Countdown from £28k...

ryanm8655

Walk was a good shout...cleared the head and also knackered ha, so reckon I'll sleep well tonight. No water works tonight either One more day and then I can rest ha. Looking forward to an evening of doing nothing...Got some mussels in the fridge and picked up some fresh bread, so will have that tomorrow...cheap meal but also find the packs of mussels in white wine sauce are pretty good, so still a bit of a treat taste wise and minimal effort...bought a couple of bits for meals next week (some peppers and stuff for a tray bake and also chicken and mushrooms for the risotto...will bulk cook that on sunday I reckon. Also sausages for the toad in the hole and milk for the batter...should have everything for a weeks worth of food now other than some more bread for breakfast...£12 spent on the shopping...it's nice knowing you have the core bits as can be a little more spontaneous and pick a couple of bits you fancy to go with what you have...

Also popped into m&s to see if anyhting was reduced and spotted they do two pizzas and two sides for a tenner as a meal deal. Cheaper alternative to a couple of takeaways, so might do that next weekend and then freeze one for the following week. Love an M&S pizza.

Getting there with this being a grown up lark

alt80

Glad to hear you had a decent walk mate. Dinner plans sound good. Re food shopping you’re basically doing what we do - big Sainsbury’s shop delivered then a few bits I pick up through the week. Odd now and then I buy a super lazy meal when I go to the shop gives wife a night off usually a Charlie Bingham’s lasagne/ fish pie - not as good as homemade but really not bad for a throw in the oven job. Chop some salad or boil some peas and it’s an ok dinner. We split one of the 2 person ones between 3 and have pudding, they are big.

ryanm8655

alt80 said:

Glad to hear you had a decent walk mate. Dinner plans sound good. Re food shopping you’re basically doing what we do - big Sainsbury’s shop delivered then a few bits I pick up through the week. Odd now and then I buy a super lazy meal when I go to the shop gives wife a night off usually a Charlie Bingham’s lasagne/ fish pie - not as good as homemade but really not bad for a throw in the oven job. Chop some salad or boil some peas and it’s an ok dinner. We split one of the 2 person ones between 3 and have pudding, they are big.

Yeah, I reckon I can get away with a £60ish shop every couple of weeks to top things up and then the odd shop here and there for the stuff that goes off...

I know the ones you mean, also have the bonus of it coming in a dish you can keep to make pies etc. Ha... Got one on offer once from Waitrose when I was a student ha. Was amazing. The M&S dine in for twos are quite good when feeling lazy too...though noticed they’re a tenner but without the wine now ha. Used to be a bargain! Fish pie is another fave...will have to look up a recipe...

Probably fell asleep about 12.30 last night. Was in bed earlier but faffing around with audible trying to get a book and it’s ended up not working so gave up and fell asleep about 10 mins into a podcast instead...annoyingly I’ve accidentally set up sleep mode on my phone and it woke me up at 6am. Really don’t need to be up this early but better than waking up late I guess ha. Would’ve been a solid 8 hours otherwise...exercise is the way forward...

Anyone experienced a glitch where they buy an audiobook and then it doesn’t appear in their library in the app?

warby68

Sounds good @ryanm8655. Cleaner living working wonders. 
Glad you're feeling better, didn't like it when you sounded a bit messed up last week. The Tesco Finest meal deal for 2 is not bad for a tenner either. Some good drinks choices wine, 6 glass bottle cokes, 4 small Peroni are ones I can recall plus main, side and pud.

Humdinger1

@ryanm8655 am only on p50 of your utterly riveting diary so don't know yet how it all pans out; besides massive congrats, I have to say that your family are so, so out of order.  They do indeed have issues to work on.  Not wanting to be judgemental but they are totally passive aggressive and you are doing brilliantly to put up with it.  You do have this straight, I can see but just to confirm: it's not you!!  Will post again when have read to the end.  Humdinger 

enthusiasticsaver

You seem to be getting organised on the food front.  Not into audio books so can't help there.  A lot of people seem to be using them though.  

ryanm8655

warby68 said:

Sounds good @ryanm8655. Cleaner living working wonders. 
Glad you're feeling better, didn't like it when you sounded a bit messed up last week. The Tesco Finest meal deal for 2 is not bad for a tenner either. Some good drinks choices wine, 6 glass bottle cokes, 4 small Peroni are ones I can recall plus main, side and pud.

