Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2017

Welcome to all the newbies coming out of lurkdom, good to have you join us.

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Lynplatinum: No matter what daft question I had

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[FONT=&quot]No question’s daft if you don’t know the answer and you know what they say: if you don’t ask, you don’t get – so ask away.[/FONT]

I used the left-over lamb from the weekend to make a curry + rice for last night’s dinner and jolly nice it was too. Tonight it’s a gammon steak from the freezer with broccoli, potatoes and cheese sauce.

This morning the parcel courier arrived with the children’s books that I ordered at the weekend (for £1 each they’re really great) so they’ve gone in my “pressie” box in the spare bedroom and I’ve noted them down in my “gift” book along with the recipients’ names so I don’t duplicate throughout the year.

Make do: Have sorted another food cupboard (two done, two to go) and found a few more items for the “use-up” tray at the back of the worktop. So far, I’ve got 4 cup soups (will do for lunchtimes), a can of black-eye beans (maybe in a casserole?), some porridge oats (a couple of breakfasts) and an unopened jar of peanut butter. No idea why that last one is there as we’re not that keen on it. But I’ve found a recipe for peanut butter cookies, so making those when the biscuit jar is empty will use some of it up. The rest will probably go in a satay sauce for tomorrow’s stir-fry. I also found a few mango & cinnamon teabags but tbh they weren’t very nice and had gone past the BBE date, so I didn’t feel too guilty at binning them.

Minimise: I’ve got two bags of stuff ready to go to CS (three paperbacks, some mismatched spoons from cutlery drawer, an assortment of plastic plant pots that I don’t want any more and a couple of cross-stitch charts that I won’t use; they were free with a magazine and are really nice but are a bit too complicated for me; no doubt some talented cross-stitcher will be able to make use of them. I don’t really need any grocery shopping just yet so I’m hoping to take the bags on Friday (depending on the weather) when I can call in the local C/op store on my way back for milk, plus any YS items they might have. I might have to wear blinkers when I go in the CS though!

Quite a few mentions of Xmas sweeties and choccies here; we got quite a lot too but luckily DH doesn’t have a sweet tooth and I can take them or leave them – as long as they’re not in sight of course, so they’re in the sideboard drawer.

Lynplatinum: Last year I re-purposed a flower vase that now sits on the worktop next to the cooker filled with larger cutlery items (like potato masher, slotted spoon, ladle, whisk etc) that now don’t take up all the room in the drawer.

117pauline’s comment about keeping a record of all spends really concentrates the mind; I did this last year and was really surprised to see where the money was going. :eek: Percy Purse stays closed much better now.

No mending at the mo, but I'm sure I'll find some.

That’s all for now fellow MMMers, keep warm and well. :wave:

Have been looking after my poorly 2yr old GS this week so most of my plans have gone out of the window!! But am determined to minimise my tupperware cupboard today .. so much stuff in there and only a tiny proportion ever used .. I need the space so some has got to go!
Yeah Friday .. have a good day all. X

Athome1 - I second your yeah Friday comment!


Have spent the week inventorying the cupboards, fridge and freezer and making a list of what we already have against what we need. Created a "want" shopping list and then took off everything that wasn't needed and this will be the shopping we get tonight from L!dl. Determined to keep the spend down to a minimum this month and get savings up. Got little one to make a savings graph so everytime we get £5 she gets to colour one in, keeps her focused on the goal too.
Weekend will be spent minimising dust and dirt, mending the new to me freezer by swapping the handle on the door so that it opens the way that suits my kitchen and going out for bike rides and walks -weather permitting so that we can minimise ourselves a bit too!


Have a good day x

We had dinner from bits and pieces in the fridge, emptying it of perishable stuff before we go away for the weekend.

I have mended one pair of dd's almost-sheer tights, one pair of dd's leggings, one pair of dd's winter tights, a glove, a skirt, two towels. One towel I carefully tucked the unravelling side by folding it double and then sewing it (by hand - I can't get my sewing maching to work, and can't find the manual); for the second one I didn't bother and just cut of the unravelling bit - it seems to have done the trick

Currently (in between work tasks) making a list of things to take to hometown: cans of ravioli my parents bought us as 'emergency meals'. We hate the stuff, so they can have it back . Rags, because they have a proper ragging collection over there; warm bedding and a proper pillow, because I don't trust sis-in-law to have bedding that is warm and comfy enough. Dd1 is staying at my parents', dh/dd2/I are staying at sis-in-law, because dd1 wanted some time alone with her grandparents, and everyone lives in the same town .

Hi all, I hope it’s warmer where you are than it is here in Yorkshire; it’s blooming freezing and it’s maximising rather than minimising our gas bill! _pale_

Littlefrugalcottage – Welcome, you’re in the right place to pick up tips on minimising. When it comes to getting rid of the chaos, I’d recommend doing a little/often and giving yourself a pat on the back for what you have done, rather than thinking about what you still need to do. And just think, eventually you’ll have a very individual house with your “new to you” furniture!

Continuing to minimise food. Thursday was a “kitchen” day; started by prepping an assortment of fridge veggies to go with two small chicken thighs (from freezer) for a stir-fry & noodle dinner.

Also made a large sc batch of bolognaise-style sauce; I added left-over gammon from Wed’s dinner chopped up small (I’m a kind of “throw it all in” gal) – enough for 3 meals, now all portioned up and put in freezer. I like to have a supply of hm ready meals for days when the fridge is nearly empty/I’m short on time/don’t feel like cooking.

Made 4 individual trifles; replaced trifle sponges with cherry cake that had gone a bit dry plus a store cupboard tin of fruit salad, lime jelly and ½ packet of instant custard. We had one each after the stir-fry topped with cream left from the weekend’s apple pie and the other two will do for Saturday with a scoop of ice cream.

Today’s lunch was crackers to finish the last of the cheese spread, followed by grapes that needed using before they go too wrinkly. And tonight’s dinner is our weekly treat of a fish shop fish with mushy peas. The fish shop peas cost 60p per portion but I do my own; a box that makes 4 portions only costs 55p so it’s a no-brainer. And, once cooked, they freeze well too.

Didn’t make it to the CS today (a long, uphill walk and far too cold) so made do with local shops for milk.

When I got home I minimised the dust and fluff in the bedrooms and mopped the toilet and bathroom floors.

This weekend I’m going to (a) make a meal plan for next week and (b) begin sewing up the hooded jackets that I knitted for the 3 DGSs. I love the knitting part but am not keen on the sewing up bit; still, they need to be done for their birthdays in 3 weeks’ time.

Have a good weekend all. :wave: