Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2017

misstara

Annoyingly I can't seem to find my sewing kit although it must be somewhere in the flat so the mending will have to wait for now. Will keep looking, I did find my tweezers though so I've minimised my eyebrows

Tea tonight was the rest of the cauliflower cheese from last night with some chorizo. I've taken out some YS steak for tomorrow night which I'm really looking forward to, haven't had a steak dinner for ages.

Just catching up with the GBBO Christmas special which is making me want to bake so may do that tomorrow

RainbowHippie

Hi all, may i also join please? Jumping on the de-lurking band wagon...

I've followed this thread for almost 18 months on and off and found it full of helpful ideas and tips, so big thanks to you all! I am already reasonably frugal, i try to shop around for stuff and am loathe to buy anything i think i could make myself, although sometimes it takes me a long time to get round to making things for us as i get sidetracked into making gifts for other people. Hoping that actually posting here might help me stay focussed.

I want to take a bit more action this year including growing some of our food (even if it's only salad leaves it will be a start!), making (or refashioning from things i already have) rather than buying clothes for myself as i don't need anything new, and cooking more vegan meals for myself and OH both for health reasons and to save money. I'm already veggie but he currently eats a lot of meant and i want to cut down on cheese! We are also reducing the amount of bread/wheat we eat, which means we'll need more bulk in veg and protein, so i'm hoping using less dairy/fish/meat (of which OH tends to eat a lot) and more beans, lentils etc will help keep the costs down! we'll see...

Making do - I did quite well this year in terms of christmas leftovers and have made sure we've not wasted anything, with stuff either used as substitutes in our usual meals or frozen. Used up some fancy cheese today on hm garlic mushrooms as a side with dinner. SiL and our little niece are coming for lunch tomorrow so i'm trying a new recipe for home-made baked beans in the slow cooker overnight (using store cupboard ingredients and substituting some items in the recipe for things we had in store) and will do baked potatoes, nice and simple as i'm working from home all weekend so i need to be able to work right up to their arrival.

Minimise - 3 tins of beans which means i can now properly see half my tinned food cupboard again rather than it being too stacked up! Need to make inroads on the dried beans next...

Mend - fixed a hinge on a little cupboard in our bathroom - by first very gently removing it with a tiny tiny screwdriver for its tiny tiny screws, fiddling around with it for ages, then realised it just needed a good bash with a hammer after all! screwed it back on and it works perfectly now :rotfl:

Sorry for the essay post! Keep up the good MMMing work all. xx

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villagelife

More mending done yesterday. Another small hole in a jumper. It's good being in the mindset of looking after clothes and items rather than buying new.
Minimised some of the contents of a couple of cupboards. It is also now tidy so I can see what I have and also found some items I had misplaced.

Made do with food in the house and resister buying a coffee at work.

Disflop

In order to make do today I intend to sort my wardrobe and find things I hardly ever wear and mix them in with the often worn items to give them a lift and help me stick to my resolution to not buy any new clothes this year!

Minimising - I am still exercising by walking further every day in the hope this helps to minimise me as well as improve my general health and well being.

I have mended the mechanism on one of my punches in the craft room, so all bases covered I think!

Prinzessilein

Afternoon all...it is bloomin' freezing here! Hope everyone is staying warm!

I have been struck down with the nasty lingering chesty cough that is doing the rounds....and am currently on antibiotics....but have NOT bought any over-the-counter cold cures....Mum makes a very warming ginger tea ...and homemade honey/lemon/hotwater is every bit as effective as proprietary hot lemon sachets.

My blender stopped working (Nutri-thingummybob) and I thought the motor had gone...but a quick internet search showed that it is a common issue. The part where the cup fits into the motor had jammed, and there was a very helpful youtube video (apparently using advice from the company themselves) which meant I could fix the matter myself...and it worked! So a very nice 'mend' done there!

With the bronchial problems, and the freezing weather I have been minimising my shopping and been eating out of the cupboards and freezer.

And I made a fresh batch of joghurt yesterday (always take in extra joghurt when I am on antibiotics...to replenish the 'good' bacteria in my gut).

Oh and I have rooted out my jigsaws....perfect occupation while I am feeling a bit low..I do like a nice jigsaw!...and they are very mmm-friendly as they can be done again and again!

mrs-moneypenny

Afternoon all
Welcome to all the new mmmers.
Made do with using up done stuff from the freezer for lunch
Minimising the freezer contents as we are getting a new freezer next weekend that will be more mse to run
Im cross stitching now while Dh and ds1 watch a DVD.

[Deleted User]

Hi Chums
mended a plug that only needed a fuse

Minimised some read paperbacks to the local CS and am making do with stuff from the freezer ,salmon fishcake for tonight's meal along with lots of salad(hope to minimise my christmas 'bulk' a bit :):)

JackieO xx

savingpennies

Wow, I went searching for the thread and find a whole new one with 9 pages! I've been busy helping DD2 and her bf with their new caf!, which is doing really well. I'm hoping they get themselves into some kind of routine so I have more time to myself. I can't complain though, as he makes lovely pasta/pizza.

Hi, to all the newcomers. I've certainly found this thread helpful, if only to make me think about what and how I do things and they are really friendly bunch.

Now I have caught up on here, it's time to get back on the wagon.
I needed a new winter coat as my old one bought from a charity shop a few year's ago is getting threadbare around the cuffs. None I had seen in the shops seemed worth the money or to my taste. Yesterday, I was passing my local hospice CS and popped in and found a lovely navy, !00% wool coat that looks like it has never been worn. Can I count it as 'making do' as it was a bargain at £15? Or minimising, because I am 're-using' someone else's cast offs?
I went shopping to get some basics: fruit, cheese, yoghurt and went to FF to stock up on frozen fruit/veg, which should see us ok for a couple of months. I managed to use a money off coupon so saved a bit of money.
My aims this year are to:
* clear out some of the 'stuff' we seem to have in every room and either give to CS or sell:
* I'm determined not to buy anything new this year. What I need to do is minimise me, so that I can wear some of the stuff in my wardrobe.
* Be more methodical with my meal planning and plan our meals based on what is in the freezer. I have loads of YS stuff in there but I seem to have put more in than I have taken out recently.

I'm off to think about my what I want to grow this year in my tiny veg/fruit patch and greenhouse. I've to sort out what seeds I already have and what I need to buy.
Tomorrow, I am going to spend time doing a new inventory for the freezer to help with the meal planning.
Have a good evening everyone.

silvasava

Afternoon all - nipped in to see DS1 fora quick cuppa. He was wearing his favourite sweater that I've mended in the past & I noticed it needed another mend as the stitching had come away from the neck and had a couple of small ladders so I brought it home and mended with a very small crochet hook and stitched back in place. That's all I've done on the MMM front although have got a beef casserole out the freezer for tomorrow's meal.
Just chilling with DH by the fire with a small sherbet

Hard_Up_Hester

I've been very bad here, all I've minimised today is the chocolate bars in the fridge!