What small moneysaving things will you be doing this week? W/C 08/01/18

allydowd

FatVonD wrote: »

Ally, I tried sending a home photo that I'd cropped to the correct size for DS's passport but it was rejected, somehow they *know*.

Lol. You have to have the dimensions exactly right. (Link) This is for a bus pass so it doesn't have to be 100% compliant. I've never had any problems using home-grown photos.

carrielovesfanta

foxgloves wrote: »

CLF - I can't really advise re onion sets. I've never tried planting them this time of year. I've planted Japanese onions in Autumn & successfully overwintered them. Usually we wouldn't sow our onion sets until Spring. The only stuff I usually sow in Jan is broad beans - end of Jan.in unheated greenhouse, and chillies....heated propagator indoors.
F x

Cheers Foxgloves - I'll might try planting and covering with fleece. I'm worried that they will just rot if I leave them

foxgloves

Hi Sunday Savers,
Have just enjoyed reading everyone's posts, but unfortunately the MSE site isn't letting me 'Thank' any of you, so don't think I'm being churlish. I just get a message when I click the thanks button saying I am not authorised to access it.
Another day where I haven't set out to do much actual money saving, but have kept the faith:
*Read the Observer online instead of buying one.
*Cleared out & rationalised 2 really annoying kitchen cupboards. Do you remember when Ally used to have a clear out & end up discovering 'treasure'? Well, it's been a bit like that. I emptied my baking cupboard & found baking supplies I'd forgotten about, including a pretty cake ribbon & silver cake board. Also lots of stuff my Mum gave me that just got chucked in there....loads of loaf tin liners (price still on...£4.99 a pack), jam pot covers, etc. Sorted everything out into (recycled) lidded containers. Also sorted out biscuit/cake tins......all gifted to me, won't need to buy anything in that line for the foreseeable future. Tried to make life easier by putting, for e.g, everything I need for my twice-weekly bread baking into my big bread bowl so I can just grab it & go. Also tackled Christmas cupboard & managed for the 1st time ever to fit everything in there properly. 2 items found, which with a small inexpensive purchase & minimal crafting, could be re-gifted, so those have gone in the presents box.
*Sorted recycled jar stash ready for marmalade season. Jars still with labels attached now soaking in hot soapy water. Checked preserving supplies for jar labels, etc. Plenty in stock.
*Did 1 survey. Not in the mood for them today.
*mr f has cleaned the car inside & out by hand instead of paying for the car-wash. He's spent ages buffing it up. A good work-out & no expense as he is still using the large array of car valeting products & microfibre cloths we were given when we purchased the car.
*No downstairs heating on yet, although if I don't warm up when I go & fetch my shawl in a minute, that will soon change! Just seen the chilly forecast for next week.
*'Free' roast dinner tonight, as will be using some of the turkey slices in gravy I froze when doing Christmas rubber turkey batch-cooking/freezing.
*Make tomorrow's packed lunch & work snacks.
*Synchronise diaries with mr f. Being organised always seems to save us money....even down to the very simple stuff like noting which days require packed lunch or breakfast & which days I will have access to the car.
*Washer loaded & will be put on timer for overnight laundry on cheap tariff.
*Knit. I could finish my 2nd sleeve today if I made the effort.
So not the most money-saving of days, but I've still been in the right sort of mind-set.....re-using, recycling, being organised, NSD, de-cluttering, etc, so all useful stuff.
Cheers all,
F xx

crazy_cat_lady

Hi everyone :hello: :coffee:
Brrr - it's a cold one out there today. I'm pleased I'm all done for the day and snuggling up on the sofa in my warm nightie.
A few days away from being online after travelling on Wednesday night to my cousin's funeral, followed by the funeral and journey home on Thursday and a full teaching day Friday. Now add on a rather nasty cold that floored me yesterday and I'm only just starting to feel normal-ish again. Real life is all a bit much sometimes for me
The hotel stay on Wednesday night wasn't particularly mse but good for my mental health and general alertness.
However, I have tried to keep the faith since I got home:
Cashed out on TCB
Made a meal plan for the week ahead and shopped according to the list
Roped the kids into some housework jobs
Tutored for 2 hours (even though I really didn't feel like it)
Only spent on refuelling the car.
Hope everyone is doing ok - good to see you back Ally

carrielovesfanta

Was going to post but work is CRAZY today.


