Its Medical appointments day, once every two months these appointments are on the same day.

Chiropractor and Podiatrist visits both within 1 ½ hours of each other this is so that can do things in between and be ready to catch the bus when finished the last appointment.

Today I planned to do any shopping that I would to do as well these appointments. When I got off the bus I found a pair of shoe that I was looking for but when I tried them on and ready to pay for them, I was informed these shoes shouldn’t have been put in the marked down bin they were full price $139.00 when all the other shoes were $69.00 oh I could have them if I bought gold or red ones for that price but not black which is the only colour that I wanted so I walked out. Not happy with that but I will not be tricked into buying something wanted but could live without. No sale.

Drop by the newsagent and bought GO CARD fare ticket top up $20.00. I don’t need to look for charge anytime I catch public transport with this card and I get senior discounts with it.

While walking around on Wednesday I checked the frypans out that were going on special this Thursday, as I need a new 20cm frypan as the one I got is burning food too much. So I got myself a nice new stainless steel one and a new measuring jug both 30%off all up (RRP $28.00) then marked down to $19.95 after I used my new staff card. When I went to the kitchen shop which had a silicone whisk that I saw on Wednesday RRP $7.95 to $1.55 so I got one of theses too!

I stopped for morning tea and had some pancakes $3.45 with a free Senior % coffee. Off to the book store but in the end didn’t buy any books today. Chiro visit went without any problems so then went to the Officeworks which sells computer programs and I found the one I bought that for $38.09 Saving $6.01 on price tag of which $2.01 was staff card discount. I just get don’t some price tags these days this not the first time the registers scan different to the shelf tags. If it’s lower I now just pay what they ask for it but if higher I pay the shelf price or walk out. In some cases you will get the item for free but not always.

I walked down to the medical refund office as this takes enough time to get my daily walk in as well. Went and did some window shopping in new revamp Wintergarden shopping building stage 1 without buying and shoes were only that I could afford but not my style before going to my next appointment. Off to get my next medical refund before I went home for the day and on the way to the bus dropping in to Crazy Clarks discount store for some hand wash. I found a few bargains while I was there so in the end my $2.49 had blowout to $62.37 I got some bargains while I was there and did buy my hand wash too!

Medium Amber Hair dye was on special this week normally you buy this at chemist for about $16.95 a packet at these discount store you can buy it for a lot less and at 2 for $10.00 all the same colour which is the important part of my system, I bought enough for the next two years $50.00 worth and put it on that credit card. I found a tip that I use to make this work.

Also I bought as well this:
Craft supplies - moulding clay 3@$1.47 & beads for necklace $1.47 = $5.88
Date rolls biscuits 2@ 1.00 & smoked oysters 2 @1.00 = $4.00
Hand wash $2.49

Total $62.37

My savings for the day

Medical Refunds $70.35
Computer program $6.01
Senior % coffee free - saving $2.80
Kitchen items saving $14.45
Craft supplies $12.00
Hair dye $119.50

Saving over all $225.11

I don’t think I have loss my touch. No more unplanned shopping until of

I got a bargain today in my fruit & vegetables box for $7.00. One of the local greengrocer has these bargain boxes most times but I never have bought one before as normally they are of box of one or two kind per box, last time it was Granny Smith apples $2.00 per box but today all the boxes were mixed vegetables and some fruit or mushrooms as the cherries looked ok I bought the one with cherries in it.

2 large red onions
7 lbs (3 ½ kg) small chat potatoes
1 leek
1 Zucchini
4 large tomatoes
1 large ripe avocado
1 Cos lettuce
1lb (500g) Brussels sprouts
8 orange carrots
4 purple carrots (never cooked these before)
4 corn cobs
2 navel oranges
1lb (500g) cherries - grown in US (marked $5.99)

I did cook one of the purple carrots with a normal carrot just got to remember to cook them on their own in future as it dye the normal one and all the water went purple but they tasted ok.

All this will be good for my diabetic diet.

I have been busy this past week, working on a few projects that needed to be done before Monday.

I have a lot of pears in the refrigerator so I am looking for a few ways to use them up. Here are two recipes that I found that will suitable for my diabetics too!

