NST OCTOBERFEST

Shrewbie

Thanks for the reminders r.e. essentials @grandmanerd - I am going to go for a run of at least 4 NSDs through to Thursday....

dizzyblnd

Busy weekend but prepped for the week now. Feeling tired and in need of a Sunday afternoon nap. Reminds me of living at home with my parents when I was a teenager and Sundays consisted of a rest day. Fridge and freezer stocked for the week. Some washing out on the line to dry (fingers crossed) and quick clean completed on house. 

grandmanerd

On Friday I was tired but took one box or bag at a time to the couch and sorted through them. Lots of things condensed and a biggish space on the floor at the bottom of the stairs and as far as the first piece of furniture in the front room. However the 'sorted' boxes are piling up near me. I'm not quite sure what to do with them, I think there will be more bits to add in some categories and need to find a way of storing larger items with small (think I need a small box that will fit inside a medium box so that little bits can be safely corralled.

Yesterday I had my flu jab appointment and I felt yuck when I woke up. My original plan was to go to Tessimo's after the jab but I decided that getting to the appointment was my first priority. I ordered a taxi but it came late and I arrived 5 minutes after my appointment time. Not a problem and after the appointment I crossed to the other side of the street and gathered red leaves (and yellow, orange and green ones). The car park is a series of shallow bays along one side of the street for about 8 -12 cars and lots of trees and bushes around them.

Decided Tessimo was definitely off the agenda but thought I'd try the little pie shop on the main road and then catch the bus opposite the police station. I'm still sore from the covid jab, assorted bugs made me feel 'not well at all' and I thought I needed a few more easy options for feeding myself (been too ill to get out). The shelves of the pie shop were nearly stripped bare, the woman in front of my got the last sandwich and they only had 3 cheese and onion pasties in hot food. I did buy some of their delicious carrot cake. A few doors down there was a mini SM and I picked up a few more bits.

Crossed back over the road and waited for a bus (I'd seen 3 whilst moving around). Gave up after 10 minutes and meandered slowly back down the high street. I called in Iceland for more options. I actually had to stop and count up what was in my basket as I'd only taken cash out with me and needed to keep it to around £20 (It was £20.62 and I took 65p out of my coin jar). The weather was good and I really enjoyed my stroll although I started to hurt near the end. Settled on the couch with food. I felt cold so added a second bedspread and had a late afternoon nap. A few small tasks were done.

I slept well but am very tired so drifted off repeatedly until noon. Trying to get a plan together as to which bits I should do next (I have a number of empty bags and boxes which DS3 tosses around when he comes to feed the chinchillas.

Grateful for carrot cake, flu jabs (I could be so much more ill) and taking time out to rest.

apple_muncher

Betharooni said:

Missed out on NSD #5 today due to a £1.90 spend on parking while waiting for DB1 to finish a grief counselling session this afternoon 😢 Disappointing but should hopefully get another NSD on Sunday instead. Popping out for a bit of shopping tomorrow at DB1s request so might also pop to a couple of other places and get some other things I need all in one go. Will definitely need petrol as well. I have a lengthy list of stuff to do tomorrow, but most of it is not too taxing so should hopefully be able to get a decent amount of it done. 

Grateful for laughs with cheeky nieces, laughs with friends via messages and thermals.

Id definitely say that you should keep your nsd as it was definitely parking for a medical reason. x

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for lunch with some good friends - lots of chatting and laughs, for being all packed for an early departure tomorrow morning (I'm not there yet, Shrewbie!), for things to look forward to.

Thrifty_Taylor

Happy holidays @apple_muncher!

Thank you @beanielou & well done on your run of NSDs!!

