May 2012 Budget

I’m not quite sure what happened to the days in Apri but I sure as hell know what happened to my money… I spent it

Over budget for everything except for Travel which I already put on the high side as I thought it’d be more expensive for everything than I was :/ The increase in Mortgage/Utilities is forgiveable as I’ve paid for my home insurance up front this year and saved around £300 by doing so but I also forgot to include council tax payments which have started this month so need to make sure I account for those in the upcoming months. Entertainment is on the high side because I’ve booked tickets for a couple of theatre productions but this should be lower for the next few months and even itself out. I changed the Gym category to include Fitness as I’m back at my dance classes again and paid upfront for the full term. Thankfully Groceries/Eating Out is getting closer to my budget and now that I’m meal planning I think this should be easier to manage. Personal care is a little on the high side this month but I’ve paid in advance for my next hair appointment and splashed out on a facial courtesy of Groupon. I wasn’t really thinking about the number of birthdays there are in April when I put together the budget but I think that’s most of them out of the way for the year now!

Non-Essentials are where it should be easiest to cut down. Clothes came to a total of £37.00 although I did return a pair of trousers which brings it down to £26.00 as well as a few bits I bought on eBay/Etsy for upcoming cosplay outfits £24.10. The rest was just random bits and pieces, a new kitchen roll holder, some cleaning stuff, a voile panel and new pillow cases for my bedroom.

So with that all in mind here’s a revised budget for May:

I do not like this months budget as its more than what I earn but the majority of the overspend will be at a couple of coventions I’m attending that I’ve been mentally setting aside money for and I know it’s going to be a cracking weekend. I don’t mind spending money if it means I create amazing memories at the same time – after all there’s no point to life if you’re not living it!

Spending Report: 22nd April – 30th April 2012

Sunday
-£16.25 Giraffe (Eating Out)
-£2.50 Cineworld (Eating Out)

Monday
No spend day!

Tuesday
-£2.00 Poundland (£1 Gift, £1 Groceries)
-£1.05 Sunnies (Groceries)
-£16.99 PureGym (Fitness)

Wednesday
-£2.00 Bus (Travel)

Thursday
-£1.69 Sunnies (Groceries)
-£11.75 Yo!Sushi (Eating Out)

Friday
-£5.50 Primark (Non-Essentials)
-£1.59 McDonalds (Eating Out)
-£6.19 Marks & Spencer (Groceries)
-£7.99 LoveFilm (Entertainment)

Saturday
-£4.00 Coffee House (Eating Out)
-£1.60 MacBeans (Groceries)
-£3.65 Boots (Personal Care)
-£9.00 New Look (Clothes)
-£1.08 Postage (Gift)
-£2.29 HobbyCraft (Non Essentials)

Sunday
-£11.00 Poundland (£9.00 Non Essentials, £1 Gift, £1 Groceries)
-£3.88 Poundstretcher (£2.99 Non Essentials, 89p Groceries)

Monday
-£0.65 Vending Machine (Groceries)
-£19.73 Play.com (Gift)
-£82.97 Council Tax (Household)
-£17.94 Albelli (Gift)
-£3.48 Amazon (Gift)

Total: -£236.77
(Groceries: £50.61, Gift: £44.23, Fitness £16.99, Travel: £2.00, Entertainment: £7.99, Personal Care: £3.65, Non-Essentials: £28.78. Household: £82.97)

#15. Learn to make 3 types of soup – Sweet Potato and Chilli

I can’t make soup. According to Matt it’s impossible for a Scottish person to be unable to make soup yet it’s something I’ve never quite mastered. But, I recently acquired a food blender. A red one, to match my kitchen! So it’s been a great chance for me to finally get some progress on this goal. My first attempt was a sweet potato and chilli soup. A kind I’ve loved since I first tried it at work. I’m pleased to say it turned out really yummy! Here’s the recipe that I used, adapted slightly from the BBC Good Food one, I couldn’t believe how easy (and tasty) it was:

Ingredients

• butter
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• chilli powder
• crushed garlic
• 4 sweet potatoes , peeled and cut into chunks
• 500ml vegetable stock fresh (I used Knorr stock pots)

Directions

1. Melt a knob of butter in a large pan, add the onion, chilli powder, and garlic. Cook for about 8 minutes until softened.
2. Add the sweet potato and cook for a few more minutes.
3. Add the stock, bring to the boil then simmer for about 10 minutes until the veg is soft.
4. Stick in the blender til smooth.

Makes 3 large portions

#Operation Penny – 17 weeks to go

So I’ve put on weight not lost it this week and am up to 160.2lbs which is annoying as I was down at my mid-week weigh in. Then I got sick and spent the day around lots of tempting food as well as skipping the gym. Menu planning really seemed to help last week and definitely stopped me reaching for the snacks quite as much but I think I also need to count the calories at the same time to ensure I’m staying on track. Lunchtimes are the worst as I’m surrounded by temptation and a few days last week the nice heathy option I was looking for were finished by the time I got there my plan to watch Dollhouse while working out is going ok but I’ve only watched 4 episodes so far so really need to step up the workout game!