Streusel Topped Pears
Dessert

500g stewing or poached pears, cut in half or a can of drained pear halves
1 Tbsp Melted butter or margarine
2 Tbsp Dry bread crumbs
2 Tbsp Chopped walnuts
1/4 tsp Cinnamon -- Stir all into butter

Stew or poach pears that have been cut in half or Drain can pear halves.
In pie plate arrange pears cut side up.
Spoon 1 tsp. crumbs on each pear half.
Bake at 180C - 350F for 25 minutes or until topping is lightly browned.
Could probably top with some whipped cream sweetened with artificial sweetener maybe stevia as this what I have in the pantry.


Pear and Apricot Slices

2 fresh pears
1 cup dried apricots -- soaked
1 tablespoon apricot jam
1 tablespoon applesauce
1 egg or 2 eggwhites
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Peel and chop pears into small pieces chop apricots mix together with the apricot jam and applesauce
Add egg mix well.
Mix together flour and baking powder, fold into fruit mixture
Spread into a non-stick (silicone sheet and/or paper-lined) 15cmx 20cm tin.
Bake at 190C /375F for about 25 minutes or until risen and golden.

I just have a visit from my new neighbour; I just met them the other day. There is a lovely Chinese family, she just stop by the drop in two pieces of beautiful cakes in a box. I had half of one piece with coffee just now. It was a Cherry Chocolate Cake the other one looks like a coffee cake both are iced with a filling. There are a number of Chinese cake shops opening all over the place where you can buy a slice of cakes instead of whole cake these days.

I will now eat them very slowly as I have put them in the refrigerator. I still have to watch my diabetic so I can’t pig out so only half piece at a time.

My exercising is working I am losing weight just a little but its going down that what counts. I am trying to walk more than I did before that a lot as I didn’t walk as much as I should have. Now walking twice per day up to hour per day, six times per week, today walked up the to the local strip shopping centre twice that takes a little longer than just doing the four blocks on the ridge.

Shopping area was busy this morning around 11am with most of the coffee shops were full and most of shops busy for once. Went again around 3.00pm again in the same area the coffee cafes were all closed and most of the shops too! It’s was as all quite this time.

We have three charity shops, large antique store, shoes & bookmakers shop, three hairdressers, Indian and normal supermarket, bakers shop, two coffee shops plus two restaurants as well chain food outlets a little further along, number of chemists shops, camera shop and second hand bookshop and apple computer repair shop, Irish pub and a few more odd businesses. The area is getting revamped with my modern shops and businesses. All this is less than 400 metres from my house.

Two outings in the same week first off a Birthday dinner at Mexican Restaurant Montezuma's , it's not a expensive restaurant so picking the most suitable meal from the menu is the biggest challenge
Taking into account what I learnt at my diabetes class I had to pick something with beans in and with not a lot of cheese. The family always orders cheese and bean dips with corn chips for starters. You get three dips so I had a bean dip with corn chips, this turn out a big mistake as it filled me up for the dish that I order. It was the house special Montezuma's Delight as it had a white corn tostada smothered with frijoles, cheddar, heaped with diced raw vegetables salad, ranchero sauce, sour cream topped with two black olives. I had the Pollo/chicken version, it was nice and eatable but I only could eat half of it and had to ask for container so I could have the balance next day. But it wasn't as nice as the sour cream did't microwave as good. Next time I will not have the bean dip and corn chips and then I may be able to eat it all. Cost for the meal $18.00 plus 1/3 the dip and I had water to drink.

It was lunch date with my ex work friends at the casino and as they have put up the cost of the meals in restaurant that have been going to we went back to cheaper one. There they reduced the prices for members but with limited choices. Looking at the menu when you are on no mashed or chip potatoes or jasmine rice with limited cheese choices, there isn't much to choose from. The choices from memory were Beef Lasagne with mashed potatoes and mushy peas, Battered fish salad with chips, 2 Lamb & rosemary sausages with steamed vegetables & mashed potatoes, Chicken kebabs with pickled salad and jasmine rice and Smoked salmon quiche with salad. I had the Smoked salmon quiche with salad with small bowl of fruit salad and 2 cups of coffee plus water all included for $9.00 for members and $14.00 for non members . You could have had 30cm square of cake instead of the fruit salad but I had had my fair share of sweet things this weeks and I had taken along with me small Easter eggs to share with the others also. At night I had a

As I work on 28 day cycles, my dates may be out to a calendar months so here are the figures for my last period.