Yes! Tesco is a good shout, always went for M&S or Waitrose as the wine and food was generally nicer...but since they don't include the wine anymore then should give tesco a bash as it's better value now. Even though I've always been terrible with money and lived beyond my means I've still always been a fan of value

Very true on cleaner living, feel so much better even though I'm knackered from a hectic work week!

Won't quot humdinger as don't want to ruin the excitement

enthusiasticsaver said:

You seem to be getting organised on the food front.  Not into audio books so can't help there.  A lot of people seem to be using them though.  

Yes, a much clearer and focused mind helps. Work picking up again has helped as have had to be really on the ball again and not sat there all day twiddling my thumbs and overthinking...

It's been a productive evening. Worked late for a Friday and still haven't got the impact assessment done as just been too busy trying to solve our resourcing crisis.

Did have a few drinks (4 small beers) as needed it with the week I've had But did earn it by cleaning the flat and also sorting out my bedroom (putting on the new linens and throw etc.). Also had the mussels with some part baked petit pains from Tesco that I finished off in the oven. Was genuinely nicer than takeaway and all I had to do was stick the bread in the oven and cook the mussels in a pan. A meal I'd have paid £15+ for eating out and genuinely as nice...

Popped out to the shops to replenish wine stocks and get some Viakal to clean the shower. £22 spent (4 x wine and viakal). Friends bringing the food so I needed to supply the wine but can't see us getting through all of it over a roast ha. So should last a bit longer than the last lot ha. Usually popping out would mean a bag of beers and mooching around London chatting to mates over whatsapp while drinking until the early hours but didn't even feel tempted. Shower clean done and now bed time.

What a difference a few days makes...

I don't mind the booze if it's moderated. It's just when I'm drinking for escape and something to do that it's a problem and then you wake up the next day feeling like crap and it's a vicious cycle. Fair enough being a bit ropey if you've had a good time and it's not excessively frequent but like anything in life it's about balance. Does help seeing friends tomorrow for sure...otherwise there is nothing to look forward to and drinking to feel good is more tempting. Basically need to keep my mind occupied and feel productive.

Didn't have time to look at the finances. Could do it now but tbh I'm ready to conk out and there is no better feeling than clean sheets ha. While I was out I acually wanted to come home as soon as possible. Not because of anxiousness or anything, just feels more homely again now I've done a good clean and made the bedroom nice again rather than just somewhere to crash...

Will have a look at the finances on Sunday now I reckon. Other than a busy day tomorrow. I just need to do some washing/ironing and cook the risotto on Sunday. Think I need to make more saturday plans in the daytime so that I have something to look forward to and don't get that loneliness and anxiousness. The takeaways are also part of that making weekends seem more rewarding too...so think plans would help a lot...hopefully we'll be back to the tier system again soon and can do more than just a stroll along the river as more things will be open...not too much longer now and with work as it is the time will fly by.

Got audible working. Just had to call them as there was some technical error. Didn't think I was an audiobook fan, prefer proper reading but actually really enjoying it and finding it going in far more easily (got a book on economic history to get me into the economic theory mindset again as don't use it too much at work).

ryanm8655

Well the waking up as fixed. Just woke up at 6am like clockwork..the issue is it’s the weekend and I want more sleep ha.

warby68

Typical !!
The meal deal - not that I'd advise anyone to live off ready meals but if you bought say 5 , that's £50 for 5 bottles of wine, or say  3 wine and 8 beers plus at least a main meal and pud each day with some left over. As they're meant for 2 I'd expect some to serve 2 male appetites  especially with the side and others maybe only one good meal but easily 7 from 5. Its not a bad stash for a week for £50 all in if you hit a hectic week or feel low. It used to be that you could double up on sides and forget the pud and the deal still worked but not sure if that glitch has been fixed.

