Away From The Madding Crowd

Katiehound

Just now there was a touch of pink in the sky as I was getting my washing in.
At that moment a very small skein of geese (maybe 12) flew over really low, honking away with their white feathers tinged pink from the sun: today's simple free pleasure.

I rarely see them in town, and particularly not from the garden. I guess they are off to the marshes to roost.

Canada or Brent geese- I'm not sure and it happened so quickly.

Humboldt

@Katiehound thank you for sharing your simple pleasure. Your description of the geese flying over your garden was beautiful.  

Today’s simple pleasure – the spicy fragrance of witch hazel carried on the breeze as I walked past the park today.

mark55man

Hello

I was gripped from your OP.  My simple pleasure of the day is having a read through a new thread, and even better when it is a real find.

We (OH and I) are hoping to join the ranks of the retired over the next 12 months.  Will be early but not super early.  In my case I am taking the spring off as a bit of a trial, and then working one last batch - to top everything up and use works heating over winter

bluenose1

Inspired by you Humboldt we have finally got around to planning a 7 day meal plan for next week.
No Ping meals yet, but doing things like using left over chicken from a roast dinner to make a curry the next day.
Determined to start doubling up to freeze half when  making a Bolognaise or one of our weekly favourites Pasta Vialli. That would definitely make life easier for us.

Just did a tiring one hours of stretching after a long walk with the dog in woods so treating myself to a lovely flavoured herbal tea browsing t’ internet with my heated blanket on while our pup sleeps and  house empty.
Feel suitably relaxed ☺️ 

Humboldt

@mark55man welcome and thank you for your kind words.  I personally found the transition from full-time to part-time took some adjustment, but that maybe because of the circumstances that brought about the change.   Now, I can highly recommend it and perhaps full retirement beckons for me too. Routine, spontaneity, and time to ‘simply be’ in equal measure works for me.   

@bluenose1 I would love to know how you get on with your first weekly meal plan, especially whether you think that it saves time, food waste, and money.   I will be researching Pasta Vialli after posting this reply. Thank you for sharing your simple pleasure.

Today’s simple pleasure – flowering violets in lots of nooks and crannies throughout the garden

louby40

We also do a weekly meal plan as it helps us to budget and not randomly grab something when we get in from work. 

There are currently 4 adults in our household, me, my partner, son & his girlfriend. We spend £70-80 a week on food. 

We try to have a soup meal once a week as it's relatively cheap and if we buy a tub of crème fraiche we try to make two meals using it. We also freeze leftovers and then have a freezer meal night where we all eat something different. 

Wish we could get the food bill down but don't think we do too badly really. 

Humboldt

@louby40 welcome and thank you for sharing your tips on reducing food costs and wastage.  £70-£80 to feed 4 adults is excellent.

Today’s simple pleasure – boiled eggs with toast soldiers for breakfast

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week

“Do you have a favourite saying?” asked the boy.  “Yes” said the mole.  “What is it?”  “If at first you don’t succeed, have some cake.” “I see, does it work?”  “Every time.” – from the book ‘The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse’ by Charlie Mackesy.

Money Saving

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is currently £200 per month, but I am monitoring this with a view to increasing it to £250 due to rising costs. Only a top-up shop required this week. Week 3 spend for February is £9.39. Total spend to date is £160.39. For those who may be interested, for calculation purposes, my weekly budget begins on a Monday and ends on Sunday. Week 1 of my budget for February covered my meal plan 29th January – 4th February, and week 4 will cover my meal plan 19th – 25th.   I will then move onto March, whereas others may choose to stretch their budget to cover the 5 weeks.

My favourite woolly bobble hat had become a little baggy. I unpicked the seam and used the same wool to sew it back together a little tighter.  A very satisfying job and my hat is good for a little longer.

Having checked my national insurance contributions, the final voluntary contribution that I made in December is now accounted for.  This will give me a full state pension (less a few pence) which will be payable in 2030.

Booked the airport car parking for our holiday using a 20% code.

The Optician was able to fix my glasses at no cost (one of the lenses had fallen out of the frame). 