It’s time to start again on reviewing my monthly daily living allowance.

These are the categories for this challenge.
Items === Approx Budget===Spent
Eating out===$35.00=====$73.45
Groceries===$135.50 ==== $230.61
Non-Food===$17.00
Clothes ====$35.00======$8.45
Grooming===$15.00
Gas======$25.00=======$29.60
Pets====== $50.00=== ==$82.56
HH items===$42.50=====$158.98
Fares== ====$9.00 =====$20.00
Entrainments= $12.00
Garden =====$10.00====$28.56
Gifts & Donations =$35.00
Medical =====$15.00======$44.50
Diabetes Expenses====$50===$43.47
Misc ======$9.00
Personal Allowance =$85.00 ====$51.04
Note only one amount is no spend

Budgeted for this period $580 spent $811.27
No Spending days over the 28 days = 11 days in total.

Personal allowance covers confectionery, lotto, books, stamps, craft & hobby supplies.

Eating out including meals out with family and friends, we all go Dutch.

As for medical this is the extra out of pockets amounts that came up this month, bought a Medicine and vitamins tablets.

As for my medical visits out of pocket expensive if they are related to Diabetes then I will class them as Diabetes Expenses will come under this new category.

Diabetes Expenses – Books $43.47
A most will be one off items or once per year expenses. But I need to track these items on my small budget and pension. Each time I pay for some thing in this category I will need to cut something in other categories.

My credit cards are still paid in full each month.

I do keep my bill money separated from this summery. This year I will be budgeting around $650 per period month to cover all my bills. This month bills were around $1125 so no balance this month. These funds do cover all my fixed bills for the year if I can stick to this schedule as I have done for the past ten years or so. This budget will be tight but just doable. On my budget excel modelling chart I can pay the full amount this year.

My food went up this month because I am stockpiling items that I will use over the winter months hopefully my food amounts will start to get back to a normal range but may be a little higher as I need to change to some more expensive range in a few things like bread is now $5.00 per loaf instead of $1.49 per loaf, and I need to buy more nuts and seeds as well special grains.

As for food out, I dined out a 7 times this month costing between $4 & $18 a time most were around the $10 mark as I can no longer eat at fast food outlets. That $9.00 meals at casino is looking the healthiest and best deal in the city for now.

Another large category is for the household section that was a once off purchase of Gerni (water pressure machine) costing $149.00. This was a need as with all the wet weather we are having slimy paths and steps are becoming an issue.

If any changes to my spending habits will need to come out of my daily living allowance categories of my budget as my bill categories are very tight now. Still need to work on a few categories as you can see but over all I had a good month.

No Savings for this month over by $ 251.27 on budget for amount. This equals the cost of the Gerni and extra I laid out in food stuff this month in stockpiling both for my own and pets.

Strategy: - Track your daily spending down to the cent by writing it down daily.

I left early this morning for my diabetes class as I have to go two hours early to get there on time. When I got there I was 45 minutes early so I had breakfast again, this time a vegetarian one. it consist of grilled mushrooms & baked beans both in ramekins with a poached egg and lettuce & tomato as a garnish with buttered multi grain toast on the side. I had water this time to drink. Cost $9.95 all up. After at the class I had a cup of coffee and later an orange drink on the way home and I was full and didn’t have anything else until around 3pm.

At the class we learnt about what food to eat and how to space them out. It was very interesting to see the charts and be given booklets to take home with us. I am planning to copy and laminated some these charts for my personal use as reference and reminder to stay focus on this diet as it’s for life. I know I can do it.

Learning to choose meals out will be my main problem as I have a number of outing in the near future to attend. I will write about my choices from these menus as I attend.

I am watching the Royal Wedding on TV now!

Went to the first of free diabetes classes, I found it interesting and learnt some things about what is diabetes. The next class is on food so I will be looking forward to that one.

