Day 38: New month

 

It's a new month so I arranged for my big monthly shop to be delivered first thing this morning.  By 8.30am it was all packed away with a chicken roasting in the oven and a gammon joint in the Crockpot.  This cost me £105.03 plus £2 for the saver delivery slot!!  It really doesn't look much.

Last month I set myself the challenge of getting my food and supermarket shopping down to £120 a month (£30 a week) plus a £10 treat allowance.  I spent £122.74 plus £11.22 on 'treats' so I'm rather pleased I got close!  And I still have plenty of stuff in the storecupboard/fridge/freezer from that.

Fridge items to last the month.  I'll need to top up on the fresh salad stuff that my garden and plot can't produce.  I'll go to my big Lidl for that.

Storecupboard items

My vitamins and anti histamines will last the month but the cold and flu tablets are for my Winter first aid kit.  During lockdown, paracetamol etc was hard to get so I like to keep a decent stash just in case!! 

And these are my holiday treat items.  I'm going away for a few days with my Gin Queen friends so I'm packing some GF items that I can rely on if I need them.  I do have a holiday budget (accommodation is free as it's my friend's holiday lodge) but it will be interesting to see how much it costs me overall.  

I've not been on a holiday since Christmas 2019 when I went to see my son in Melbourne.  One of my friends has already been to Cyprus for a week and then London for a week.  My other friend has been to Shetland for a week and stayed in her lodge for 2 weeks.  I've always preferred staying home for the Summer holiday and going away at the October break or at Easter so this wee break is my only 'Summer holiday.'  But I'm ok with that 😊

Girls Day Out (aka Gin Queens on Tour)

Yesterday I went to Edinburgh with 3 of my colleagues to do an Edinburgh Gin Distillery tour.  It was a riot from start (Prosecco on the train!) to finish (coffee and chips in Wetherspoons!!)

It cost £25 for a 75 mins talk and tour about the history of gin, tasting the botanicals used, inspecting the stills and finally tasting the many types of gin and gin liqueurs they make.  It was great fun.  The tour included a miniature of their classic gin and I bought the Seaside Gin and a tour exclusive orange blossom and mandarin liqueur.
 

Then we went to Tigerlily for lunch and cocktails.  We all had a veggie yellow curry.  It was delicious!

We had the Disco Ball cocktail for sharing! 🍸

After that we went to a speakeasy for a few more cocktails  then decided that coffee and chips were in order before heading back on the train.  It was a lovely day out for 4 ladies of a certain age.  We've decided to do it more regularly!! 😮😆