Thursday 11 August

1. Used up the last of the cooked rice and some of my cooked chickpeas in my breakfast instead of cooking something new; also noting that I have been sufficiently successful at reminding everybody to eat the stuff I have already cooked that the stew is now finished (both soups are still available).

2. Updated my weekly budget, paid my savings accounts and debts first and made sure all my regular repayments came out correctly without getting overdrawn or having to pay any extra fees. 

3. Stuck to my grocery budget (to the cent) and was able to spend $30 in Everyday Rewards points that had accumulated since last week.

4. Sorted out the problem with the TFN for my new bank accounts, so my interest won't be affected (all 1c of it).

5. Reminded Eric to cook the damned roast chicken before it went past its use-by date.

Wednesday 10 August

1. Did not visit any tip or op shops on my trip to town, since I have spent all my spending money (and more) for the week.

2. Did leverage my trip by going to Bunnings to pick up chicken wire and paint on the way home, so Eric doesn't have to.

3. Picked up some cheaper, preferred vegan products at Coles on my way home, including some items on special, to supplement what I can get at Woolworths (I need to budget for a fortnightly or monthly Coles resupply trip, to take advantage of the days I drop Dan at school).

Monday 8 August

1. It was frosty and forecast to be sunny, and I will need to go to the laundromat later to wash and dry my doona, so I focused on getting laundry washed and out on the line as early as possible to get as much dried outside as I can, to reduce the amount of tumble drying I need to do later. I had three loads outside by 9:30am! (In the end I did not end up using the tumble driers at all, see below, since I brought in all my dry sheets and blankets and re-made my bed with a spare doona, and left everything else to finish drying on the line tomorrow).

2. I continued working at cooking ahead to make sure Eric doesn't have to spend money on lunches, and using up odds and ends of vegetables (2 broccoli stems and the last of the droopy celery in the potato, cabbage and split pea soup).

3. I finally planted the first of my three new fruit trees, and mulched it with free newspapers and free composted mulch (yay tip!).

4. I did splurge on one big double choc chip cookie using laundromat money, after getting annoyed at the big washing machine being hogged by someone else so I couldn't use it for my doona, but I had enough self-preservation instinct to put back some additional items so kept the damage to less than $3. 

5. I did not give up on my dispiritingly bland, watery and boring soup, even though I was exhausted and found it hard to muster up any enthusiasm. Rose and I tinkered with it until we improved the flavour balance to make it more interesting, so now it can go into the meal rotation for the rest of the week.

Gratitude:

I am grateful for my slow cookers, because I know that if I am likely to be exhausted by the evening, I can make dinner in the morning when I still have the energy to think about cooking. Also, thanks to my slow cookers I now have a huge vat of cooked chickpeas to make things with for the rest of the week.

I am also grateful for having the pantry as a multi-functional food prep room, since I have my jars of sprouts out there out of the way, as well as various labour-saving devices.

Sunday 7 August

1. used up a bunch of leftovers and elderly veg from last week: the leftover roast veges from last week went into a curried coconut and root veg soup in the slow cooker; I used up most of the limp celery in the soup and in the bean and barley stew I put into the other slow cooker; and I finished the last of the buckwheat and caramelised onions in my breakfast bowl

2. built a step frame out of bits and pieces of salvaged timber, and used some of the lining from the old couch as weed matting under the gravel

3. collected a trailer-load of free mulch from the tip

4. got most of two loads of laundry dry on the line with only a bit needing to be dried with a final load (I forgot to hang out Bel's uniform early enough, so I did need a laundromat run, but it was only a small one and I only put it in for 30 minutes).

5. did not get tempted to "have a quick look" in the tip shop - I haven't finished the project which I bought the components for last week, so I don't need to go spending any more money!

Saturday 6 August

1. Chased up 2000+ missing points from an Everyday Rewards promotion (that ended up equating to two $10 vouchers, since my balance was close to 2000 points already).

2. Put 1kg of chickpeas on to soak in the big slow cooker.

3.Was able to consolidate a number of errands into trips we were already making, so Eric took Bel to the bus in Huonville in the morning and did the F&V shopping while he was there, and I was able to combine my trip to town with a lift up for Dan, and home again for both Dan and Bel, with minimal extra driving.

4. Forgot to eat anything before I left for the event (like a sensible person would have done), so I bought a protein bar to keep in my basket, to avert the temptation to buy junk food because I left it too long to eat and was starving. As it happened I stayed comfortable up until I left the event at 4pm, so I ate my bar in the car on the way home.

5. Remade the last of the Mexibeans into tamale pie for dinner, to encourage people to finish eating it, and used up some slightly elderly ends of celery and a broccoli stem in slow cooker moussaka sauce.

 

Gratitude

1. I am grateful that we are able to offer Bel a calm, stable, accepting home, as she seems to be happy and flourishing here.

Friday 5 August

1. Realised Eric had doubled up buying two relatively expensive items that I had also ordered yesterday (cheese and sweet chilli sauce), and I had just enough time to change my order to replace them with some stockpile basics I haven't been prioritising lately (milk powder, brown sugar and bicarb).

2. Bought a couple of items at the tip shop to repurpose into a funky hanging mug rack with the aid of some paint ($10 all up). I should be able to hang it either above or below the old altar shelf (which I will also paint) to make a space for the mini teapots as well as the mugs, on the blank wall above the drying rack.

3. Did not blow my entire spending money budget on junk food in Huonville when I went in to pick up the groceries order (although I did eat a rage donut which I later regretted).

4. Finished dehydrating my leek greens properly, instead of ignoring them for days then throwing them out - go me! Also experimented with ways to use them so they don't just sit in the jar forever being ignored, either.

5. Managed to cook dinner despite being seriously not in the mood to cook, and used up the tempeh that has been waiting in the fridge for weeks. Made a particularly excellent version of tempeh kofta curry and actually WROTE DOWN the recipe variation so I can make it again.

Thursday 4 August

1. I worked out my budget, paid my savings accounts and paid off debt first.

2. I stuck to my grocery budget. 

3. I put back tins of chickpeas and bought dried instead (laziness is more expensive).

4. I dried three loads on the outside line instead of going to the laundromat.

5. I did not try to sneak off to the Twilight Feast to buy cake (it is a wistful longing).

Gratitude:

1. It was gloriously sunny today and I got a lot done in the garden.