Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2016

silvasava

Cold now gone to my chest so feeling really bleugh - but I did clear out a file of DH's old work paperwork & just kept bits of pension information I thought relevant. I've got 3 more files to go through & at this rate I think I can consolidate I to 1! Lots more firelighters

GreyQueen

nursemaggie wrote: »

Although the rent is much less that makes not difference to us as we are on 100% housing benefit. The other expenses are much higher. Heating is more than twice for heating only until early evening, we may not be able to get a water meter as it is a flat and many flats have the water intake from the same pipe and not individually. If we can't that will also be twice as much too.

I have set in motion the change over to a cheaper provider for electric. I don't really know how much it costs yet will take a few month before I know if I save anything. According to the energy club I will save about £400 so that makes it about twice the price of gas.

I can't see me being able to do a budget until next year. If we have a warm day I can't switch the heating off and save money.

Some flats do have separate water supplies, mine does and so so a majority of council flats in this city. There are some blocks where the supplies can't be separated but there is a halfway house between water meters and rateable value water charges, for those addesses which would like to be metered but the supply can't be separated.

This is called 'assessed charges' and is what the water company thinks your size of household would be using if you were on a meter. It's likely to be about half of rateable value charges. Try to get a meter if you can but if not, do think about asking for assessed charges. HTH.

HOWMUCH

Hello everyone and well done on your MMM's
Feeling a little better and hoping to be able to go to DD and look after DGS tomorrow. The baby bunting is coming on a treat it's a lovely Irish Aran pattern, I put very large like button hole in the back so that it's alright for car seats and buggy the piece that goes between the legs will pass through.
The bank statement arrived so I balanced that against incoming money and outgoing money.
Bye for now x

nursemaggie

Thanks for that GQ unfortunately the water company assess us as using more than rateable value. I don't see how as we can't have a dishwasher, we don't have a bath, we wash as little as possible, I only wash up one a day and the flat will require very little cleaning it is so small. I have seen many bigger one bedroom flats. What they assess us as using per week I cannot see us using in a month. I know what we used at the last house. I really cannot see us using any more.

I am going to try for a water meter. We are still waiting for our phone and I cannot do it online. For the most expensive water company in the country they have the most appalling website I have ever come across. they don't even update for emergencies until the emergency is over.

We have no where to keep books so I am slowly minimising my books. Got about 5 books dotted around the flat trying to read them all at once. It's not a very quick way of unpacking.

Lynplatinum

Hiya Y'all!!!

Silva - sorry to hear that you are feeling awful - hope you get better soon.
Have usual good intentions of healthy eating and to that end am trying to eat oily fish at least once a week. Salmon is lovely but expensive - so I bought some smoked mackerel last week. Had some left and some left over mashed potato - so I made smoked mackerel fishcakes with a little sauted onion and added in lots of lemon juice and salt and pepper. rolled em in flour to give a crispy outside and fryed in minimal oil. V yum and very much minimising and making do!

Watched the Hairy B!kers diet show and one of their ideas was to get exercise on the cheap - one idea was to do housework at a bit of lick. So I spent 1 1/2 today giving the house a good old clean - stretching to dust and down to skirting boards - pushing the hoover vigorously etc. Am planning some kind of increased exercise for at least 1/2 per day - have toned up and so fit into a 16 - just!! I could do with loosing some LBS so that it is an easy fit into a 16. :rotfl::rotfl: Am gonna go for it over Feb and see if i can do it!

So that is 'making do'!!
Wish me luck folks!

meritaten

well I did have a NSD today!
dam that bookfolding - am totally captivated by it! spent four hours practicing it by doing an 'Owl', using a copy of ........wait for it........ Inferno by Dan Brown! rofl - it was the only hard backed book I had that had near enough pages! but, my DDs best friend loves Owls, so its going to be a little gift for her, as it turned out beautifully.
Bless bad weather! I was planning on going over town, but not in this weather! money went in bank today so, I have MORE to play with!
cant go over town tomorrow as its childminding day - I have been putting off going to town now since Christmas and my bank balance is now £400 better off!
oh and I AM avoiding online shopping sites too!
I really DO have to go over to town in the next few days - I HAVE to get birthday cards and get well cards and some other essentials - but, I do have quite a few quids in my 'mad money' stash!

