Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

Good morning, Everyone,

I'm feeling better than I did last night, although not completely myself - I hope I haven't got a 'lurgy' from the children - I don't do 'ill' and I'm the world's worst patient to boot.

I'm so pleased that someone else is writing down their consumption of all items except alcohol, Living Proof; I don't feel as if I'm being obsessive now. And lovely to know I have a neighbour - is it sunny but freezing near you? It is here.

As promised, here's a mildly alcoholic ale - now I've bought my bottles I shall be hunting out all the drinks recipes!

Apple Ale (you need a container big enough to take a gallon of water, otherwise make a smaller quantity or divide it between smaller containers).

Gallon of cold water, 2 pound apples (any sort), one and a half pound sugar, an ounce of root ginger chopped, half a level tsp cloves smashed up, pinch of cinnamon.

Wash apples and grate on a coarse grater. Add pulp to the water, with the cores. stir this apple water daily for a week and then strain. Add sugar, ginger and spices and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Leave overnight, then strain through muslin (or clean tights), pour off into bottles, cork lightly and leave for a week, after which time the ale will be ready to drink.

Washing is in the washer and if it stays dry today I will strip the cushion covers off the settee and chairs as my only visitor today will be my hairdresser and she won't mind a naked settee!

Have a great day, Folks.

Viv xx

I have a tendancy to make a note of odds and ends and on my large washing up liquid bottle opened on 2 Jan I marked the date and its still half full.I only use Fairy as I do think it lasts that much longer Not that I don't wash up but as I live alone I wait until I have a good amount to do i.e. a good bowlful before I do,then a quick squirt in hot water and a quick swish to make it bubble and its done I usually wash -up last thing at night before bedtime.I save water and time and energy doing it all in one go.The 'grey' water gets usually chucked around my shrubs in the garden or on the lawn

I am metered for water so I use it carefully.My water meter bill has only just risen last month to £15.10 a month.A lot better than when on water rates at £34.+ a month previously.
I live in the 'dry ' south east where water is carefully managed if possible.
I also note when I have had to buy toothpaste or loo rolls Keeping an eye on bills and purchases especially with essentials isn't daft its common sense and makes your cash streeetch that little bit more .I have lots of left over bits of soup that I recycle into a new bar now and then after all I use the same soap all the time so why throw the last bits away I keep all the odd bits in a screwtopped jam-jar until I have enough to make a new bar.If you think about it if you had an inch of milk in the bottom of the bottle you wouldn't throw it away or the last few slices of bread.

Everything gets used up if at all possible in my house and it means I can have a nice fortnight's holiday with my family once a year, and I want for nothing and can live fairly comfortably.Today I am grating some orange peel to use in an orange drizzle cake this afternoon
:)every little helps

I'm glad I'm not the only one keeping track of when I start things like shampoo, toothpaste and others. My tactic is to write on bottles, or the label of bottles. I would have stated, had anyone asked, that I use one 90ml tube of toothpaste per month but have discovered to my surprise that it is every two months that I need a new tube.

As a singleton, I get good use out of things like washing up liquid, too. I now favour the Magnum brand from Aldee, which wins awards for quality and is cheaper than the famous made-from-the-juice-of-real-fairies one. Plus the eucalyptus smells lovely.

I have decanted the last of the washing powder into a plastic milk bottle, from the plastic tub where it normally lives, as it was getting awkward to scrape out. I don't think I bought washing powder at all in 2014 but I do buy the F0rmil one from Liddly, not the occasional super-sized one but the regular large one, think it is 6.5 kg? and that is more than a year's worth. When I restock, I shall carefully note the start date and have better record keeping. I reckon I have about another 6 weeks' worth of washes to use up.

It's worth knowing that detergents, both powder and liquid, lose their potency over time, so not sensible to stockpile if this will mean the items will be a couple of years old before you get around to using them.

Bar soap keeps very nicely and I'm using some L*x which I bought in unopened packets from a chazzer, think by the wrapper they were probably sold in the 1980s. Perfectly good and excellent value for 30p per big fat bar. When soap gets too small and fiddly to use, I put the slivers into one of those scratch shower mits and use them up like that; not an iota is wasted that way.

Just a quickie! I started putting the date on the butter tubs to see how long it lasted DH & I (500gms about a month for the two of us plus occasional hot x buns for DGS!) Now I've started to do it on other things too - does give a better idea for budgeting