I will be attending a Bo*ts Over 60’s rewards event this week. Whilst there are savings on offer if you spend, I do not need anything.  I will, however, take advantage of the free No7 gift, enter the free prize draw, and gladly accept the free 6 prints from the photo station. We do not print photos often and I would like to update a couple of family photos that I display.  I also thought that I would surprise family by including a photo with a birthday card, or perhaps frame them and give as an additional gift.

This week’s main menu

Monday – Grilled sardines with lemon, garlic & paprika (Serious E*ts recipe, sardines reduced in price and frozen until required), orange & almond couscous (He*rt UK recipe, I will omit the parsley) with a chunk of rye & walnut cob.

Just wanted to add that I served quinoa with our lamb tagine yesterday rather than have couscous 3 days in a row.

Tuesday – Imam Bayildi (Turkish stuffed aubergine - Pinch of N*m recipe, I will add feta), Orange & almond couscous (leftovers from yesterday), a warm wholemeal pitta and tzatziki (using up the mint, I will omit the cucumber).

Wednesday – Skinny beef lasagne (Hairy Die*ters recipe, beef mince was reduced in price and frozen until required), with salad

Thursday – Ping Meal - As above (cook once eat twice – saves time and energy costs)

Friday – Enchilada’s (homemade and frozen until required), paprika sweet potato wedges, with salad

Saturday – Away overnight

Sunday – Coconut prawn curry (Hairy Die*ters recipe) with a small portion of rice and half a naan bread (naan bread was reduced in price and frozen until required)

Overnight oats in various guises account for most of our breakfasts. Lunches will involve using up the leftover feta, together with homemade soups from the freezer.  

Healthier Lifestyle

Completed 2 free workouts via Fab*lous50s on You*ube last week

Step count last week was 52,949

Completed 4 free meditations   

Simple Pleasures

Books read 3/2024 – Heartcross Castle by Christie Barlow (book swap with a friend)

The joy of good friends

Golden catkins backlit by the sunshine against a blue sky

Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to read my diary.

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

I have been open about the fact that we now find ourselves in the privileged position of being able to increase our grocery budget should we wish. So, I thought I would take this opportunity to expand on the reasons why we continue to allocate a specific amount to our grocery budget and to save on any expenditure where we can.

As I have stated previously, for a long time we had to carefully manage our money to cover just the basics. When I chose to return to work, our financial position steadily improved.  Despite having two incomes, over the ensuing years we continued to manage our budgets in the same manner, whilst we dealt with life i.e. children’s expenses, maintenance of our home, moving house (on several occasions), paying university fees, etc.  When the children finally left home and we had fewer financial commitments, our budget methods enabled us to begin making overpayments to our mortgage and to save more. This all sounds very simplistic, however, as many of you no doubt know, life is not always easy and it often sends challenges our way, but by saving a little when we can and being flexible in terms of our budgeting, it has helped us steady the rudder in a stormy sea on numerous occasions.

As many would agree, maintaining a tight budget takes time and effort, but most of all willpower, especially when you have no choice.  It is for this reason I long since chose to change my mindset, and to see budget planning as a challenge rather than a chore.  I have always found it difficult to comprehend the amount of profit made by companies who sell to us, and therefore, I continue to try to find ways of not adding to their profits, whilst enabling us to steadily reach our own goals.  I celebrate each reduction, discount, offer, second-hand item (either gifted or purchased), repurposed or reused item, food item not wasted, etc and see them as a small win on my part.

Whilst the monies we have saved now afford us some financial security until we both receive our full pensions; I am also aware that within reason, now is the time for us to spend some of this hard-earned cash.  I hope that this explains why some of our spends may seem at odds with my grocery budget or my other money saving endeavours, and helps you better understand the content of my diary. This has been, and continues to be our journey and I absolutely accept that not everyone would want to make the same choices, or indeed, would have the choices.

Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to read my diary.

Nebulous2

We're not very well organised budget wise, but have always managed to make what we have go a long way. We've done that by screwing down costs and being judicious about whether we actually need to make a purchase, without having a formal budget. 

However I came to tell you of a simple pleasure - out walking dogs today I saw and watched a woodpecker, close to the path, for several minutes. We often hear them, but they are well camouflaged, and spotting one is a rarity....