Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2017

villagelife

Still trying hard to minimize. We are decorating our bedroom soon so I'm clearing that out and everything is being moved and leaving the house if necessary.

Mending - some being done. I have repaired a jumper and a skirt.

Still making do with food from freezer and cupboards.

Prinzessilein

Siebrie....knee patches takes me back to my own childhood...Mum had 3 boys and 3 girls and used to put patches on the knees as soon as she bought the trousers! She did it for 'added strength'...We used to have a choice of what to have, I recall my sister having teddies and I had train engines.

I have some ham left in the fridge...I am planning on spiralizing some bns, and using the ham, some joghurt and mustard to make some sort of a sauce...it is a 'fasting' day today and that should make a tasty dinner without breaking the 'calorie bank'.

Off to the bank this morning with 5 bags of coins (my bank only lets you change 5 bags at a time)...which will be a welcome boost of £31 to the finances (2 of the bags were 20ps, which I only change rarely, my piggy bank is only for 10p and smaller!)

I have a large pile of magazines to minimize...I go through them and cut out any recipes et.c that I want to keep (I have a folder for my clippings)...and then the magazines go out into the main hall for other residents to take. (I live in sheltered accommodation and there is an unofficial system whereby any 'unwanted' items are left on the hall table and can be grabbed by anyone who wants them...I have picked up a couple of whodunnits - and returned them to the table for others to read - DVDs, and a pretty little vase)

One small mending job - I was given a small handmade purse a year or two ago, and I use it for my keys...the metal clasp has worked loose and so I need to spend a little time resewing it.

And I am currently going through the switch from DLA to PIPs (disability benefits)...and so am slowly 'minimising' the application booklet....seriously it is a veritable tome!

Hughesfamily

Good morning all, fell off the MMM'ing wagon over the weekend with LO being poorly with the sickness bug and so heating been on. washing machine going virtually all the time, carpets were scrubbed and on Sunday a very tired mummy ordered a Chinese to be delivered. £15 but it has done us 6 meals after careful portioning & freezing so potentially not that bad.
Thankfully LO is better now and I am back at work, looking at the budget and cursing myself for not sticking to the "rules".
Completed the mending pile whilst she was asleep on my lap, made two floor clothes from tea towels which were past their prime, made new dressing gown belt from L/O fleece as LO had ripped hers (who know how??)
Also used up some of my card stash to make cake slice gift boxes which we will fill with sweets for her to take to class and give out on her birthday -its not till mid March but I thought I'd get a head start.
Used the last of the freezer bread to make an industrial sized bread pudding - now have snacks for the next couple of weeks but only for me as LO is fussy and won't eat it.
Will use the last of the cheapy cornflakes we bought but did not like with the very last of the Christmas chocolate and make her some cornflake nest cakes, been given some mini eggs (already!) so they'll do for her lunch boxes this week.

RainbowHippie

Caterina -well done on rehoming both the sewing machine and duvet. It must be nice to feel you are getting somewhere with larger items like that leaving the house.

I love the idea of the shaped knee patches for kids' jeans! We don't have children yet but i will store that away in my mental list of good ideas for one day if we do... Siebrie well done for sharing the tip with the other mums, even if they looked a bit askance they may have learned something!

I've been going through January's 'budget' (just tracking spending for Jan and Feb rather than setting specific budgets, though i do have an idea what i want my budget to be but not sure it's realistic!) I am horrified at the amount we have spent on 'house stuff' - all things we've discussed an agreed are necessary as we are still in the process of fixing things and solving small issues in our new-ish (to us anyway) home. Things like lamps for OH's study, light bulbs (slowly changing all to LED as the ones that came with the house stop working), printer paper, new smoke alarms etc all adds up. All of it is carefully shopped-around for to get the best value and most needs to be new, but i can't help questioning whether it's all strictly necessary.