Nothing like early rising toddlers and a dead to the world husband to make you never want a hangover again and the feeling lasts even though the toddlers are now the drinkers themselves. Then I got a health problem that made my favourite red wine pretty much a no go. That means I drink relatively little these days. That said, boy do I enjoy the drinks I do have. 2 leisurely large gins or a single glass of red with a meal is worth so much more in relaxing value than the skinfuls years ago. Husband gravitating to the same although about 15y later. On his days off he'd rather have the clear head now and go cycling or something and definitely favours quality over quantity now. With all male mates dos  he still will (peer pressure at 50 lol) but then moans for days it wasn't worth it. 

Enjoy your weeked, was going to ask for a pic of the new bedroom but then decided that was a bit peeping tom  - maybe just the colour scheme. I recall the flat's rooms were very attractive without much decor.

ryanm8655

warby68 said:

Typical !!
The meal deal - not that I'd advise anyone to live off ready meals but if you bought say 5 , that's £50 for 5 bottles of wine, or say  3 wine and 8 beers plus at least a main meal and pud each day with some left over. As they're meant for 2 I'd expect some to serve 2 male appetites  especially with the side and others maybe only one good meal but easily 7 from 5. Its not a bad stash for a week for £50 all in if you hit a hectic week or feel low. It used to be that you could double up on sides and forget the pud and the deal still worked but not sure if that glitch has been fixed.

Nothing like early rising toddlers and a dead to the world husband to make you never want a hangover again and the feeling lasts even though the toddlers are now the drinkers themselves. Then I got a health problem that made my favourite red wine pretty much a no go. That means I drink relatively little these days. That said, boy do I enjoy the drinks I do have. 2 leisurely large gins or a single glass of red with a meal is worth so much more in relaxing value than the skinfuls years ago. Husband gravitating to the same although about 15y later. On his days off he'd rather have the clear head now and go cycling or something and definitely favours quality over quantity now. With all male mates dos  he still will (peer pressure at 50 lol) but then moans for days it wasn't worth it. 

Enjoy your weeked, was going to ask for a pic of the new bedroom but then decided that was a bit peeping tom  - maybe just the colour scheme. I recall the flat's rooms were very attractive without much decor.

Yeah, that’s it with the meal deals. I don’t eat loads to be honest, except if drunk or hungover, another negative ha. So they’d certainly stretch! Not sure if the Tesco one is the same but it used to be you could pick a starter or dessert. The M&S one used to sometimes have really nice steaks or even got a 5kg whole chicken once ha. I hope they bring them back one day...the pizza and Prosecco deal was pretty good value too when it was around.

I don’t mind cooking fresh though. And have a few really basic and easy meals I can make when time is short (e.g. chicken tray bake...just roughly chop some Mediterranean veg, sling in some chopped chorizo, some potatoes, chicken thighs seasoned with smoked paprika...10 mins prep and sling it in the oven...) and I can crack on with other stuff while it’s in the oven. Picked up some recipe cards from Tesco with some similar sorts of dishes but a bit different, e.g traybakes but using packets of stuffed tortellini. Sure I’ll have a few easy recipes stored up soon.

Haha! I can imagine...worth it though...nothing killer than bringing a life into the world and nurturing them, seeing them grow up :-)

That’s the kind of mindset I’d like to develop on the alcohol, quality over quantity but also entertainment budget wise full stop. I know when things open up I won’t be quite there. There will be that element of kid in a sweet shop but definitely getting there and at least I’m self aware and realistic I guess But could easily spend the cost of a long weekend in a cool European city on going out Friday and Saturday until the early hours and actually I know which I’d rather do...

I didn’t realise you could upload pictures...will give it a bash! Might fold the throw when I make the bed this am... Would like to put some pictures up around the place to make it more homely as I’m realising it’s that homely feel that makes me feel happier in the flat and there is a lot of bare wall space! Do have a big painting of tower bridge that would go nicely above the bed (at a friends at the moment but he’s going to bring it down after lockdown) but there’s a lot of wall space in the hallway so thinking a couple of framed retro movie posters or something might add a bit of charm and homeliness...

Also reading renting is actually better value than buying in London and will be for the foreseeable...hopefully that brings prices back down to earth in a few years but won’t hold my breath ha.