Giving every £ a job

Blackcats

Thank you @CRANKY40.  Your black cat sounds like they were a real character! 

I agree @savingholmes - little tweaks should help with energy usage.  I've used the radiator controls to adjust the temperature in different rooms - no point in heating spare bedrooms to the same temp as my bedroom but I don't want to have no heating at all in case the rooms get musty/mouldy.  Also the cat has claimed one of the spare bedrooms as their daytime sleeping zone .... evening sleeping zone is in the lounge with us and night time sleeping zone is on the end of my bed which is convenient for them to wake us up at 5.30 in case there's a chance of an early breakfast 😸

it's a working day for me today and I've had a hearty casserole in the slow cooker all afternoon.  It smells yummy and there's enough for tomorrow too.  I visit my dad on a Thursday evening and there's always a high risk of the "shall we go for a curry?" conversation on our way home.  Knowing that dinner is ready and just needs warming up should prevent an unbudgetted for meal out.

lucielle

Casserole sounds good.  Slow cookers are so handy
L

savingholmes

Good planning there. 

My cat uses the spare bedroom for much of its day time sleep too.

Blackcats

SH I think that cats in loving homes have the best life - they are well fed, kept warm, come and go as they please and can exercise choice about when to seek attention and affection.  Mine jumps onto the coffee table at around 9 every night to make sure we remember it's Dreamie time (or Lidl equivalent).  If was fail to respond in a timely way he starts batting things onto the floor - remote controls, coasters etc.  we've usually complied by the time he starts on mobile phones.

a reasonably productive day today - we were due to go to Lidl's but have out it off until tomorrow.  Plenty of options to shop from home and eek out the November grocery budget.  

OH made a campfire type stew tonight - sausages, onions, peppers, paprika and baked beans.  We pottered in the garden and whilst emptying pots found 8 potatoes - we haven't looked after the potatoes very well (that's an understatement) so it was a lovely surprise to find them.  

When she was unable to go out to the shops my mum loved buying things from newspapers and catalogues and she randomly bought me a potato growing kit.  I say randomly as I'd never expressed any interest in growing potatoes 🤔 but I think she saw an advert in her Daily Mail.  So it was lovely over a year after she died to have mashed potato using spuds courtesy of my mum.  We added some horseradish to the mash which reminded me of when I was little and my older brothers told me it was made of horses and radishes.  I believed them for quite some time!

savingholmes

Aww how lovely to have the potatoes in memory of your mum. 

Love the cat's way of demanding treats too. Thanks for sharing. 

Mine starts clawing the furniture if you don't give it the right attention. However if your stroking and petting him and he wants you to continue he will put a paw on you to get you to stay and start licking and nuzzling you.

Sun_Addict

My cats insist on a 7pm treat although just lately they've been trying to bring it forward to 6pm. When we got the younger cat last year it didn't take her long to cotton onto the routine 😆 When I'm working from home, the older cat comes and sits on my desk staring menacingly at me if her dish is empty. She even took a swipe at someone's face on a Teams call once.

How nice that the potatoes came courtesy of your mum. I still have a wooden cat in my window that my mum bought me for Christmas one year. A neighbour was admiring it and I told her, as my mum's been gone 22 years, it's been in my window a fair amount of time. 

Blackcats

Cats are so funny how they manipulate us - begs the question of who is the owner and who is the pet????

had this month's energy bill from 🐙.  With my direct debit and £66 I also used up £15 of my credit balance so I'm fairly relieved about that although I've just glanced at the smart meter for today which is 🙀

I'm doing the November grocery challenge and have £51 left til 30th.  Did a shop today which included a nice bottle of wine for Friday night when we are making a pizza and watching the footie.  I have to remind myself that the £51 is an upper limit and not a target to aim for.  

savingholmes

Blackcats said:

Cats are so funny how they manipulate us - begs the question of who is the owner and who is the pet????

 I have to remind myself that the £51 is an upper limit and not a target to aim for.  

So relate to both of these!! Have a fun day.

Blackcats

thanks SH.
had a good "week" at work - both days of it 😀.  I'm really enjoying this complete reversal of work life balance which has become life work balance.
It was a gloriously sunny day here today so we made our flasks and stopped off at our local chippy for a bag of chips which we took with us on a nice walk at a local beauty spot.  Not much spent but a really enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.  I'm working on the theory that calories from chips minus calories used on a walk = net calorie zero 🤔

I got some admin chores done today and am making good progress on my Christmas shopping.  I had bought a few gifts through the year and it's gratifying to see them again - they were all bargains but good quality bargains.  I've still got some money in my Christmas pot but I'm hosting a family get together.  I've done a first cut meal plan and filled a shopping basket for the days I'm hosting - suffice to say that it would not meet the approval of any MSE'rs.  Will re-visit tomorrow and I'll pretend that my forum friends will be scrutinising my planned spending! 

pizza, Prosecco and football night here.

Sun_Addict

It was a beautiful day here too, a welcome change after the recent rain. Calories don’t count if you eat them standing up 😉🤣