While I was in the area I went too for this class has the top breakfast restaurant in Brisbane so I dropped in for a coffee and had a mini breakfast as I had to start out very early to get to that area on time so had my breakfast 3 hours earlier. This cost $12.65 and when coming back to the city I had a Asian Chicken & Rice Noodle Salad $4.00 with a drink that I had in my bag.

I have been bulk shopping this month so buying ahead to save money down the track. I don’t like having to go shopping for things that I can get cheaper buying else where. By timing my shopping to go with where I shop and whether I have the car with me. So far I have bought $67.82 worth of cat food. For myself I bought yoghurt mix $8.48, coffee bulk $13.30 = $21.78

As I have been changing my diet to more friendly foods for diabetes so the cost of this month is a little high but it will work out over time.

I had two medical appointments on Thursday, one for Chiropractor and podiatrist. Both cost out of pocket expenses but I need them to keep going. My chiropractor annual fee was due so $540.00, I do get $232.80 back in refunds from Health Care Fund over the course of the year. I save money by paying this way as we can’t get bank interest of 10% here and that money is sitting in the bank anyway! As for the podiatrist fee it will cost about $2.50 in the end for this visit and the next 3 visits then I will start paying full price again its part of Diabetes refunds that I been getting. I have about 6 visit per year. The Chiro. is 12 visits per year.

While I was out I had a few bills to pay that I received just the day before, as I like to pay my bills in person, that requires me to have a trip to the city for some. I like to do them as soon as possible as all have late fees if I miss the deadline date. I do have a few B-pay ones but these are rare. So my rates were dues for this quarter $260.50, and my credit card that I put my eye specialist bill on so paid that in full too! Then bought another book on Diabetes this one on general information so it was must. As it alright having things in your computer that you have downloaded to read but not printed out to read offline which would be the case if I need the information now and no computer.

I did buy lunch to as I needed food so I bought poached chicken and egg noodles. $8.90

I some shopping for DF-M too! Some muscle cream and a new pair of slippers. As for exercise that day I thought that I had done enough I left home at 9am and got back around 2.30pm.

All up I outlaid around $1080 for the day, it’s not luck that I can find this kind of money but my budget is set out for that kind of spending. Stress free budgeting and spending.

Strategy - Don’t spend your forward bill money on trivia; it’s been put aside for a purpose and keep you stress free.

As I work on 28 day cycles, my dates may be out to a calendar months so here are the figures for my last period.

It’s time to start again on reviewing my monthly daily living allowance.

These are the categories for this challenge.
Items === Approx Budget===Spent
Eating out===$35.00=====$53.20
Groceries===$135.50 ==== $133.84
Non-Food===$17.00=====$8.39
Clothes ====$35.00======$4.40
Grooming===$15.00======$22.90
Gas======$25.00=======$23.18
Pets====== $50.00=== ==$67.20
HH items===$42.50=====$54.05
Fares== ====$9.00
Entrainments= $12.00
Garden =====$10.00
Gifts & Donations =$35.00
Medical =====$15.00======$11.20
Diabetes Expenses====$50===$218.86
Misc ======$9.00
Personal Allowance =$85.00 ====$58.06
Note: only one amount it's no spend

Budgeted for this period $580 spent $655.78

No Spending days over the 28 days = 9 days in total.

Personal allowance covers confectionery, lotto, books, stamps, craft & hobby supplies.
Eating out including meals out with family and friends, we all go Dutch.

As for medical this is the extra out of pockets amounts that came up this month this I had a visits to a GP Doctor bulk billed Medicare (FREE), and bought a Monthly Medication.

As for my medical visits out of pocket expensive if they are related to Diabetes then I will class them as Diabetes Expenses will come under this new category. So the $120 eye specialist cost is included here. All the little things that I need to do for this charge over. Like update the books on the my new diet as some are 15 years old and 7 years since I last bought any on this subject and a lot has charged in that time. Joining a Diabetes Australia fee $15.00, all these little extras outside Food as I am on no medication.

Diabetes Expenses – Books $83.86, DAQ fee $15.00, Eye specialist $120 = $218.86
A most will be one off items or once per year expenses. But I need to track these items on my small budget and pension. Each time I pay for some thing in this category I will need to cut something in other categories. I read somewhere that it cost over $4000 per year for non medication diabetes and over $9000 per year for insulin dependent, some of this is pick up with medical refunds and the government discounts for health card users. I think this article was written for Australian but then I have read so much in the last 3 weeks it’s becoming a overload.

