Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Hi Four-Seasons, Nice to hear from you. Pleased to hear your veg growing efforts were successful. It really is always worth having a go. Plants want to grow, so the vast majority of us are capable of raising a bit of food in my opinion, even if we just have a couple of troughs or pots outside the back door.
Re heated airer. I much prefer drying outside, but it isn't possible all year round. If it's blowy in winter I sometimes peg larger things like towels out to give them a good airing even if I have to finish them off indoors afterwards. Our heated airer is from the establishment you mention. I bought the one with the 3 racks, which I think is maybe the bigger one? I saved money by not buying a cover for it, as I had heard that drying a sheet or large item over the top on cold days does the trick, & it does. There's just me & Mr F but I do frequently find the airer is pretty full. I suppose I do towels (inc a couple of big bath sheets) each week, then there's bedding washed pretty frequently & neither of us are little skinnies, so clothing takes up a fair bit of room too. I suppose it depends how you organise your laundry schedule. If I just washed a load of laundry when I'd got sufficient to fill the washer, I'd probably be fine with the smaller size airer, but I really, really dislike ironing, so my system is all based around me only having to iron once a week. I tend to do all the laundry at the start of the week so that it, & therefore the ironing is out of the way. So (if I am making any sense at all here!), I usually have 2 or even 3 loads at a time to try & fit on the airer. If I did a load here & there throughout the week instead, the smaller one would probably be fine.
Re my knitted squares - no, I haven't started sewing them together yet, although I would like to do them this year. I'm currently knitting some items for my sister's charity stall. Our Dad died 4 years ago from a horrible lung disease & we decided we'd like to have an annual stall to raise some money for the UK's lung charity. So I'm busy with that at the moment. I have a couple of pairs of socks to kit for Christmas gifts plus a few things for myself once I have finished my promised charity items.
I was never any good at cross stitch. I've done a few needlepoint cushions over the years, but all my cross stitch efforts resulted in me giving up & giving them to charity shops!
F x

foxgloves

Hello Soggy Frugalistas, Well what a wet old day! I do feel quite pleased to see some rain though as the garden has very much entered cut-back, clearing & weeding season & the ground has been so hard it's been difficult to get my hand fork in. Hopefully the weeds will have less of a grip when I next get out there.
Productive day on the domestic front. Got all the horrid ironing out of the way early, then had a major clothes sort-out. Fetched my autumn/winter stuff out of storage & packed away most of my summer things. As usual, there were some money saving highlights & also some areas where spending will be necessary. On the money saving front, I'm pleased to report that my old purple handbag polished up well & will be perfect until Christmas (when Mr F says I can choose a new one for a present if I like - I do like!), also my flowery backpack-style handbag which I thought was probably on its last summer has had a good wash (despite label saying 'sponge clean only') & looks good to be packed away ready for next summer. With that 8.8kgs off, I found I can now fit in a little purple needlecord skirt I bought in the sale a while back before my weight went up (& the zip wouldn't!) & it goes nicely with a big handknitted jumper & my DMs. I also fit back into my denim skirt, so with both these, plus the fact that my summer maxi-dress looks fine with a big jumper over the top of it, mean I shall have a few new outfit possibilities. On the NOT money saving side of things, firstly I threw all the black 80 denier tights I bought last year into the bin. I refuse to walk around permanently hitching hosiery up for another winter. Despite coming from an upmarket department store, they were quite simply the worst tights I have ever bought. I intend to try a pair from the online tights company mentioned on here a while back, plus see if the multipacks from B**ts are as good as they used to be. The other spendy area was anticipated. The 2 dresses I practically lived in last winter are now hopeless. The older one has been mended in 4 places & is too big & too tatty to wear and the much newer one which was a little too big when I bought it online during Lockdown is now much too big. I tried it on but it looked so tent-like, I looked as though I'd gained 8.8kg not lost it, so I am going to offer it to my sis-in-law as I know she really likes the fabric/colour. I've seen a replacement dress which I really like & would go with absolutely everything but I will wait until I can visit the store & try it on  - us curvaceous shorta*ses are never a standard size, so online clothes buying is just not for me on the whole. So on the financial side of things, today's clothes sort-out was a bit of a mixed bag. When I think about the sheer amount of stuff I bought back in the day however, some winter black tights which actually fit & a new dress is very small fry indeed. 
Other MSE stuff - Well, I've done my mid-month budget check-in this afternoon. No nasty surprises. I'm down £8 on where I should be, but as I have done so many transfers of funds to & from various pots recently, frankly I'm surprised it's not more of an anomaly, so I'm not wasting time whittling about that. Use-it-up meal plans still going well. Ancient leftover pastry taken out of freezer this morning to make a quiche later, which I will serve with stir-fried courgettes. The plants have slowed down this past week, so the new glut is pears.
I need to sew up some of my handknitted Christmas decorations later so hopefully there will be something good on TV, as I always enjoy the knitting part better than the sewing.
Take care m'dears,
F xx

