Frugal, thrifty, make do, mend! Let this debt come to an end!

Elisheba

I an so very impressed with myself right now. Before Xmas I ordered a phone cover online. It arrived and didn't fit. I put it in a drawer and was annoyed and would probably have thrown it out eventually. Only last night, with my new thrifty mindset, I had a brainwave. I was able to cobble bits from the old case that were still fine, add them to the new case, and with a Stanley knife and some Araldite, voila! New phone case that fits! No waste either as old inside bit now an araldite tray, and old cover going to be a template for future phone covers! I'm going to be honest, a month ago I didn't even know I had a Stanley knife. No idea where it came from :laugh:. I just wouldn't have thought about it before though and absolutely definitely both those cases would be land fill and I'd have paid for yet another phone case. So I'm saving the world, one phone case at a time!

I worked from the library today which was very pleasant, not to mention warm and cosy! The books were somewhat distracting, and I ended up paying £9 (not budgeted for) off my library fine so I could take out more books :eek:. Seven more books to be precise, all on various allotment and self sufficiency topics. I don't care though. I have all the books! I don't think my love of library books will change no matter how simple of thrifty my life gets!

I went to Gr*ggs to try the new vegan steak bake, but my Gr*ggs doesn't have it yet . I had already committed to buying food as I hadn't packed a lunch, so spent £1.40 on a cheese and onion pasty and got the free coffee (in a reusable cup I'd taken along).

I also popped into a charity shop and saw a dress/top thing by my favourite brand that fitted me and flattered me for £2.25, so I got that as well. I might not have needed it, but with charity shops you need to think ahead, and I've only seen that brand in my size at a CS once before, and I didn't like it half as much.

While I was sneaking looks at the library books this afternoon it struck me why, very often in the past, I've looked at how to make things and run a mile. It's not that I don't want to, it's that even these books and guides on making your own are designed to prop up consumerism. Take for example a book I picked up about making homemade things. I won't name and shame, but the very first thing I saw was a page long list of all the tools and other stuff I will need, most of which are only needed for 1 or 2 projects. There is no suggestion of what you could reuse to substitute for them. The recipes for a lot of the food and products are filled with ingredients, that while nice, are far from essential. These books are not about thrift at all. They are not even really about teaching. Soap can be made with cooking oil, caustic soda, a jam thermometer and a plastic tray. I'm not saying it would be great, but that's your basic recipe. That's where a guide should start, and everything else is an optional extra. Not with 20 ingredients, half of which probably come from rare butterflies and pretty unicorns and need to be ordered from Timbucktu.

Anyway, soapbox over. I guess I'm saying I want to learn the basics properly. I'm trying to move away from consumerism as much as possible - I don't want to fall back into a new area of it in my quest for the good life.

In MS news, I've uploaded my receipts - now onto 4 apps, so making every penny count. And downloaded Swagbucks. My 10 years worth of toothpaste heads have arrived, but not the loo roll. I think I've decided against getting rid of the car and the TV at this point, but I'm going to monitor my use and reassess in a few months.

Elisheba

Just a little update on my way into the office. Today should be a NSD. Thermos for the train, lunch packed, psyched to resist post work pub temptations. Things are down to the bone now for this month and next month, so shouldn't be hard as no wiggle room at all.

This morning while I was making breakfast and packing lunch, which is a job I hate for some reason, I tried to change my mindset as Hertzel suggests. This is me living my good life. I need to be mindful and appreciate each task, not rush through it, hating every minute and desperate for it to finish. I'm not going to say it instantly made me love it, but it did help. These are the things I do to look after my home and my cats and myself, and I should try to do everything with care and attention.

Once that and the dishes were done, I sat down with some WD40 and an old toothbrush and cleaned an old Swiss army knife I'd found while hunting for stuff to fix my phone cover last night, which is much more my idea of fun. So that is now useful again and on my keyring, in case I ever need an emergency knife/cork or bottle opener/scissors/tin opener or weird thing with a hole which might be to do with fishing. You never know now I'm living the good life!

