Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2016

Lynplatinum

Evening folks

Make do: food from stocks and used an old sparkling water bottle to dilute my scree wash and enable me to pour it into the car without spillage
Mend: saved myself loads a dosh by putting in my own screen wash and antifreeze stuff into car and checking oil and tyres.

Minimise: me by yoga and walkies + clutter of plants as I went with (a budgeted for) purchase of some terracotta pots to put them in. Long term this will be a saving as the plants were herbs which are not doing too well in their plastic ones.

Also joined their Gardening Club - its not as good as Dobbies in that no free coffee but the Wyvale one is free and apparently you get pre Christmas evenings and offers etc so we will see if it saves me anything cos I dont have a big garden now!!!!

I am sure carrying a 50L bag of specailist compost for me rose to the car/out of the car/down the steps/ through the house must have lost me weight! :rotfl: Seriously tho I dont think I could have done it a few weeks ago so all the exercises to improve core strength might actually be working!:D
Nite all

mrs-moneypenny

Morning all
Hope everyone is well
Minimising - pile of stuff started for CS, will hopefully be taken at the weekend. Mils birthday pressies will go round to hers later.
Make do - Dh is having left over veggie shepherds pie from last night for his dinner today.
Mend - did some laminating for Dh first things, not sure if that counts.

Have a good day all.

PinkFlamingo30

Oh my where did the time go!
I think I have managed to break every mmm rule since i was last on here
I am so far off the rails I am astounded and mildly horrified. I don't even know where to restart from.
I am now back at school and only working 4 days a week so need to keep an eye on the pennies. Inheritance has been finalised so I have that which makes pennie watching harder. I Also discovered a really nice piercing place so have new sparkles which i did need, but it is all going neyargh in my mind (which is a tad messed up at the best of times). Please help me get back on the straight and narrow and stop my freaking out...

misstara

Welcome back PinkFlamingo . Start small, try to do one MMM thing tomorrow to get you back on track.

It's not been a great week for spending, have totally lost track of my budgets - definitely been minimising my money

A day off work today so spent last night at the new flat, it's feeling more homely now the living room carpet has been laid. Spent most of the day out in the wee garden getting rid of the weeds.

Came back to flat late afternoon and made lasagne for tea. Realised half way through that the milk had gone off so made do with powdered milk to make the white sauce. Turned out well and there's 4 portions to go in the freezer.

Had a relaxing evening chatting to my brother on the phone and then watching the GBBO . Just going to get my lunch and work clothes organised for tomorrow and then go for an early night.

[Deleted User]

Good Morning chums , definitely making do with stuff in the larder for awhile DD sprung on my last night that she has booked us all in for a weekend away to the Isle of Wight at the end of November as a treat for her OHs birthday so my eyes will be even more hawk-like for the next 9 weeks

Bless her she normally goes away for the weekend with him every year on or near his birthday, but this year as she has had a special unexpected windfall from work she said we are all going .

So that's seven of us plus DGS G/F and two dogs trundling off down to the Isle of Wight

DGS Ben is coming down from Uni for a long weekend with his G/F as well. So I shall be even more vigilant with my spending now :):)

DD adores the Island, and when the boys are off hand she will move there I think. She spent a lot of her childhood there as my late OH came from there, and we used to go to my Ma-in-laws about twice a month and for most of the summer holidays.

Minimising my wool stash a bit more yesterday, as I am now just finishing another charity blanket.

No mending ,but today I will be fixing a new set of hooks up in the kitchen that I found in the drawer when I we decluttering I had forgotten they were there

Hope you all have a good day
happy frugalling :):)


JackieO xx

Lynplatinum

Hiya All

PinkFlamingo30 - dont be so hard on yourself - there are no 'rules' on here as far as I am aware!! just the friendly suggestion that, if, each day, you try to make do; mend; minimise something in your life then it will get easier and the financial life is liable to benefit too! As others have said try to do one small thing each day to start with. It's a habit to develop!! They say you have to do anything for 20 days for it to become a habit.

