DrSpendingLittle's New Home - staying accountable and responsible

moving_forward

Delurking to ask if you have a typo in that name? Back to lurkdom 😶

craftyali

moving_forward said:

Delurking to ask if you have a typo in that name? Back to lurkdom 😶

I was thinking the same thing.  Ali x 

DrSpendingLittle

moving_forward said:

Delurking to ask if you have a typo in that name? Back to lurkdom 😶

I'd never noticed Wish's typo in her username!! It's definitely her  Lets see if @wishingthemortgaheaway swings by and fills us all in  

DrSpendingLittle

Good morning!

And what a windy one it is too! I hope my bird feeders don't fly off the garden tree 🤨 I'd really rather bring them inside during this storm (they're rather expensive RSPB ones designed specifically for little birds) but I don't want the birds to be upset with me 😕

Done my Ocado order this morning, which is due to arrive tomorrow (I'm WFH). I've stocked up on quite a few basics and meat (for the freezer) so its quite pricey. However, the weeks meals are planned and I have plenty of options for lunches. Most lunches are low carb but I've made sure to prepare for sandwich options in case my inspiration doesn't reach to the end of the week ☺️

I realised this morning that Friday and Saturday were both NSDs 🌟. I'm going to try and get back into this practice. I don't envisage needing to spend any money today or tomorrow (save for the Ocado order) so I might try and bag a couple more. However, we might need to nip to B&M to get decoration things (it's excellent for stuff like paint brushes, dust sheets and tape etc) if we find we don't have everything we need for this afternoon. Will strategically send DF if necessary to maintain my NSD goals 😋

I discovered a crisp £10 note in my purse this morning that was a nice surprise! It truly is a bonus tenner that didn't make it into the start afresh YNAB budget yesterday, so I think I'll use it for some paper cup coffee treats from the coffee shop I walk past occasionally at work. 

Doh, I've just realised I have a tradesman bill to pay, (roof work) so I'll do that today to keep spending all on one day. Glad we didn't get the roof done this week 😮

Off to check my bird feeders are still there... 

DSL

DrSpendingLittle

Crikey, it's been one of those days where I haven't stopped! I'm WFH which has helped but it's busy, busy, busy and there's lot's still to do. I've only just got around to eating lunch ☺️ but that's mainly because I was waiting for the Ocado order to arrive - I fancied a bagel with bacon, avocado, mayo and ketchup! Was delicious. 

Yesterday I paid the tradesman (£350) and of course the Ocado order. Today I've taken that tenner I found in my purse and popped it into a birthday card for a friend's kid, which saves a job going to the bank. I found a book of stamps too, so no spends needed at the post office! Last night I spontaneously decided to pay for the first season of a programme I'd been wanting to watch and to be honest, regretted it after the first episode. I was a bit of an impulse (but will come from my entertainment budget) and I certainly learned my lesson to research programmes more thoroughly!

No spends so far today (other than that tenner but that doesn't count!). I'm a bit worried about the storm and snow so I think I'll WFH for most of the week, which will be good for saving ££s on parking and fuel. And getting all the laundry done! So behind. 

I've no spends planned for the rest of the week to be honest. I may need to go to Aldi to get some veg, depending on what we decide to eat from the meal plan. I don't like ordering veg from Ocado as I have no control over best before dates and I know I can save money by going to Aldi. The fridge and freezer and bursting at the seams so there should be no need to buy any more food for a good while. 

We've decided to get a cleaner. DF is well up for it. He likes a clean and tidy house as he feels more creative, which helps with his job (he works at home quiet a bit). I've got a couple of cleaners on my shortlist, so I need to contact them after this and get some quotes. Hopefully I can get it all set up to start next week.

Feeling super frugal and in no mood to spend money

moving_forward

I noticed you include £400 for groceries per month in your SOA.  Would you mind sharing what this includes i.e. toiletries, household etc or just food.  We are trying to stick to £400 for two of us including toiletries, household and pet food for 1 greedy picky cat and 1 greedy sensitive tummy dog. 

db2016

re: the low carb / sugar thing.
keto if you can be discliplined enough. its v low carb, and no sugar, inc fruits.
once you look into HOW the body uses any sugars (from carbs, never mind direct sugars). youll see how it works.
proteins and good fats (cheese lover in me loved this haha).
i did it for most of 2018- 19 and lost 6st total, but after intro ing some carbs back, i added another 1st, but 5 net isnt bad. - its not for everyone but it does work, plenty of people can even reverse diabetes, because of what it does to insulin etc. - info is widely googleable lol.
Dan

DrSpendingLittle

moving_forward said:

I noticed you include £400 for groceries per month in your SOA.  Would you mind sharing what this includes i.e. toiletries, household etc or just food.  We are trying to stick to £400 for two of us including toiletries, household and pet food for 1 greedy picky cat and 1 greedy sensitive tummy dog. 

