Put away your purse & become debt-averse

milann

   Love the idea of Christmas dinner in a mug 👍 Turkey is such good value 😃

foxgloves

Lol, yes, he was well pleased with himself for thinking of that one!
His use-it-up creation last night was very nice. He roasted wedges of potato with carrots, parsnips & garlic, then when it was cooked, he topped it with assorted different grated or crumbled cheese & popped it back in the oven to melt. Tasty, filling & made good inroads into veg surplus.
F x

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
I've just sat down after working my way through the most enormous pile of ironing. All but two items dried on the heated airer overnight - they will have to take their chances hanging near a radiator as I'm not paying to run the airer any longer this week.
Did first shop from January's grocery budget. I budgeted £30 less for January's groceries as we do have a fair amount of stuff in. I shan't do budget updates until early next week, but I think we will have come in under budget for this week. Resumed old habit of revisiting shopping list to see if I could cross anything off & there were two items.....carrots (because there are still some left) & sparkling water because I found some in the conservatory I'd forgotten about. 
Mr F going on about wasting milk earlier - we ordered extra for Christmas week but two of our guests prefer black coffee so we didn't use anything like the amount we anticipated. I suggested he make milky coffees this morning to enjoy with a slice of Christmas cake, that we have a home made rice pudding for dessert tonight & that we also freeze a pint for next time we run short. So waste averted!
City centre trip tomorrow - I have a £20 loyalty voucher for the 'marine-condiment shop' so will have a look in their sale, but I really mustn't squander it in the old pre-LBM Foxgloves sale rail style by buying something that's only 'ok' & going off it two months later. Mr F talking about new jeans but last time he refused to buy any because apparently they were "all flares" (they weren't, but there you go!)
Oh & a tiny frugal win....managed to darn up a favourite pair of purple hand-knitted socks. 
Some time with my book beckons now.
Take care,
F x

Sun_Addict

I’m pleased with how quickly my washing is drying on the heated airer despite me never plugging it in 😆 I suppose it’s because it’s near a radiator in the spare room which is a very small room. 

foxgloves

I think our laundry would dry more quickly if the heated airer was set up elsewhere, @Sun_Addict. It is always put up in the conservatory, which is the only room not on the central heating system. I do use a dehumidifier in there too though, which helps. Amazing how much water it sucks out of the air.

Oh....there was another small.money saving win today. Bought 3 rolls of gift-wrap & 2 packs of cards to put away for next Christmas as all were half-price. While I was pleased with all the designs I chose, it was obvious that everything had already been well picked over. And why wouldn't they be? Tough year coming up for people financially, so buying festive basics at half the cost can only be a canny move. Forgot to look in Wilk*s......one year we got two boxes of their fairy lights reduced to 50p a box, Christmas napkins for 20p & packs of gift-wrap for 10p. Shops need to clear this stuff, so it's worth looking, I think.
Mr F delighted to find C*db*ry's snowballs reduced to 50p per bag....think we've both developed a bit of a problem with those, so just as well they won't be around for too much longer!
F x

milann

I want to look for some reduced priced crackers. I can’t believe how much I paid for mine pre Christmas. I wanted ones without plastic….I was expecting the game bits in them to be gold plated the price I paid. It showed me how easy I could slip back into my old ways of wanting to please everyone at Christmas 😱 and squandering on my last trip to the shops 😳

foxgloves

Well worth looking, @milann. Agree they can be an outrageous price. There were plenty of half-price ones yesterday at the big garden centre near us, & lots of choice too. I looked at them but didn't buy as we will be in our own for Christmas next year, but if we were scheduled to be hosting again, I'd have bought a box.
F

Baileys_Babe

We always buy Christmas crackers in the post Christmas sales for next Christmas. We hosted for many years but we haven't for the last 4 years so we have at least a years worth stored away. After that we plan to make our own, we have a few kits, obviously picked up in the sales, I now need to come up with some ideas for the gifts.

QueenJess

I picked up some free festive wrapping paper and 30 unused Xmas cards on my local buy nothing group. They said they would lose them by next Xmas, so no point in them keeping them! Definitely saved me some cash there.

marionmgcars

Great to read everyone finding bargains.  I have not been shopping as grounded by the dreaded Covid on Christmas Day, so lots of time in bed resting.  On the mend today, so homemade soup with all the left over veg.  Maybe a cheese, pasta and broccoli bake for tea.  Lying in bed gave me great chance to look at 2022 spends, shocked at how much it all adds up, but feel like nothing wasted, so that’s a good result.