PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Hello Forumites! However well-intentioned, for the safety of other users we ask that you refrain from seeking or offering medical advice. This includes recommendations for medicines, procedures or over-the-counter remedies. Posts or threads found to be in breach of this rule will be removed.
We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

1145146148150151491

Comments

  • silvasava
    silvasava Posts: 4,433 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Vhalla - I always repot my SM herbs. Basil needs quite a large pot & you can water from the top - it does need plenty of water - never found you could over water!
    Such a gorgeous spring day today & I spent it in overalls, gloves, hat & facemask sanding the bottom of the boat with DH - if the weather stays dry it will be finished this weekend. DS1 is giving a hand tomorrow.
    Cheerful - love the Cosmos- haven't had chance to do any of my seeds yet. I've just got a few spuds chatting & that's all so far.
    Think Matt in the Sewing Bee has really improved but I think the final could surprise us :)
    Small victories - sometimes they are all you can hope for but sometimes they are all you need - be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle
  • fuddle
    fuddle Posts: 6,823 Forumite
    I have never had a lovely corned beef hash and now I can't face it as an adult.

    My mam would make it often. Mushed corned beef in hot water with hard potatoes and mostly onions. :eek:
  • Prinzessilein
    Prinzessilein Posts: 3,257 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    A good day today!


    I resisted the urge to make cheesecake!!!!


    Also...I am 'in credit' today.....piggy bank yielded 2 bags of 10p, 1 each of 5p and 2p...so in total...£16!!!!!!....this paid for a few items at the local shop...milk for the weekend and some veggies to go with the chicken on Sunday...a packet of cream crackers and some satsumas a s a treat....and I still had £10 and change to put in my purse! (also I had almost a pound of 1ps...they have been nagged with a note telling me how many I need to complete the £1)....it has been a LONG time since piggy was last opened - but it is always a pleasant surprise to see how much he holds!


    The piggy bank is where I empty all my loose change from my purse....it gets emptied whenever it gets heavy.....When I was young I remember Mum always had 2 piggy banks...and they were only opened once a year at the beginning of December and generally yielded enough to buy the Christmas meat!
  • HOWMUCH
    HOWMUCH Posts: 1,296 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Well my daughter has sorted some clothes out that she no longer wants, I've told her to let me have alook at the bags first cos of the fabrics to see if I can do anything with them. I want to make some flag banners for decoration. Had a busy week hubby went for his pre op assessment so we are just awaiting a date now. I've booked another Monday to Friday holiday website price is £212 I got it on Breakfree for £96.40 more than I normally pay but it is at the end of June, so we should be able to be on the beach every day at some point with DGS. I'm going to turn one of the YS goat cheese portions in a tart with some carmelised onions for Dinner tomorrow with some lovely salad.
    I too think it may be Neil to win sewing bee
    Why pay full price when you may get it YS ;)
  • vhalla1478
    vhalla1478 Posts: 490 Forumite
    edited 6 March 2015 at 9:29PM
    Evening All,

    Thank you for the info about the basil, silvasava, I'll certainly take your advice and repot the next lot from the supermarket. I also wondered if I had them in a draught/or it was too cold - my kitchen opens up to the stairs (no heating there) and the storage heater in the kitchen is pathetic.

    I do apologise if I've tempted anyone off their diets or their Lenten denials; here is a nice, sober recipe for salsa verde. I just love this with grilled fish. If you haven't made it before, it only keeps for about a day.

    Salsa Verde serves 8

    1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled, small handful of capers, small handful of pickled gherkins (the ones in sweet vinegar), 6 anchovy fillets, 2 large handfuls flat leaf parsley, bunch of fresh basil, handful fresh mint, tbsp. Dijon mustard, 3tbsp red wine vinegar, 8 tbsp. good olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper.

    Finely chop all the ingredients. Put this mixture into a bowl and add the mustard and red wine vinegar. Slowly stir in the olive oil and add black pepper and salt to taste.

    Talking of corned beef hash - I ate the remainder for supper, so much for my good resolution of leaving the rest for lunch tomorrow!

    Have a good evening, Folks.

    Viv xx
  • maryb
    maryb Posts: 4,690 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I've been reading a blog called Goodbye Valentino where she decides to swear off buying clothes and make anything new she want. It shows that making do and minimising is all relative:eek: She still spends about ten times as much as I do in a year (ok 20 times) but it's quite inspiring all the same
    It doesn't matter if you are a glass half full or half empty sort of person. Keep it topped up! Cheers!
  • Lynplatinum
    Lynplatinum Posts: 939 Forumite
    Evening All

    Whoops - no its now morning - where does time go to reading this thread - I only read one other and I think 'oooh I ll have a qucik little read before bed time' and then suddenly its stupid o'clock in the morning!! how do people find time to be bored!! Love the chat, hints and support on here!!

    Prinzessilein - 'I can resist anything except temptation' said Oscar Wilde - so you are in elite company :-)

    Howmuch - hope things go well for you OH

    Viv - love Salsa Verde but Id kinda forgotten about it - thanks for the reminder!! :T

    NSD for me today - its usually my 'empty out the shrapnel and put in the new note in the purse' day for me but I still have a £5 in there!!! I will still empty the coin tho I think and put in a new note £10. Will put the coin in y Century Saver and small pot to save them.

