Tales from The Shire

Fortune_Smiles

StripeyTightsSpottySocks said:

Hi fortune smiles - I'd not been on here for a while but recently returned. I'm sure I posted on here a long time ago. It is good to see you keeping up with your writing and art and it's lovely hearing you post about your home which is nice to picture - especially when it's a dark wet evening like now and i can imagine your lovely countryside around - even if it's dark and wet there too! And your delicious meals - you've often inspired me to try new things so i wanted to say thank you   

Hi there Stripey - how lovely to 'see' you.  We are lucky to live in beautiful countryside here but I like to look on the bright side so probably make things seem far more idyllic than they are 😆  I wont ruin the illusion by talking about the rain, gales and mud 🤭  Thank you for posting such a lovely message.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Can't wait...

...to post today as the PB money landed in my account and I've paid it straight off the mortgage 😁  So that's the full 10% overpayment allowance met for this year and a goal ticked off my 2022 list 😁 I've had a lovely time updating spreadsheets this morning to reflect the reduced amount.  Our monthly payment for February will be lower now so I'll shuffle the difference into the savings pot.  This is a major milestone on our mortgage journey so I'll sit down with Mr F over lunch today and share the figures with him.

I'm determined to focus more on health and fitness this year and, now the majority of the naughty Christmas leftovers have left the building, I've started to track calories in and calories out through exercise.  Happily, my meal plan for today fits my goal and the only adjustment I need to make is to add some fruit as snacks.  It will be leftover risotto for lunch and Versatile Veg Soup for supper to use some of the monster swede plus parnsips, carrots and potatoes I have left in the fridge.  I'll make double the amount and use 100g of each of the veg and not increase the stock.  It's going to be around 140 calories per portion so a great option if you're trying to lose weight like me and good for using up odds and ends of veg.

Ths week's grocery shop came in a little under budget so I'll shuffle the difference into the savings pot.  I had to buy some more water jug filters this week so that took a chunk of the money (our tap water tastes awful).  Although I hunted around for the best price and we shouldn't have to buy any more for about six months.  With food costs rising, I'm delighted to come in on budget let alone make any savings.  We have fruit and veg leftover from Christmas so that's helping.  I'm looking forward to getting back to a healthier diet - I've really noticed the affect the increase in caffeine, alcohol and sugar has had on me and I don't like it... and I keep 'seeing' yesterday's video of my 'rear not of the year' 😢  It's a great motivator 😆

I can see lots of progress on diaries already.  Aren't we doing well - it's only the 10th! 😁

Fortune x

Suffolk_lass

I just ordered filters for my water jug too. After a bad experience with a generic I buy the originals and paid £19 for 6

Fortune_Smiles

Suffolk_lass said:

I just ordered filters for my water jug too. After a bad experience with a generic I buy the originals and paid £19 for 6

Oooh - you did slightly better than me SL.  I paid £20 for 6 on @m@zon but free delivery.

Fortune x

savingholmes

Sorry a second family member has c19. Wishing them a speedy recovery. 

Good luck with your health and fitness goals.

Fortune_Smiles

savingholmes said:

Sorry a second family member has c19. Wishing them a speedy recovery. 

Good luck with your health and fitness goals.

Thanks SH - 2nd patient seems to have very light symptoms and both are on the mend.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Exciting!

The overpayment is showing on my mortgage account already - so exciting!  I suspect only us Forumites get this 😁

Yesterday didn't go entirely as planned as Mr F reminded me to back up my laptop and, as it's so important but I'm always forgetting to do it, I thought I'll just do it now.  Not as simple as it sounds as the right external drive had to be found, then the right cables to power it and link it to my laptop, then the poor thing struggled to wake up as it hasn't been used for so long, then my laptop got a bit keen and duplicated files all over the place which I then had to track down and delete 🙄  Anyhoo, an afternoon later... The cloud would probably be simpler but makes me feel I'm losing control of the data.  At least it's done now and the chores I missed can be shifted to another day.

I worked on my 'Happiness' goals last night by watching the B@k£ Off festive specials from the bath 😁🛀

Apart from staring at the mortgage balance, I have got some chores done today.  We had leftover soup for lunch and Sausage Stew with Green Lentils for supper with roast potatoes.  My calorie allowance even stretched to some pieces of Christmas whiskey fudge - a tin of which I discovered forgotten in a cupboard 😁  I may have to re-think the menu plan tomorrow as I've included recipes for which I don't yet have the ingredients 😆  My veg box arrives on Thursdays so I don't know what I was thinking there.

Nothing much else to report.  I am still managing dry January and the 1p challenge and keeping spends as low as possible.  The weather here is forecast to stay dry for a while now so we're hoping to get some gardening done this weekend.  The sun came out for a bit today which was lovely but made me realise how much work needs to be done out there.

Hope you got a little sunshine today too 🌞

Fortune x

beanielou

Woohoo 

savingholmes

Well done on the 10% OP. That sounds amazing. Also well done on doing something for you. 

I was talking to a family member about £ yesterday and they were all concerned - whereas obviously on here it's normal - and out there it's still taboo... I think I'm doing alright I'm just trying to stay within budget and being open about it but they are obviously not used to people discussing such things...

Cheery_Daff

Well done on the mortgage OP, and for watching TV in the bath, how decadent 😊😊 glad you got out in the garden - I confess I often ignore it at this time of year and wait for a bit of warmth. Brrrrr.