packed lunches | organised castle

Every day The Duke and I take a packed lunch to work. Since I do not eat bread it is often leftovers or a salad. The Duke will sometimes take some homemade bread, cheese and tomato and make a sandwich at work.

Today, however, I was at home so was not constrained by what I could pack. At lunchtime I looked in the fridge and pantry and found an assortment of leftover ingredients just begging to be used.

There was a small amount of mashed sweet potato from last night as well as some refried beans, 1/2 can of crushed tomatoes, an opened packet of corn chips. As part of my planned gourmet delight I also have some yoghurt, cheese, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.

In the interest of minimising the washing up I decided to use the glass dish that the sweet potato was in. I spread it evenly over the dish, spooned a layer of tomatoes over it, then added the refried beans and the seeds.

I topped it with corn chips and grated cheese and browned in under the griller.

This made enough for 2 serves so I will be having the same again tomorrow.

Served with a dollop of natural yoghurt this was a quick and easy meal which used up a couple of things that could easily have been wasted.

Well, I am off to a flying start.

Day 1 – Monday was a public holiday here and despite the fact that we are into the second month of spring it was cold and wet. The clouds were right down over the mountains and it was definitely a day for staying at home. I washed (dried in front of the fire), ironed, planned our meals for the rest of the week and caught up on some routine housework. $0 spent.

Day 2 – Tuesday was back to work. As usual we packed our lunches to take with us. I also pack my breakfast and eat that when I get to work since we leave home quite early. I went into the city at lunchtime to run some errands but did not go shopping – I did not need anything. $0 spent.

I expect that the next 3 days will be more of the same.

Our train fares are budgeted for and are automatically debited to our card.

I have identified a couple of expenses that I will have this month. One is $21 for the annual renewal of my Simple Savings membership. I regard this as good value for money and will continue to renew my membership in the foreseeable future. The other thing is that it is almost 7 weeks since I had my hair cut so I will probably get it cut again at the end of next week. I have very straight hair which I keep cut short. A haircut costs me $35 and it is the only money I spend on my hair.

How are you going with stopping your spending?