I'm now trying to reset my mind for work. I should work deliberately and mindfully, appreciating the time I am spending doing a job I think is important. I should plan and organise and challenge myself with it, try and learn new things. It's about getting value out of the tasks I spend my time on. Yes, I need to work, but I'm lucky in I chose this job and I loved it once. I need to make the most out of it.

Elisheba

Ah, thank the wee man and whomever else you care to give praise to, it's finally Friday night! Since I've only worked 2 days this week I've got a bit of a cheek, but it has felt like a long week to me!

It would have been a NSD, except the spirit moved me to pay back £10.77 in library fees, which was all the money I had on me, and still left me 5p short of being able to borrow any more books from that library. I don't know why I decided to do that. It was untjrwky unbudgeted for and I'm going have to try and squeeze the money out of somewhere . Stupid libraries, stupid me getting fines in the first place. I sort of look on library fines as charitable donations, but the £20 I've spent on them this week is a donation I can ill afford. No more and never again!

My mum was telling me her fishmongers gives her chicken carcasses for free, which she boils up and uses the stick for soup and the bits for sandwiches. I thought I'd overcome my natural vegetarian aversion to the places, and pop into the butcher around the corner tomorrow to ask if they have any bits they would otherwise throw out. If so I can boil them up for the cats. I'm pretty certain I remember my Gran boiling sheep's heads for dogs back in the day. I wonder if you can still get them?

People in my work have given me lots of old jam jars, so I will see if I can get hold of seville Oranges this weekend and make marmalade.

One of the cashback sites seems to be offering a flat 7% cashback for new customers to music magpie. I need to sort out my books, so would make sense to do that while this deal is on, so that's on the list for this weekend.

I resisted getting the 'free' Dominoes pizza through one of the cash back sites as well. One, I could use that money this month not in some random future month then it is handed back, and two, I'm trying to consume less not just spend less.

Going to try making paper logs from my HM log maker this end - fingers crossed!

I discovered that the weird tool on my Swiss army knife a with hole is actually for cutting holes and threading them in leather and canvas. I also found out that at some point in the dim and distant past, whenever my knife was made, it would have been pretty pricey. Its the good brand name, with a few decent bits. I still have absolutely no idea where it come from though. I think it just appeared at some point years ago.

I'm still doing all the little MS things. I'm curled up in bed so the heating is off. The plugs are switched off. Pasta for dinner was cooked off the heat. More and more I'm thinking about how good all this is for the environment. Why is this stuff not advertised on TV? Everyone should know how to do this stuff! Climate change is a global emergency.

Elisheba

Morning, all. Happy weekend!

My plans for this weekend are:

Saturday
9-10: shower, dress, breakfast
10 - 12: put on bread dough, go to butchers, buy seville Oranges, collect paintbrushes
12 - 1 rolls, buns, do washing, housework
1 - 1.30: Lunch
1.30 - 4: Go to allotment
4 - 6: boil meat, music magpie, soak paper
6 - 6.30: dinner
6.30 - 7: clean up after dinner
7. 00- 9: catch up on Doctor who, mending, knitting, online diary
9 - 10: reading then bed.

Sunday
9-10 shower, dress, breakfast
10.30 - 12: Meeting
12 - 1 make marmalade
1 - 3: lunch then paint bathroom
3 - 4: make paper logs
4 - 5: organise food cupboard
5 - 6: make dinner
6 - 6.30: Eat dinner
6.30 - 7.30 House stuff, make scarf holder, tidy coffee table, fix drawer
7.30 - 9: mending, knitting, online diary
9 - 10: reading and bed

Sunday is quite flexible depending on what happens today.

Monthly OD charges came out today. Urgh. Just one more month and then they will be much lower if nothing else!

I'm excited and raring to go this weekend. I'm really taking this 'life the good life now' mantra to heart. I have two days here, where I can look after myself and my cats and my home. I can try new skills, learn new things, start providing for myself without relying so much on prepacked consumerism.