Minihauk

GreyQueen wrote: »

Some flats do have separate water supplies, mine does and so so a majority of council flats in this city. There are some blocks where the supplies can't be separated but there is a halfway house between water meters and rateable value water charges, for those addesses which would like to be metered but the supply can't be separated.

This is called 'assessed charges' and is what the water company thinks your size of household would be using if you were on a meter. It's likely to be about half of rateable value charges. Try to get a meter if you can but if not, do think about asking for assessed charges. HTH.

I'm in a house with a shared water supply. The mains pipe runs behind the house and serves eight houses. I have a water meter inside the house, just after the stop-malechicken. Apparently the water companies prefer to do this if they can. hth.

mrs-moneypenny

Morning all
Hope those with wTer meter probs in flats manage to resolve them

Had to smile at the rude word filter in the above post lol now imagining a rather grumpy male chicken cloistered under the sink on the main water pipe.

Love the sound of the owl book fold-my mil loves owls and I've been looking at the photo of a book folded owl for her Mother's Day gift. I might give it a go.

Food will me making do with contents of cupboard and fridge - I've meal planned the week accordingly.
Still have a few items of clothing to mend
Will minimise the papers and magazines into the recycling

Have a good day all

FairyPrincessk

Morning all,

Lyn we struggle with the oily fish here. OH isn't a fan of salmon unless I do something to obscure the taste and doesn't like smoked mackerel either. He'll eat anchovies, but I won't. We find the frozen fish at Ald! is relatively reasonable and I've found several work-around recipes for it although nothing that reheats to something edible.

Someone is coming to value the house today as the landlord's mortgage is at the end of its life and he needs a new one. I'm hoping this won't take long and that said valuer won't need much babysitting. I have lots to get on with in my work from home pile, including brushing up my CV for some permanent jobs coming up. This will be my first round and I don't expect to get anything but experience of the process, but I still want to give it my best go and make sure my CV etc. is as polished as I can make it. It is still a bit early days for me to start applying, but I might as well start sometime.

OH has a parent's evening so I'm planning to get on with some knitting tonight. Mum mailed me a couple of boxes of things that had been stored when I first came to the UK. She doesn't live in the states either but got the last of my things last time she went. This one had a nice wool blanket and some pretty pottery pieces I'd collected when I had a more cosmopolitan lifestyle. They're just in the dresser now--well the blanket is on the sofa--but I'll get the washed and into rotation soon. Definitely not minimizing, but many of them are things that have never been unpacked so it feels like having new things without shopping!

plumduff55

Hi everyone, not a lot of making do and mending been going on but lots if MINIMISING.

Finished another pack of the Xmas cheese - smoked cheese with peppers and chilli, it was yummy.

Had last of the Xmas brussel sprouts for dinner - not so yummy but I wasn't going to waste them. I couldn't believe they kept so long in the bottom of the fridge. Note to self for next Xmas - only buy enough brussel sprouts for one dinner !!!

I watched 2 DVDs that I bought from a CS last year. These are now going in charity bag that is being collected from doorstep tomorrow.

I cleared out a box of Xmas and birthday cards going back to my 40th - 20 years ago, would you believe . I have kept cards from my 50th and 60th but am recycling the rest. It was quite emotional as I found cards from relatives and a very good friend who have since died. I am keeping their cards.

I have ran out of bread and decided not to buy any more and start eating the crackers from Xmas with the leftover cheese for my lunches. I am determined nothing is being wasted.

Going to do more decluttering today as the charity bag is being collected tomorrow. I don't often see clothes I like in the CS but last week I found a gorgeous shirt for £1 - only problem was it is 3 sizes too big for me. But at a pound how could I resist? Today I am going to resize it by taking off sleeves, altering shoulders, re-attaching sleeves then taking in sleeve seam and side seams. Sounds easy - I hope it works out that way.

Have a nice day xx