    Since joining this thread my spends have gone down amazingly - and friends thought I was economical before now!!LOL

    Off to Birmingham tomorrow for a meeting - have to pay out for initial train fare but then it is reimbursed but it usually takes a while!! Luckily - thanks to you folk I have a buffer in my current account! It also involves lunch out but I shall choose for my figure and my bank account and it will come out of my 'entertainment' budget. In theory :eek:
    Have fun MM&Ming tomorrow folks!
    Aim for Sept 17: 20/30 days to be NSDs :cool: NSDs July 23/31 (aim 22) :j
    NSDs 2015:185/330 (allowing for hols etc)
    LBM: started Jan 2012 - still learning!
    Life gives us only lessons and gifts - learn the lesson and it becomes a gift.' from the Bohdavista :j
  • kittym
    kittym Posts: 47 Forumite
    Mornin all.
    Just caught up on posts. You made me chuckle prinzessilein, some things are just toooo good to resist!!!
    Going to make corned beef pies today so many thanks for the hash recipe as I never know what to do with the other half of corned beef apart from freeze it for next lot of pies. That's my tea taken care of for tonight.
    It has been blowing a gale here for the last 2 days and today is no better. My rubbish bins have took off down the estate. Will have to rescue later.
    Must dash as I can smell the bacon burning and last time that happened I set off the fire alarms in the bungalow and that results in the wardens on the intercom shouting at you for a response, fire alarms screaming at you, and fire brigade coming and telling you they can't help with your terrible cooking (cheek) but don't want to waste their time.

    Have a super day. xxx
  • vhalla1478
    vhalla1478 Posts: 490 Forumite
    edited 7 March 2015 at 10:18AM
    Good Morning, Everyone,

    Up late this morning (why do I feel guilty about still being in my dressing gown, cup of coffee in hand - must be shades of my mother who was always up early and immaculately dressed) as around 2.45am my smoke alarm went off. In my fuddled, sleepy state I thought it was a text massage and when I realised it wasn't, panic set in. It went off after 30 seconds or so but I roamed the house for the next hour frightened that there was a fire somewhere. It took ages to go to sleep again and I'm still puzzled what it could be; will have to consult DS later today.

    I must go and sort the bedding out in a minute with a view to putting it on the line later; there's a gale howling outside, just as it did last night. Where is this wonderful warm day we've been promised?

    In anticipation of warmer days I might have a day off from sewing and start looking through my spring/summer wardrobe and see if I need anything else for summer. I don't buy much summer stuff; even when I had plenty of money I was the same, on the grounds that in this country you don't wear it for long enough. When I went to California the other year I took along some 'glam' frocks, and what did I wear for a month - even in expensive restaurants? Jeans and walking/climbing boots - nobody dressed up except in San Francisco - I'd obviously seen too many Oscar ceremonies and had delusions of grandeur. And my hair! I have loads of hair, but it ballooned to twice its normal size as I was by the ocean.

    I'll report back on my wardrobe foray - someone mentioned moths and the devastation they cause a few days ago, that's one of the reasons for going through my wardrobe. I take everything out, give the wardrobe a good wipe down, and have a minute inspection for the little horrors. I'll also try on summer stuff; let's see if my clothes have mysteriously shrunk over the last few months, aka putting on weight!

    Have a good day, All.

    Viv xx
  • Rose_Wood
    Rose_Wood Posts: 867 Forumite
    edited 7 March 2015 at 12:27PM
    Afternoon Everyone

    I'm back on the make do and mend trail with a vengeance after feeling run down and tired for a while. I had a really long sleep last night and feel much better this morning.

    So far I have:

    Cut off the cuffs of my white fleece dressing gown which had got a bit nasty as I tend to do all sorts when I first get up and they were a bit long for me and edged them in pale pink wide ribbon that came wrapped round a towel bale or something similar that I had in my stash.

    Made 9 birthday cards - upcycled from a large box of old ones my Mother gave me that I have been chopping up and remaking

    Made apple crumbles - one for lunch and a tiny one to take round to Mother's from some of the apples we picked last Autumn and stored in the garden shed wrapped in newspaper.

    Made carrot soup from the remainder of a bag of reduced carrots, a couple of onions from a sack we bought reduced a while ago and homemade chicken stock made from last Sundays meal.

    Made 4 jars of lemon curd made from a bag of reduced lemons, our own eggs and some of the butter I made from the reduced double cream I bought last week.

    Cooked and mashed up all the apple and carrot peelings to stir into the hens food this evening.

    I've also put all the squeezed lemon carcases in the combi oven and heated them and wiped down the oven with them so that it is easier to clean - which is my next job.

    DH is out this morning and not due back till 2 so we are having a late cooked lunch so that we can eat together before I go off to work at 5pm so I've still got an hour or so to find something else to get on with - I wonder what I shall do?

    Rose
    Weight Loss Challenge 5/7/19 10st 6lbs
    Target 8st 12lbs

    Daily Steps Challenge 16,000
    Average daily steps: January 19,317, February 19,449, March 20,330, April 22,026, May 20,412 June 15,690
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 346.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 251.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 451.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 238.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 614.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 174.7K Life & Family
  • 251.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.