Preparing for Winter V

Cherryfudge

What a nice surprise @ET22 ! Those meats will make a big difference. Are you in a position to combine it with Olio? I know not everyone is (we aren't, apart from the !celand reductions that are advertised there) but some people seem to do very well from it and of course it saves food waste.

ET22

@Cherryfudge , I did look at Olio once but didn't see anywhere I could get to. I think I will try again.

MrsCD

@Cheapskate sorry to hear about your troubles, but I remember you from years back, too. I know you are good at this and you've helped others in the past, so I am confident you can get things on the right track again. I don't post often but I've been encouraged by the folks here, and living in County Durham I know how cold the winters can be, so you'll be busy with all the preps and sewing, knitting/crocheting! Hope daughter enjoys her new school. 😊

PipneyJane

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82053355#Comment_82053355

@Laura_Elsewhere that jacket is such a clever idea! I look forward to seeing the results.

Welcome back @Cheapskate. How long has it been? So sorry to hear about your divorce, etc. Don’t worry too much about using up canned goods for the sake of it. Their best-before dates are a total con. Tinned food will keep for decades and it’s easy to see when a can is blown - they really do puff up.

Although I have been reasonably productive today, I am feeling quite frustrated by housekeeping and the mess that is around me. I want to sew, but there are too many things in the way between me and my sewing machine, dress-form, etc. I know I joke that I have the “skill” of being able to put a pen down on an empty desk at work, turn around and it’ll immediately look like a bomb has hit it. Well, our house is the same. I try to put things away and for everything to have a home but, right now, there are too many things that don’t have a place. It’s not just my stuff; quite a bit belongs to my DH.

I hereby resolve to doing 30 minutes tidying a day, starting now.

• Pip

Cheapskate

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82058420#Comment_82058420

Thanks, lovely, I certainly will be crocheting cos Yorkshire can be parky as well!

A xo

Cheapskate

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82058536#Comment_82058536

Thanks, @PipneyJane, been a while, I must admit!!

Divorce needed to happen, think it should have been done before but hey ho, need to crack on with a much reduced income - back to almost the level I was at when we were young and very poor, except I'm now in my late fifties. Didn't expect to be here but can't afford to feel sorry for myself.

Looking at various ways of increasing my income whilst reducing outgoings simultaneously, not an easy task as we all know!

Need to organise a chimney sweep and get the boiler serviced, and next week I'm rounding up all the yarn in the house to crochet some new blankets for the house and car. Also want to make some curtains for all the external doors, they're all well-insulated but still have lots of cold spots and draughts that need seeing to before then.

Also have a lot of dejunking to do, car is full for the charity shop tomorrow, got a few things to list somewhere to sell, and then do another stocktake later in the week to see where we are.

A xo

Laura_Elsewhere

@PipneyJane - now that our holiday and the worst heat is over, I have told Mr E that we will shortly be seriously tackling the sitting-room with a deadline of September 30th, because I know we've made progress but I refuse to have another autumn/winter surrounded by piles of unsorted boxes. I want to enjoy a lovely sitting-room. We've clawed it to "useable" but I want more!! :)

And autumn is such a wonderful time to look forward to, with planning a room's clearing- the trees outside turning colour, starting to close and open the heavy velvet curtains, wanting to be able to sit at the table to eat hot lunches together- just all those lovely cosy things!

VintageHistorian

If anyone has very small people to buy for, Asda have a load of wellies reduced, I saw pairs for toddlers for £4.50 in my local one.

annieb64

Our craft group has already built up a stock of lap blankets to be given out when the weather turns colder.Our oldest knitter is 96 .Her carer collects the yarn and brings back the finished blankets.

i'm making fingerless gloves- trying to reduce my yarn stash