Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget.

sugarbaby125

Candygirl, I try to have lots of varied fun in my social life that is as inexpensive as possible.

As I do not drink alcohol except on very rare occasions and I do not drink soft drinks, then nights out of dancing, Karaoke, free events or cut price cinema and theatre trips, are usually well within my budget.

lessonlearned

You do very well SUgarbaby......both with your shopping and your entertainment. You certainly know how to stretch those pennies and live a good life.

Well good afternoon everyone.

Just having a break from prepping the walls and woodwork in the dining room. I'm dressed in my finest diy gear and paint spattered clothes. I look a right sight. :rotfl:

Going to focus on getting it done now. I've got a nice clear diary and no need to go shopping for a few days so I'm just going to crack on.

I have ordered a couple of books from Amazon (the cheap preloved ones). I have actually read them before but like a fool gave them away and I could do with reading then again.

They are "A Year to Change my Life" which I think I mentioned before. I did set myself that challenge last year and I think I did pretty well. I visited the Amazon, lost 3 stones, moved house and joined a couple of meet up groups. Although it took me 18 months not 12. Lol

Anyway I am ready for Year 2 next year.....:rotfl: so I thought I'd buy the book again and go for some more lifestyle changes.

The other book is the "How I lived on £1 a day"....again there were some great ideas in there.

I've only spent just over £5 (most of that being postage of course). I know I said no more spending but I consider that £5 will be a good investment which I should be able to recoup in no time. :rotfl:

Anyway best press on.....plumber coming later to service the boiler. Also a decorator. I have decided that if I can get some help with the decorating without it breaking the bank then I might just outsource some of it so I can clear the decks and get on with other things.

I'm getting too old and decrepit to risk life and limb on ladders. :rotfl:

It might mean forgoing the Iceland trip but I don't really mind. I really want to up the ante now and get the house finished.

Although, if I can free up time I might be able to find a way to increase my income......a little job or maybe a micro business.

Who knows, maybe that could be part of next years challenge.

Wednesday2000

I watched a YouTube video on Intermittent Fasting yesterday and have decided to try it. I did try it before but I didn't really stick to it. It is supposed to have lots of health benefits like weight loss, reducing inflammation in your body and balancing insulin levels.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting#section1

I'm not going to fast for 16 hours and eat in an 8 hour window like the guy on YouTube as I find that too extreme. I might try fasting for 14 hours and eating in 10 hours.

I found a few nice things in the £1 charity shop today. A roomy bright blue shopper bag, a black ASOS short dress and another black dress that I can wear under things.:) I also got my husband a dark blue and black checked shirt.

candygirl wrote: »

WEDNESDAY have you looked on ereaderiq for free kindle books? They have new ones every day.Also kindle unlimited is only £7.99 a month, you can have 10 books at a time.It's worth it for me, cos I read loads

I don't think I have.

I think there are lots of things I can get for free with Amazon Prime that I never take advantage of.

I actually counted and i have 46 books on my kindle still to read!

adindas

On saturday I went to Iceland and bought six package of Iceland Whole Shell-On Raw King Prawns 225g (about 8-9 pieces).
https://www.iceland.co.uk/search?q=king%20prawn&originalQuery=king%20prwan

I thawed two bags of them and put them directly on the electric grill.

They were £4.50 each bag but when you buy three it will cost you £10 instead of £13.50. I also bought atlantic salmon fillet. Again £10 for
3x480g.
https://www.iceland.co.uk/search?q=salmon

I also got a voucher £5 off for £30 spent from Iceland come through my front door. So instead of paying £30 for all of these item I just paid £25.

and then I went to Lidl to buy a sparkling wine (instead of champagne, which is just a name for the the benefit of french farmers).

Grilled King Prawn together with bollies, how much does it cost you if you buy them on the restaurant, supermarket fish monger, But for this it just costed me 2x£3.33 + £4 for bollies. Is it not a champagne lifestyle ? lol :beer::beer::beer:

pollypenny

Wednesday, we started IF, using Michael Mosley's original book and recipes in April 2016. By September I'd lost 2st and OH had lost 3St.

Still maintaining 16:8 which we find very easy.

We've eaten out today. Real champagne moment on Carluccio's free wine offer, so probably will have nothing more than an apple later.

Used my 20% sparks for a cosy cardigan and wine coloured cords, and had 20% off a jumper in Debenhams.

house_elf

PP and Wednesday....... IF, I know someone who only eats every 12 hours. He has lost about a stone in a month, and has not found it too difficult.......I think I would struggle without biscuit breaks :rotfl:

I had a much more productive day yesterday. Lots of washing done. The Bay parcels posted. I have also made a suede coat into an apron for work!

We are aiming for a treat every day, as we did not manage to arrange a week away. ( I found a cheap cruise, but the dates did not work ).....so our champagne moment was diner at a posh Bistro run buy a celebrity chef. (Groupon :cool:). Lovely food and lovely atmosphere.

