What small DFW things will you do this week? w/c 4 September

DawnW

Afternoon all
Been to my sales unit this morning, and managed to fit in a bagful of new bits, so have had some sales Walked for free exercise.

Apart from that:
HG raspberries for breakfast
Failed again at a NSD as I bought a top in a CS in town, also some coasters and a box of nice soaps. Spent all of £6.75 on this - I will have to confess all on the September scrimping thread I am normally quite good at NSDs, but have seen too many bargains so far this month :rotfl:
Need to pick raspberries Done
And carrots for dinner, plus whatever else needs picking Found a huge cucumber :eek:
Also make soup Done, courgette, pea and pesto, made loads
Do the ironing Well, I have got as far as getting the ironing board out......
Water salads in greenhouse Done
Chicken to roast for dinner Done
Check for surveys Done, but will look again in a minute
Check banks Not yet
Sew a button on the CS top I bought yesterday - it is fine apart from that - though I do think that £4.25 for a CS top with a missing button is a bit expensive! Not yet

Better get on with some of that lot I think!

FatVonD

I have been offered the SM job I applied for, working three days a week :T The wages from this will cover all my direct debits etc each month which is a weight off my mind and then I can spend the rest of my time building my fledgling business. I love it when a plan comes together :T

Happy_Kitties

That's is brilliant news FVD I always think if it was meant to be it was meant to be, and it's obviously happening for you-I love great news:):):)
And again the same with DD with uni. I remember being so desperate to leave home to go to uni, it didn't help that I had to take a year out from 6th form due to health problems which made things worse. I see the same with DD, she was ready to go last year. It's hard, bittersweet and I will probably be a blubbering mess next friday but I had an amazing time at uni, it is a true life experience and I know DD will find it the same.......FVD u reminded me, had loads of tea bags for her, but no coffee or hot chocolate, bought some today.

Been a busy day. Hospital today 3 1/2 hour round trip so fitted things inbetween including picking up above bits and quilt I had ordered for DD.
My tablet has been out of action after deciding to jump out of my hand from the stair lift a couple of weeks ago:D :eek:
I prefer it to listen to the radio and do other bits on it. A very nice young man saved me a fortune fixing it in the shop so it didn't have to be sent away......so relieved and happy it is working:T
Spent the last of my DIY budget on a bathmat.Had a look round M@talan when picking up DD quilt. Time for me to get saving again ready for the next round of bits to be done.
Have a great evening everyone:beer:

foxgloves

Hello Friday Frugalistas,
Busy day today getting all the camping gear back upstairs ready to go back in its cupboard, laundry, so many jobs that it feels like we've been away weeks instead of a few days! Anyway, we are both really on the same page with having a careful autumn on the financial front. Here are today's small contributions:
*Did meal plans & shopping list over breakfast, prioritising homegrown produce which needs using & stuff in freezer.
*Grocery shopping came in at about £30. Only 2 outstanding items - coffee & vegetable stock cubes. Will be able to pick both up tomorrow in town & still be within this week's grocery budget which is £46.
*Pegged out the laundry I did overnight & got it dry in the sunshine. Did have to bring it in for 20 mins when we had a brisk shower but I was determined not to cave in to the heated airer. Washer set on timer again for another cheap load on overnight tariff.
*Talked mr f into defrosting the freezer. Made a thorough freezer inventory while we were put it all back. Lots of meals & useful ingredients in there.
*Rounded up all the containers of blackberries in the freezer & divided them up according to what I want to do with them. Put 500g back to make blackberry vodka soon, also a small bag earmarked for a fruit sponge. Used some with 500g of our huge pear crop to make a base for a big crumble which I froze to use next time I need to feed a lot of people. Stewed some into compote to have with porridge (froze). FInally, used all the remaining ones to make 10 jars of blackberry & pear jam. It's come out really nice - better than when I last made it. I cooked the fruit for longer & it seems to have made all the difference to the consistency. Will use 2 or 3 jars of this for gifts.
*Picked 4 more courgettes, another 2lbs tomatoes & another green pepper. mr f using lots of this tonight to make 'Cheesy Bean Thing' (which isn't really called that, but we've been making it for so long that we can't remember what the original recipe was called)
*Picked up more windfall pears. Found a pear recipe I might make tomorrow if I have time
*Paid 12 x 50p pieces into my sealed pot.
*Sorted out all the shopping vouchers on kitchen board. Some potentially useful ones I'd forgotten about.
*Will knit later - am trying to get a few pairs of socks knitted to sell on my sister's knitting stall. Can't see me getting more than 3 pairs done at the most. Yarn from stash so no outlay just my time. Sold quite a few pairs last year & early this year.
*Another £5 of survey income (updated my signature as I keep a tally of survey earnings). Think will put it towards a Christmas present.
*Free expensive skincare serum in free magazine (John Lewis 'Edition', if anyone usually picks up a copy of this). I'm not supposed to spend more than £10 on beauty type products this month because I'm doing the September scrimpy challenge. I spent £6.50 today so will now need to be careful with making things last. I do really like nice skincare.
I think that's all for today. Must update the September Challenge now. I am absolutely not going to get anywhere near hitting 18 NSDs,but I am working hard on not spending anything that hasn't been budgeted for & on generally cracking down. It's focusing me, anyway.
Love to all,
F x
Oh....Purplefairy - yes, we were ok, thanks. We did have one very bad night weatherwise in out tent. We went out one night & got back in a real downpour (quite high winds too) which continued for 5 hours. We started getting water dripping through the seams on the tent, & then seeping through in other places. The 'bedroom' was dry so we decided to go to bed & see if we could sleep through it (which we did) & next morning, it had already all dried out & all was fine. Shall have to investigate re-waterproofing the seams. Had a lovely few days, anyway x

DawnW

I'm not going to manage 18 SFDs (NSDs) either this month Foxgloves I have managed to track down a few items from my list in charity shops /car boot sales, some of which I have been looking for longterm. Others I am always looking for, such as tops that I like (and which fit) and nice soaps!

determined_new_ms

Morning I too don't think I'll hit the 18 SFDs target and am thinking I'll pull out of the challenge because of it! Yesterday as I was in town & went into Debenham$ and bought a jacket and a pair off black trousers. I got £15 off of the trousers so they were £20 instead of £35 but the jacket was £58. It's a lot for me to spend on clothes - I don't think I've bought anything new since last November! But I LOVE both of the them, are great additions to my wardrobe - tried trousers on with everything last night so no regrets :j (gotta do more stuff that brings me joy!)

I then spoke to my bff who I haven't seen a lot of these last few months and we have organised to get together on 3 separate occasions over the next few weeks :j So again I'll miss that target but again no regrets!

There is stuff on the challenge that is good. Am loving making an effort to get at least 20 mins of exercise a day - already seeing results I'm one of those people who only have to walk past a gym to start seeing results :T

Anyway yippee it's the weekend :j managed to *sleep in* until 6.40 :rotfl: planning on getting ready and going to the allotment in the next hour

What else?

* load of washing on & hang out when finished
* do another load - need to get school uniform washed
* go through fridge and make sure everything is used up
* NSD hopefully
* exercise target met from digging, weeding, raking and hoeing :money:
* not sure what we'll do as a family but when I get back we'll get ready and go out. Might go for a walk as haven't done that in a while
* oh watching football this afternoon so might take madam to the library and park to give him some peace!
* finally list some things on fleabay

Oh my I think that's all I need to do! Possibly more things will come along....

FVD amazing news on the job. I've found the transition from well paid ft job to pt job really easy on some levels and harder on others. The hardest thing is not having the money *in case* I wanted to spend it, iykwim? If I am invited out to several things that cost it's hard now to have to think what I can afford to do and say no to others. But the time to pursue things for myself, have space to think and breathe is priceless!