Friday went well at work, then at night u went to bingo with my two work besties. I won a £40 voucher for a local licensee bar, so think I'll be going for a meal there soon! I also won 2 painted wooden cats in the raffle, so a good night, with lots of laughs. Waited in my car for 45 mins, with a blanket on my legs & my hood up, for DS3 getting off the 11.30 bus. Was so glad it was dark & no-one could see what I looked like! 🤣

Yesterday I had a lie in, then went shopping with mum. Ordered enough coal to last through til spring. In the afternoon, DS3 helped me bag up some garden waste. Watched a film with him & DH after tea, whilst I unpicked 2 coat zips.

NSD#7

Hung the washing out today & walked 3 miles, checking the space available in the garden waste skip en route. Took 7 filled sacks to be emptied, DS3 helped me fill 7 more & Emory them, then I did another 7 on my own. Was shattered then. I'd had a bit of a rant at DH about lack of DIY progress. He was faffing about trying to find a space to lay the new front door flat. He kept saying it's not a priority to get it fitted before winter, etc. I'd had enough, contacted a girl I went to school with, to see if her DH still does homers. He doesn't, but her son does! He came to have a look, & weather permitting it'll get done next weekend 😍 plus he'll save us @£800 on installation fees quoted by the man who ordered the door for us! Sewed one of the coat zips after tea.

Grateful for it being the holidays, a dry day, Eboy sales making me a 200% profit, winning at bingo, laughter , DS3 helping me outside, space in the garden waste skip & having my new red door fitted soon

Betharooni

apple_muncher said:

Betharooni said:

Missed out on NSD #5 today due to a £1.90 spend on parking while waiting for DB1 to finish a grief counselling session this afternoon 😢 Disappointing but should hopefully get another NSD on Sunday instead. Popping out for a bit of shopping tomorrow at DB1s request so might also pop to a couple of other places and get some other things I need all in one go. Will definitely need petrol as well. I have a lengthy list of stuff to do tomorrow, but most of it is not too taxing so should hopefully be able to get a decent amount of it done. 

Grateful for laughs with cheeky nieces, laughs with friends via messages and thermals.

Id definitely say that you should keep your nsd as it was definitely parking for a medical reason. x

Thanks apple_muncher, will take Friday as NSD #5 then. Sadly no NSD today as bought something for my trip away next month. Yesterday I did some shopping with DB1, getting a couple of bits for the house that he wanted and some spring bulbs and winter bedding plants to brighten up the garden a little. Also bought some garlic and onions to plant at my allotment sometime this week hopefully. Didn’t get petrol though, so that’s on the list for sometime this week. Hopefully will get back on the NSDs over the next couple of days.

Had a somewhat productive weekend, including delivering a few bits off to DSIL2 but quite a long list now for this coming week. A few of those jobs should hopefully help us declutter the house a bit, which will be good to do. Need to make and deliver a birthday card for DB3 as well, do a few bits in the garden (providing it doesn’t rain), do some tidying up around the house and make a few phone calls. 

Thankful for a yummy roast dinner today, clearing a few bits of Sky+ planner this weekend and slowly clearing some unwanted bits out of the house.

laura_lau

Checking in quickly to start the week. My cold has got worse during the weekend, especially yesterday evening, felt really poorly and achy and rather tired. Was in bed fairly early and slept through until 7:30 this morning, which helped. I'm still feeling achy and tired today, and have a bit of a cough, so I'm trying to take it easy. I'm pondering if I should go to the office tomorrow, as I certainly do not want to pass this on to anyone and I also am not sure I have enough energy for that.
The works in the bedroom are finally completed! Mr & Mrs Decorator have finished on Saturday afternoon, and I am super happy with the result, looks great and exactly as I had hoped. I wanted to clean the floor yesterday but wasn't well enough to do it, and I am not sure this will be done today either, but we still have a few days now before the bed is delivered, so it should be ok.
Saturday was not a NSD as I had to pay the outstanding amount to the decorator, but yesterday it was, and today will also be, as I do not need to buy anything and I am definitely not going anywhere.