Wow Jackie O that will be a fun trip to IOW! What a great surprise!

I have been asked to help out at my friend's village book and bake this weekend. Last time I left with 8 books Am gonna try not to do this (even if 66 of the books were for family!!) as I have over 25 books sitting waiting to be read in my bedroom and I am trying to use the local library to keep it in the town. Wish me luck!!

Make do: Food from stores; drying washing totally in the sunshine! Got it in before it needed airing! :j
Mend: nowt
Minimise: hopefully me (did my yoga and a 2 hour walk today!!) and the interest I had on one credit card by moving it over to the other one who offered a no fee transfer and 7.9 %. Much better!! Within that year will have cleared all costs of my move + new washing machine + new garage door.

Happy with this as once more have used the banks rather than them using me!!
Feels weird not having nowt to mend - but this house is in very good nic and my clothes are all mended - do have one pair of trousers to take up but am away this weekend at my friend's !!! This retiring lark is all go! :rotfl:
Nite all

poppy811

A better week for me this week. Feeling a little braver and less anxious about being on my own. Cleared the sweet pea, runner beans and courgette plants from the garden and the grass has been cut by my lovely neighbour.

Mended the oven door, the glass front was falling out.

Have been reducing the contents of the freezer but have had to do a shop yesterday as I have family visiting this weekend.

i am going to really look at my finances later today, I think I will follow the Jackie O example.

culpepper

Hello peeps, this week I have been v. busy
1st making alcohol stoves from washed cans I harvested in the park. I made four, 2 'penny stoves' and two others to go in our emergency collection. They work with meths.

Then I made a hobo stove to fit on top of my Kelly Kettle base. You can buy them but they are £15 with delivery and really are just a circle of metal with holes and a bent bit to hold pots. I used an old cake tin (we had 3 the same because of MIL's stash) to make mine ,with the dremmel for cutting it and it works perfectly.

Then I mended my pocket knife. I found it on the tow path about 10 years ago and it has always had a weak blade due to the outside casing being rusted. A bit of that thermal plastic melted into a new outside cover and hooray it worked.

We have a microwave sandwich toaster thing which lost a hinge almost immediately(charity shop purchase) and that now has a new toothbrush handle hinge courtesy of the dremmel.

Yesterday I cleaned my suede sandals. They are beige and were beginning to look quite grubby. I used a foot file to get the texture back and then a pencil rubber to clean up small marks and a disposable razor to tidy any raggedy edges.

Must think of more projects......

celtic_moon

Hello All :wave:

Still on the MMM wagon - a little more relaxed as I go back to work (paid work that is - not stopped all summer!) next week!

Currently processing a whole veg box full of bramley apples a friend rescued from a friend who was putting them in the bin! :eek: My friend has already rescued and rehomed 5 trays full - all because they moved into a house with the tree there and they don't like them! We are very down on our freezer stocks so will be scouring the YS sections and defrosting joints for cooking and freezing in gravy. We will get the freezers defrosted and moved around then they will be ready for the Christmas gluts from the market and @ldi

Learning to knit all over again - larger needles means I don't have my usual tension problem. Looking forward to lots of new projects there.

We are expanding at work - all to be done on a shoestring and MMM - currently skip diving etc so lots of 'junk' everywhere - home and work - which is driving me crazy right now but will be worth it in the end!

Love keeping up with everyone's stories and life events. Just not enough hours in the day at the moment AND I still can't remember my password so can only use the work PC to comment - oh to have a brain!

Take care of yourselves xxx

peony40

Hello,

I'd like to join you all, if ok?

I am very drawn to this way of living, but have not been that mindful in the past, just drifting along. However, I now feel the need to be more aware of each day.

I will be reading back through the thread for ideas and inspiration, and will be back later with my 3 M's tomorrow.