Does anyone else find it hard to say no to family members or find that they don't understand why you are happy to 'make do and mend'? I find it easy to 'make do' with things for myself but harder to ask OH to do the same. Luckily i think he had a bit of a LBM last year when we did some travelling, he had never done anything similar before and think he realised the kind of experiences he could buy rather than frittering his money on 'stuff'. It has made him better at saving his own money but not sure it's transferred to thinking about the 'little extras' he wants for house stuff/in the weekly shop etc. He's studying at the moment so gives me an agreed contribution when he gets each student loan and i manage the budget/shopping/household bills for both of us in between - for the most part i like it that way as i have more control over what we spend on food shopping and so on, but i do think it isolates him from the fact that asking me to 'just pick up xyz while you're at the shops' means spending money!

Making do with left overs from the fridge for lunch, mending (ish) today was unravelling a half-done crochet project i decided i disliked and wasn't going to finish so the yarn can be used for something else. Still minimising christmas choccies, will be doing that one for quite some time judging by the amount in my drawer!!

Happy MMMing everyone xx

LizzieR

Hughesfamily wrote: »

Thankfully LO is better now and I am back at work, looking at the budget and cursing myself for not sticking to the "rules".

Don't beat yourself up too much - sometimes life just gets in the way and there's nothing wrong with choosing the simpler / time-saving / easier option! I know it can be frustrating when you feel like you've fallen off the wagon, but it sounds like you achieved a lot of other things over the past few days, so celebrate that! Besides, life would get boring if we always stuck to the rules - even the self-imposed ones

Siebrie

RainbowHippie, my dh was the same. Our house together was the first house he ever had, he had always lived in shared accommodation, from family to student to working parttime. He first just accepted everything from everyone regardless of whether we needed it and the state the item was in. Then, when we had more budget, he wanted to buy EVERYTHING new, even when we had perfectly good second/thirdhand stuff. Then, we went for our first weekend abroad together, and he loved it! (We went to London ) So, now, travel is a part of our budget; we have recently sorted through a lot of stuff and many of Justin's items have gone. I have persuaded dh that a perfectly good wooden shelving unit may benefit more from a coat of nice paint than from being thrown out and replaced by 1KEA mdf. We'll get there.
DH comes from a really poor background, as in: one meal per day could be provided, the other meals he had to find for himself from age 6. He never had many possessions and has to find his feet now about what he really likes, where to spend his money, how to (not) fill a house .

YorksLass

JackieO & RainbowHippie – No, I’m not keen on the trainer socks either and disposed of quite a few pairs last year in the Sally Army clothing bank outside the local C!op store. I kept four still-decent pairs but I think I’ll soon be saying goodbye to them too. The knee-highs and pop socks got cut up into strips long ago to make plant ties.

Littlefrugalcottage – I’m sooo envious of you with your rhubarb plants! :drool: I used to get it from late DF’s garden and really miss it. Not happy with the forced stuff sold in supermarkets (expensive too). We live in a flat and, although we have a small patio, it doesn’t do well in pots or I’d be growing it, trust me.

On Monday the sc was pressed into service to make a large batch of stew; before Xmas DH bought some rump steak and bunged it in the freezer.... all in one piece. Bless him, he meant well and I hadn’t the heart to say it would have been better portioned up first. Anyhoo, it’s made enough for 3 dinners for us, one for now and two for freezer.

Siebrie – I don’t think you’re the weirdest lady on the block for patching things. So sad it’s a throw-away society now; when I was a child we all had clothes that were patched, repaired, hems let down etc. Quite often they were hand-downs but how pleased we were to have them.

I live in sheltered accommodation and there is an unofficial system whereby any 'unwanted' items are left on the hall table and can be grabbed by anyone who wants them. Originally posted by Prinzessilein

What a good idea. And good luck with the PIPs application - those forms really aren’t user friendly, are they?

It’s been pretty miserable here today (grey, rain, cold – you get the picture) and I just couldn’t seem to get going at all. But I did manage to do all the ironing and have emptied the kitchen bins ready for tomorrow’s collection. We have 3: one for recycling, one for what can’t be recycled (or rather what our Council doesn’t recycle) and a small one for food waste – never much in this house!

