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redofromstart

Thank you - it was a nice day in the end, and better than being exhausted ahead of a stressful few days. The new fleece is very warm and between that and the hot water bottle I have avoided having the heating on.

DS1 school shoes starting to go, so had to spend £41 on a new pair of the same model and same size. Hard to find practical black leather shoes that don't wear out in five minutes, that have a strap rather than laces and that don't trigger seething resentment on general ugliness from the boy. Worse now he is in adult sizes.

doingitanyway

Happy birthday. How did I miss that? I am invariably disappointed by food when I eat out so your pub lunch from the freezer sounds fabulous
Have a relaxing evening

mummytogirls

Happy Belated Birthday Redo :beer: xx

EssexHebridean

Happy birthday and sorry for missing it!

I feel for parents whose kids get into adult sizes of footwear - it seems really unfair that you have to pay the added costs! My OH's parents had exactly this with him when he was growing up - and Mum in Law still curses about it now!

Pub lunch from the freezer sounds like an excellent idea! :T

redofromstart

Thank you for the birthday wishes.

On the home straight for the project, just tomorrows handover and a few last minute bits of paperwork to do. Must remember to do my expenses.

Busy day, and was still sending out letters at 6 so an easy freezer dinner.

DS1 just announced that he is starving so he has made a salad with a tin of mixed beans with crumbled feta and balsamic syrup (all courtesy of Aldee) as a 'light snack'. Oh to have his hollow legs and metabolism

Couple of inches of snow, more forecast for overnight so who knows what will happen with school. I'm quite warm - thin thermals, longline vest, long sleeved top, jumper, 2 cardigans, fingerless gloves, thin pretty scarf, and my zipped full length fleece is apparently what it takes for that status.

redofromstart

I did remember to do my expenses but had only been in the office for half an hour when I got a text to say school was closing so I had to dash home again. Had to bring the laptop home to finish some stuff off so that will be me going into the city to drop it off at some point next week.

Need to plan for next project and update my CV. House is a tip too, and my fluffy friend has been bitten by that blasted tom cat again so I need to take him to the vets again. I think I need to get insurance for him then he will never need to go to the vets again. It is so cold that two of the other cats haven't actually emerged from the boiler cupboard for breakfast yet.

Food has generally been junk from the freezer so I really should make a little more effort tonight. Probably beef stew and dumplings.

I'm having a few problems with very dry skin (mostly on my legs) and a dry itchy back and I think the bath stuff is making it worse. Last night I tried an oat bath (think Rosa Bernica suggested this a while ago?), using value oats and grinding them in gadget mans nutribullet. It did really help so one to do again but I need to find some net fabric to make bags to stop the bath from being left with a trail of porridge Any ideas for other natural bath options that might help?

greenbee

Camomile tea bags in bath.

Mix yogurt and oatmeal into a paste and apply to sore bits of skin to calm them.

redofromstart

Thanks, I'm not sure extra mature breakfast tea is going to help so it''ll have to wait until I go shopping.

Was my payday yesterday, and the mortgage has gone out today so did some more money shuffling. OP to the mortgage to round it down, interest was £308. Savings shuffled around to maximise the (pennies) interest, and some rounding up to even numbers from the current account.

March finances:
No CT, hurrah
His car service utilises the CT money, boo
2 birthdays, boo
The last of the dentists bill, boo
No projected income for me beyond the trickle from the business account, boo

I at least have time to cook, and shop wisely rather than the inevitable overspend on convenience stuff.

Seasidegal58

Hi redo - very many happy belated returns of the day. Your homemade birthday ‘pub lunch’ sounded really yummy and a lovely warm fleece to luxuriate in as well!

Sorry to hear that poor old fluffy has been beaten up again by the psychotic Tom!:(. He won’t ever want to go outdoors again at all soon. The other felines sound very sensible by sticking near the boiler in this weather!

redofromstart

Thanks Seaside.

We have a few inches of nice powdery snow but nothing too exciting. I can hear the distant beeps of the bin lorry so I have nipped out with the bin, and put food out for the birds while I was out. School is shut which is a relief. Looks like the big snow will hit tomorrow for us so I need to walk down and get some bits shortly as I had planned for food shopping today when I did the online order last week.

I have been catching up on various threads as I hadn't had much time in the last week, and there is a recurring theme of use it up, grocery costs, and meal planning which sits well with my current plans. Although not regimented meal planning, have tried and I don't enjoy it at all. Hate it when cooking becomes a daily drudge.

My first port of call in times of stress is a freezer audit but its out in the garage and its far too cold. I shall save that for later. Even rummaging in the kitchen cupboards isn't a pleasant option, there is a little heap of snow inside the back door that hasn't melted from last night!

In terms of the next few days I have:
Fruit - 3 grapefruit (why?), 1 tired apple, 2 plums and a banana. Lemons and limes in the fridge. 1 glass of orange juice left. 3 cherry toms. Mixed frozen berries and a few frozen bananas.
Veg - onions, shallots, few tired carrots and half a cabbage. 3 small potatoes. Frozen: peas , sweetcorn, parsnips, peppers. Emergency tin of potatoes.
Dairy - boys milk (10 pints so just enough), my milk is off, butter (enough and there is some in the freezer). Cheese (parmesan, halloumi, cheddar., lancashire, gorgonzola and grated cheddar in freezer). Think we are ok for cheese :rotfl:. Eggs, only a couple.
Bread: None out, emergency sliced loaf in freezer and some tiger bread. Probably enough yeast and flour to make a loaf if put it somewhere warm to rise.

It helps writing it out so I can see the options. I don't want to get suckered into co-op overcharges, and I can't carry that much.

Yesterday we spent £8.32 on gas and electric against the usual current average of £4.50, and I still wasn't warm at any point in the day :eek: If I had had the central heating on all day it would be closer to £12. A bag of logs to run the wood burner is £5, no free wood round here. I really do worry about people who just can't afford it,.