Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2016

Lynplatinum

Hiya all

Oh many hugs to Mrssnowy - life really does dump on us sometimes doesn't it!!!

Princess - weigh your gold yourself first (in grammes). Check what carat it is. then check the secondhand price on Cookson's web site. Print off what they say if you can - some (but not all) high street jewelers - particularly the well known chains - really fleece people!! My son is in the jeweler and is always horrified at how some folks have been treated!

Well I have had a very very lovely day!! :j Drove to a beach near where I shall be living and went paddling in the rain!! So pretty! Such fun! Then picked up a luscious pasty and ate it sat in the car!

Making do - pasty rather than expensive pub lunch!
Mend - my soul - it is so beautiful here
Minimise - my spending - £4.00 for pasty + coffee!! Rather than pub lunch at probably £12 ish. Also possibly minimising me as I did masses of walking

Came back to my friend's house (which I am house sitting again this weekend ) and made myself chicken rissoto with the chicken from yesterday and used some of the rice I bought with me so as not to use up her stocks!.

Can't wait till I can frugal more - such as taking my own coffee and pasties on walking expeditions.

I truely feel like one of the luckiest and most blessed people in the world!!
Nite all

[Deleted User]

Good morning everyone, wide awake at silly o'clock this morning.I am one of those folk who once my eyes are open I have to get up

Had a nice meal at DD's last night, mix of loads of salad plus cooked meats and cold cuts. What my DGS call 'summer dinner' as its not a roast :) Came home with some cold boiled eggs which will be turned into a sweet chilli egg mayo and some used on crispbread for lunch with some HM carrot and coriander soup that I made last week.

The rest will go into a salad for dinner tonight.DD and I are the only ones who like cold boiled eggs, and she made too many,so some she will take to work for lunch and I had the rest No waste at all.so a bit of minimising from her fridge and making do for me I have another strip of knitted squares to stitch together later today so thats Monday's mending.

No shopping to buy this week as I am still trying to minimise the food from my cupboards.

All the washing and ironing are up to date for once so apart from my morning mile followed by a cuppa and a biscuit in the local library (local healthy living walk ) today will be a fairly quiet one.

The shops will be empty tonight I expect as the footie is on, but tennis starts today at Wimbledon so I'll probably be watching that on and off whilst knitting.

Nice to have a thread which is peaceful at least, and not getting worked up over last Thursdays events

Lyn your new living area sound lovely and you no doubt will fit in like a glove how exciting to be starting out all over again,although I don't envy the moving bit at all.

I downsized in 1995 and swore that's it for me ,never again its far too stressful,but I have both of my DDs within a short distance and my DGC all living locally(apart from my lovely Ben who is in Norwich at Uni )

He is going back this Friday to Norwich as he has a months work, and he says it will pay for his rent for the two months he is not at Uni,bless him he has really got a handle on his finances now.But he will be back in August in time for our annual holiday to the Isle of Wight.

DGS Jack has finished his GCSE's and has got a volunteering job locally at the Marie Curie shop and he starts this Thursday.We went everywhere putting his CV around locally as he wants some work experience to keep him occupied until he starts at 6th form in September. Idle hands make Jack a bored boy :):) he likes to be doing something, so its win-win

Right time for a coffee I think
Hope everyone has a good day and the sun shines down on you

Cheers JackieO xx

silvasava

Where is everybody?????

misstara

silvasava wrote: »

Where is everybody?????

Haha not sure silvasava!

Been very busy continuing to minimise things at the flat in preparation for our move. Have another 2 bags of stuff ready to go to the CS plus have thrown out another 2 bin bags worth. Not much else going on, work is very busy so between that and packing I don't have time for anything else.

Hope a quiet thread means everyone is out doing fun stuff

silvasava

Yes - its just unusual for the thread to be so quiet. Hope this thread is not being minimised and everyone is making do and mending

elona

I have the builder replacing the hall flooring and am about to sort through some boxes into "stay" or "go". Because the local charity shop is closed due to flooding and the collapsed bridge I am hoping the builder can take some stuff away tonight to be enjoyed and used by others.

A lot of the boxes in the conservatory are labelled kitchen stuff so I want to minimise as much as I can and get rid of things that I don't use or have duplicates of. Then the builders can get on with reflooring there and it can be a more usable space eventually with a dining area for six or more and a seating area as well.

I am hoping not to make do in the new house but get everything done properly so it is safe and comfortable and then I can get on with having things low maintenance but cosy. After that I can get to grips with saving again rather than spending. I have managed to get some good deals on carpets, flooring, kitchen units, lights etc.

claire1a

Hi All, Hope everyone is doing well. It's been really hard this last week holding out until payday tomorrow. I have used up lots from the freezers, however my credit card has sneakily come into play =(

Had a careers interview yesterday to discuss teaching. As most of my experience has been with 13-19 y/o, its been advised that I need to crack on with upping my primary experience! I decided to wait until I had my careers interview before officially putting in for voluntary redundacy, to make sure that I am making the right choice in leaving full time employment for the unknown!!!!
I do think I am making the right choice and I need a new challenge, just scared about the money!!!!

