Escape to the country & living off savings

Skint_yet_Again

Total spend in mr T £50.27 - club c discount £12.55 = £37.72. Included half price lilac bath towel £6.50 & hand towel £4.50, Moroccan sauce £2, kettle descaler £1.60, washing machine cleaner £2, oven cleaner £3.50 & some food. 

Home & lunch was a lower carb high fibre/protein wrap with ham & watercress, tomatoes and cucumber. 

I struggled to find any dried vegetable noodles & am going to look at buying a spiralizer to try courgette noodles. Got a bag of bean sprouts & wholewheat noodles. (100g = 30g carb) & chicken breast. Dinner tonight will be a stir fry with veg already in fridge. 

Money budgeted for has now moved to savings pots. Totals are now

DIY pot £308
holiday pot £178
gas & electric £95 (after April bill)
annual bills £331
car £700 
xmas / birthdays £170

SuzeQStan

Spiralizers are great - and you can make ‘rice’ out of diced cauliflower which isn’t too bad if you use it with a sauce.

MovingForwards

Roast cauli is tasty with herbs or other seasoning cooked on it. Not sure what the carbs are like in cornflower but sliced courgette dried off, dipped in egg then the cornflour, fried in a smidge of oil work well with most meats. Sliced aubergine layers with mince, onions etc between them (moussaka) instead of pasta (lasagne). Mashed carrots and other root veg work instead of spuds or throw a load on tray with some toms and garlic for a veg tray bake. Can't remember if you've an air fryer.
- Your proposed meals are delicious 

Maybe find a forum to read through for ideas as the nurse's 'advice' was abysmal.

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks SQS and MF 😊

I take a lot of info from online and have already cut my carbs to get my level down last time. It’s just finding more alternatives & the right balance. I had a lovely chicken & veg stir fry with half a portion of wholewheat noodles which was plenty (22g carb). Very filling with mushrooms, onions, peppers, courgettes and broccoli and a splash of soy sauce plus garlic and ginger. Today I am making roast tandoori chicken thighs with roasted veg tray bake & butternut squash soup in my slow cooker. 

Aquafit was a good workout yesterday & I picked up a hot roast chicken on the  way home. Had some for lunch & then went to see DF who wanted a hand looking for a good deal on broadband. There seem to be only 2 options in the village b t and sky & no fibre. I just use my phone. 

Raining here again and similar forecast for the bank holiday weekend. Will get out in the garden and pull some of the weeds from the shingle if we have some bright spells. Lots of hammering next door again, they are still building their rear extension. 

I have paid my credit card bill in full using various pots & extra leftover in this months budget. Balance in my current account £241

phone sim £10   (Direct debit)
food £110 
petrol £30      
entertainment £81.   

Balance £10

[Deleted User]

Continued huge respect for your budgeting skills and general approach to life! 

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks @[Deleted User] 😊 Hope you enjoyed your holiday. Am missing your updates on your thread. 

Lovely sunny morning here. Should be no spend day. Washing is on. Plan to do a bit of weeding and sit in the garden & read my book. Going to visit my friend this afternoon. 

doingitanyway

Your food is always totally delicious.
Enjoy your sunny no spend day 

MovingForwards

Look at providers who work off 8T lines, we are with +net, it's cheaper than 8T and the only issue we have had was with the cabling attached to our property and the internal box, which was quickly fixed at the height of l-down. Fibre will never be fitted where we are due to the infrastructure cost.

Hope you're visit was relaxing.

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks MF. We tried +net but when we entered DF’s postcode they just directed us back to b t. 

Had a lovely day yesterday. Sunny morning so washing hung out and I raked up piles of clippings left over after tip run and now in green bin. It clouded over about midday & looked like rain, but stayed dry and warm. I chilled reading my book then went for a walk to friends house and sat in the garden with a shandy 🍺 

Today has started off sunny and warm. Towels are just spinning & will be hung out. I’ve cleaned & hoovered the inside of my car. I will check the tyre pressure a bit later with my (noisy) compressor. Not sure if I have already woken the neighbours with the hoover 😆 

Aquafit tomorrow & out with friends for lunch on Wednesday. Shopping will be either after aqua on tue or wed morning. Thursday I am returning a Tshirt for a refund. No aquafit on Friday this week as they are carrying out some repairs inside the pool so it will be drained. 

Skint_yet_Again

Got a few jobs done today. Towels dried. Bit more weeding. Car cleaned inside & hoovered & tyre pressure checked and topped up. Bird poop splats washed off. Can’t manage to hand wash the whole car so now the clean bits make the rest look really dirty 😆 One thing about living in the country is that the car gets much dirtier. 

It’s been cloudy since 1.30pm but still warm. I’ve been for a walk round the village and it’s so peaceful with birds singing and bees buzzing 🐝 

Dinner tonight is roasted butternut squash chips with chicken wrapped in bacon & cheese & chillies. 

My neighbour gave me a fancy reclining chair so I gave it a wipe down and will look forward to sitting out and relaxing/ reading. I will try not to fall asleep as I once did that in my previous garden and woke myself up snoring 😳😆 It’s much comfier than the cast iron set my friend gave me last year so I will be able to sit out for longer, but is very heavy so have popped it indoors not far from the back door.