It was also an opportunity to wear a new outfit bought, very reduced from House of Fraser, which looks very sad these days. They have put the Christmas decorations up, but I do wonder if it will last that long.

Off to sew the pocket onto my apron. Have a lovely day

lessonlearned

Good morning Everyone

Lots of lovely chat on here, Sharing tips and advice. Great stuff.

Champagne Moments????

Well my days are busy with the dining room and will be for a little while yet. I am generally pretty spent in the evenings so I have been curling up on the sofa, with a nice meal, a few tasty nibbles, a warm house, a cosy throw, candles and have been binge watching "The Crown". Utter tosh but hugely enjoyable, just the ticket when you are exhausted after a long day of manual labour.

Time for a monthly review to see how I'm doing.

Optimistic October has gone well. I have managed to avoid feeling sorry for myself and not dwell on "widowhood". On the whole I have remained positive and upbeat by keeping busy and focusing on how to continue to improve my situation. Taking small pleasures, saying "yes" and tacking ACTION.

Moneywise.......I have saved a grand total of nearly £700 in the last six weeks or so by shopping around for the best deals. I also had a three payment month of state pension (get mine 4 weekly so every so often I get a little bonus payment iyswim because I don't factor that in my budget). So all in all I came in with an extra £1k to play with. Not too shabby.......

I used some of that to make a mortgage overpayment and stock up on paint. I have reduced my food spends too. Although I can still do better on that front. Just need to get a bit more organised, although in my defence i have been focussing on the diy so meal planning has rather flown out of the the window.
.
My plumber came yesterday to service the boiler.. He is great. (And quite a dish - alas happily married) :rotfl:

We discussed my kitchen revamp and as usual he came up with loads of money saving ideas as to how I can get the most bang for my buck. The decorator also came round and gave me estimates. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was he obviously knowledgeable but his quotes were, I thought, very fair.

So........a slight change to the master plan. The savings I've made this month will pay for the decorator. I will let him do the next lot of beams and all the ladder work. I'll just do the easy bits and save the wear and tear on my body.

As my late husband used to say "Why have a dog and bark yourself".

Plus of course it will save me oceans of time, time to make more money and time to have more fun.

Speaking of time.......

Nearly November.......time to think about the next challenge. Need to up the ante.

Beautiful day here. As well as working in the dining room, I am going to make sure I grab some fresh air. Garden still flooded though. The new shrubs don't look too good. Definitely need to sort out the drainage next year. That won't be cheap. Hey ho, needs must.

Have a great day y'all.

Wednesday2000

My champagne moment was that I put a huge pink fluffy blanket on top of my duvet last night as it was chilly and my husband wasn't there to warm me up as he is working nights. I got into bed and it felt so warm and cosy.

OMG I had the best nights sleep I have had in ages. Even my dogs slept all through the night. We had about 8 hours straight.:rotfl:

It is also my dog's birthday today. He is 9 years old now.:A

pollypenny wrote: »

Wednesday, we started IF, using Michael Mosley's original book and recipes in April 2016. By September I'd lost 2st and OH had lost 3St.

Still maintaining 16:8 which we find very easy.

house_elf wrote: »

PP and Wednesday....... IF, I know someone who only eats every 12 hours. He has lost about a stone in a month, and has not found it too difficult.......I think I would struggle without biscuit breaks :rotfl:

Interesting! Is there a thread on MSE about IF?

I decided to eat between midday and 10 at night. One of the things that threw me off last time I tried it is that my husband does shift work so I often eat around his shift pattern but I think I will stick to this same pattern every week.

I was looking at what you can drink when you are fasting. Seems to be water, lemon water, black coffee, black tea, green tea or herbal tea.

It's annoying as I gave up coffee this year as it is a migraine trigger and I just gave up black tea at the same time. I can't drink green tea on an empty stomach either as it makes me feel sick!

I will have to buy some lemons and herbal tea in my next shop.

lessonlearned wrote: »

I am generally pretty spent in the evenings so I have been curling up on the sofa, with a nice meal, a few tasty nibbles, a warm house, a cosy throw, candles and have been binge watching "The Crown". Utter tosh but hugely enjoyable, just the ticket when you are exhausted after a long day of manual labour.

Sounds lovely!:cool:

pollypenny

Wednesday, there was a thread on 5:2 some time ago.

However, Michael Mosley's own site is very helpful and also has forums. I post regularly on the maintenance thread. One or two other threads/posters gave great advice with questions in the early days.

Wednesday2000

pollypenny wrote: »

However, Michael Mosley's own site is very helpful and also has forums. I post region the maintenance thread. One or two other threads/posters gave great advice with questions in the early days.

Oh, thanks, I will look there.

I found some posts about IF but they were on a body building forum and then on a diabetes forum so not particularly helpful to me.:p