Put away your purse & become debt-averse

marionmgcars

I emptied an old hanging basket today, as it was a little water logged, and there were several small bulbs inside, probably miniature daffs.  Should I replant them in compost and store in garage till next spring with another planter I have, or is it best to dry the bulbs and store to replant in container later in year,  thanks

foxgloves

I usually leave mine until the leaves have died, Marionmgcars, then lift them & pop in the shed until end of Sept when I replant them. Some come up blind, but I usually get a decent amount of flowers. Sometimes I plant old container bulbs straightout into the garden, which I usually do straight away.
F

foxgloves

Good point, Sayschezza. I used to make so many poor purchases from sale rails. Now I try to apply the basic question "Would I have bought it at full price?" If not, why not? If the ONLY thing preventing purchase originally was the cost, then sale price is a gpod thing. If I didn't buy it because it wasn't my colour, not quite my style or made me look like a water buffalo when I tried it on, the most fab sale price in the world isn't going to change those things. 
F x

Toni'sfriend

I've never thought of sales like that, Sayschezza. What a good way of looking at it. I'll do that now.

Baileys_Babe

Some interesting thoughts on how shops try to part us from our money.

Hearing a variety of thoughts and strategies on how to rethink our shopping habits.

foxgloves

Hello from the chilly Midlands, 
Some progress today, as the chimney work/new fireplace is finally finished. It looks lovely, although the chimney breast is in need of major redecoration now following removal of the old mantlepiece, bits of dado rail & heavily painted paper. Decorating is the penultimate project on the list, so we will be living with this rather rustic looking wall for a while yet.
I got up with a serious case of Doingstuffitis today. I've done a laundry load, cleaned all of downstairs, empried all the bins, picked a bunch of flowers from the garden & washed down all the kitchen cupboard doors. When Mr F got in, he bashed off a bit more old dado rail & helped me move the lounge furniture back. I also re-organised my bookshelves to make better use of space & to fit in some books I'd got upstairs which belonged to my Mum. I have so missed our dear old cat today. I can't believe it's 3 whole weeks since we said 'goodbye'. Ah well, he was a long-term homeless street cat before went to the Rescue & was chosen by us & he did have a lovely cushy life here.
I'm hoping to pop into town tomorrow morning for a few bits & bobs, but apart from that, I'm looking forward to a peaceful weekend.
Hope everyone still keeping well, 
F x

Pixiehouse55

Hi Foxgloves & Gang
Well, today, finally a date for the laminated flooring to be taken up and we have chose a different one this time. Makes you laugh no one wanted to own up or explain why the laminated flooring wasnt fitting properly!!. So, fingers crossed July 21st the workmen will be in, lift the old laminated flooring and fire new. Estimated time......4 to 5 days. Waiting now for assessors to arrange for storage company to take our furniture away. Had enough now. Lost of earnings every month for respite that we normally do as the spare bedroom has the ornaments, books etc from our lounge. I think a complaint is in order when this is all over.  On a good note food shop was £179 and odd pennies today for the month which includes all cleaning products loo rolls etc.  Therecwill be a bit extra spent as its hubby's 65th birthday on the 16th.... Fed all my Fuchsia's tomatoe plants cucumber courgette and runner beans today. Hubby has a big skip delivered and so his garage/workshop having a big clear out.  Knitting done today and 2 loads of washing. Taco's was for dinner tonight. Which we all enjoyed. I need to seriously lose some weight after the self isolating, I've gained about 1/2 a stone!!!!  Well the rain has been good for the garden hasn't it?. Hope you've all had a good day?
Stay safe everyone, I think he's done it all to quick and this virus will come back again 

foxgloves

I daren't get on the scales atm, Pixiehouse55. I seem to have morphed into a Neverending Nibbling Machine.
Sounds like you have been very productive & hiring that skip will be brilliant incentive for shed clear-out. No point paying out good cash for a skip then sending it away half empty! Glad to hear that the longstanding flooring situation finally seems to be progressing too. 
F x

