Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

cheerfulness4

Absolutely exhausted tonight so just going to post my grocery spends for the day.

DAY 16

Money Spent Today - £10.69 Vouchers Spent - £0
Money Spent in Total - £46.86 Vouchers Spent in Total - £5
Money left in purse - £1.14 - Float left- £0/£15
Jan non-foods left- £6.17/£15

Managed to get 20x cooked cocktail sausages @9p, dolcelatte type cheese @ 9p, large bag mixed salad leaves @ 25p plus a few bits we were running out of.
Sugar puffs @ £1.62 (morries offer), 3x milk @ £3, 1kg clover @ £2, 2x 4pk cheese & onion baps @ £1.50 (DH's work lunches), tin potatoes @ 15p, tin carrots @ 18p, 3x giant yorkies @ £1, 3x pks savers biscuits @ 84p and from the non-foods budget 1xpk wet wipes @ 46p.

The tinned veg and ready bought yorkies are intended to help out on a really tough day when I won't have time to cook and am going to make absolutely sure a takeaway doesn't get bought.
It was also a little bit of what we fancy. Nothing wrong with that.

More seeds are going to be sown tomorrow and a new project is going to be started. Can't wait! :j:j

HOWMUCH

Good evening everyone, took the trouser's back to my daughter's and it was mum can you stitche the button tighter on my new black monsoon trouser's before they come off and I loose them. I think she's only just bought them and the buttons are loose. Please are commenting on the snood I did for DGS for nice it looks and with his matching hat it he does look cute. I think it will be a busy weekend. So it will be shopping about 7pm on Monday and YS searching.

loopy12

well i had a really good clear out and got 3 bags of stuff off to the charity shop in town. The downside was that the one next door is closing down and was having a sale. I spent £4 and bought 2 tops, 4 books and a peter rabbit plate i will clean upi for my nephews baptism in a few months. The tops were for DD who has suddenly grown but looked in her trousers last night as she said they was hurting her and i will have to make a pair as they were age 2 and she has just turned 4! Talk about making them last! Thankfully i have a substanitial stock of craft things/ fabric and wool - i guess you can see my weeknesses! I have had a look and pinterest and will make her a fleecey play trousers for the ties when we are out in the woods, allotment or outside. I also saved a load of my old jeans and am going to see if i can make her a pair of denim trousers but that will take a bit of time i think.

I was thinking about the person who mentioned raggy ties and i had a lightbulb moment. My gran was always teased by the family for this but she had a thing about old tights. When they had no life left in them she would cut them up into little ties - used in the garden for tying up plants, in the kitchen for tying tops of bags. She would also make longer ties and use the to tie up the newspapers until she had enough to get out to the recycle bin. So useful.

Dad has got her thrifty habbits and get my children to collect pincones when we go out for a walk. He drys them and uses them to start the fire - if it is tough to light he puts a bit of an old candle wax on the the pine cone speed it up. Lets face it eeryone has a useless bit of wax from a spend candle.

I also picked up some newspapers from my parents house today and made some little eco friendly plant pots for the seeds. i got the idea from here:
instructables How-to-make-organic-planting-pots-using-old-newspaper

I had forgotten about the darning mushroom it was our favourite things to play with at my other Grans house. I wonder what happened to it?

Today:
i will be mininising my paperwork!
Meal planning and then to make myself feel better i think i'll go my my 'happy place' and use up those black bananas and bake Mary berrys all in one banana loaf.
I am also going to get the cushions finished before i cut DD tousers out.

Right ... no more procrastinating
i hope you all have productive days today.

silvasava

Measured all the boat seat & estimated I'd need about 15 yards of material - need to measure how much I've got in my curtains as I've discovered that there's a bit of fade on one edge BUT they are 3 widths wide not 2 as I thought!!
Need to clear the sitting room to be able to lay out enough to see where I am - think its going to be a bit of a marathon & just hope I can manage to squeeze the curtains far enough
Did some baking yesterday & made a Dutch Apple cake with some of the glut of apples in my freezer - was OK but thought the recipe was overcomplicated as I could have used some thing much simpler & achieved the same result. I do like to try a new recipe at least once a month - DH has the final say as to whether its a 'keeper' haha (I am known to 'tweak' somewhat)
Have a good weekend everyone

good_advice

Morning make do and mend, minimizers
Always trying to make do here before splashing the cash:rotfl:

Well! the latest is a microwave.
Our Sanyo microwave and grill has simply stopped heating up after many years good service.

Lucky for us a Argos basic, white cooksworth came our way in 2014 as it did not suit the buyers colour scheme.
Basic is fine for the occasional heated up food or milk for a hot chocolate. We never did use the grill function on our old microwave.

Making do - washed x2 old bath towels this morning on a quick wash. These are towels to dry the dog after her walk.
Now hanging up from those FREE trouser coat hangers to dry.
May put them on the line in a while as the early morning frost is lifting. Def. NO tumble dryer use.

