Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

milann

Love the cardigan pattern. I still need to finish knitting the one I started in the summer…2 sleeves and a side to complete and about the same on a crocheted one I started the previous year. The wool for that was a bargain though £10 at a sale for Alzheimer’s funds. The lady selling had a garage full of her in law’s craft stash after she passed away. However it isn’t a bargain if it sits unfinished. I just don’t know here time is going. I used to do more when I was working 😏 I think everything takes me longer to do 🤷🏻‍♀️

PennysIntoPounds

Ooh that's a good deal on Mr F's beer

marionmgcars

Had a walk to local shops today, as try not to take car when it takes 10-15 mins walk.   Good for the environment and free exercise.  Dropped a few things into charity shop and purchased a ball of wool.  50p bargain.  No ball band, but feels like wool and will make nice self striping fingerless gloves.  I always put wool balls in freezer for a few days, as a safety measure before adding to my stash.  That should raise eyebrows if partner reaches for his frozen chips 🤣🤣

Moorviews

Thank you for the useful link @QueenJess. I  quite agree that using the discard creates extra work. Foxgloves, I look forward to reading about the experiments but was also interested to see that you keep just a small amount of the starter in the fridge. Keeping your starter alive since 2017 is very impressive! Thank you both for the tips. I might hopefully avoid having to make pancakes like the sorcerer’s apprentice in order to make use of the constant production of sourdough discard!

foxgloves

Evening m'dears, & thanks for all your comments & contributions, which I enjoy reading. I don't seem to have moved very much today, so will be very fidgetty tonight, but I have got a few bits & bobs done & not spent any money. Just trotted down to the post box to post our Christmas cards as I felt like some fresh air. This morning, Postie brought us 2 cards. One was from a friend & was a picture of a gorgeous fox. The other was from our our increasingly hard right MP with boasty photos inside, which went straight in the bin. I won't give house room to anything connected to him & his repellent views. I needed that lovely fox card for post-detoxifcation purposes!
Anyway, a very few budget-helping things, such as they were:
*Prepped all the fruit ready for Christmas cake-baking tomorrow. It is now marinating in white rum (not the branded one, of course!). I froze the leftover whole candied peel from making last year's cake as it is getting hard to find, so as I was chopping that into chunks, I did think I'd been a little bit frugal there.
*Wrapped Mr F's Christmas presents in paper from my recycled stash & put them in the only gift bag I bought this year (recycled all the others from last year, but was one short). Then felt that with one more push, I could get his socks finished, so I found something to watch on iplayer & knitted through 2 episodes to complete them, before wrapping those too. 
*Still on yarn.....haven't ordered any to make that cardi yet. Will defo make, but I think of the 2 garments I've planned, the black poncho-jumper would be more useful atm as would give me a warm layer which would go over several different patterned tunic tops/dresses. Have dug out the pattern (have knitted it before) ready to research viable yarn choices. 
*Did a minor budget update. Working at keeping really straight this month as Dec is usually a spendy month.
*Did a few surveys.
*Today's item which has been put out in my free Advent activity - I made up the little decoration pack I bought from the Swedish Emporium last month. It made up into 3 hanging snowflakes & 3 birds which I have hung on the kitchen dresser. A good buy at £2.50 especially as the kit is small & flat enough to fit in a card & the decorations are made from paper which I prefer to plastic.
*Easy meal tonight - some of the Indian butternut curry I batch cooked in the slow cooker the other week, using the free pumpkin gifted to me from friend. Not an expensive recipe, filling & tasty.
Rain didn't stop until mid-afternoon & the river is on the rise again.
F x

Sun_Addict

You’ve reminded me to write out my Christmas cards although doesn’t take long these days. It used to be a real ritual years ago when I had lots to write out. I would lay them all out carefully so I could select appropriately to suit the recipient and write with a gold or silver pen. I’d have Christmas music on in the background and a glass of Baileys to hand. Now it takes me 15 minutes at the most as the majority of my friends no longer send cards but donate to charity instead and no one at work sends them these days. There are also very few remaining family members to send to. At least it doesn’t cost me much but it’s a sad sign of the times in my opinion. 

Makingabobor2

This weather has been really awful hasn't it. I stayed in all day as well, apart from a walk to the bins...lol.  Wante4d to go to charity shop to drop off donations, but too wet.  I also watched an episode of something on TV, which is unlike me to have TV on in the day, but I have discovered a series called The Good Doctor and am trying to watch an episode a day as its not DH's sort of thing.   

joedenise

I think The Good Doctor is a really good series - my DH enjoyed it as well.  We saw the original one which was, I think, a Thai doctor, with sub titles so when we found the English version we decided to watch that too.

milann

Well done on getting the socks finished and wrapped.
im the same with Christmas cards…..not many to send at all and I’ve reduced the amount of presents I buy so it all feels a tad strange and Grinchy 😂
ive never watched The Good Doctor but heard good things about it so might put it on my to watch list.

foxgloves

I don't send as many cards as I used to, but still send to plenty of people. I like receiving them too at this time of year, especially with a little bit of news inside. Some of the e-cards are pretty but they don't do it for me in the same way that picking festive post up from the doormat does. I like putting them up on display too. Loved choosing cards to send in my childhood & teens too. 
F