My credit cards are still paid in full each month.

I do keep my bill money separated from this summery. This year I will be budgeting around $650 per period month to cover all my bills. This month bills were around $230 and the balance goes into the bill account to cover the next large lot of large bills. These funds do cover all my fixed bills for the year if I can stick to this schedule as I have done for the past ten years or so. This budget will be tight but just doable. On my budget excel modelling chart I can pay the full amount this year by doing this.

If any changes to my spending habits will need to come out of my daily living allowance categories of my budget as my bill categories are very tight now. Still need to work on a few categories as you can see but over all I had a good month. No Savings for this month over $ 75.78 on budget for amount.

Strategy: - Track your daily spending down to the cent by writing it down daily.

I had to go to the Eye specialist one day for tests to make sure that my eyes weren’t affected from the diabetic so far. My cataracts are stable for now and no problems from the diabetic so $190 later I am all clear for next two years so long I see my optician annually which I do as I am allowed one almost free pair glasses annually and I have 4 pair in use. While out I found another GI Diet Handbook that I didn’t have so I bought it for $22.95 and I seen it else where for $38.99 and they had the one I was looking for $38.99 also but didn’t buy it.

Second day was my lunch date with ex-co-workers. I had to pay a few bills and get a refund on that Eye Specialist Bill so Medicare paid $70.00 so out of pocket was $120.00 as I knew I would be it was expensive last time I went. Paid my credit bill in full $50.00 and my power bill $74.00 and bought the book on GI Diet on Diabetes that I was looking at the day before for $35.00 and the latest version 2011 too! Online ones were published 2007 for $35.00 + postage. So I am ahead on that one.

Lunch menu this time was expensive as the casino had put there prices up by $10.00 and no member discount but did get a senior card discount 10% so $27.00 for lunch just to expensive for my liking and the food menu has changed to a more Asian foods and it wasn’t hot for that matter. So we said at that price and menu change we move on to a different restaurant next time. Some of them don’t like the other restaurant but we will go there until we find somewhere else to go. I can’t afford to pay that price every month it was bad enough at $20.00 but now that I have to be real picky about the food I eat with my diabetes.

Saving on books RRP $38.99 each
$38.99 -$ 22.95 = $16.04
$38.99 -$35.00 = $3.99 or online $ 6.50 p&p
Saving $20.03 on books that I needed by shopping around.

I am trying to do two 20 minutes walks a day now, as part of my exercise as I can’t do to much as it makes me lightheaded and very tried. But I am still giving it ago.

This morning I did walk to the shops for my neighbour MF-M to get her some fresh milk, and I bought some ground cumin as I was out of this when I went to cook the other day. I stopped by the second hand book shop and got 2 cookbooks and 4 magazines about greening world, they have some articles that I wish to read at some time and at 50c each it’s now or never buying.

Spent $4.00 on books and $1.30 on spice
Tonight I am having dinner with the family so don’t know what I will be eating yet!

At least two days are no spending day here and other was hairdresser appointment for hair cut that I need. About every 8 weeks or so I get my hair cut then I will dye it myself after the cutting. As I have a number appointments this coming week, it was best did it now. While out I buy two more cookbooks for $2.00 to read. One was on vegetarian cooking and the other one on Jewish cooking.
I do have number of these cookbooks so I like to crosscheck some of the recipes in them.

I doing a lot of reading on diabetic at the moment so learning about it. I did sign up for the free classes in April so that is all organized. As for my GI Diet I am still learning about what I can and can’t eat and what best for me. I did start a food diary but keep forgetting to write the food down. Two days out of seven is not good in my books. One thing still I need to do is drink more fluid as I need cut back on my coffee as I have hypotension along with the diabetics. I got appointment to see an eye specialist next week that was quick. That means I will get eye drops and I will have blurred vision for a few hours as I had these test before I do know the drill. NO driving the car for 24 hours and sunshades.

