Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

My Mum was quite strict, @Sun_Addict, so I didn't get away with much. Seemed to be in trouble on a daily basis for what was called 'answering back'.....aka simply trying to get my side of the story heard!
F

foxgloves

Greetings Sunbeams, Another missive typed to you from my sunny pondside bench. Today's planned outing to NT place then garden centre postponed as the IBS flare-up is still ongoing.
Had a slower start to the day -I'm not one for lingering in bed, but it was just nice not to have to be decent quite so early for builders arriving. Will be business as usual tomorrow though. It will make me so happy if this is the final week.
Anyway, no outing & no garden centre = no spend day.
Have been pottering around the greenhouse - potted up a few poppies, more cerinthe & calendula, then pierced holes in a stack of big tall yoghurt pots & used them for sowing climbing beans. They seem to like a deep root run, like sweet peas,.but I'd never bother buying proper root trainer modules as big yoghurt pots & recycled take-away coffee cups work just fine with two seeds in each.
Gathered a few bits & pieces up & returned to shed..I like a good tidy up. Am unlikely to need my homemade bottle cloches until baby sweetcorn plants are set out & they're not even sown yet.
With food prices increasing & I understand the full gamut of Brexitty lorry checks not yet fully operational, growing food at home does seem a particularly money saving activity for the months ahead. Other frugal activity today: 2 baths from a single fill of hot water, cottage pie base I made from l/o mince recently will have a tin of cannellini beans & mash added to make sufficient to feed us for 2 days, enjoying starting a new library book - tho' it is making me feel like an idiot for not getting my own novel finished, as mine is set in a similar period & also quite dark. No packed lunch to make - Mr F was delighted to see that a couple of containers of microwaveable leftovers survived the freezer fiasco so he's taking one of those.
Oh, & I had a peep at the smart meter monitor after lunch & electricity was noticeably lower. It will be builders' power tools making the difference in the week - cement mixer, angle grinders & whacker-plate going hell for leather all day. At least that is a finite project & will soon be finished, allowing me to get an idea of how much electricity we use on an average day.
Ah well, that's my unexciting day - tho perfectly pleasant apart from still feeling so sore & crampy.
Aiming for productive Mon - Weds. 
F x

Four_Seasons

Hi Foxgloves, hope you start to feel better soon.  Thanx for the tip about sowing climbing beans, I am not having much success as yet but have a tall yoghurt pot so will give it a go. Look forward to your daily posts they are helping to keep me motivated x

foxgloves

@Four_Seasons, if anyone had told me a couple of decades ago that I'd ever be motivating ANYONE re money saving, I'd have fallen on the floor (on the way to the Cliniq*e counter) in veritable paroxysms of mirth!
F x

Sun_Addict

Ooh Cliniq*e Bonus Time - I used to be a sucker for that. Anything for the “free” gift 😬

On a more serious note, I hope you feel better soon. 

