Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2017

[Deleted User]

carolbee thanks for the recipe The boys will love it ,too sweet for me but lads will enjoy it I'm sure they all have hollow legs :):)

Lynplatinum

Hiya All

Wow this is such an amazing thread!! Im still learning - isnt it funny how we all, because we have always done something (probably learnt from our family) we forget to mention it on here?? YorksLass - I never thought of cutting up rubber gloves!! For an example!! Brillant!

Make do: hanging washing outside - have finally got DIL into the way of looking at the weather forcast before doing the washing (of clothes) so that we get them dried for free by the wind and sunshine - I dont have a tumble dryer - and in her family they just hang it on radiators or airers until its dry and use it off of there. I can see the logic but, in Cornwall, in an old house, that soon brings about damp patches so I have spent 10 months teaching the frugal habit of looking at the weather first! :T Also dog's feet needed washing White dog +mud + unmentionable smelly substance = feet wash time! We used an old washing up bowl I ve had for about 20 years and an old flannel that was in the rag box - at least 10 years old. Poor dog (is a rescue) had obviously not had this done before and was initially very nervous but once he realised he was being taken care of again he happily leant affectionately against me while his 'mum' (my DIL) washed his paws and then proceeded to give her a 'thank you' gentle lick! He's a very big dog and we were anticipating me having to pin him down if necessary but cuddles and love won the day - bless him.

Mend: my budget?? And the planet??? Bulb energy firm were once again = cheapest with the Energy Club. their paperwork is very clear and they are totally Green Energy or so they claim. Hope this time that the swap can go through and that EDF actually have put my address in correctly on the National Gas database. We shall see. :money:

Minimise: went through last bit of my wardrobe and found more things I no longer need. Why am I keeping 2 suits when I havent worn one for about 4 years? Ive kept one for very formal events - such as job interviews or seeing solicitors etc but ditched the other one. Also found and finished the last 50 pgs of another book - off to the chazzer with you!!!

Minimising and frugaling onward folks!

PS Have been trying to loose weight - found that reducing portion sizes has helped on both of the above front - lost 2 lbs this week Yea!!!! :j

Slowdown

Thanks for the recipe carolbee. I will be trying it sometime.

Make do - went for a day out to the seaside. Instead of buying lunch I took a picnic for my friend and I. It was lovely. Very warm and sunny. Sat on the sand on our rug, used my grandparents stove in a tin to make a cup of tea and walked and walked and walked. Smashing. Given the fact I'm 51, you can imagine how old the stove is.

Mend- mended the strap on the tin box that holds the stove before I left.

Minimise - sold a pair of shoes on eBay today.

Happy days. And well done all you MMMers.

crazytree

Another"thank you" for the Gypsy tart recipe. I'll have a go at making that too. Used to love it!
I've finally gotten round to making the French toast. Which turned out to be really yummy, so I'll definitely have that again.
Make do - turned unhappy leeks into yesterday's leek and potato soup. Using up all the many packs of cold and flu pills Himself has bought, (all have only two pills used) for my cold.
Mend - me hopefully, feeling a bit rough!!:(
Minimise - sold three pairs of jeans on fleabay. Progress is being made very slowly!!!:rotfl:

Hop you're all enjoying the Indian summer!
T

misstara

Morning MMMers

Perfect drying weather here today, windy and warm so got a load of washing hung up outside.

This morning, I've made a huge batch of pancakes to use up some coconut milk that had been open for a while. Discovered that some diced steak in the fridge goes out of date today so it's in the slow cooker with an assortment of veg and the last of a bottle of red wine.

While searching for something else, I found a stash of travel minis - mostly shampoos and shower gels so have made a start on using them up.

Spent a bit of time in the garden yesterday getting rid of all the leaves. I also finally bought some canes to tie the broccoli to, it's looking very lopsided so will do that today.

Hope everyone has a good Sunday

YorksLass

Lynplatinum wrote: »

Wow this is such an amazing thread!! Im still learning - isnt it funny how we all, because we have always done something (probably learnt from our family) we forget to mention it on here?? YorksLass - I never thought of cutting up rubber gloves!! For an example!! Brillant!

Thanks Lyn. You know what they say - every day's a school day! My ancient brain cells don't always retain as much as I would like them to do , so I use an address book to store all the tips I pick up (a kind of a "what can I do with" book) so, for example, rubber gloves are listed under R with "plant ties" and "rubber bands" written underneath. Plant ties also come under T (tights, old).

My latest Make Do is using a previously unused DVD storage box to keep all my knitting bits & bobs together in one place (stitch markers, row counters, cable needles, tape measure, crochet hooks etc etc). It sits on the hearth next to my chair and on top of the box I have a lidless pottery cookie jar that's re-purposed as a wool keeper so the ball of yarn doesn't run all over the floor. I've seen these advertised at a cost of anything from £10 upwards - and that's cheap :eek: - but I'm a happy bunny with my make-do version. :)

Facial moisturiser just about on its last legs and will probably run out this week, but I know a replacement will be coming as a C'mas pressie so until then I'll be making do with 2 free samples that I got a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks crazytree for mentioning cough & cold stuff; I've just checked our stocks and have added paracetamol to the shopping list.

silvasava

Yorkslass - OOD suncream is a good moisturiser too if you run short.

Slowdown

YorksLass- great ideas for the rubber gloves. Thanks.

Yesterday was another great day.

Make do - with various scraps and bits of chocolate for the hm brownies rather than popping out for a bar of dark. Tasted just as yummy I can tell you.

Mend - all that talk of darning has made me snatch DH's socks from the bin and have a go.

Minimise - dug over the veg patch to minimise the weeds that have taken hold, dug up potatoes which minimised those left and picked the last of the apples and pears. Amazing crop this year. Also put another item on e*ay.

Excellent tips and tricks coming in on this thread. I'm very glad I happened across it.

[Deleted User]

Making do : stuff from my existing food stuff in my freezer
Minimising : see above :)
Mending : my ways, by using up stuff before buying anything else :)

Have a great week MMMing chums
JackieO xx

jackyann

Pleased with my little bit of mending:about 25 years ago, youngest child wanted to choose his own bedding, not hand-me-downs, and he chose a lovely duvet cover -a design of children in a tree. It was good quality, so it just got put away when he 'grew out' of it, and was resurrected for grandchildren about a couple of years ago. Just saw a small hole, that I machine darned. Both youngest child and GC were visiting this weekend, and smiled at that lovely duvet cover!