Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Elisheba

@foxgloves Yeah, the 'what can I buy to be this person/live this lifestyle' used to be strong in me  These days I actually make almost all of my own cleaning products from things I bulk bought like bicarb and vinegar. So much better the the environment and cheap as well. I think the only brand thing I still buy is Ecover washing up liquid as that's hard to make on your own. I bulk buy the big 5 litres cartons though and use very little, so it works out very reasonably priced. 

Sun_Addict

I always over cater but make sure everything can be re-used another day if not eaten. 

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

hi foxgloves and followers

It has been windy and soggy in the NW but just one fence panel has come loose chez Deni and my neighbour has offered to fix that .
I'm enjoying all the discussion about living a simpler and greener life.  I started buying clothes from the CS a few years ago, mainly as an MSE thing.  I used to love trailing all the CSs with a friend and getting bargains - but they were not all bargains as i don't actually need 10 jackets and 15 coats do i?!  I have smart work jackets i haven't ever worn.  Now i'm trying to buy as little as possible .  Having said that, I have just picked up a lovely pine bookcase from Fb as i'm making the small bedroom into part office/part spare room.  But I also dropped off a bag of stuff at the CS and sent some books to z!ff1t, took all my soft plastics and used ink cartridges to T**0 to recycle & have a few items of furniture to put on Fb for sale.   
We have a zero waste shop which i use as much as possible , it is more expensive though.
Stay Close is on my to watch list I'm watching Shetland on iplayer at the mo 

love Deni

BlueJ94

@foxgloves your little lunch banquet you've got going on sounds yummy! I love little snack lunches. We don't really do much as a family food wise unless birthdays or I'm making a roast dinner then everyone wants to come around

Oh, I have plenty of seeds on the way in the post and I'm going to pop into wilko tomorrow to see if they have anything! 

Blackcats

Loving the eco concept of a stewed seaweed and cow poo plant pot 🤣.  Obviously if such a thing existed and was sold in my local garden centre then I'd have bought one - could have used it for my aspirational sparkly plastic cactus to create the ultimate mixed message.
thanks for all the hints and tips on how folk use saving pots.  I'm going to add a holiday pot to mine - now (fingers crossed) that travel will be easier I'm going to do some forward planning, particularly as retirement is so close.  

marionmgcars

Hi,  I'm enjoying reading everyone's posts.  I am trying to focus on being thrifty and enjoying everything I have, rather that buying more things to fill the house.  Luckily I have been accepted for redundancy at work so will be retiring in May, with only 13 months to go before I get state pension.  I'm very excited to start this new lifestyle, although I will miss seeing the girls I work with.  Having my new friends on this post, reading from like minded people does help me stay focused.  Bye for now. 

foxgloves

Morning all, Thanks for all the comments, which I have enjoyed reading:
@DawnW - That was a close shave for your neighbour's car! We have also lost a fence panel, & since then a pane of greenhouse glass, but that's a whole lot better off than many, I know.

@Sun_Addict - Thanks. Yes, it was lovely to see my sister, b-in-l & nephew.

@Baileys_Babe - The catering for our family lunch was just right! The little ham I slow-cooked the day before did filled rolls for the 5 of us, ham, eggs & chips for Mr F & I for dinner, two further lunch sandwiches & the last of it was used to top the pizza I made yesterday with some sweetcorn & mushrooms - so I though 11 portions from a £7 ham was a good use of it.

@Elisheba -I don't generally make my own cleaning products but I do use some of the old tried & tested methods - for instance, I never compost a squeezed lemon half unless it has been used to whiten the sink first, always use vinegar to descale the kettle & a layer of bicarb of soda with a little water dripped on to sort out burned on food in pans, etc. Mostly, I just use as few products as possible, so I like things which are multi-purpose, like washing-up liquid.

@Deni_debt-free_dreamer - I wish we had a local zero-waste shop. We do have a market stall however, so I really need to go & investigate that & start using it. I've really missed treasure hunting in charity shops. Intend to invite my friend over for the day in Spring, & go in all the ones in town to see what we can find.

@jadewest94 - Good luck with your seed sowing!

@Blackcats - I used to spend a fair amount on aspirational 'green lifestyle' stuff - i.e 3 different pieces of apparatus for growing beansprouts, despite none of them offering more than my previous big jam jar, muslin & rubber band! None of my purchases enable me actually to produce any beansprouts I wanted to eat. I suspect the bought ones are grown flat in the dark, using a different method entirely. Expensive artisan herbal teas another waste of money - most of them ended up on the compost.

