Monthly Archives: May 2006

By careful driving and not going anywhere at the weekends this month, I managed to string a tank of petrol out for nearly four weeks. That’s a whole 27 days of journeys to and from work, with the lunchtime trips to the tennis centre a couple of times weekly thrown in for good measure. I reckon I could have gotten another day out of it, too, but I’ve yet to endure the embarrassment of running out of fuel and it’s a streak I’d like to perpetuate.

After watching an episode of Top Gear where Clarkson managed to drive an Audi from London to Edinburgh and back on one tank of fuel, I thought I’d see if I could apply the same techniques and improve my mpg. Smooth acceleration and minimal use of the brakes are key, along with keeping the revs nice and low.

Our Honda Jazz has a ridiculously low first gear, which I imagine was designed for when the car is fully laiden. When there’s just me in it that low first gear gets you off from a standing start like a shot. I’ve burned RX 8’s, Porshe’s, you name it, off the line. Granted they usually fly past me once I go for second gear unless I let it rev pretty high in first, but it’s fun while it lasts!

Due to that, it’s quite hard to resist the temptation to blast away from the lights, squandering untold mpg in the process. A month or so ago I discovered that pushing the little knob on the speedometer cycles through the trip counter to a miles-per-gallon-o-meter, giving instant feedback on how my right foot is affecting my wallet. The challenge of keeping the number in the mid to high 40’s actually makes econical driving quite good fun, comparitively. I mean, if I had to wait until the fuel ran out and then check the trip counter to calculate how far I’d gone on one tank then that would be pretty dull. Watching it rise and fall as I drive gives instant feedback on how’s my driving?

Due to paying off the car & home insurance and our holiday all in the space of a month, my bank account is running on empty for the first time in ages. So, to help cushion the fall into overdraft territory we decided that May 2006 would be a budget month.

In order to cut out the unnecessary expense of multiple short trips to the supermarket we went and done one mega shop at the end of last week. It consisted of things like a bag of pasta so large we can go camping in it after it’s empty (some time circa 2008, most likely), and other odds and ends that were two–for’s or own brand items that aren’t that far removed from their more expensive counterpart.

Disappointments so far have included the Asda own brand apple shampoo, which is pretty average as far as washing goes, and the apple fragrance is so weak it just washes away. The own brand fun size treats are pretty grim, too. I’d agree that in a budget month we shouldn’t have any fun size treats at all, but I like to have a couple in my bag to eat with my lunch at work, plus they were two for one, so they seemed like a steal. A couple of them are alright, but the caramel and peanut variety are disgusting, so I wouldn’t get them again.

Good buys come in the shape of the Asda own brand coconut bubble bath, which certainly does the trick bubble wise and it was a three for two offer, so that’s a result. I also got a whole bunch of decent bread rolls, too, but since our fridge has started playing up again I’m afraid they probably wont last long enough for me to eat them all.

I’m happy that my beer and wine sacrifices saved a around ?20 from the get–go, and I’m sure we could have made more effective cost cutting measures if we’d thought more about it. If June ends up being another budget month I’m certain we’ll be better prepared for picking up cost reducing items.

Tonight I was at a loss as to what to have for dinner. I’ve had these Quorn balls in the freezer for ages and I keep meaning to use them for something, so now seemed the ideal time.

With only half a plan in my head I placed six balls in a bowl in the microwave, with some sweet and spicey rice in its packet beside the bowl. This gave me three or so minutes to conjure up some kind of sauce to add to the above.

Raiding the cupboard, I made myself a concoction of random amounts of ketchup, mustard, mayonaise, vinegar and, after tasting, some honey to try and rescue the situation. If I’m being honest, it didn’t quite end up as tasty as I’d imagined it would do, so the honey was an attempt at sweetening up the brown gloop before me.

The balls and rice were ready now, so I stuck the sauce in the microwave for a minute while I neatly arranged the quorn balls on the bed of sweet and spicey rice. Not quite sure why I allowed myself to get ahead of things at this point, but in those Jamie Oliver adverts he always seems to be throwing any old shit together and conjuring up wonderful meals, so I was kind of looking forward to eating my dish in the same way Jamie’s hipster friends must do.

With a ding the super foxy sauce was ready and I poured it directly onto the meatballs. It was a little thicker than I’d hoped for, but I knew the milk was on the turn so I had nothing to thin it with. Besides, I was hungry – time for my tastebuds to take the super foxy fork ride to heaven.

Well, I thought, this is promising – couple of mouthfuls in and I haven’t yet gagged. Sadly, the gagging would arrive at the same time as the fourth meatball. I misguidedly opined that there was no way it could be the super foxy sauce. I was simply guzzling and eating more slowly would cure that.