Electric and gas used yesterday. Electric £1 and gas CH and HW for 4 hours was £2.12.
I have a new toy. A loop system energy monitor.

I have started a new sewing project. A promised, helpful gift.
Extended family were chatting @ Christmas about those Santa sacks with childs name on.
Well! I said I could make one without splashing the cash of about £10.
I started the project yesterday with some pink recycled material. Material from an duvet cover/sheets.
First time of trying to embroider a name on with a embroidery stitch on my sewing machine.

Making do - I had a freebie sample of x2 Huggies nappies yesterday from Postie. Will pass on to the girl grandbaby (pink nappies). Will save a few pennies.

Remember - say something nice and keep smiling

cheerfulness4

Loopy - I love that idea with the strips of tights for garden ties! Mum saved me some of hers before when I was making draught excluders, as linings for the filling. Also to store my flower pots down the legs to stop spiders getting in them over winter. (after repairing those holes).

I remember at school my arts teacher getting us to cut them in strips and then they were knitting into bags with other coloured strips, but your idea is genius. Mum will love it as she hates waste.:T

Interesting to hear what little projects (or large in Silvasaver's case!) we're all getting on with.
Here's my next one.

I shall have to be a little patient as I realised I didn't have the right size circular needles so have had to order some with some paypal money we had from a OnePoll payment. :T

This will be a real challenge as it will be my first venture into circular knitting but I can't wait! Give it a week and I'll be chuntering about the stupid pattern. :rotfl:

Until then I shall have to keep myself busy with revamping my ironing board. Its so so old but I love it, its not too heavy and I couldn't get on with a modern one that I rehomed with my eldest son.
Its the old hardboard type and despite knowing the mesh ones are better for steaming, I like this one.
I shall give her legs a paint up if I can find the paint and I'm doing away with the base plate. I've a new cover waiting to go on. DH thinks he's doing it but he's on nights and I'm itching to get started. We shall see.

Effyb4

At the moment I am crocheting a beanie hat for DS1. I will crochet a skull motif to go on the front. It is black, grey and white striped, using up left over dk wool. I will try and post a photo when I have finished it.

bexster1975

Hi all

Have just posted this on the not buying it thread but it seemed suitable for here too.

I have just downloaded this from Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crochet-Complete-Comprehensive-Guide-Crocheting-ebook/dp/B00S1GG2Q6/ref=zg_bs_341689031_f_38

Complete set of three books downloaded to kindle ( or tablet) for free! I dont know how to crotchet so thought this would be a good start. The individual books ( that you gave to pay for) have good reviews.

Bexster

IrisViolet

I think this is the beat thread I could have found this year, its really making me think.
Had to go aldi this morning, did a quick meal plan for until Tuesday when DH gets paid. Spent £18, and after spending £20 earlier in the week I think my budget of £50 PW going forward is e tirely doable as long as I keep planning around my current stocks and using what we already have instead of wasting things. We used to spend way more that this per week and have a lot of waste, we have had literally no waste since Xmas now except the veg peelings in the compost, I normally throw loads of food a way, so shameful.
I have been on make do and mend, I've made my kids fingerless gloves and cowls from my wool stash, I made a star bunting for over my mirror, I've granny squared with leftovers, I got a free table of a friend after I mentioned id be looking in charity shops she offered one ! I have decoupaged my sons side table in an old ripped road map that was gonna end up in recycling, he loves it. I've decluttered a huge barbie dolls house my daughter rarely plays with to my mums house where she has a playroom for the grandkids, daughter is happy to play with it there and now has lots more room in bedroom. I also wanted some kind of unit for her room to organise her toys a little then remembered an old coffee table in garage, so that's now against wall in her room with her sylvanians along the top and other toys stored on shelf under it. I also wanted something to hide shoes and scarf's etc in hallway and remembered a small chest of drawers in garage, painted with leftover Annie Sloan it looks great.
I'm so pleased because I think without this thread I wouldn't have thought how I could make do in all these ways and would have definitely spent more money. Things are changing.
I have lots of crochet projects lined up, im going to make kids hats as they have grown out of current ones, going to use up wool i have and also unravel the ither ones, my son has one crocheted like a minion but apparently its embarassing now and daughter doenst want it becaus eits not pink........
I also have a big chunky hooded cowl I never wear as I wear baby in sling and its not practical, so gonna unravel that and make my four year old one of those katniss jumpers. Fingers crossed.
Also looking out fir second hand sewing machine.
Hope everyone is having a lovely relaxed productive Saturday xx

cheerfulness4

Ohh I'd love to see a piccie when you're done, effy.


I am so envious of all you that can crochet at pattern. Still, by the end of the year I'm going to make sure that's me.


Getting sidetracked today because I've not got my chilli seeds sown yet. I had been browsing the Konmari thread and spotted someone on youtube that is so addictive with her organising and yet not obsessive either. She's pretty balanced to my mind in her housekeeping habits.
Alejandra.tv she's called. I have drawer envy after seeing hers. Amazing.
Just spotted she has a website.
http://www.alejandra.tv/