Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

@debtmeoutofhere - Yes, permaculture is a fascinating topic. I used to buy the occasional magazine on the subject when I lived nearer to such things as alternative bookshops & radical market stalls (I live in Tory-town now & haven't visited a city centre since before Lockdown 1, something which my old Spendy Self would find completely unbelievable!)) I've also borrowed one or two useful library books about it in the past. I've tried a few of the more basic ideas, such as getting rid of unwanted very weedy turf in a sustainable way, using twiggy prunings around hungry shrubs by layering them then composting over the top, etc. I do grow comfrey for plant food, make nettle fertiliser & that kind of thing. We have 5 compost bins & a worm composter and although I grow quite a bit of food, I love that there's always something new to learn. I was really interested in a visit made on last week's ''Gardener's World' where one of the presenters went to see a woman who had devoted her entire allotment to growing perennial vegetables. Veg can be a lot of work because we mostly grow annuals, so it was a whole new area for me to think about all the stuff I could grow which would come back every year without me needing to re-sow it, grow it on, etc. The only things we currently have in that category are 2 fruit trees, blackberries, strawberries, rhubarb, a globe artichoke, sorrel and herbs. I shall be reading up on the possibilities when I next need a project.
F

Living_proof

The recipe sounds like Pakora which can be made with almost any vegetable. It's like a smaller variation of onion bhaji.

foxgloves

It definitely wasn't pakora, @Living_proof, as I've had those & they are individual snacks, whereas the thing I made in the wok from that long lost recipe was something you'd serve up as a side in big spoonfuls. Thanks for mentioning pakora though, as it's reminded me how much I like them & I haven't had one for ages!
F

foxgloves

Greetings all you chilly May people,
Honestly, my feet are feeling positively frosty this evening. Well, my first thought when I awoke was 'Ooooh, a workman-free day!', but that didn't last long as the locksmith called to see if he could come today instead of next week because he was unexpectedly ahead of his work schedule. Of course it is to our advantage to get the job done early, so he arrived & fitted all our external doors with new handles. They are so much easier to open & close now. The old ones had worn out & didn't even line up properly with the necessary bits of locking mechanism. I needed to update our Home Improvements budget today, so was able to include this work as well as the latest decorator invoice which I paid this morning. For some reason today when I tried to pay a purchase off my 'just for points' credit card, I got a message saying that I had exceeded the amount of debit card payments to my credit card allowable in any 30-day period. I have never had this message before, so maybe its a new rule. Naturally nothing about it in any of the account information or FAQs, so I set it up as a BACS transfer & will pay online in future. The way I do our budget means that I do make fairly frequent payments to credit cards, so I prefer to change how I pay them rather than how I choose to manage our household financials iyswim.
Other jobs - not many today. Cleaned the bathroom, planted out a dozen chard plants & bottle-cloched them from naughty beaks, did lots of piano practice & wrote a list of everything I need to do in town tomorrow. Freezer-dive night on our meal plan, so felt like a free meal. Must step up the knitting. I just want this bedspread finished asap as am now getting lured by the thought of other projects, especially presents.
Cheers,
F x

Debt_Me_Out_Of_Here

Ooh I love chard, must grow some next year! It's my life ambition to have a little orchard one day and make lots of jam and chutneys haha. 
Great news on the locks!

foxgloves

Hello Frugalistas, A non-eventful day here. Town first thing for the market. Treated myself to a magazine, but these fripperies have to come from my Personal Spends, so no impact on the budget. Grocery spend a bit higher than planned due to rising prices on fresh fruit & veg and buying a very large beef roasting joint. I am eyeing that for several knock-on meals, so no worries there. My corrected order arrived from a well known purveyor of nice toiletries (sounds like somewhere you would visit if you wanted a new body.....) The box I received last week didn't contain a single item I ordered. Customer advisor was v good on online chat & said I could choose two of the items to keep to make up for the inconvenience so I chose the most useful - a large shampoo for myself & a shower-gel to put away in the presents stash. So I do feel I am now up on the deal. 
A day of tidying & vacuuming here as all 3 upstairs rooms are now decorated & can be sorted out properly as soon as my little HQ room is carpeted early next week. Decorating will resume end of Aug/beg of Sept after the builders have finished, then the landing & stairwell can be carpeted. I am tracking the budget for this whole project very closely so I don't commit to anything we can't afford.
I wish those remaining 42 bedspread squares would knit themselves as I am in the mood for socks now.
Hope everyone gets to enjoy some downtime this weekend. 
F x

foxgloves

Hello m'dears,
Well, a few money-saving wins today. 
1) The heating has finally been turned off. Yes, it has been unseasonably cold but I refuse to pay for heating any further into May. Unheard of for us to get this far as I like to build up a good credit for winter. 2) Sent some measurements to my sis (v good at sewing) as she has bought £6 of fabric which will make 2 tunic tops. £3 for something new to wear!
3)Popped to garden centre to buy 3 bags of compost & 2 grow-bags & despite being very tempted, did not buy anything else. I have heaps of plants ready to go out, mostly grown from free seeds so should not be buying ANY at this stage.
Other stuff - Mr F earthed up potatoes, I got the aubergines into their grow-bag & we arranged a set of solar lights I received for my birthday around the hydrangea arch/trellissy thing on the courtyard. We managed morning coffee outside on our coffee bench, but it is raining now & has dropped cold.
Love to all,
F xx

foxgloves

.... And it's 'Hello' to a new week. Woke at 5am & although I'm an early riser, that was a bit early for me. Then when the alarm went off, it was as though I was stuck to the bed with Very Sticky Bed Glue, I just so didn't want to move! Now that I'm up & have had some toast & an enormous coffee, I am feeling that a day of productivity might be coming on. Hope so, & that it's not a caffiene-based illusion!
Wishing everyone a positive start to the week.
F x

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Haha, that Very Sticky Bed Glue is prevalent chez Deni especially on Monday mornings i find.....
Deni x

Onebrokelady

I really struggled to get out of bed this morning too,I didn't wake up until 10 am 🙀