Oops I Did It Again

CRANKY40

£15 paid off my loan so another £7 of interest saved. The NSD thing isn't very practical either - no more yet this month because things keep popping up. Today I posted something for same friend which cost £3.23 but two weeks ago he put £25 of petrol in my car for running him round and I didn't use that much so it all evens out somehow. Still a spend day though, even if it wasn't my spend ........

I wonder if low spend days would be more practical? I have £150 left from April's budget so I will be keeping the spends below £50 per week for the rest of this month. I have to stay indoors on Tuesday so I feel a freezer inventory coming on. 

beanielou

In relation to LSD's or NSD's it is what suits you best I think.
The way I do it is I dont count food & petrol unless I go over budget.
What I was trying to do was cut out things like coffee cake & chocolate!

CRANKY40

Thanks @beanielou. I may stop counting proper food then like packed lunch ingredients and just count junk food that is a "want" rather than a "need". I did try food shopping only once a week but too many variables meant that I was running out of some things and buying too much of others. I like to buy the fresh fruit and bread on a Monday and Friday usually but I've been more than twice this week due to not having enough eggs for a request for some gluten free cakes.

I've just worked out that as well as 42 meals a week for the two of us that live here (3 x7 = 21 each) I am providing 7 packed lunches per week for best friend (shortish term thing while he doesn't have his own house), 4 meals a week for son's partner and 3 meals a week plus snacks for my looked after person. I am given £15 per week to pay for looked after person's meals but I usually put that in a pot to save for spends on days out or other expenses that can be paid in cash. 

I'm going to do the freezer list on Tuesday then see how far I can make the contents go. I will still have to buy pizza for looked after person on a Monday and for my son and his partner on a Friday evening and some packed lunch ingredients plus snack stuff for looked after person but it will be interesting to see what I can use up from the freezer. 

Four_Seasons

Hi, I have just read your diary from the beginning, you are doing so well.  Healthy food is so expensive but gluten free!! its definately a challenge. (I am coeliac!) I hope you don't mind I will be following your journey. Have a lovely weekend.

CRANKY40

Hello @Four_Seasons. I actually made some gluten free and dairy free cupcakes for my best friend (dairy allergy) and his niece (coeliac) to share this week. I make a lot of dairy and gluten free stuff for those reasons and the cakey side of things isn't that hard. I've started making best friend a packed lunch every day as he was snacking on junk with dairy content. If coeliac disease is left untreated for long enough then the first part of the gut that is destroyed is the part that processes mlk protein (you probably know this but for the benefit of anyone reading and wondering...) so dairy and gluten free often go hand in hand. I put tomatoes, grapes and fruit in the lunchboxes, but you're right about healthy AND gluten free being hard work. Niece eats a lot of jacket potatoes. 

I haven't lost any weight this week but as I can still take my jeans off without undoing them I'm not too worried. I'll be wearing them to paint my friend's kitchen next week so maybe after that I'll part company with them and work on making sure I stay in the smaller sized ones. 

CRANKY40

Today is a work day so NSD number 4 as long as I don't stop at the shop on the way home after work and buy cider like I did last week. I'm fairly sure that I won't. My dinner is already in the fridge ready for this evening. I'm not sure what the teens are having but I'll liberate whatever it is from the freezer once they appear and tell me what they want. Probably sausage and chips or burger and chips. There's not much time for cooking on a Saturday as I work a full day so we tend to eat "bung it in the oven" food.

CRANKY40

Yesterday was a spendy day. I gave the teens some money to buy a drink while we were out. They went for a walk, I went to the supermarket for some fruit for me and one of the teens while I waited for them. At least it was spending on healthy things. 

Small planned food shop this morning - friend owes me £10 for stuff that I picked up for him. It may take a while to find it's way back to me but it'll arrive eventually. I've sold some things on ebay but that will probably be just enough to pay for the man that is coming tomorrow to cut down next doors conifers that are hangng over the fence. In one hand and out the other. At least I'm not using the emergency fund. 

beanielou

In with one hand & out with the other seems to be the way of it sadly.

CRANKY40

NSD today. Also another bonus was that there was enough in the tin on the shelf to pay the gardener. The tin on the shelf is where I put the money that my boss gives me to buy food for my looked after person. Due to covid I use my bank card to buy things so the actual cash goes in a tin until there's enough to take it to the bank. Today it paid the gardener and there's still £10 in there. That means my ebay profit of £76 can be used to reduce the debts. My garden is also lighter and looks so much better.  

beanielou

Good news on the money in the tin.
A  nice wee bonus.