Pixiehouse55

We brought a heated airer last year as the boiler had packed up so no radiators to air our clothes. Got it from Ami**n. Don't need it now. To sale it I need to put it back together again to take pics to show how it looks etc. Really bad but I just haven't got the energy. It cost £70 ish............ it was very good though when I did use it ......

Selling has gone mad the last few days....... I put or tried to put a singing reindeer on marketplace F***b*** wouldn't allow it, it was against their rules... couldn't find what was wrong with it, so I guess they just don't like singing reindeer?? 😅🤣😅🤣

foxgloves

How odd, @Pixiehouse55. I know there are various rules regarding a few categories but like you, I can't think of anything dodgy regarding a singing reindeer!
F

foxgloves

Oh my days, I am feeling completely knackered. Decided to jump straight in a hot bubble bath to wash off the generous slarming of green tomato-leaf dye & now my body seems to think it's bed time!
Hello Diary readers, A useful day here today. Popped into town first thing to drop off broken coffee machine for return & refund and to take my new boots to the cobblers for stretching. Parked on the outskirts & walked in to avoid parking charges.
Have spent all afternoon in the garden. Picked all remaining greenhouse tomatoes regardless of colour & chopped up the plants, ditto aubergines & chillies. I top-dressed the remaining cucumber plant as it still has a few fruits on it which may grow to a decent size if I continue to feed & water. Weeded & forked over greenhouse border - just a row of basil plants in there now, which may manage a small batch of pesto in a week or two, I'll see. Other pickings today = windfall apples, blackberries, peppers & a courgette.
Did next week's meal plans & wrote grocery shopping list. Last week's groceries came to about £38. This is another small list so our use-it-up month is defo having an impact. I've earmarked the underspend for the Presents Pot & am still feeling very motivated. Mr F reckons we should do the same next month & I've agreed it' s a good idea.
Well, I must go & put the oven on before I fall asleep!
Love to all,
F x

BlueJ94

I honestly don't know how you're so motivated and busy all the time! I love reading along but I currently feel like a spud! Besides work and cleaning the house I don't do much else! I've started giving myself tasks like drink 2 litres of water, make £5 a day. 

foxgloves

Hi @jadewest94 - I think I'm just not very good at doing nothing. When we discussed the pros & cons of me taking VR in the austerity cuts, we had made very good headway paying off our debts but we still had a mortgage. We decided there were more pros than cons but that we would need to take the opportunity for a bit of a lifestyle change. Part of that was me running the household in a fairly old-style way so as to be able to live on a reduced income. So yes, I've always enjoyed gardening, cooking, preserving, etc, but I stepped all of these up as part of us living on less money. Making presents, the odd bit of foraging, make-do & mend, use-it-up....... I suppose I did feel very morivated to do all those things because they were part of the lifestyle change which facilitated me taking VR. We are better off now that we have no mortgage but I still feel motivated to be productive on the old-style front because it is helping us get some money into savings.
But the other thing is defo that I get very fidgetty if I am doing nothing & am always knitting or something even if I'm watching tv.
You are working though, Jade, so it's natural that you don't want to do heaps of stuff when you get in. That's your down-time.
F x