Sure - it's mainly food, wine and other household products you'd normally buy from a supermarket such as laundry products, cleaning products etc (we favour eco or recycled products). We shop at Waitrose. We buy organic meat, dairy and good quality eggs (Buford Browns) and bacon (Maynards). We routinely spend over £10 on a bottle of wine and will probably have a couple a week. We generally buy 'standard' F&V but do buy organic carrots and potatoes as we can taste the difference. We cook a lot of international cuisine (Chinese, Thai, Indian etc) and so have a pantry full of various spices, herbs, wines, vinegars etc which can be expensive to buy when you run out! It also means we buy a lot of ginger, garlic, chillies, lime leaves, romano peppers etc. We use good quality olive oils, balsamic vinegar, honey, stock, coffee, tea, jams, etc etc. We tend to buy Waitrose own label pantry items such as baking power, flour etc. Other than that, I can't think what else adds to the overall cost. We do eat meat every day and tend to go through a good 12 eggs a week between us (omelettes for lunch when we WFH!). We buy toiletries separately (DF from the local chemist, me from online) and have no pets. 

When compared to others, we do spend a lot on food but its what we choose to spend our money on. We don't smoke, don't have any expensive gadgets (TV's, Dyson vacuums, iPads, drones, Alexa style things etc) or subscriptions. Our hobbies are free in that we enjoy the outdoors in various guises, so no gym memberships / season tickets etc. We rarely eat out and we don't spend much on socialising as we tend to share experiences with friends when we see them (a hill walk, camping etc).  

I do sometimes buy household stuff from B&M or fruit and veg from Aldi. It depends on my mood and whether I am getting low on my budgeted amount.

Hope that helps! 😊 

moving_forward

Wow you do get some bang for your buck!  We also prefer organic carrots and sometimes potatoes.  We have started to buy alcohol from our own personal spends in the hopes of getting the grocery budget down (currently spend more than £400 per month lol).  We enjoy the great outdoors too but do tend to grab food on the go when out but it tends to be junk and comes from our eating out/takeaway budget.  The pets probably cost about £50 a month on their food as we do spoil them with good quality pet food, chicken, tuna, the odd de breaded jumbo fish finger  and even they get their own bag of prawns in the freezer (we don't eat them) n.b. don't get pets they get fussy and you feed them better than yourselves lol.
You certainly do eat well.  We try to cook as much as possible ourselves but are time poor due to both working full time and sharing a car.  Mr M_F uses a combination of public transport and shankes pony (walks) to get home.
Unfortunately we love our tech gadgets but also like to eat well.  As I mentioned on my own thread we need to knock the junk food when out purchases on the head as it really is rubbish both for us and our wallets!
Thank you for taking the time to reply.  That really is useful

DrSpendingLittle

db2016 said:

re: the low carb / sugar thing.
keto if you can be discliplined enough. its v low carb, and no sugar, inc fruits.
once you look into HOW the body uses any sugars (from carbs, never mind direct sugars). youll see how it works.
proteins and good fats (cheese lover in me loved this haha).
i did it for most of 2018- 19 and lost 6st total, but after intro ing some carbs back, i added another 1st, but 5 net isnt bad. - its not for everyone but it does work, plenty of people can even reverse diabetes, because of what it does to insulin etc. - info is widely googleable lol.
Dan

Wow, Dan, well done on such a significant weight loss and for maintaining it! That's fantastic! 

I've done loads of research on metabolic syndrome and the science of how our bodies process sugar / carbs etc over the years and I'm completely convinced that a low carb / high protein diet is the best for long term health. I'd love to go full keto / carnivore but I simply adore my food and I would miss things like fruit and veg. We love to cook too, so life as a carnivore would be too boring for me and I'd miss sharing food as a pleasure with DF. 

However, I do suffer from bloating and I'm convinced that carbs and some veg make it worse, so I'm looking at changing up my work lunches from the typical sandwiches and crisps (☺️) to low carb options. I usually just having plain full fat yoghut for breakfast at work, or eggs of some sort if at home. I'm also looking at reducing the amount of carbs I eat for my evening meal (i.e. having two steaks instead of steak frites) to see how I get on. I do need to cut out the carby crap - crisps, chocolate, sweets etc. I'm usually generally good but DF is dreadful so there is often temptation. I just need to stop buying it. 

Funnily enough, I do own a blood glucose testing kit and occasionally check my blood sugar upon waking or 2 hours after eating to make sure I am within the normal ranges so I can steer very clear from pre-diabetes. Such is the realisation from spending ages looking into the science of how carbs / sugars are processed by the body. I feel my fasting glucose (v.low 5's) could be lower, so I am trying to work on that. 

I usually fast for at least 10 hours a day, if not 12 (8pm - 8am), as I eat breakfast when I get into work. I know fasting can be good for regulating insulin so I'm keen to keep that up. I'm very lucky not to feel hungry when I wake up - I'm one of those who needs to start the day before getting hungry. I'm actually tempted to start having my first coffee (usually 6:30am) black instead of with milk to make a proper fast (assuming the milk sugars trigger an insulin response). However, I'm not sure whether that will make much difference as I noticed recently how sweet toothpaste tastes and I did wonder if that triggered an insulin response!