Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2017

SmarterNotHarder

Floss wrote: »

Smarter personally I would bin it - the chances are it was already past its best when last used, and storage will not have helped it.

Thank you. It's not the answer I wanted, but it's also probably accurate

[Deleted User]

I think I too would put it to rest, if its no longer weatherproof its not much use ,is there nothing you can use it for ,maybe a cover for something in the garage,BBQ etc or just to cover some gardening tools or something

RainbowHippie

Hi all, feels like it's been forever since i've posted! Really enjoying catching up with what you've all been up to.

I've not kept count of NSDs but feel like i've done quite well with probably 4 a week on average, and some spends will be reimbursed as they are necessary and reclaimable expenses while travelling for work. If nothing else, trying to 'compete' with myself to not spend has made me think about each spend and whether it's necessary, which is half the point.

Make do - with waiting to cut back the masses of brambles invading over our garden wall from the yard (of a shop so not very well kept) next door until they have fruited. They aren't particularly in our way and they have been very productive! Picked almost a kilo of blackberries this week and there are more to come - i added some chopped pears and vanilla essence to this lot to make a tasty jam and will hopefully freeze another lot next week to make desserts when we come back from our holiday. I've only ever foraged blackberries from local trails in the past, and it's amazing how much fruit the bushes produce without the usual culprits of birds and human walkers pinching them all!

Mend - lots recently, some of OH's shorts needed patching inside the waistband where the drawstring had ripper through the fabric, and there are some more waiting in the pile for a pre-emptive patch before they wear through in the top-of-the-thighs area! Lots of buttons and little mends have been hand-sewn, and i'm crocheting myself a sturdy shallow basket to keep odds and ends in on the bedroom dresser, using up some stash yarns in the process.

Minimised some clutter in a kitchen drawer by making a little hanging pouch from some gifted fabric and old worn out jeans to suspend our hand-mixer from some shelves in the kitchen (which i made a while ago from scrap wood). It buttons on to an ikea hanging rail that's finally found a home under said shelves after being determinedly carted from our old house despite us having no idea where it would fit in our new kitchen.

OH and i have also minimised a whole load of scrap wood from our garage which now needs to go to the tip. Plan is to use up some of the remaining bits to make extra shelves in our bedroom built-in wardrobes to help us be better organised, and i want to attempt a home-made knitting loom to try making socks! might be a bit ambitious but we'll see how it goes! This was to make space for his new bike (and my newly reconditioned one - for just £25 at a local community project including new brakes, bargain!!:money:) which will hang on the wall above the pile of random bits of timber we seem to accumulate :cool:

I've also managed to sell a fair few bits on eb*y recently and in turn have used up some of my stash of packaging so it is no longer spilling out of its cupboard (i keep any packing materials when we receive stuff in the post, and have a small bureau cupboard full of the stuff, much to OH's dismay but it does mean we never buy packaging!)

bettertogether

@RainbowHippie we did the same with a load of blackberries that are growing over the wall of an abandoned house nearby!

Minimise: The OH and I have been doing the #minimalismchallenge - so far since July 15th he has got rid of (thrown/donated/gifted) 387 items and I have done the same for 340 things. Our aim is to remove 495 items each!

Make-do: We wanted to replace the cabinet doors in our kitchen and give it a makeover but decided instead to paint the cabinets with chalk paint that we already have and we used wood planks and pallets we found flytipped to build open shelving. Also found floor tiles on freecyle -
there were enough going to do our small kitchen and have spares to be used in a mosaic table top i'm working on for my nan. Spray painted the lids of some storage jars so that they match our new kitchen (also already had the spray paint!) so our total kitchen makeover has cost us exactly £16 for screws and handles that I ordered online!

Mend: Mended OH's rucksack by sewing up tears in the straps. 'mended' a candle that was in a broken container - warmed it up until it was liquid and poured into a new container (a pretty cup that I was going to donate). I turned a black dress I never wear (because it's too low cut) into a skirt for work.

Have also been researching hydroponic methods for growing and looking at ways to use recycled materials to do that. We are using empty fizzy drink bottles as mini greenhouses to grow some plants and are trying out growing avocadoes from seeds!

[Deleted User]

YorksLass wrote: »

A little bit of mending that consisted of sewing hanging loops on some new tea towels and also sewing the loose hem on a face cloth that's been bugging me every time I use/wash it. Only took 2 minutes, :rotfl::(

Hi Yorkslass I thought I was alone in doing small jobs like that. I too sew loops onto tea towels and have hooks in my kitchen to hang them up on

Drives me crazy when I go to my eldest DDs house and can't find a tea towel. I also sew up the odd bits in a face flannel to extend its life. I think its because growing up with few things around because of rationing, I am not one of the throw away genreration.

