February Financials

Income in February was the usual State Pension and County Council spouses pension, interest on savings plus £20 from 'We Buy Books' .

Because of choosing to pay Council Tax over ten months rather than twelve, February and March have no payment due. Instead there was the half year for sewer and water charges - and that had gone up yet again. Other  expenses were the usual direct debits for phones and broadband, charity donation and the monthly electric bill. I filled the car up twice with diesel once at the beginning and once at the end of the month and read the meter and paid the monthly electric bill. That lot came to £435. Then on Friday I ordered a fill up of heating oil to arrive next month - 500 litres for £338.

I prepared for growing with seed compost, two packets of seed for here and two packets of beetroot seed for BiL to grow some extra for me.

Household stuff included some spare bulbs for my lamp, the bread-machine blades and bin bags.

I  have a bill still to pay due to  problems with the flush on the bathroom loo cistern. It started flushing all by itself! Problems here are usually caused by our hard-water area, limescale getting into the works . The cistern on the bathroom toilet is all built in but I managed to prise one bit of cupboard off and unscrewed the front cover on the cistern and stopped it flushing but it was still trickling in water so I got the guy who fixed my drippy tap last year to come and look and he capped off the water intake and took out the inside 'gubbins' and went off with them to track down replacements , which are now fitted. I was very glad it's a 2 loo bungalow! I think water might have been trickling in and out for a while and that would be the reason for the bigger water/sewer bill.

Personal spending was just two woolly winter hats, exercise group and the book I bought at the beginning of the month  

which  doesn't have anything in it that I didn't already have in other foraging and WWII books and seems to have some mistakes about the dates of the introduction of rationing. It does have some lovely pictures but I was a bit disappointed - although not sure what I was expecting

Penny savings to spend on more interesting things

• Turned a couple of bread crusts into dried crumbs for topping bakes
• Started to save apple peel etc to make some compost jelly as I'm on the last jar - I'll add some raspberries that are in the freezer and some sort of cheap bought fruit.
• Got diesel for car when visiting YD and opticians - it's always several pence a litre cheaper there.
• Had to use the tumble dryer once but managed to dry in 40 minutes - so not too bad.
• Usual bread in the bread-maker
• Dishwasher only used every other day.
• Lots of lovely books from the library
• No newspapers, magazines or make up etc bought as usual.

March, despite no Council Tax, is one of the expensive months of the year (along with April and Christmas) and there will be the bill for boiler servicing added to the list too and the car servicing and MOT. No way to have a low-spend March.

Shopping, % UPFs and a Closer Look at Ingredients

 Long Number Heavy Blog Post Warning!

Food bought during February...................

Small shop - Leeks, eggs, Burger baps - 3 items

The picture below ............UPFs 4 things out of 13 bought the list is here

Burgers, Linda McCartney Mozzarella Burgers are considered ultra-processed foods (UPF), typically falling into Nova group 4 classification. While vegetarian, they contain ingredients and additives characteristic of industrial processing, such as methyl cellulose (E461), flavourings, and rehydrated textured soya protein. 

Key details regarding the processing of these burgers include:

• Ingredients: Primarily composed of rehydrated textured soya protein (65%), rapeseed oil, mozzarella cheese (9%), and various stabilizers/flavourings.
• Processing Indicators: The presence of methyl cellulose and added flavourings are clear markers of ultra-processing.

 Pringles are the worst..............,

Pringles are a classic example of ultra-processed food (UPF), made from a reconstituted dough of dehydrated potato flakes, corn, rice, and wheat starch rather than sliced, whole potatoes. Engineered for hyper-palatability, they are fried and laden with additives like MSG, emulsifiers, and refined oils, often leading to rapid consumption and potential health risks, including inflammation, weight gain, and metabolic disruption.

 The others two ultra processed  things not quite so bad - Hovis biscuits and Tortilla wraps.

Below are 17 items for the 3rd food shop of February the shopping list is here. 4 items are UPFs - Stuffing mix, tortilla chips, fig biscuits and someone pointed out that the soft cream cheese also has a couple of odd ingredients. 

Key Benefits of Citrus Fiber in Cream Cheese:

Citrus fiber is used in cream cheese as a natural, clean-label stabilizer and emulsifier to improve texture, enhance creaminess, and prevent syneresis (water separation). It acts as a fat replacer and thickener, allowing for better yield and a creamy mouthfeel without the need for chemical stabilizers or added gums. 

Key Considerations for Guar Gum:

Guar gum is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA and not considered inherently bad for the general population in the small amounts used in food. As a soluble fiber, it may help manage blood sugar and cholesterol, but excessive consumption can cause digestive discomfort like gas, bloating, and diarrhoea. 

Rye Flour.

The  final main food shop contained 3 UPFs  out of  15 items purchased the list is here. Frozen sweet Potato fries (borderline), cheese and onion rolls and the Dunkables biscuits.

I wondered about the noodles? 

Does the potassium carbonate in noodles make them an UPF..........

Extensive research into the effects of additives on food products and the nearly 100-year history of using potassium carbonate in food has yielded no results published to prove the risk of this chemical compound for human health. At the Food and Drug Administration, all carbonate salts are on the list of safe substances. So far, no evidence has been provided on the possibility of side effects due to the use of compounds such as potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, calcium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, or potassium bicarbonate.

 

And finally going to the Opticians where I used to live so went in the Co-op to get celery, salad leaves and cheese except they had no celery so I got spring onions instead. Spend £3.98 - jolly expensive for 3 things but no more UPFs.

Adding everything up.......... roughly 53 different  items of which 11 are classed as UPF....More than I thought. Although I'm not worried because I'm not eating them all at once and anyway...........

Based on recent data (2023-2025), the average diet in the UK and the US consists of approximately 53% to 60% ultra-processed foods (UPFs) by calorie intake.

Average Consumption: For many, over half of daily energy intake comes from UPFs

Surely I must be  around 10% a day which is probably OK.

There are several easy swaps to be made if I want - usually involving making things myself rather than buying or, as I'm not strictly vegetarian, buying more meat products rather than 'fake' meat products.

Total food spend for home in February just over £88 which is down on usual and just means next month will be more! No coffees/cheese scones but I ate out once treating YD and OGD to a meal and then fish and chips takeaway for us when doing Nanna duty.

Not sure I shall do these food photos again through March....maybe if I'm looking for ideas for blog posts.

Flashes and Floaters

 That's flashes Not Flashers!

A few weeks ago I noticed a new floater in my right eye and then was a bit worried to get flashes in the corner of the same eye. I checked with YD who worked in an opticians for many years and she said best get checked.

So I popped into the Asda opticians in town, went through a whole lot of questions only to be told at the end that they hadn't got a regular optician there at the moment and are referring everyone to the emergency eye phone number (like 111 but for eyes). 

That made me decide to ring  my regular optician where we lived on the coast and where YD worked, at least they would be able to make me an appointment and of course they had all records of eye changes going back years.

I went for a  check -up, all looked OK, nothing really worrying and have to go back for another look next week as the drops needed to do one of the tests require no driving for 2 hours afterwards and I wasn't parked anywhere I could stay that long.

But this leaflet described everything and of course I should have known - it's all down to Old Age!!