Saturday:
B – humous & pitta bread
L – tea & cake
D – quorn chilli wraps

Sunday:
B – flatbread & Philadelphia
L – tortellini with cheese
D – sweet potato & chilli soup

Monday:
B – bagel & peanut butter
D – prawn linguine ready meal

Tuesday:
B – bagel & Philadelphia
D – chicken style katsu curry

Wednesday:
B – bagel & peanut butter
D – dinner at mums

Thursday:
B – bagel & Philadelphia
D – homemade fish pie

Friday:
B – sausage bun
D – dinner at mums

Cosplay Fever: Works in Progress

Clearing out my craft cupboard last week gave me the opportunity to see all the bits and pieces that I’ve bought for various cosplay plans I have in place and there are a lot more works in progress than I thought!

The one that’s nearest completion is my Wienerlicious costume that Sarah wears in the first season of Chuck – I’ve become addicted to the show powering through all 5 seasons in just a couple of months. All it needs is the skirt shortened a little and a lace trim added!

I bought a wedding dress a while back to modify into Madame de Pompadour’s dress from the Doctor Who episode The Girl in the Fireplace. A Union Jack tee like the one Rose wears in The Empty Child and carrying on the Doctor Who theme bits and pieces to do both Amy Pond’s outfits from Vincent and the Doctor and The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.

Non who-wise I’ve got parts for the Smallville version of Black Canary that I was planning on wearing to Inva2ion but since I’ve put on most of the weight I’ve lost this is back on hold again! And of course the whole point of #OperationPenny is so that I can look good in my cheesecake factory uniform!Oh and a super secret cosplay that involves red leather and a short skirt that I might not ever actually have the guts to wear so I’m not telling anyone what it is  The only problem with all these ideas is that I’m not attending enough cons to wear them all!!!

Spending Report: 14th April – 21st April 2012

Sunday
-£3.00 Sunnies (Groceries)
-£20.65 Yo!Sushi (Eating Out)

Monday
-£1.50 Baguette Express (Eating Out)
-£3.70 WH Smith (Eating Out)
-£40.00 Citymoves (Fitness)
-£42.00 Agoda Hotels (Travel)

Tuesday
-£2.99 McDonalds (Eating Out)
-£4.20 Bus (Travel)
-£91.25 Train (Travel)

Wednesday
-£1.25 Greggs (Eating Out)
-£1.50 Bus (Travel)

Thursday
-£13.00 Primark (Clothes)
-£3.88 McDonalds (Eating Out)

Friday
-£1.69 Sunnies (Eating Out)
-£34.30 Train (Travel)
-£74.44 Plane (Travel)
-£170.00 Aberdeen Box Office (Entertainment: £102.50 Gifts: £67.50)
-£2.40 Bus (Travel)
-£15.00 Massage (Personal Care)

Saturday
-£39.10 Morrisons (Gift: £8.49, Groceries: £30.61)
-£32.00 Groupon (Personal Care)

Total: -£495.35
(Groceries: £69.27, Fitness: £40.00, Travel: £250.09, Entertainment: £102.50 Gift: £75.99, Non-Essentials: £13.00, Personal Care: £47.00)

#Operation Penny – 18 weeks to go

 I’ve been doing OK since my mid-week update except for the day there was a lot of cake in the office and I caved and had two pieces. And the McDonald’s I grabbed one evening after a very long day at work. And… well you get the idea (not so good!) and now I’m back up at 159.6lbs. I made a further mistake yesterday by going shopping on an empty stomach and I’m not a fan of food shopping anyway. Things that I quite fancy at that moment maybe won’t be what I want on the Thursday evening but I was determined to try my hand at meal planning to ensure that I’m eating three square meals a day that will hopefully keep me going and stop me from reaching for the snacks so here’s the plan based on what I’ve got in my cupboards, fridge and freezer. I get my lunches free at work as well as breakfast on a Friday (something I’m going to miss when I move!) so I haven’t listed those as the menu doesn’t get posted til mid-morning on a Monday. I’m also only planning up until Friday night as I’m moving my weigh-ins and these posts to a Saturday. Saturdays are the day I’m most likely to overindulge and therefore have an inflated weigh in the next day so we’ll see how this goes!

Sunday:
B – scrambled eggs, smoked salmon & flatbread crackers
L – chicken breast, mashed potatoes & vegetables
D – eating out before cinema

Monday:
B – houmous & pitta bread
D – chicken noodle stir fry with mangetout & baby sweetcorn

Tuesday:
B – houmous & pitta bread
D – quorn fajitas with peppers, onion & cheese

Wednesday:
B – houmous & pitta bread
D – Finger food at my nieces party

Thursday:
B – shreddies & milk
D – eating out before cinema

Friday:
B – fried egg, bacon & toast
D – chicken risotto ready meal