At Dinner last night we were having this conversation and surprisingly my DGS's girlfriend who is french. was on my side.

She said her Grandmother would be horrified at the amount of waste there was in the world today (Her Granny lives in a very rural location off the coast of France)

One of the boys said but Granny the war and rationing has been over for years, and if people didn't throw things away then the economy would suffer as new stuff wouldn't be needed:( True in one way I suppose), but to waste something just because you need to ensure the economy grows still seems a daft idea , what do you all think ???

JackieO xx

Uhtred_Ragnarsson

Morning all

I'm a bit of a lurker on this thread but I've finally decided to bite the bullet and do some mending, minimising and making do myself after reading all the things you all do. Hope you don't mind a few posts from me now and then.

This week I've mended - one pair of jeans that were hardly worn but which I managed to tear on a nail on my garden fence. Not a bad job I made too even if I say so myself .

I'm making do with what's in my fridge/freezer and matching things up with what's in my store cupboards to make lunches and meals for probably about 10 days.

I've minimised by having two sofas carted off to the dump (well past their best in the spare room) along with various bits and pieces also from that room for which I couldn't find a use and wouldn't have worked for a charity shop. What a difference it's made - I'll be freshening up with some white emulsion now I can actually get into the room :T

Have a good day everyone.

[Deleted User]

DGS Jack found some super glue in our holiday house and used some to fix his favourite Converse trainers that were losing a bit off the front, takes after his Grandma I think He loves his tatty old Converse's and I asked if he wanted a new pair and he said no he likes them looked worn out !!!apparently its a 'fashion statement' amongst youngsters :):) Who'd of thunk it :):)

queenofrandom

*sneaks on*

I tend to lurk around, but I did something very frugal the past 2 days! I was at a festival at the weekend and bought a load of salad, an avocado and some lunch bits basically and didn't end up using all of it.

Monday I made a sauce for pasta from the avocado, in the blender with some grated cheese from back of the fridge and a clove of garlic. Pork chop from the freezer to eat with it and oh my God this will now be a go to dinner, it was delish!

Now for the huge bowl of salad... It had beetroot and all sorts in it, so again I just blended it down with some garlic, added some herbs and paprika, balsamic and soy instead of salt. More pasta sauce! I then added cannellini beans, layered it all up with cheese for a pasta bake! This has made about 4 portions as well haha!

Lynplatinum

Hiya all

Well, as I said we did go up to the free Northampton Umbrella Fair ( a very big thank you to all the volunteers and organisers :A ) We chose to stay in a Travel Lod!e. We had a family room for me, DS1; DIL; 18 month old + 2 large dogs. V comfy and clean. Fair was great lots of hugs from friends - fantastic poetry and song and storytelling. Really enjoyed it! Then my DIL's mum came down to stay for a week.

Minimising: While up country DIL and DS1 spent time sorting out their lock up (all their stuff is stored there while they are looking for a house near me - long story but through no fault of theirs they lost their house in Nhampton) We got rid of 10 bags of stuff to charity shops/ sold to friend down here who makes costumes/two bags of rubbish which friends up there put out for the bin man. WOW. Once home - [to longer term friends on here - please make sure you are sitting down comfortably] have put 10 things on fleabay 9 of which have sold and I need to pack up and send off tomorrow! Finally also have minimised 2 salt grinders - finally used up after me living here for 18 months and family with me for 9 months! (one was theirs; one was mine) :rotfl:
Make do: while at Festival we bought most of our food from Aldi and took it on to site. Apart from a Chinese take away (which only cost us £20) and a meal from Buddies for the first night we were there (the nearest take out to the hotel). We came home within the budget we had set which felt great! Once home our guest arrived and meals were planned but once she had left (Tuesday) it was back to meal planning and using up and £35 has paid for all of us for food and cleaning stuffs for the week and we are using up dried goods (still!) for example tonight we had blackberry and apple crumble - foraged blackberries but in the crumble top we had some chopped nuts which DS1 bought down with him when he moved here!
Mend: does giving the poor car a good old clean count? We did touch up a couple of places where she had been scratched by other people who cant back out of parking spaces!! Grrrrr! (one of them I watched do it and my friend banged on her bonnet to stop the woman! Otherwise shed have taken my whole wing off!) Have also cut up more jeans and ironed the edges over ready to sew onto sofa cushions when I get the chance. :rotfl:

Sorry for long post - in September it will all be much calmer and am looking forward to making some monies on fleabay and creating some space at home and being able to count NDSs again and get on here more
Frugal onward folks!:A

villagelife

Have minimised some DVD's and empty cases!
Have shredded yet more of MIL paperwork. There is still tons more to do.

Made do, yesterday, with food and drink i took to rugby with me. Not buying anything there.

Found a button to see onto a pair of shorts not shown on yet.