Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

good_advice

A late good morning make do, mend and minimizers.:wave:
Welcome to the new people.

The last Friday of the month. I see the shops are saying it is pay day weekend. Always hopeful for our cash :eek:

4th May is May bank holiday and again on 25th May.
We will be having a staycation
(love these new invented words).

My latest addition is grouping things together, all of a kind in one place. A designated spot, instead of things like books being scattered all over the house.
Not that I have many books. I counted them yesterday. About 50 in total including book maps, cooking, crafts and a few novels.
Times have changed! I now love my kindle and iPad mini.

Just had the post delivered.Collected it and stood by the bins in the kitchen by habit.
Anyone hopefulness of cash with mags or leaflets goes south.
Yes, I have joined the no trash postal and phone options :rotfl:
The only useful item is from the BBC countryfile - grow wild seeds. Sponsored by the lottery fund and Kew.

Choir time again. Ihave the bathroom and some ironing to do.

Have a great money saving day:A

iris

JackieO wrote: »

Good morning everyone,finally found the forum looking normal again The new look one is just not my cup of tea,If it changes completely I shall move on somewhere else. Its far to white and glary for one thing and not very accessable to find things .I have been a member on here for 11 years and would be sorry to leave, but Hey ho who am I to argue with 'progress'

Just in case it does become permanant I would like to thank all the kind people over the years who have been along for the ride.Smashing recipes and tips and lots of common sense plus a few giggles to boot I have met some great people whom I would perhaps not have ever met (terrific meet in Blackpool a few years ago :):)
Anyway while I'm here ,today I am off to my U3A sociology class and we will be chewing the fat about class and education shoul be interesting stuff.NSD today as the cupboards are still full to bursting:)
Yesterday I made a vat of carrot and coriander soup and now have three large pots in the fridge These will do for the rest of the week for lunches /starter for dinner etc.I shall shortly go mining into my freezer to find something for tonights dinner.Freezer roulette I think I must remember to mark on the stuff I squeeze in there
Hope you all have a nice day
Cheers chums and fellow frugallers
JackieO xxx

If you want the 'old' version, just click on User CP near the top of the page and this brings up Your Control Panel on the left hand side. Just scroll to the bottom and click on Manage Version and then 'old version'.
HTH

IrisViolet

Afternoon all.
Another lovely day, washing drying outside making me very happy. Wonder how much electricity I can save if I only use the tumble when I absolutely have to. I'm on a meter (renting and can't change it) and have watched the Metre before and think the tumble costs me around 40-50p a go. Must look again next time
I use it.

Been using stuff up. Had two picnics this week and days in thwnpark with friends and kids, so nice to be able to do that again. Yesterday though we ran out of water! I took loads but clearly didn't anticipate needing extra it was so much warmer than it has been and kids so thirsty from running around. I had to buy a bottle in the cafe and it was 1.50!! That's shocking isn't it?!
So I came home and had a brainwave. I've took two empty drinks bottles (from cordials) and filled with water and frozen, I will use these in cool bag from.now on wrapped in a towel. I can get them out when we settle in the park and by the time our reusable bottles are out of water we should have two full bottle of extra water, plus a damp towel for mucky kids.

Daughter asked yesterday for a headband for ballet, was going to buy her one but for an hour of my time this morning I have crocheted a lovely simple headband in pink.
Think I will do a few diff colours as she's always upset with hair in her face but finds having it tied up uncomfortable so a headband may be the answer. We have tried normal ones in the past but she hates how the hard bit digs behind her ears, the crocheted ones are super comfy, winner. Might try a couple on sewing machine with fabric too.

Loving my drawstring bags for the washing, making it so much easier to keep on top of.
Also enjoying the house so much more since I've been minimisin for some reason I don't feel bogged down with housework anymore.
Also managed to clear a drawer for new baby by minimising our stuff. No need to buy extra storage


Hope everyone has a lovely day.

