Changing my life, goals and finances!

leftatthetrafficlights

Thanks @Blackcats and @savingholmes 😊 

It's the end of the October budget for us today - we've done well and I have topped up the slush fund after buying a few household bits from it and added £60 to the BB fund - less than I would have liked but I needed to get the bits that I purchased so I don't feel bad about it! 

I've reduced the grocery budget this month - we're away for a few days and will be doing as much as possible from the storecupboard and freezer for the month so should be able to stick within it. 

Anyway, not much time at the moment so will write later - just wanted to get the figures done! 

jokono

Hi LatTL! I've just read your diary and will bookmark it, mostly for meal inspiration. 😅 I cook mostly curries as that's what I enjoy eating but your Ethiopian lentils and enchiladas sound amazing. I'll go back to your ol diary and see what else I can find.

Can I ask what you buy in bulk and where from? I sometimes get grains and pulses from Amazon on subscribe & save, it's 15% off when you buy 5 or more different products.

Congrats on your Outstanding October and I hope you Nail November 😆

leftatthetrafficlights

Welcome @jokono! 😁 my bulk buy items are generally grains, pulses, tinned goods, coffee, toiletries etc. I used to buy from Suma which is a wholesale cooperative but I haven't done an order with them for a while now as the household numbers have gone down and I'm just not getting through the amounts I used to. It worked out a lot cheaper than health food shops which is where I would have to buy most of my stuff from as I always bought organic/fair trade.

With the change in circumstances in the household finances, I'm not sure whether I will continue with the ethical consuming exclusively - I would like to but I have to be realistic about what I can afford/what I'm willing to cut from other parts of my budget 🤔 

However, regardless of what I end up deciding, I still want a fund for bulk buys as I'd like to be able to buy products that I use when they're on offer - for instance my coffee is expensive and can be almost £5 per jar, when it's on offer I can sometimes get it at £3 and have the room to store a years worth so a big saving can be made!

If I stop using Suma, I may need to have another look at bulk buy options - if I find any good ones I'll let you know! 😁

jokono

Thank you, I've heard of Suma before but the context was always groups of people placing a large order, I thought the minimum order required would be too much for an individual. 

leftatthetrafficlights

jokono said:

Thank you, I've heard of Suma before but the context was always groups of people placing a large order, I thought the minimum order required would be too much for an individual. 

The minimum order amount was/is large but I didn't use supermarkets at the time so all of my foodstuffs (except for veg & fruit), plus all household and toiletries came from them so it was easy to meet the requirements 2-3 times a year! 

The days away were nice and came in just under budget so I'm happy with that - later today I will check all the balances and transfer any additional sums to the BB fund (I'll add the amount to this post once I've done it). Finances are reasonable at the moment so I'm pleased with what I'm achieving.

Foodwise, yesterday I bought some additional veg (cauliflower, potatoes, onions) which when added to stuff from the garden will do us the week.

I made a shepherd's pie thing yesterday from the leftover bolognese we had on Sunday- just added an onion, carrot and sliced calabrese stalks along with some stock cubes and gravy granules to change the bolognese flavour then topped with horseradish mash - it was very nice and we have enough left for tonight's dinner if I serve it with some calabrese from the freezer. 

I roasted some tomatoes yesterday which I will serve tomorrow with roasted cauliflower and white beans cooked with sage. We'll have leftover beans and cauliflower on Thursday so I'll make some cumin spiced potatoes to go with them. Friday we'll have freezer surprise and Saturday will depend on what the freezer surprise on Friday turns out to be! 

Exercise wise things are not so great - did a lot of walking last week but did something to my foot/ankle yesterday which means I'll need to stay off the exercise for a couple of days 🤦‍♀️ I really want to lose some excess weight and improve my fitness before the end of the year - I'll continue next year but it would be good to start the process and make a difference over the next couple of months. 

Anyway, I need to do the money shuffle so I'm off to sort that out! 

ETA: £200 to the BB fund!! 🙌 I'm really happy with that - I've beat my original target so I'm  increasing it to a £500 target as I previously considered. Just another £78 until I achieve it! 

savingholmes

Food all sounds tasty. Good luck with the savings.

jokono

Food is most important when trying to lose weight. Exercise is very good for you of course, but it can make you hungry and actually slow weight loss. 

You food sounds yummy! I have some freezer surprises that need using, will pop something out tonight.

leftatthetrafficlights

Thanks @savingholmes and @jokono! 

I decided to take out some vegan sausages from the freezer yesterday as I had some basil oil to use up - melted some vegan butter with the basil oil, sweated off a chopped onion, then chucked in the sliced sausages and cooked for about 5 mins - added chopped par boiled potatoes for about 5 mins until they started to colour then added chickpeas for the last 5 mins. Extremely tasty and quick - no leftovers though as dh loved it and had several helpings! 😂

I'm making French onion soup today and may make some olive bread to go with it although I'm not sure yet - I've got some gf bread flour and want to experiment with that tomorrow so it may be a bread overload! 

I did a bulk buy of stock this week- it's out of the usual grocery budget as the BB fund is for next year - it should see me through the next six months even though I use a lot of it! The grocery budget is still healthy despite this purchase and there are only two weeks before the December budget starts so happy with that. 

As all the finances are going well now and are pretty organised, I need to start to concentrate on my health which includes increasing my exercise, cutting down on sugar and alcohol and generally taking better care of myself!

I have made some improvements to my lifestyle in the last 12 months (quitting smoking in July and sticking to it being the major one!) but I've been lazy with the rest of it. My time away recently has highlighted to me how unfit I am - it was very hilly where I was 😳🤦‍♀️- and I am at an age now where I need to make a difference before it's too late/too difficult...

I have decided that from Monday I will start the improvements- it's several months later than intended but better late than never!! 😉

leftatthetrafficlights

Brief update - looking at the grocery and petrol budgets, I know that we will definitely have a surplus this month as the new budget starts in less than 2 weeks so I have moved the required amount over to the BB fund to hit the target (I'll earn interest on that account too so makes no sense not to move it now!) 

I'm really pleased with achieving the larger target in such a short period of time! 🙌😁

savingholmes

Glad the budget is getting better again. 

Good luck with your health and fitness goals.