So forms officially in and i'm on my way to freedom... We'll just have to see what happens!

I have been busy scouring over my finances to try and get £1000 EF before my last wage at the end of September. This should be manageable...

I'm also looking into anything I need to bulk buy/stock up on for the next couple of years! So far on my list is toilet roll, cleaning products (although I need to take an inventory of my cleaning cupboard first), tinned toms and rice. I will also be taking an inventory of my freezers (yep I have three small ones!!!!!) and I know I have enough toiletries to last!

I'm also keeping my eyes peeled for bargain cat food!

I have started to write a list of everything I need to do/be aware of between now and when I should potentially finish, as well as over the next year. Its called "The Plan" very apt name I suppose lol.

I have a lot clearer idea of what I need to be doing at the moment but any tips or hints would be fantastic! I already have a note book of everything I have picked up on this thread as you are all amazing at MMMing, so massive THANK YOU to all you lovely folk!

celtic_moon

Hi all!

I am enjoying coming on here and finding a little sanity in the current atmosphere. I do admit, I am involved in a lot of 'discussions' on the book of f@rce!

Operation prepare for surgery is reaching it's conclusion - tomorrow morning I have carpal tunnel surgery and hand will be out of action for 6-12 weeks depending. We have had to-do lists every evening for the past 10 days and all day Sunday just gone - which didn't happen as our van is in for a new gearbox! :eek:

So last night we: roasted 5lbs of spuds, 1 butternut squash and the seeds (which didn't make it through the evening as they were soooo tasty! ), cooked 1 large turnip/swede (not getting into that discussion ) and 1kg of carrots, split various packets of meat and it all went into the newly defrosted freezer! OH dyed my hair too - no more 'wisdom' showing (for now) :rotfl:!

Tonight we have to make deliveries on the way home, return outlaw's car they have lent us for the last few days, mash and freeze another 5lb of spuds, pack bag, change bedding and do the ironing :mad: - how I HATE ironing!!!!! Still, once tomorrow comes, it'll be up to the OH to do, as it is my right hand that's being operated on..... Stops us from getting bored I suppose.......

Claire1a - when I quit my full-time job to go and do my PGCE I didn't have any savings (only just cleared my debts) but managed to get a very small bursary. With this, I overpaid my utilities bills for the year - made a huge difference! I had already overpaid my rent - a habit I got into years ago when I moved from being weekly paid to monthly.

With regards to your teaching choices and experiences I have a little advice. Go and get as much experience as you can in the age-group you want to work with. I qualified as a post 16 teacher - FE and adults. The funding for this disappeared when the Coalition arrived so I moved into teaching children - 7-14 mainly. The teaching style is very different and if you want to work in a school (I worked in a private training provider so it was a lot easier) you are rather restricted as to what and how you are allowed to deliver - even more so since the whole academy furor has occurred. Please don't let this put you off - if you want to go for it then do! I have thoroughly enjoyed my time teaching but it is no longer for me. Just make sure you have as much information as possible to make an informed choice.

Wishing everyone fab MMMing!

Take care of yourselves xxx

HOWMUCH

Good afternoon everyone, I'm still here and MMMing still got this terrible cold.
Mending - stitched 2 buttons back on a dress for DD they just came off in the wash. I've picked up a couple of remnants of curtain fabric in John Lewis £13 for 4 n half metres of fabric, so new cushion covers will be made shortly .
Make do - eating out of the freeze
No much minimising at the moment.

Hugs to all those who need one x

Prinzessilein

Afternoon all...

I did my PGCE as a 'mature' student...I had a small bursary/grant with a small but very useful 'incentive bonus' as my degree is in Maths. (Don't know if they still offer the bonus!)....One useful tip, I did placements in 3 different schools/colleges...and in one of them I got a free lunch!...and in one I had a 'discount' card for my meals...(in the third I had to pay - so I took sandwiches!)....also look into getting your union card for the student discounts...and a student railcard if it is worth your while!

Curry for dinner tonight...(chicken, mushroom and chickpea)..and after freezing a couple of portions, and setting aside my portion for tonight, I found a tablespoon or so left...not much chicken on it, but quite a few chickpeas and mushrooms...I COULD have added this to tonight's portion, and would have scoffed it no problems!...but instead it is in a dish waiting for tomorrow...it will go into a toasted sandwich for lunch...a bit like a poor-man's samosa!....so a cheap lunch sorted for tomorrow!

Hope everyone is having a good day!