Happy weekend y'all! :A

determined_new_ms

Purps I still can't get my head around your littlest is starting school same as madam. I honestly thought she was much older. But I realised your littlest must be an older child in the year - madam only recently turned 4 - and that she didn't come to us until she was 1. So that accounts for it! Head got around it now!

DawnW

Morning all
I am not going to give up the challenge DNMS, even though I am going to fail on the NSD front - I find the exercise rule useful, and the grocery spending challenge, also the one about writing down all spends. And even the NSD rule makes me think about spending - I usually do better, but have had the luck (or otherwise) to find several things from my wants list for good prices this month But all in all, spending is going to be down for this month - until the end, when OH's golf club fees are due -wonder how that will go down? :eek::rotfl:

Anyway, today's small things:
Load of washing to be dried on line (hopefully, forecast isn't great) Done, finished on airer
Process a load of French beans for freezer Done
All food from home Lunch done, though nice food at party for last night
Ironing (keep putting this off ) Done :T
Should be a NSD :rotfl:Not done, OH bought fuel for the car I think I am probably being stricter than most others on the September challenge thread, but to me a NSD is when we don't spend anything (apart from the direct debit bills and OH frittering his personal spends, which I have no control over)
Supposed to be going to a 50th birthday party tonight, and already have some nice wine to give as a present and a card in my stash. Might end up babysitting instead so that DD and her OH can go - don't mind either way, not mad on parties. Will send my love and the wine etc with OH (they are more his friends than mine, and work colleagues of DD's) We did go, weren't late back, but glad we showed our faces
Rinsed out another shower gel container to use in lieu of bath foam - DS left several of these in the spare room ensuite and asked me to throw them in the bin :eek: Almost all used up and in recycling now!

Happy Saturday everyone
PS, is Ally back from holiday yet?

La_escocesa

Well hello there pals :wave:

See, what did I tell ya, when you start tracking what 'not to do' that inner rebel finds a way. :rotfl: That's the case for me anyway. :rotfl:

FVD - well done on the job! :T That is awesome that you can make sure all your bills are covered and then have time to focus on your biz. Also, you can always do contracting in your current industry if you need something to fall back on...right? #winwin :T

DNMS - nice find on the perfect clothes! :cool:

1LL - defo make sure you get yourself supported!

My latest splurge was on a bellabeat - mum halved in with me so it *only* cost me £56.99. Anyway, so far I prefer it to my fitbit (which I got for free so it's not like that was a wasted purchase ), I can wear my regular watch that I love and my necklace buzzes if I don't move every hour - that'll keep me going today as I'm quite enjoying my current sofa set up... :rotfl:

It is chucking it down here!! PJ day on the cards!!! I really want to clean the conservatory (rock and roll ) and generally get the place sorted out.

OH is away today - should be back around 9pm - so I'll be head chef and bottle washer too.

STILL need to sort home insurance!! Kinda wanted to do it with OH here as he'll be the one saying 'my bike is worth this, my camera is worth that...' :think:

Also need to scan and send an application form to an NHS dentist...

Also need to sort out job#2 Need to renew website domain, update website, bit of advertising, email folk etc...

Right, just a cuppa first and then I'll start (but I've just put netflix on...)

crazy_cat_lady

Morning all
Was so tired that I just slept as soon as I got home from work the past couple of days. I'm exhausted - first week back, new classes, new classroom, new role etc. It's had more positives than negatives but I'm really, really tired. I don't cope well with a lot of change at once and my stress levels are quite high.
So today's plans are not that much. I've put the rubbish out, started the washing, washed the dishes and finished the online grocery order for the week ahead. I now plan to relax on my new sofa, try and finish a couple of crochet things I have on the go and rest. I'll have a day off and think about work again tomorrow.
Might even nap when the boys go out to watch Sunderland lose at football later.