Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2017

caronc

Make do: Fridge bits used up for salad lunch
Mend: Me - aired my wheels and got some fresh air
Minimise: Recycling sorted and moved to the recycling bin

[Deleted User]

Minimising, my fridge of stuff thats past its best Today used up a box of mushrooms and a wrinkly red pepper and made a litre pot of soup for two days lunches .Also finished off the last of the sweetheart cabbage tonight with my diner that I dug out of the freezer.and used the tail end of a pot of single cream from sundays coffee on my breakfast cereal.
I guess that will count as both making do and minimising :)
Mended, well I fixed another hook up in the bathroom to hold the wash cloth in the shower, plus knittedthree new squares for my charity blanket. No spending today and nothing on my shopping list either Decided to minimise my spending and use up as much as I can with existing stuff :):)I am away for a week next month in Lancashire so saving up as much as I can towards it . My friend and I are self-catering so I will sort out some bits to take with me in the car when I go in 7 weeks time :)

culpepper

Im wearing my mended corduroys today. They are my favourite and the material had got so thin on the 'seat' that you could see the light through them. Anyway I did some Boro style mending on them after seeing pictures on pinterest. It's a japanese style of mending . You put a patch on by sewing rows of running stitch entirely over the surface through patch and garment. I was lucky enough to have the exact match of sewing thread and spent a couple of days doing it but it has saved the cords for hopefully a goodly time.
The next project will be to add some ribbing that I cut from an old wool moth eaten jumper ,to my 'rugby shirt' that is always coming untucked because its just too short .
I've got the sleeve cuffs to add too so it hopefully will look okay once done.
Have also got my lion cub slippers to mend as clarence(the one with the wonky eye) has a hole in. They have been mended constantly since I got them in 1995. I need a piece of leather for the sole so will have to keep a look out for an old bag or something in the charity shops.
We did some minimising on Monday as we had 2 mattresses and a trailer full of manky wood to go the the local dump.
Hmm cant think of a make do..........

Floss

Culpepper me & my brothers loved Daktari - Clarence & the chimp were my faves!

[Deleted User]

Well done culpepper, sounds like you have done a good job on your cords, they are so comfy aren't they.You sound like a person after my own heart I hate to see anything wasted.

Before Christmas I was on the lookout for a new purse as my old one was falling to bits.The shops wanted anything from £15 upwards !!!I found a local W.I.charity place that only opens on a Wednesday or Saturday for a couple of hours Its in a village hall.I had a trawl around and found a nice one for 60p which holds all my loyalty cards etc plus my cash and ws a nice red colour.
It was a bit damp as it had been stuck in a drawer, so I brought it home, put it in the airing cupboard to dry off properly and slowly (it was leather so I didn't want it to crack) then when dry gave it a quick spray with some perfume so it smelt nice and have used it daily since :):)

Probably last me for several years as its quite sturdy. I think the W.I branch use the proceeds for their specific chosen charity so I was quite happy to buy and use my 60p purse and its got a new lease of life :):) I also at the same time I was there I found a really pretty small photo frame which cost me 30p and its sitting in my bedroom with a picture of one of my DGS in it .

silvasava

Have a funeral to go to tomorrow and I bought two bunches of yellow roses and arranged them in a dish with variegated greenery from the garden. DH has just come in and asked which florist I bought them in!! Result!! Especially as I'm not known for my flower arranging skills. TBH i would have bought a proper spray but a) I left it a bit late and b) it seemed as it was for a funeral the price rocketed.
Not looking forward to the 3 hour journey tomorrow but it will be nice to see members of the family.

Prinzessilein

Make do: Started to look through the suitcase where I store clothes to see what 'spring' items I have. Got a new catalogue in the post and am determined to make-do with what I already have! (3 new cotton over-size nighties bought last year....I can't really justify buying a new one or two this year, however pretty they are!)

Mend: Not much--just a spot of darning.

Minimise: Mum has some stuff for the Charity Shop, I have gone through the kitchen and discovered I have TWO rather large wooden chopping boards - so will add that to the pile - will also check to see if I can minimise the bookshelf (although if I am honest, going to the charity shop usually involves me ADDING to my store of books rather than reducing!!!)