Another item added to the “use up” tray: a carton of Sainsbobs gravy granules for meat. True, they thicken and colour the gravy but don’t add anything to the taste so I won’t be buying those again.

Floss

Siebrie, and you are of course happy & willing to help him find those feet!

osbornbiscuit

Yes I know technically today is Tuesday but Monday is taken up with looking after my grandson which tends to totally wipe me out. I didn't realise that 2 year olds could be so tiring. It does give me the best nights sleep though as I end up being totally knackered and in bed by 9.00pm.
I have been busy minimising. Another bag of clothes ready to go to the charity shop. Tried making the mincemeat flapjack. It was absolutely delicious, thank you for the recipe. Still busy knitting as the wool stash seems never ending but at least it keeps my fingers mobile. Also minimised some more books to the charity shop. I have to be in the mood for reading a book and then as soon as I get my nose stuck in I wonder how I ever went without reading. Belated resolution always have a book in handbag. (yes I do have one of those bags that you could carry the kitchen sink in!).
Finally got around to sewing the top edge of a t shirt that would never stay flat. Well it will now.....
Don't know about anyone else but beginning to feel twitchy about getting out and doing the garden. Mine is a little bog bound but the bulbs are pushing through and I know its only January but feel as though I want to plant colour and plan etc. Haven't felt this way in ages. Lets hope the feeling stays till spring.
Also minimised my purse in TK Max in their 90% clearance. They were bargains and are now on Ebay hopefully making me some profit.
Tackling the freezer tomorrow and sorting out all those strange bags of unidentified food and bringing some order to it.
Arthritis has been bad last couple of weeks but went for a swim today regardless of pain and surprisingly I feel a lot better so maybe go again on Thursday and push myself to do a few more lengths. Getting old sucks.. Anyone know if those gel knee pads work, just thinking ahead to the spring and the garden.

Lynplatinum

Evening All

Misstra - wow it sounds as if you will be really busy!! It is so annoying when you think you might get a bit off 'buffer' money or a bit for luxuries and then an 'essential' takes it away again! Grrrr :mad:

Silva - hope you feeling a bit better now. Those days where you are not quite right but it is indefinable - very draining.

Making do: Our new meal plan is in full swing and we had to go to £40 this week as we had eaten up basics like oil, butter and flour. We have also made do with second hand bedsheets as the baby woke up this morning and tipped a full pint glass of water all over DS's dog which was dozing on the bed along with DS and GF who did not realise GD had awoken. Luckily the dog absorbed most of the water but sheets all needed changing - and the 'spares' were all in the wash but I had put aside some tatty ones for dog rescue place so those are on instead!

Mend: friendships - I have rather ignored some of my friends cos what with everything taking twice as long due to the broken wrist and the family arround all the time - I had rather ignored my e-mail etc. So hopefully have restored myself to their good graces.

Minimise: I have reduced another box left from the move and donated 8 items from the box to the CS - including tests for 11 + exams - I am not going to teach again (hopefully) so I must get rid of all the less top quality stuff and keep only what is essential should I ever need to tutor again. So proud of myself. Also shredded a shredder full so that is good.

DS and GF are going to the Job Centre tomorrow in a nearby town so I will have a day of peace and quiet and am going to balance doing some quiet reading with more turfing out and cooking in bulk for our day out on Thursday (a peanut flapjack and a Choritzo ring - it forms a kind of portable sandwich!)

BTW thanks to whomsoever posted the slowcooker chocolate pudding recipe last year - it is in cups which I translated to 1 cup = 8oz - fluid or dry. The quantity it made was, according to the recipe to feed 6. Well, as it is in cups - all I can assume is that it was an American recipe originally - it would feed 6 hungry Americans but at least 8 hungry English people! It was delicious - gooey in the middle awesome! But the quanities were massive! thanks though to the OP - yum yum yum!!! :A
Jackie O fun socks are a family tradition here too - I bought my son 'monster' socks for Christmas!
Nite all