vulpix

Phew,I have had to come indoors as it's so hot.I have just cut the lawn as it may rain later,and my garden could do with it.We haven't had much rain here in the Peak District since it snowed a few weeks ago,forecast is possibility of snow tonight!?
My youngest daughter brought a sun flower home from school yesterday,I put the pot in the garden and its gone.The plant not the pot,tasty snack for something no doubt.
I have been awake since 3:30 and am feeling delicate now,I had great plans of finishing stripping the stairs but some catch up TV will be all I can muster today.
I have also spent yet another hour on trying to pin the back on the patchwork.Trouble is the actual work isn't square so it is taking such a long time to get it right.Might as well get it right after all these years.My eldest daughter has claimed it and asked me to finish it before I die!haha I was planning on never finishing it to be honest but a couple of days hand sewing should see it right.Then it will be off the premises.I am constantly trying to reduce our "stuff"as we hope to move to a smaller house this year.
I love the recipes but have a restricted diet at the moment,having my gall bladder out next week,first port of call will be for fish, chips and peas from the chippy.
I am looking forward to getting to know you all.Vx

Prinzessilein

Hello all!


I have spent a quiet afternoon sewing up some knitting I have finished.


I WAS going to bake some bread, but Mum said she was going to bake some seeded baguettes so I accepted a couple of them - won't need to bake for a day or so now!


I have a postal vote, so will get that ready to go to the post tomorrow. ...it's not been such an easy decision this election...no one party really ticks all the boxes I want!...whilst I am out I might goto the charity shops too...look for any old girls' school stories (I collect them!) ...and also one of the shops does oddments of wool....rarely do you get enough to make an adult garment, but they can be good for bags and puppets and things like that.


Sausage, tomato and barley soup tonight...still eating my eway through the freezer!

vhalla1478

Hello All,

Jan, your thanks made me smile - you're very welcome. I needed a smile; DB still not 100% better so it's touch and go whether he comes over as he doesn't want to infect us all, I won't know until tomorrow. I love it that he's so caring of us, but will still be gutted if he can't make it as he has to go to Krumlov next week for (hopefully) the last gasp of this prolonged epic. I try not to grumble - I don't live in Libya or Syria - or have to wonder where I'm going to sleep tonight.

DDin law brought me some cake round today - lemon drizzle, but she's a bit cagey about giving her recipes out - I'll have to work on that. And how is this for being frugal, when I went round yesterday I noticed there were a couple of good-sized potatoes on the ground - I picked them up thinking they had dropped out of her shopping, but not at all, she had thrown them away because they were just starting to sprout. I had them as accompanying chips for my fish, chip and mushy pea tea.

Something else I've been thinking about today - all the articles about capsule wardrobes which purport to explain how you can get 100 plus outfits out of co-ordinating clothing. The objection to that is how many of us can afford, or even want to go out and buy a whole new set of outfits? My solution is when I have bought something new I leave the tags on, go through the wardrobe and challenge myself to find at least five items that I can wear it with; if it doesn't pass the test it gets returned. My only (bought) acquisition this year is a pair of silky, smoke blue summer trousers and I found ten items to wear with it in my wardrobe; thank goodness for that, I loved them so much I'd have to go out and find five matching items! Actually it wouldn't be difficult as 90% of my shopping is done in one shop where they have an amazing choice, including shoes, handbags, scarves, belts, you can take all the time in the world and they have super staff and excellent coffee - I've been shopping there on and off since 1985. My idea of a perfect shop.

Right, a cup of coffee is in order; I'll try and find another nice recipe later - sorry, Jan!

Viv xx

VJsmum

Ooh is that Ceske Krumlov? I have been there - is it still as lovely and untouched as it wwas when I went in 1994?

vhalla1478

Yes, it is.,VJsmum, one of my most favourite places in the whole world (well, the bits I've seen) It's great someone in the UK knows about it, not many English people seem to. My DB has a house there. He had two but one of them has been subject to a dispute with his deceased partner's sons, so he's going to have to take money in lieu. Pleased you loved it so much - if anyone asks me about it I'm like a travel advert. Did you go to the gypsy tavern when you were there?

Viv xx

meritaten

my version of a 'capsule wardrobe' is to have most skirts/trousers in black, black shoes and handbags - then I can buy different coloured tops/cardis.I do have the odd 'colour' skirt or trousers, but that is usually if bought together for an 'occasion'. you don't have to buy it all at once either - just one black skirt and one pair of good trousers will start it off and you can add items as you can afford them. OH and 'natural leather' shoes go with everything!

VJsmum

Erm. I don't know - is it one of those "id I had I would know" things? We were staying in Budewicze (great beer ;-) ) and only went for the day. I am quite the advert for it also. It's like Brigadoon