish both , so I got both for less than it would have cost me to buy one at the normal price, and hopefully won't waste them.

I knew I wanted to spend over £20 so I could use the voucher and from price checking on mysupermarket I knew I'd be close but it would depend on the sides available for with the ready meal. So without the cereals I would have been a few pence short.

I realised just now that I'm going to need to go buy milk on Wednesday as I've nearly run out (late shift tomorrow so there's enough for my morning brew and one after work, but early shift on Wednesday so I'll skip the brew at home in favour of superstrong fresh black coffee at work). Will sort out my meal plan for the long weekend and go pick up fresh food and attempt to use up some of the stuff in my cupboard - four different types of pasta is a shade excessive.

scubaangel

Home from work, I have a meal from tonight so I'll have that for dinner tomorrow night and the ready meal on Thursday, but I still plan to shop tomorrow afternoon as Thursday is likely to be manic given the long weekend.

hummingbird

Thanks for the tip on the y.s veg scuba - they are in a separate area to all the other items (and bread and bakery products in another.) I often remember to check the bread but tend to forget the fruit veg & salad!!

Have a great Easter!:EasterBun

scubaangel

The Mr S I use has refridgerated stuff in one place, bread/cakes another, veggies another and then packets and tins in yet another. It's a pain making sure to check all of them!

Home from work, due back on Tuesday so a nice weekend of reducing the bottles in my wine rack and have booked a couple of mystery shops for Monday.

Want to visit Primarni so need to brave a trip in to another town which is going to be awful this weekend!