General updatiness
What I have been doing lately. Includes somewhat talk of food/calories, but not of dieting in particular.
I've not been doing so well with coping with my own housework. Other people's housework is so much easier. My place isn't a pit of disgusting horror; all it needs is a bit of maintenance. Maintenance is sucky and doesn't have many obvious rewards though. (This is true for housework, weight-loss/maintenance and many other things I imagine. It is rare to be rewarded with stickers for being the same/having your thing stay the same.) I currently have a back-log of dirty dishes/cutlery, that is the main issue right now. Today that is my main focus. So I don't get overwhelmed, I'm doing a bit of washing up at a time. I will stay in until it is done. [I wrote that yesterday, and did ALL of my washing up. Go me!!]
I nipped into Oxford on Wednesday to spend some time with uberredfraggle. It is really easy and cheap to get there and back (outside of commuter time). I may go again. Oxford is so beautiful. When I have visited in the past, I've not noticed my surroundings so much because of being distracted by social events or drama. Oxford is *very* green; five minutes from the city centre you can see cows. Cows!
Thursday evening reddragdiva* came over for our typical food-and-fumblings date. I like those kinds of dates :D We both had a good time, and my cooking (and/or my choice of quality ingredients) made him squirm with pleasure.
I am spending quite a bit of time angsting about benefit reform, and how that will affect me. Labour were going to screw me over, now ConDem are probably going to screw me over too. Every time one of those brown official-looking envelopes comes through the door I have to concentrate on slowing my breathing down until I have opened and read it. I *really* don't want to be forced into a minimum wage job (poverty and angst) or Jobseekers Allowance (poverty and pressure) WHILE I AM WAITING TO GET INTO THE 3 DAY A WEEK BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER-SPECIFIC THERAPY. Dear government: please do not f*ck up my medium/long-term recovery.
I am doing specific angsting about the cost of living. I am thinking about things that I can give up, and how to still have access to good stuff. For example: give up Internet connection, use local free wifi and other sources of information (eg. walk 5 minutes to the travel information point at the train station instead of using tfl.gov.uk or nationalrail.co.uk). Give up outgoing phonecalls on telephone line. Go to a big supermarket twice a week and avoid getting main bits of shopping from Tesco Extra and Sainsbury's Local (some of the small supermarkets are more expensive on specific items or do not carry cheaper lines).
Food prices angsting:
I think the angsting that I am doing about money is relatively helpful. It is preparing me for what is likely: I am going to be on the poverty line again for an uncertain amount of time. I am not flailing about and panicking, I am thinking about practical things to make my life more bearable in the future. In case you're wondering, I currently have plenty of money to feed/clothe myself.
* How can I do dw=username so there is a link and the little person icon on lj? I like to type html, sure it's possible.
I've not been doing so well with coping with my own housework. Other people's housework is so much easier. My place isn't a pit of disgusting horror; all it needs is a bit of maintenance. Maintenance is sucky and doesn't have many obvious rewards though. (This is true for housework, weight-loss/maintenance and many other things I imagine. It is rare to be rewarded with stickers for being the same/having your thing stay the same.) I currently have a back-log of dirty dishes/cutlery, that is the main issue right now. Today that is my main focus. So I don't get overwhelmed, I'm doing a bit of washing up at a time. I will stay in until it is done. [I wrote that yesterday, and did ALL of my washing up. Go me!!]
I nipped into Oxford on Wednesday to spend some time with uberredfraggle. It is really easy and cheap to get there and back (outside of commuter time). I may go again. Oxford is so beautiful. When I have visited in the past, I've not noticed my surroundings so much because of being distracted by social events or drama. Oxford is *very* green; five minutes from the city centre you can see cows. Cows!
Thursday evening reddragdiva* came over for our typical food-and-fumblings date. I like those kinds of dates :D We both had a good time, and my cooking (and/or my choice of quality ingredients) made him squirm with pleasure.
I am spending quite a bit of time angsting about benefit reform, and how that will affect me. Labour were going to screw me over, now ConDem are probably going to screw me over too. Every time one of those brown official-looking envelopes comes through the door I have to concentrate on slowing my breathing down until I have opened and read it. I *really* don't want to be forced into a minimum wage job (poverty and angst) or Jobseekers Allowance (poverty and pressure) WHILE I AM WAITING TO GET INTO THE 3 DAY A WEEK BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER-SPECIFIC THERAPY. Dear government: please do not f*ck up my medium/long-term recovery.
I am doing specific angsting about the cost of living. I am thinking about things that I can give up, and how to still have access to good stuff. For example: give up Internet connection, use local free wifi and other sources of information (eg. walk 5 minutes to the travel information point at the train station instead of using tfl.gov.uk or nationalrail.co.uk). Give up outgoing phonecalls on telephone line. Go to a big supermarket twice a week and avoid getting main bits of shopping from Tesco Extra and Sainsbury's Local (some of the small supermarkets are more expensive on specific items or do not carry cheaper lines).
Food prices angsting:
- Spend money now while I have it on getting a coffee bean grinder so I can have instant coffee (or non-instant tea) most of the time but have fresh and nice coffee available for special occasions.
- £1 for a bowl is annoying for a single person household. For things like peppers (AKA capsicum or bell peppers): sauté or roast a batch using Fry light, allow to cool and freeze for handy yummy meal stuff.
- Go shopping with a local acquaintance and buy several £1 for a bowl fruit and veg, divide.
- Have people who come round for dinner bring me ingredients. (But not if they are on the same amount of money as me; possibly not if they are good cooks themselves.)
- Buy luxury food like fresh blueberries, but do so once a month or something. Do not deprive myself!
- Make my own 'treat' food like cake, brownies, biscuits. Only do this if I can make a 6 serving cake last for x amount of time; otherwise it is worth buying a single cupcake or a single biscuit at a café. Hopefully therapy can fix this!
- Buy 'treat' food at pound shops or cheap treat food at supermarkets, and store at friends' houses.
- Drink lots of chamomile tea, ginger/lemon tea, regular tea (cheap). Drink the following teas in smaller quantities: sweet spice teas, good earl grey, pre-made masala chai.
- Start eating the own brand or cheap versions of very-low fat yoghurt that are a bit more calorific, but way cheaper. For example: 35p for 500g 2% basics plain yoghurt instead of 80p for 500g virtually fat free plain yoghurt; 35p for a single serving pot of low-fat flavoured yoghurt at 160 calories per 150g pot instead of 54-56p for a single serving 200g pot of muller light yog at 106 calories.
- Eat more cheap but good food. Find ideas of cheap/good food that doesn't make me fart like a farty Nye! (Having eggs and pulses in the same day is a no-no, unless I'm happy to stink the place out... which I often am!)
- Use free food places if/when I have to. I will not get sucked into the homeless scene again, I don't have to worry too much about that, just keep doing positive things.
I think the angsting that I am doing about money is relatively helpful. It is preparing me for what is likely: I am going to be on the poverty line again for an uncertain amount of time. I am not flailing about and panicking, I am thinking about practical things to make my life more bearable in the future. In case you're wondering, I currently have plenty of money to feed/clothe myself.
* How can I do dw=username so there is a link and the little person icon on lj? I like to type html, sure it's possible.