foxgloves

Hello Diary readers,
Ah well, here we all are heading into a new week. I haven't made any kind of weekly list, I've had confirmation this morning that builders will still be here next week, but this is mostly down to the fact that we can't easily accommodate them towards the end of the week because we have planned to do a couple of minor things for my birthday. I didn't want to plan anything much as had no idea where we would be in the scheme of work. I'd hoped it would be finished this week, but another couple of days is perfectly doable.....it just delays the HUGELY needed big clean-up operation indoors. Even Soot looked like he was coated in sandstone dust today & he doesn't even set a paw outside the front!
Very routine Monday, as is usual for me to get the week off to a good start. A fair bit of money saving behaviour:
*All this week's laundry fitted into 2 loads washed as low as poss & currently blowing dry outside for free.
*Energy saving measures are becoming the norm once again with a flask next to the hob to save hot water from the kettle for next round of builders' drinks, 2 loaves of bread baked simultaneously (one for freezer) to halve the use of oven, resisted temptation to light the stove while I sat & drank my coffee - it's a chilly day for sure, but it's going to be a damn sight chillier in winter so I shall save the credit on our energy account until then!
*Did my regular Monday morning budget updates & shifted necessary funds around to have everything nice & straight for my Big Budget Day on Wednesday.
*Did 6 surveys - It looks as though my monthly P/A earnings will come in at over £30 this month - every little helps.
*Sowed an emergency cucumber - 2 of mine have clearly been planning to cark it for a few days now & were looking so utterly pathetic this morning that I composted them. Was just writing myself a note to buy a replacement plant when I had a vague recollection of saving a spare single seed in case of this very eventuality. Checked seed box & I had, so shopped from home.
*L/o cottage pie for tonight's meal, so just need to prep some veg (including cutting a bunch of chard) to go with that.
*Mr F has requested more l/o freezer gubbins for his packed lunch tomorrow so no effort or cost there either.
*Tonight's plan is to attempt the hessian backing of the tiny rug I've made for my friend. I have sufficient hessian for a 2nd attempt if the 1st one looks rubbish. It'll be good to add another item to the presents bag it it works though.
Well, the angle grinder is now going like a thing possessed & I can't hear myself think, so I shall sign out & go & fetch that chard.
Hope you've all got off to a reasonably decent start to the week,
F x

marionmgcars

Great to catch up reading the posts.  I’ve been away helping friend this weekend, so just having a cup of tea and organising my week ahead.  I do find that I munch on too much rubbish food while in a long drive.  I think it’s boredom while driving, so loaded a talking book to listen to next time.  - free from my local library.  

Baileys_Babe

I find chewing gum helps with the driving munchies or I chop up an apple or carrot into sticks before I go.

foxgloves

And a pot of pumpkin seeds......but you're only allowed to eat them one at a time!
F

foxgloves

Hello Tuesday pence-minders,
A day of random tasks here, but a reasonable amount achieved, some of them money-saving one way or another:
*A 15% code from one of the book-buying companies finally galvanised me into scanning our growing pile of stuff for selling. I had low expectations of even meeting the payment threshold but scraped in at over £16 which will be better off sitting in one of our savings pots.
*Having successfully managed to sew a hessian back onto the tiny rug I made from gifted materials, I packed it away in the presents bag for my friend.
*Paid new freezer off my credit card, having transferred the funds from our appliances replacement pot. Noticed we have enough points for a £10 voucher next time they pay out. Wanted to get the payment out of the way before my Big Budget Day which is tomorrow.
*Did 4 surveys.
*Free fresh air & exercise getting a bit of hoeing done in the veg garden.
*Planted out a dozen or so lollo rosso lettuce plugs under our climbing bean frame. It won't be needed for beans until at least the end of May, more likely first week of June, so thought I may as well use some of the space for a little catch crop.
*Energy saving - well, perhaps not much today - power tools going all day again, but there's not much I can do about that as I do very much want the work done & it's looking good. A thorough sort of the clean laundry revealed only 4 items for ironing, so not much power used there - I think things do get a lot less creased when pegged outside instead of being crammed onto the heated airer. Used our big flask again for saving leftover hot kettle water when making builder drinks - much quicker to boil next time so got to be worth doing. Oh, & I am making a concerted effort only to use the amount of hot water actually needed for a bowlful of washing-up.....I tend to fill it to the top & it really isn't necessary. None of these micro-measures are going to be lopping great swathes off our gas & electricity usage, but they will definitely all add up & better for the planet too.
Mr F is on a very late shift today so I will be here with the cats & will take the opportunity to catch up on some hopefully decent TV & progress the pair of slouchy hiking socks I'm knitting for the presents bag. The builders have just left for the day & it has fallen so quiet that it almost feels weird. The only sound is now a lovely blackbird singing from somewhere in the mid-distance & it's very much more soul-soothing than the cement mixer. Cats have calmed down so much, they've even forgotten that they're usually mithering for their dinner by now.
Peace & love,
F x