We tested the new radiator yesterday by putting on the heating, and it works fine and the new pipes do not seem to have any leaks going on, so we are all set to build the wardrobe in front of the pipes now. The heating was also on a couple of other times yesterday and this morning, as it's getting really cold even in the flat, which means this year I turned the heating on exactly a month before last year. I'm very glad I fixed my energy tariff at the end of August, so hopefully I will be ok with using a bit more energy despite the latest increase.

Today is NSD #9!
Today I am grateful for the works in the bedroom being finished finished, for being able to keep my house a comfortable temperature, for OH taking good care of depleted me.

grandmanerd

Monday 14th October 2024

Eight Essentials - part deux

5   No takeaways, chain coffee shops, pie shops, fish and chip shops, vending machines, works canteens. Lunch from home every day (and for appointments). Not always possible - if your child cracks their head open, you'll be in the car/ taxi/ ambulance (hopefully with a clean rag to staunch the blood) and on your way. You will not stop to make a flask of tea and some sandwiches. When I had my hip operation, a man came round with a trolley filled with fruit and chocolate which was free to the patients. The money came from the proceeds of the cafe and I've used hospital facilities quite a few times because I was really overjoyed with the banana I picked - they kept telling me things were suitable for diabetics and I didn't think they were. I do use the infirmary facilities at times and the big hospital in Eccles has an M'n'S and a WHS (very expensive) as well as a couple of coffee shops and since it's an hour's travel each way if I take the bus, I have picked up sandwiches and salads on the way home. Similarly when my dad was in hospital I got off the hospital bus outside Morries in Bolton town centre, did a quick shop and then caught the bus back home, getting off one stop early to go into the first of my evening jobs. But mostly making your own sandwiches is cheaper than buying them (though SM can be much cheaper than 'sandwich bars'). If you have a regular monthly family night with a film and a takeaway that's fine (unless you're absolutely broke and letting someone have the takeaway of their choice on their birthday is okay. I used to have takeaway on New Year's Eve and on muy birthday because no-one else ever cooked for me.

6   Do a pantry inventory, base your meals on what you have and batch cook,  Years ago I used to watch a programme called 'Your Money or Your Life' by Alvin Hall (book of the same name). He did the equivalent of a money makeover - working out exactly what money was coming in, how much was owed to creditors, what things could be sold to bring in more cash and teaching (mainly young people with fairly high incomes but who were always broke) how to budget and get out of debt. He always told them to make meals with what they had in the house before going out to buy more food (or ordering takeaway). Batch cooking saves you time and money (more efficient use of power if you have a couple of large dishes in the oven and fill any space with baked potatoes). Being forced to look at what you have helps weed out those 'bought to make a particular dish' ingredients.

7   Travel costs do not cost you a SFD if the money comes from a preset travel budget. Similarly car parking for appointments is exempt - it seems to be an almost mandatory cost of the appointment with patients being forced to travel further afield for appointments. Buying only YS goods (reduced price shelf known as yellow sticker items) will not cost you your SFD although I think it's a bonus these days rather than something you can rely on. Fresh veg is discounted at several points during the day and bread at the end of the day (Sunday can be quite good as it's a shorter working day but a lot of the veg is sold out on Saturday so you can't rely on getting specific items). Some reductions aren't worth the bother (if it's still expensive, it's not a bargain). That said my lunch was ys wraps with thin sliced roast beef, ys watercress and home grown tomatoes. If it's something you like and will use or can freeze or something you wouldn't buy at full price, assess how much of a bargain it is and decide.

8   Regular check ins These keep you accountable. If you've slipped off the wagon, confess all. We can sympathise, suggest better ways of doing things (don't wait until you are starving before eating) or tell you it's perfectly understandable in the circumstances. After my mother died (especially in the week after the funeral) I lived on buffet leftovers for a week - it wasn't very healthy and my sleep pattern was all over the place but I worked out that it didn't matter. I ate when I was hungry  and slept when I felt sleepy - whether that was mid afternoon or even intermittently during the day and night. As long as I was taking in enough food and getting enough sleep normal patterns would reassert themselves in time.

