5 months to emerge as a butterfly

benbenandme

They've replied saying they are passing it on to another department to look at

benbenandme

So today I had good intentions of getting up and going for a walk but its peeing down here so I'm not feeling it. Instead I'm going to gut the food cupboards - one of them I barely ever even open. Anything out of date is going. Anything left is getting put on a list and I'm going to have a radical using up month. Not just freezer stuff but more focussed on tins and packets. I will buy whatever bits are needed to go with them to make a meal and get them used, eg. I have loads of jars of sauces - sweet and sour, hunters chicken, curries etc. Some have been in the cupboard about two years. Time to use them and only replace with stuff I will use regularly. 

benbenandme

So that didn't take as long as expected - the cupboard I use regularly was pretty organised, the one I don't touch was still as I left it from last time I sorted it So, far far too much has had to be binned - lots of things were at least two years out of date  , many were things that I'd bought when Mr S lived here and at were things he ate a lot, they have just sat there and got old
Anyway, all the old stuff has been cleared out, I did feel guilty throwing food away but its well out of date and hasn't been used in two+ years so I guess I won't miss it. My cupboards are now neat and tidy and I know that what is in them are things that will be eaten. So, here's the list:

Chopped tomatoes x 3
Sweetcorn x 2
Mixed bean salad
Cannelini beans
Red kidney beans
Tuna x 2
Butter beans
Carbonara ssauce
Sweet and sour sauce
Balti sauce
Pasta sauce

Spaghetti
Pasta x 2 bags
Basmati Rice x 2 bags
Pilau rice x 3 pouches
Naan x 4
Cous cous

Porridge oats
Weetabix
Coco Pops (Tesco's own)

Cream crackers
Christmas pudding
Bourbon biscuits
Nakd bars x 38
Pure Heavenly chocolate bars x 30
Pot Noodle x 2

Then there is the cupboard with all the baking stuff in which doesn't get used much as I'm trying not to have sugar, the cupboard with tea, coffee, hot chocolate, protein shakes etc in, and the last cupboard has all the herbs, spices, gravy, stuffings, dried fruit, cashew nuts etc.

Freezer:

1kg chicken breasts
Bag of fish fillets
Salmon fillets x 2
Sausage meat
Pigs in blankets
Fish pie mix
3 x lamb tagine (portioned up meals)
Beef mince
Diced pork shoulder
Leeks
Lemons
Berries
Peas
Peppers
Green beans
Soup base mix
Chips
Ben & Jerrys
Pasta sauce

So I do have plenty of food The fridge is looking very bare, I need to get some more milk today (ds used 3 pints yesterday) and a few other bits - there is cheese and some ham in there but almost no salad, veg etc. 

benbenandme

Todays food is all planned:

Breakfast: Porridge with an overripe banana 
Lunch: Salmon fillet with rice and green beans
Dinner: Rest of the soup from yesterday with a roll
Snacks: A pear and one of my heavenly chocolate bars (dairy free, low sugar, palm oil, vegan ...)

benbenandme

I'm on a roll today - I've just downloaded the user manual for my washing machine as I wanted to see the difference in using the eco setting. Unfortunately it doesn't say, but I have discovered various programmes I didn't know existed on it and more importantly I've found out how to turn the beeps off when it finishes its programme In my defence I bought it the week I moved in here and I was super busy with stuff and never got round to checking it, however, I have lived here 5 years now so that isn't a very good excuse
I'm off to download the dishwasher manual too, and when ds is not at work at some point this week I want him to go up in the loft and see what temperature the hot water is set at, I reckon that can come down a bit

benbenandme

I nipped to Sainsburys and spent £8, I got bread, milk, eggs, utterly butterly, wraps and a pizza for ds. When I got home I'd got an email to say one of my items I put on Vinted has sold so that's £10 more towards the energy bills It was a beautiful burnt orange dress I bought 3 years ago for a wedding, its too big for me now so no point hanging on to it, but it was lovely, someone has got a bargain

benbenandme

Morning, another overcast one here today but they keep telling us the hot weather is on its way
Today I need to take some stuff to the tip, but some grey postage bags, send back a dress I ordered that doesn't fit, nip into work and print off some stuff and post the Vinted parcel. I'm having my hair done this afternoon, a twice yearly event that is coming out of my savings pot. Its much needed and hopefully will lift my mood a bit. 

Food today:
Breakfast: Scrambled egg on toast
Lunch: Tuna sandwich, crisps, pear
Dinner: Lamb meal from the freezer with rice

skint_spice

I had toast this morning for breakfast as there is bread needing eaten, much as you are I am trying to use up things before they go off.

benbenandme

Well a burst of productivity came my way and I have done all those bits from todays list already One of the bits for the tip was my old car battery, it weighed a ton and I've been driving round with it in the boot for ages, not good for fuel consumption, so its gone
The sun has appeared now so I am going to do some banking bits then pop round and see Mum for a coffee. 

benbenandme

Banking has been sorted, I'm not doing too badly so far this month
Hair has been chopped and coloured - I trust my hairdresser to do what he thinks is best, he's done my hair o about 10 years now. Anyway, I asked to go a bit lighter for the summer and came out the blondest I've ever been! I like it but it was a bit of a shock. 

Other than that not much else to report. Oh ... apart from twitter tennis with Shell Energy ... they don't seem to understand the back billing rule - firstly telling me I should have sent in regular meter readings (I have a smartmeter??), then effectively telling me its only about £100-£150 difference so they don't see why I'm quibbling about it  I said that might be a small amount when you make £60m profit, but for me its a lot and its the principle of it. So now they are sending it higher up the chain (again). They said because of the bank holidays they probably wont get a response until next week, I said I've waited since December 2020 for an accurate bill, I'm sure another weekend won't matter ..