As for some of the meals that I have been making her, it was hot last week 33C so I a cold salad of boiled egg, Cos lettuce, 1 Roma tomato, chunky cut, 1tbsp charred pepper strips , a few bread & butter cucumbers, 3 black olives with Italian low fat dressing. On the side I had one slice pear (skin still on), two tbsp cottage cheese with 1tsp pepitas (pumpkin seed) on top plus water as it was to hot to cook here.

Tonight I have spiced chickpeas and spinach with 2 sausages and some grapes. Cold Peach Tea

I am having only porridge and sultanas with LSA as a cereal now as this is one thing that keeps my level down.

It’s Earth Hour tonight here so at 8.30pm I will be turning off my lights for one hour. I will be sitting on the front porch watching the stars and may be having a pot of green tea.

This is the recipe that I made today; it tasted quite nice so I will make it again.

A very tasty winter soup and warming makes a meal in itself.

1 tbsp oil
1 large onion 150g, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed or 2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp minced chilli
6 cups water
1 1/2 cups (375ml) prepared chicken stock
1 cup (200g) red lentils
1/2 cup (100g) pearl barley
425g can whole tomatoes, undrained and mashed
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh parsley or coriander to serve

Heat the oil in a large saucepan.
Add the onion, cover cook gently for about 10 minutes or until beginning to brown stirring frequently.

Add the garlic, turmeric, curry powder, cumin and chilli and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
Stir the in the water, lentils, barley, tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to the boil, cover and simmer about 45 minutes or until the lentils and barley is tender.

Serve sprinkled with parsley or coriander.

Serves 4- 6
Notes: I add an extra can of tomatoes in the soup as I still quite a lot of them on hand. I counted the soup scoops that I got 16 soup scoops out of it. It tasted quite nice so will make it again.

Per serve (6)
Low GI
Cal 180/kJ 760
Carb 25g
Fat 5g
Fibre 5g
The New Glucose Revolution by Prof Jennie Brand- Miller p47

What you may ask? I went to the doctor’s one day last week to get the results of Glucose test that I had done. It came back that I was now Diabetic type 2 this may explain my chronic fatigue that I have been having over the past few years where I didn’t feel like doing any housework but for things that had to be done. Then only in short tasks time periods if it took more than 2 hours it never got started or it never ever got finished period. After two hours I had it for the day and had to sit or lie down for an hour or so just I could finish off if I had too! If had to do something for other people then that was it for the day. Just getting the basics done some days was a chore, that was only cleaning up after the cats, empty the rubbish, wash the a few dishes and make my bed.

My glucose levels at fasting have been border line for the past 20 years or so but never going into diabetic levels. So it has been coming on for years but I am still in a fasting 5.5 range but with a 12.9 after 2 hours. So now I am a diabetic type 2 and on diet control. Until told other wise I will be trying low GI diet control along a higher protein intake using more legumes in my diet to keep my budget in control. I will be having more expenses but that can’t be help.

Now I have to do a lot of reading on diabetes and what I can and can’t eat extra. I have join our local Diabetic group and downloaded some of their recipes and found out about free classes that they have and what I can get by signing with my health card. Yet it’s very earlier days.

I will have to make up a balance menu plans and look at what not wanted in my pantry anymore.

I have a lot of books on GI Diet so I don’t have go out a buy them.

I have been only buy things that I need in the way of food and will need to change my shopping a little to take into the need for my fresh vegetables and only buy enough for the next few days not enough to last until the next shopping trip. Less is more will be the way to go. I will need to exercise more about 30 minutes per day. But I don’t wish to walk to the shops each day exercise either. I may do this in the early morning and again in the late afternoon for about 20 minute’s time each. Plus any extra exercise that I get when I go to the shops but when I go to a shopping centres or city I don’t need to exercise at all as I will walk long distances when I am in these areas for hours.

On the Free food front. Yesterday DF-M was looking for me while I was out to give me my share of black grapes and Roma tomatoes about two kilograms of each from the family farm. These will be the last lot of grapes that I will eat for a long while. Now the persimmon tree is fruiting and I been give one each day so will need to check out this fruit as they are so big 350g each on my new diet. Cash Value of all this free fruits is quite high much of these lines were hit by the rains if not flooding. Tomatoes $6.98kg, black grapes $3.98 kg and persimmons are $1.50 each here.

I found a easy soup recipe that I will today. I will post it later if it’s any good.