Paid all my bills for this month. Does anybody have any good recipes for water. 

 

dizzyblnd

grandmanerd said:

Monday 14th October 2024

Eight Essentials - part deux

5   No takeaways, chain coffee shops, pie shops, fish and chip shops, vending machines, works canteens. Lunch from home every day (and for appointments). Not always possible - if your child cracks their head open, you'll be in the car/ taxi/ ambulance (hopefully with a clean rag to staunch the blood) and on your way. You will not stop to make a flask of tea and some sandwiches. When I had my hip operation, a man came round with a trolley filled with fruit and chocolate which was free to the patients. The money came from the proceeds of the cafe and I've used hospital facilities quite a few times because I was really overjoyed with the banana I picked - they kept telling me things were suitable for diabetics and I didn't think they were. I do use the infirmary facilities at times and the big hospital in Eccles has an M'n'S and a WHS (very expensive) as well as a couple of coffee shops and since it's an hour's travel each way if I take the bus, I have picked up sandwiches and salads on the way home. Similarly when my dad was in hospital I got off the hospital bus outside Morries in Bolton town centre, did a quick shop and then caught the bus back home, getting off one stop early to go into the first of my evening jobs. But mostly making your own sandwiches is cheaper than buying them (though SM can be much cheaper than 'sandwich bars'). If you have a regular monthly family night with a film and a takeaway that's fine (unless you're absolutely broke and letting someone have the takeaway of their choice on their birthday is okay. I used to have takeaway on New Year's Eve and on muy birthday because no-one else ever cooked for me.

6   Do a pantry inventory, base your meals on what you have and batch cook,  Years ago I used to watch a programme called 'Your Money or Your Life' by Alvin Hall (book of the same name). He did the equivalent of a money makeover - working out exactly what money was coming in, how much was owed to creditors, what things could be sold to bring in more cash and teaching (mainly young people with fairly high incomes but who were always broke) how to budget and get out of debt. He always told them to make meals with what they had in the house before going out to buy more food (or ordering takeaway). Batch cooking saves you time and money (more efficient use of power if you have a couple of large dishes in the oven and fill any space with baked potatoes). Being forced to look at what you have helps weed out those 'bought to make a particular dish' ingredients.

7   Travel costs do not cost you a SFD if the money comes from a preset travel budget. Similarly car parking for appointments is exempt - it seems to be an almost mandatory cost of the appointment with patients being forced to travel further afield for appointments. Buying only YS goods (reduced price shelf known as yellow sticker items) will not cost you your SFD although I think it's a bonus these days rather than something you can rely on. Fresh veg is discounted at several points during the day and bread at the end of the day (Sunday can be quite good as it's a shorter working day but a lot of the veg is sold out on Saturday so you can't rely on getting specific items). Some reductions aren't worth the bother (if it's still expensive, it's not a bargain). That said my lunch was ys wraps with thin sliced roast beef, ys watercress and home grown tomatoes. If it's something you like and will use or can freeze or something you wouldn't buy at full price, assess how much of a bargain it is and decide.

8   Regular check ins These keep you accountable. If you've slipped off the wagon, confess all. We can sympathise, suggest better ways of doing things (don't wait until you are starving before eating) or tell you it's perfectly understandable in the circumstances. After my mother died (especially in the week after the funeral) I lived on buffet leftovers for a week - it wasn't very healthy and my sleep pattern was all over the place but I worked out that it didn't matter. I ate when I was hungry  and slept when I felt sleepy - whether that was mid afternoon or even intermittently during the day and night. As long as I was taking in enough food and getting enough sleep normal patterns would reassert themselves in time.

Paid all my bills for this month. Does anybody have any good recipes for water. 

 

I am trying to live by these rules. Nsd today, I think it’s #7 today. I have all meals from stores including lunch.