foxgloves

Not a good start to the day today. Drew the landing curtains & could see something lying out on the lawn. So sad to discover it was our lovely blackbird, who has worked his socks off this year feeding his family of chicks. There was a spray of feathers around him. My top suspect is next-door-but-one's cat who dares to venture into our garden now that we are minus our fur friend, but to be fair it could also have been the local corvids or visiting sparrowhawk.
I buried him under the flowering currant where he & Mrs Blackbird had their nest.
Hope I've got a more cheerful post to put on tonight..... I did have a decent trip into town, so that's a start.
F x

foxgloves

Hi chilly readers - Honestly, I don't want to waste my diary time moaning about the weather, but it was only so recently we were all saying we were too hot to do anything & I was ladling on the Factor 30! Today I am wearing trousers, a long sleeved top & DMs. I also needed my leather jacket to go into town. Hoping it will be a bit warmer & less mizzly tomorrow morning as I really do want to get out into the garden & get on with various jobs.
Enjoyed a quick trip to town this morning. Two big bags for life size bags of fresh fruit & veg from our greengrocer's stall, including flat peaches  - Mr F is a big fan of these as they fit in his packed lunch box without getting squashed. Also pleased to see the pet food stall was on as the bird food is the best in town & I was running out. Our garden birds gobble so much, I'm surprised they can actually still fly! Having said that, it is lovely to see how many have been breeding in our garden or very close by. There are swifts breeding & we've already seen baby jackdaws, blackbirds, starlings, sparrows, a teeny fluffy goldfinch, dunnocks & a robin. There is a woodpigeon nest in our front hedge too. So I've bought plenty of bird food & will top up all the feeders tomorrow.
I was hoping the towel stall would be on today & it was. I've been wanting to replace some old bath sheet sized towels for ages but didn't get round to it, then of course with Covid19, I couldn't get to buy any in person. I know I can order online & I have been buying some things online but I like to feel the thickness & fabric quality of things like towels so I have waited until non-essential stalls were allowed back on the market. Anyway, there was a good choice & the stall holder also said I could have a couple of matching hand towels for half price. It hasn't eaten into my monthly budget or even our House & Garden savings pot because I'd drawn out cash for paying the chimney sweep & plasterer & neither of them charged nearly as much as I'd anticipated, so I have used some of the 'spare' cash to pay for the towels. In the Spendy Years, I'd have squandered that leftover cash in the twinkling of an eyelash. I'd have seen it as 'treat money' because I 'deserved to have something' for some or other spurious reason. And the last of it would have been spent on a takeaway, even though I almost certainly would have had food for that evening already sitting in the fridge. So, I know it sounds a bit silly, but I know everyone on here will understand that little glow of satisfaction I felt on using the leftover workman cash for something we actually needed, because it means that the money in our House & Garden savings pot can be used for something else when the need arises. 
Well, that was about it for town......I queued at the post office to post a parcel to my sister & we popped in W*lko's for more tomato food & washing-up sponges. They really were counting every customer in & out today & being very strict about only having one person standing at the till at any one time. I feel safer when people are being sensible. Having said that, we walked past a certain hostelry.....not namng names but think very Brexitty owner & items you might use alongside knives & forks......& despite it being only 8.55 a.m, it was already pretty busy with clientele. Hope these places won't be giant petri dishes by the end of the week. I do feel that Lockdown measures should have been eased more gradually. I know we are all amateur armchair epidemiologists these days, but from what the science bods were saying, there didn't seem to be much room for manoeuvre in the R-number, as we were originally all told it would need to be below '1' before Lockdown could being to be eased. I am hoping that members of the public that are determined to go out & spend the weekend necking beer will heed the warning that is Leicester, as surely it's worth being a bit sensible to avoid full lockdown again. I wish I felt more hopeful.
A proper frugal curry night tonight - we have take out a selection of homemade curries from the freezer, plus a couple of my garlic flat breads & Mr F has been down the garden to harvest a tub of his first early potatoes, which he is using to make a spicy potatoes with red chilli side dish we both like. Absolutely zero expenditure as it was all leftovers, home grown or already in stock in some form or another.
I'd better stop yakking now & pop down to the greenhouse to see if anything needs watering. 
I think we will watch a film tonight & I'm cracking on with knitting my 2nd sleeve.
Stay safe all of you,
Love from F xx