Trying to keep the faith.

vickthestick

Foxgloves I kept getting the same thing but figured it was a function of my intermittent internet connection, but maybe it's a glitch in the MSE system. I just kept trying and eventually got there. It took me three attempts to post this morning, so you all ended up with the bitesize version of events!
Made some nice mince pies with a jar of mincemeat that was at the back of the cupboard - it was only two years out of date

DawnW

Your onion sets should be OK CLF. I have put them in at this time before, and they were fine. Having said that, I am always a little wary of responding to these questions as I live in the SW, and further North, the answer would not be the same! Onion sets are pretty tough though

Vickthestick Enjoy your mince pies. I make my own mincemeat, so it doesn't have a date - and we are still alive

Ally, lovely to see you back

Mixed weekend here - annoying RL stuff going on, basically my brother has turned up again (only been gone just over a week) with no job, no money etc etc for about the millionth time. OH had a massive tantrum, so I need to find him somewhere to live (again). He is on the case with work, though I have stuff to sort there too. I suspect he will end up sleeping in his car (again) Why are some people their own worst enemy? He is really hard to live with, personal hygiene, smoking, gambling, offensive (to us, anyway) right wing Sun reader views vociferously expressed Anyway, I will need to sort him out again, and then he will reject the accommodation etc that I have found, and go back to his ex partner, till she throws him out again, repeat ad infinitum

Just what I needed when I am waiting for surgery and OH has been so poorly :mad: Still, it is what it is, and I will have to try to sort out something for him that does not involve living here at our expense and having everything done for him! He is over 60 for heavens sake :eek:

So, today's small things:
No spends today
BUT a big spend yesterday as I ordered a new vacuum cleaner :eek: We currently have 2 ancient ones, a vax that lives downstairs and a huge centurion tank of a Dyson, which lives upstairs and is too heavy for me to carry anywhere, let alone up and down stairs (we have 3 storeys. I have lived with this for, well, years, because they both work, but have now decided to 'lose' the Dyson in favour of an expensive lightweight cordless thingy:eek: Fingers crossed I get on with it, but in case I don't I will keep the Dyson until it arrives and I have tried it out.

Dog walks etc
Made a big stew using up loads of veg etc yesterday, and there is enough for tonight as well
Defrosted indoor freezer :eek: this required much juggling with cool boxes etc, as it was by no means empty but was getting to the stage where the drawers would not fit in properly :eek: Anyway, done now, and I have inventoried both
Meal planned for the next few days, and started a shopping list. Despite the fact that there are currently 3 of us instead of the budgeted for 2, this isn't a big one.
Sorted a box of [STRIKE]carp[/STRIKE] antiques and vintage items for the £2 sale I am having at my sales unit
Packed 2 ebay parcels ready for posting tomorrow
Prepped RM survey items for the coming week
Cleaned out bottom of one of the wood stores, OH is on the case of using up the sticks, bits of bark etc on the wood stove tonight! Moved a small amount of the logs from the garage to the clean wood store, not too much as my hip has been playing up this weekend, on top of everything else :mad:

OK, must go and serve dinner now, looking forward to that, especially as there is toffee apple crumble for pudding, courtesy of the rest of the OOD jar of dulce de leche I found in the larder

determined_new_ms

that sucks Dawn. As one person who picks up the pieces to another you have my full sympathy for how kick-you-in-the-stomach gut wrenching it is when you realise it's all falling on your shoulders again

DawnW

Thanks DNMS. It has been going on and off for about 40 years now :mad::(

carrielovesfanta

DawnW wrote: »

Your onion sets should be OK CLF. I have put them in at this time before, and they were fine. Having said that, I am always a little wary of responding to these questions as I live in the SW, and further North, the answer would not be the same! Onion sets are pretty tough though

Cheers Dawn


Sorry things are so tough at the mo