@marionmgcars - Exciting plans! I was WAY away from my state pension when I took VR nearly 11 years ago - I'm still nowhere near it now, but at least I do know that I am capable of thrift & genuinely enjoy a greener more responsible lifestyle that doesn't involve me spending money that doesn't belong to me & that requires me to spend a long time paying it back!
F x

foxgloves

And now for today's post, which won't be very exciting as I haven't done very much - but here it is, anyway:
* Workman came to remove problem tree, which has grown from a sucker so doesn't have a proper root system & was therefore very wibbly. At least it can no longer come down on next door's fence or my greenhouse. Cost was £10 less than the amount I budgeted, so have credited it back to Feb's budget.
*Cashed out another £5 voucher from a survey site. I now have £15 for this store & I think I will go & investigate their skincare/toiletries as this could potentially save a little of my March Personal Spends.
*Made bread dough, which is proving. I am trying to be better at overlapping loaves, as popping out for bread often results in buying a few more things & this final week of our Feb grocery budget is tight.
*Our monthly energy statement arrived yesterday so have been looking at the figures. I imagine people all over the country are doing the same atm, with these hideous price rises on the way. Anyway, what did I find out? Well, we spent £5.87 less on energy this last month than we did the previous one, which included Christmas & New Year. We used fractionally more gas this last month, but £8.32 less electricity. There's no mystery to this, as we ate at the dining table a lot more over Christmas, which, as our conservatory doubles as our dining room & doesn't have a radiator, requires the electric stove to be switched on. I keep a log of how much we have spent on electricity & gas in the back of my trusty Money Book & from those figures, I can see that we only overspend our monthly direct debit of £119 four times a year - December, January, Feb & March. The other months' costs are within that figure & obviously substantially less in the summer. Our account is still in credit & I had planned to set in motion a refund at the end of the financial year, but I think this would be foolhardy now, as I think it will be swallowed up by the coming nasty price increases pretty swiftly. I think the wisest course of action is to leave it in place & think ourselves lucky we've got it. 
*Later today, I also want to start having a think about next week's meal plans. It will be the last grocery shop of our February budget cycle & funds are on the low side (bulk-bought some cat food & lit) but we do have good stocks of stuff in. I want to investigate the freezer & see if we planned a roast chicken & 2 decent leftovers meals from that, we could source the rest of the week from the freezer. I'm sure we can, as have plenty of fish & also some more of Mr F's yellow-sticker find of 500g pork mince for 99p - he was well impressed with himself for that one!
No gardening today sadly - weather just too inconsistent with big showers. I could crack on with plenty of greenhouse jobs but have promised Mr F I won't work in there until the storm-broken pane of glass is replaced. There is a nasty jagged piece still hanging on in the frame & he is worried about it falling on me. Hopefully we can buy a new pane at the weekend. 
Right, I'm off. I do go on, don't I?!
Cheers m'dears,
F xx

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Hi foxgloves and gang

The zero waste shop is great and seems very popular; they have a wide range of products.  Everytime i run out of something i usually buy from the SM i will go there to stock up if possible.  Their washing liquid, washing  up liquid and liquid soap are all lovely.  I also use the washable cleansing pads so i don't buy cotton wool pads anymore .  It all helps  

love Deni 

QueenJess

foxgloves said:

Hello Diary friends, 
Hope everyone surviving the stormy weather. We are in an amber warning area & today's weather has so far been brisk showers & strong winds. The wind is howling down the chimney, psychologically making it feel a lot colder than it actually is.

We had some fun during the storm. I watched as a three storey tree fell from a house behind ours, smashing through two fence panels into our next door neighbours garden. It missed football goals, BBQs, furniture and trampolines and more importantly no one was hurt. Felt very surreal. We also had a power cut which was stressful with a young child and a baby (whole house is electric so no lights, heating or oven/hob etc). Luckily our house is stupidly insulated with triple glazing and it never got cold at all and they reconnected us after 22 hours. However, the broadband took two days to come back and the mobile network was jammed up, so we were completely without the ability to make calls for a while - again not ideal with young children if there was an emergency.  Thankful it’s all over and that I already had tons of child safe battery candles, charged batteries and torches.