[Deleted User]

Just had to pop in to say I really admire your attitude . I’ve just read through your diary and I have subscribed to cheer you on (and for tips! )

Elisheba

Thanks BlackCoffeeNoSugar. Really appreciate it! Most of the time I feel I'm just talking into the void here, to help me think through things, so I'm always really surprised when someone comments!

[Deleted User]

There is something very cathartic about a diary on here! I read a lot of others, but don’t really feel qualified to post and offer advice so I tend to ‘lurk’n’like’ You’ve inspired me to make a schedule for my weekend so I’m going to potter off to do that

Nonnadiluca

Great diary, have subscribed. Re the allotment, most of the know-how you need is written on the seed packets! Depending on your soil and climate, some things will grow happily, some won't, but generally stuff wants to survive - look around and see what's growing out of concrete and derelict properties! Good luck with everything.

Elisheba

It's been such a full day!

Saturday
9-10: shower, dress, breakfast Done
10 - 12: put on bread dough - did it this evening, and made pizza dough. Friend suggest I roll and part cook the spare dough before I freeze it so I've done that for ease next time it's pizza day ,
-go to butchers - I did this but they had no carcasses apparently. What on earth do they get their meat from?
- buy seville Oranges - Done. 2.4 kg, 2.35/kg. Discovered a lovely farm shop as well, with a pretty cafe. I resisted the temptation though! Sugar £1. 35 for 2kg
-collect paintbrushes - Done. L/L took me literally when I said 'you supply the brushes and I'll use the the paint in the utility to paint the woodwork' , so I had to buy White Spirit as well £1.50
12 - 1: rolls Nope, buns Done, do washing Done , housework Nope
1 - 1.30: Lunch
1.30 - 4: Go to allotment - Done. Cut back the raspberry canes because I'm pretty certain that needed done now. Whole place is overgrown and no idea how to go about sorting it on a budget of close to zero but one job is now done! And the rhubarb has started growing, some bulbs are poking through, and I picked a huge bunch of rosemary and teasel for my table.
4 - 6: boil meat - cancelled, music magpie - moved to tomorrow, soak paper - moved to tomorrow
6 - 6.30: dinner
6.30 - 7: clean up after dinner Done
7. 00- 9: catch up on Doctor who, mending, knitting, online diary - decided to have a bath instead
9 - 10: reading then bed.

Other than that I impulse bought a 1 litre thermos flask at a charity sho for £2. I already have a flask which I bought new just before Xmas, because I couldn't find one in a charity shop, after smashing my old one. I hate the new one. It doesn't keep things warm for long, it can leak, the lid squeaks. This new one is a proper thermos, with no squeaky lid, so I have high hopes.

I tried to stay mindful all day. This is me living the life I want. This is me living my good life. It made me more reflective. So many things I rush through to get to the 'good' bits, or so I can go and read my book or play on my phone. All these other bits are my life though. I might not like doing the prep for things or the cleaning up after as much as I like doing the activity itself, but if I've got to do it I may as well take my time and find things to appreciate in it.

When I was cutting the raspberry canes, of which there are loads, I couldn't help think about when the berries come - late summer with these ones I think. I will have so many raspberries! Raspberries and cream, raspberry jam, raspberry cordial, raspberry vinegar, raspberry ice cream... And then, if I can get some and plant them, strawberries, maybe blueberries. There are wild brambles, wild elderflower, and later elderberries, and rosehip around. I think there is a plum tree as well, which may be old enough to fruit.

And that is just the fruit! I can at least get some salad veg going this year as well. I've decided to just buy veg seeds I really like and have a go at growing that.

Off to bed to finish my book now! Night, all!

Chrystal

Wowser girl!!! I'm totally exhausted just reading your last post :eek:.... and totally in awe of your 'can do' attitude :A

If you could bottle that you'd make a fortune.... and I'd be first in line to buy it.

You're doing brilliantly. Keep on keeping on. X