foxgloves

Hello Cherubs, Everyone had a frugal Friday? Not done too bad here. Mr F's day off, so he went off to get the grocery shopping while I waited in for the flooring man to come & measure up. It's Week 4 in our grocery budget cycle & about £47 spent today by the looks of things (includes a couple of bulk chutney-making ingredients), so unless we go completely off plan next week, we should defo have a surplus to boost our Presents Pot. 
Busy day - decorator resumes work on Monday week & we have moved the conservatory furniture so as to be able to store furniture in there while he paints our living room. We also need to get our huge sofa through the front door & onto our drive ready for council collection on Wednesday. Mr F is of the opinion we won't get it through the door. I am being more positive as it came in that way & if he bashes the feet off, I can't see why it won't go through again backwards. We will soon see!
Frugal activities - Did 2 loads of laundry to make use of a good drying day. You know me - I am ridiculously chuffed if I can get a non-summer load dry without paying for heated airer use (I should probably get out more!) What else? Baked bread, baked a pear cake  - we are inundated with pears....which are the 'new courgettes'. Garden pickings = blackberries & more windfall apples. Wrapped a big parcel for posting to my sister tomorrow - used all recycled wrappings from my stash - it'd annoy me no end if I had to buy a box or a bag for posting. 
Oh & I unpacked the Presents Stash & made a list of everything in it ready for making my Christmas/winter birthdays spreadsheet. While I'd got everything laid out, I put aside gifts & cards for 2 October birthdays plus on on Nov 1st, as I can get those wrapped & ready. I also counted Christmas cards & was amazed that we only have 22 left from last year's supplies. Mr F spotted some nice cards on an online charity thing the other day & I confidently asserted that we don't need any as we have heaps. I think I will eat a small slice of humble pie & tell him he can choose some if he likes. I've also done about 4 PA surveys this afternoon which when paid, will put my earnings at over £96. My goal was to have an extra £100 of Personal Spends money for December for a treat, the January sales or just to stash until I see something lovely. I'm confident I will make the £100 now & maybe a little more by then. Oh & a final thing..... I received an email from the well-known Waitr*se-owning department store recently informing me that if I would be so kind as to leave a review for an item I purchased, they would send me a £5 e-voucher. So I did, & have indeed received the e-card. I was pleased with that, as I am stashing their vouchers for the Presents Pot & that addition put my nice little pile of the things up to £65. It didn't take me long to write a review & I would defo do it again if lured by a voucher.
Well, I must quit yakking & go & fetch the laundry in. Have cast on next charity stall project but feel like reading my book & some tv tonight tbh.
Take care Frugas Friends,
F x

foxgloves

Afternoon Campers, 
Useful day. Collected my stretched boots. Will walk them in over next week - apparently they can go back on the stretching machine for no further charge if they need a bit more. Had a coffee in our favourite cafe, but was not tempted by a scone as knew I had home baked cake at home. Spent rest of morning making a start on packing up my treasures cabinet so it can be moved for decorating. I always save newspaper for various jobs so at least I haven't had to buy bubblewrap.
Gardening this afternoon. Have picked courgettes & french beans, watered & fed remaining cucumber plant, sown red mustard salad leaves, winter lettuce & mustard & cress. Re-potted Mum's beautiful stephanotis & attempted a cutting for my sister, emptied outdoor tomato pot rings onto backs of flower borders to build up the level a little for free, cleared & dug over the bed. It's Mr F's cooking night so I intend to read, knit & start learning a Chopin piece - the ability to play it having eluded me all my life. I don't think it is actually any more difficult than much of the other stuff I play, but you know when you get it into your head you can't do something, you create that impenetrable mental block, so I am going to try & start unbricking that today.
Glorious autumn day here today. Loving seeing the bright yellow leaves flutter down from the witchhazel on our courtyard. Shan't enjoy sweeping them up though. 
Take care frugal diary friends, 
F x

Blackcats

I hope that you and Chopin are successful today.  It's so easy to fail once and then never try again or make a self fulfilling prophecy ready for failure.  When I was learning to drive I just couldn't get the hang of parallel parking - I had stickers on the wing mirror, in the rear windscreen etc which was supposed to help - when that sticker lines up with that wheel, hard left or whatever but I just couldn't do it.  I'd end up sticking out at some weird angle, no concept of which way to turn my wheel.  Eventually I got it right once and that changed my thinking.  Mind you I still need a large gap to get into and I never try and do it if there's anyone watching for example outside a cafe.  I'd rather drive round the block than face the prospect of failing pin public 🙃