Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2019

RedHEAD

Working my way through the freezer - all the meals I have made and frozen 'just in case' :-)
Been given a sewing machine that someone had in the loft for years - managed to un-seize it but looks like it will still need a professional service so that will have to wait til cash available, but if/when it works properly I have 2 pairs of jeans and 3 pairs of trousers that need repair so it will be worth it!
BIG challenge this year is to get rid of all the stuff we brought from our other house and haven't touched in 4 years! Also reuse or recycle as much as possible with a view to moving later in the year....Watch this space :-)

2Scratters

If any of the bags are leather how about dying them to give a new lease of life?
Many different colours available just use shoe dye it telss you how to clean the leather prior to recolouring.

raphanius

Hi, I know the thread is well underway but can I still join?

I've had a rough few months with my income going up and down fairly rapidly. I got emergency taxed on Xmas eve and had to make it through to the end of January on about £500 including bills My wages have now levelled out at a fairly low level we can actually live on! This forced me to really look at how much we've been spending on food, going out and treats, I pared back the budget to its minimum and made it through with money to spare. I want to continue into 2019 in the same spirit, spending as little as possible to build up some savings again.

So I've stopped feeling sorry for myself that I live in a zero hours world without benefits, channelled Pinterest and my mother, done some boho chic repairs to my jeans and picked up a few much-needed items in charity shops. Oh, how I've fallen in love with charity shops again!

I was feeling disappointed with my sofa instead but instead of trying to get the cash together for a new one I stripped off and washed all the covers and sent for some upholstery foam from eBay and restuffed all the cushions. I plan to use remaining foam (it was a huge bundle for £20) to recover my step stool, make a seat for the bathroom out of an old chest and eventually start work on a book nook I've been dreaming about for years!

I totally rejigged my food budget with the help of an old eighties book by Shirley Goode my mum had given me decades ago and I'd chucked in a bookcase without even reading! Its called The Goode Kitchen. So now I divide my food shopping into four categories, meat & fish, dairy, fruit & veg and groceries. Each has a budget and I keep totals in each everytime I shop. The idea is not to borrow from one budget to prop up another but to aim for each being under budget at the end of the week. So if any category comes in under budget at the end of the week I put the change in a savings jar.

Small acorns, I know but its a start at climbing back up. Thanks for listening : )

Bigjenny

raphanius I have a copy of The Goode Kitchen, she also had another book called "Goode for One", which has some good advice and recipes.

silvasava

Raphanius - welcome to the thread! Good bunch on here who are very supportive and there's always someone (or two or three!) that can help with queries, suggestions and information. You've certainly made a good start so good luck with your future endeavours too.

MadamMim2013

raphanius wrote: »

I was feeling disappointed with my sofa instead but instead of trying to get the cash together for a new one I stripped off and washed all the covers and sent for some upholstery foam from eBay and restuffed all the cushions. I plan to use remaining foam (it was a huge bundle for £20) to recover my step stool, make a seat for the bathroom out of an old chest and eventually start work on a book nook I've been dreaming about for years!
: )

Book nook... oooh I can only dream.. :rotfl:
Sounds like you are doing really well with the making and mending!

miss_empty_piggy

Tonight we scraped a meal together of pasta, mushrooms and leftover Xmas Brie which was lush. Got some old "dishwater soup" (work colleagues kindly named it) out of the freezer for lunch tomorrow, but there's just not enough to keep us going, so made a batch of pastry and made 3 small quiche cases. Then I realised we'd used all the mushrooms, so I cobbled together half a pepper, half a courgette, an onion and some cheese. Had a few eggs and a tin of evaporated milk and hey presto 2 quiches for lunch. Decided to experiment with the third and put garlic pur!e, passata and pesto and some cheese in the case. Then some super old SW meatballs (can't even remember buying them) the topped with more cheese then made a lattice with the leftover scraps of pastry and baked it. Saw something similar on FB. I'm so pleased as I feel that I made something from nothing, but really I'm pleased that I made something from something. In the past if it's not been completely obvious what the meal is I would have struggled and especially when the fridge looks bare. But sometimes it's about being creative. Xx

villagelife

Been making do with food from free and using up contents of cupboard. Made a lovely dish with lamb and pearl barley.
Trying to mend my back with physio exercises. Seems to be working. I can do more now than previously.
Minimised some magazines. It's all I could concentrate on to read - short articles.

frizz2

I made soup using 2 cans of tomatoes, a can of chick peas, 2 onions, 1 red pepper, two stock cubes, 2 garlic cloves, 10 oz water, tomatoes puree in my soup maker. This lasts my husband and I two/ three days. I am trying to use up the contents of my freezer and cupboards. So I am going to make a menu for next week.
I am making a quilt for a friend who is leaving her job, I am using up my resources but I don't need to spend any more money for this gift. I am also reading the books I have already.

ailz95

I'd like to join you please.

5 years - nearly 6 where did the time go - DH and I moved in with his mother as she wasn't able to live alone any more - she was on her last legs it was thought - she's still with us at 97. She is the queen of make do and mend, she's got some antique plates and Meissen pottery and all of them are either home glued or sellotaped together. We bought a new teapot as the lid on the old one was in 20+ pieces and kept on coming apart - and she kept on gluing it.

I'm disabled and DH is an OAP and now mine & his mother's carer. I make meals and freeze quite a few when I'm up to cooking for when I'm not. I've started buying bamboo toothbrushes with replaceable tops, and I use all the old ones for cleaning. I'm very much trying to make do and mend.