MMF007

Well my good intentions of joining in with the thread fell by the wayside (holiday and then 4 mad weeks of work and family commitments). I am finally over the jetlag, am sorting a new rota for my clients that means i can be more efficient travelling between them and elderly friend who needs a bit of support now. So......

Made do with a small fresh chicken on YS for £1 :T Have made 4 main meals and the remnants and carcass are now stock for the next HM soup.

'Mended' shoe that had a seam that was rubbing on the top of my foot - I strapped a bit of cottonwool under the seam, using a sticking plaster!

Not sure if this fits into MMM but I have just experimented with some cheap canvass- style paper and managed to photocopy a pretty picture onto it. I reckon I can paint over the picture (a bit like painting by numbers) and put it in a cheap frame as a Mothers Day gift? In my head it will look really good, just hope my brush skills are up to it! I hadn't painted for 40 years until I started art classes 2 weeks ago :rotfl:

Minimising the recycling.
Also planning on minimising some of my stock of the make-it-yourself marmalade, you know, the stuff in a tin that you cook up instead of spending hours messing with fresh Seville oranges
Well, I suppose it will be maximising really, once I've added the sugar and water to make it into 8 or 9 jars!

Lynplatinum

Evening all

caronc and Prinzess - wow you two are such inspirations - even when you dont feel too bright you still get stuff done :beer:

To those not feeling too great with bugs etc (hugs)

been a while since i posted - so flippin busy! Good things tho!

Firstly, making meal plans with DS1 and GF each week has really helped with the budget and then we know what we are eating and therefore who is cooking. It is also helping to use up their stocks of oils etc and soya proteins cubes and soya flakes (they were vegan for a time and the meals are v tasty!!

Secondly, very busy sorting stuff from my mum's loft. They are all here now and cleaned. I took some glass to the local antique shop today and they werent interested but I had looked up on line and some of the bits on line are worth at least £5 and a clock that I took is about £35. I know that the prices on the net are not always what you would get but they are an indication so will try in Penzance tomorrow.

Thirdly had a lovely day this week with my brilliant friend who is not feeling too well and has been diagnosed with 'post viral fatigue' I have told her no end of times to take it easy and sit down and stop doing stuff but its like talking to a brick wall! If DS and co werent staying I would kidnap her for a week - feed her well and MAKe her sit still and watch rubbish tv, chat, sit in my conservatory and listen to music!!!

Fourthly had a lovely afternoon up Godrevey point and the baby played with the sand; found out about rock pools and splashing in them and then on the cliff top playing with some stones and crawling on the grass. We went back to the car where we changed her out of her cold, wet clothes into some warm dry stuff and she was still full of bounce and had that lovely glow on her cheeks!

So brilliant cost free week :money: although it did use up some of my petrol ( have given myself an allowance of £40) for the month!

So: Make Do - food budget v low :j as eating up pantry and only buying what we need for the meal plan. Also today all 4 of us (DS1 + GF + baby + me) and we realised that all of us were wearing (apart from coats) all our clothes from charity shops (excepting underwear) we added it up and we were all dressed fro under £10! Made a carrot, lentil and cumin soup with the chicken stock (made from the bones boiled up in the slow cooker!). NB 16 meals from one chicken!! Roast, curry, sandwiches and soup!!
Mend: wow nowt again!! there is a bag of it upstairs re sewing - the gate needs putting back on (thanks Doris) and nothing else I can think of at moment!
Minimise: Me ! Still doing loads of walking e.g. to my physio appt this week - 45 mins each way! Well got a lot of stuff sorted out and stashed away from my mum's and got ready for e-bay. The stores from DS and GF so that will start going soon.

Anyway thats me for the past few days! Tomorrow off to Penznce for DS to sign on (not what he wants to do but landed in the situation by business partner taking £3000 form their business in first few months of business) and so will take advantage of the pound shops while there!

Really must get on with e-bay as am off to Belgium in two weeks and need to rustle up some spending money!! :eek:

meg72

Still making do with freezer and cupboards but did buy some YS today that were just too good to miss.

Had put my ewbank steamer out for the tip as part broke, had the idea to see if I could get replacement first, got it for 4.99 and fitted it today. So so pleased these steamers are expensive but its good as new now.

Minimised another bag of stuff to charity shop.