Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

PennysIntoPounds

That does sound good but also I am definitely not reading or watching it, can't have anything ruining the magic of conkers!
I am feeling for a good thriller to cosy up with though, will have to have a peruse of the shelves. 

badmemory

Was it conkers that one council was going round the trees & taking them off so that they didn't fall on peoples heads?  So then the kids couldn't play conkers.

twiggy86

foxgloves said:

*Did an inventory of our household medicine/first aid box. While we haven't run out of anything, we could do with a stock-up on the sort of over-the-counter stuff it's sensible to have at the ready for winter lergies, should they be thinking of paying us a visit, so I will make sure I buy a few standards when I'm next in the cheap pharmacy.

A tip I got from a doctor once... Don't bother spending money on Lems*p (or the equivalent "hot medicinal drinks" for want of a better phrase!) as they don't necessarily have a full dose of paracetamol. So you are better off taking standard paracetamol and having a hot squash or lemon and honey!  

Makingabobor2

twiggy86 said:

foxgloves said:

*Did an inventory of our household medicine/first aid box. While we haven't run out of anything, we could do with a stock-up on the sort of over-the-counter stuff it's sensible to have at the ready for winter lergies, should they be thinking of paying us a visit, so I will make sure I buy a few standards when I'm next in the cheap pharmacy.

A tip I got from a doctor once... Don't bother spending money on Lems*p (or the equivalent "hot medicinal drinks" for want of a better phrase!) as they don't necessarily have a full dose of paracetamol. So you are better off taking standard paracetamol and having a hot squash or lemon and honey!  

Yep, that's what we do. My cure for everything is lemon, honey, ginger and paracetamol. Never even buy throat lozenges, they never seem to work. 

foxgloves

Yes, agree. I only take cold/flu capsules if I specifically need decongesting, say for a bad sinussy headache whcih refuses to be vanquished by anything else. Otherwise, I like honey & lemon with a slice of root ginger with 2 paracetamol. Am also a believer in a dose of bog standard paracetamol with a cup of coffee too, as a cheaper replacement for the extra-strength tablets, which mostly only contain a bit of caffeine. 
F

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
What a squally day! I've gone from having the conservatory doors open to let the warm sunshine in to battening down the hatches while heavy bursts of rain batter the panes. Anyway, onto today's bits of money saving activity:
*Dealt with current phase of tomato glut - 450g gone into a new slow cooker recipe I'm trying from the BBC Healthy Slow Cooker book - Summer vegetables & chickpeas which is served with crusty bread (other homegrown stuff in there too, so fingers crossed we like it!), 500g used to make Crank's lentil & tomato soup - 6 portions now in freezer, then prepped & bottled the remaining 2.5kg. Am on top of them for a while, but am expecting a whole load more when we get back from our mini-break, if not before!
*Today's garden pickings: basil, coriander & aubergines (aubergine plants now composted).
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
*Did a little more knitting for the presents stash.
*Did a couple of surveys - had to give up on one as it didn't seem compatible with my tracker pad & would have taken me a lot longer than the suggested time & therefore meant working for a much lower payment rate than was on offer. 
*Soot & Ash contributed their own MSE action by shunning the litter tray I kindly put out for them with the weather having been so showery recently, so I tipped the untouched litter back in the bag.
*Mr F's jeans & t-shirt (which underwent emergency laundering last night when he achieved a truly awesome feat of splattering himself liberally with blackberry compote!) seem to have survived the ordeal. I wasn't at all sure all that purple would actually come out. He wasn't too impressed that my main concern at the time was whether he had also managed to get it all over the pale duck-egg shade wool rug next to the sofa.....thankfully the man-made blackberry volcano missed that!
*Still to do, but it's my next job......get seed box out & find suitable leafy stuff for growing for autumn/winter salads, as I want to get on with that tomorrow. 
That's my day.....very tomato-based, I know, but hope someone found at least something of interest, if only Mr F effing & blinding about being covered in blackberry juice, lol!
Love F x

Makingabobor2

Aah, glad you mentioned sowing leafy stuff for autumn/winter. As you know I am still quite a novice with all this and trying to look into what I can Or outside under cover? 

badmemory

I've only ever found one thing that deals with a real sinus head/face ache & that is pseudoephedrine hydrochloride.  It is the only one that has to be bought actually from the pharmacy.  There is also the same made by the company that sold meds for period pain for a lot more than their headache tablets which turned out to be the identical meds dosage.

foxgloves

I think I've had a branded version of that in the past, @badmemory, as it was something my Mum generally had in stock. I think branded over-the-counter meds can be so expensive compared to generic ones. I used to have to take codiene for period pain (I really used to suffer) & always bought a codiene with paracetamol brand until a colleague who used to feel equally ghastly every month said that there was a generic version made by well-known pharmacy chain. And of course when I bought those to try, the active ingredients were exactly the same. I couldn't get my Mum to believe this. She always bought branded paracetamol. I tried telling her she could get the exact same thing for 19p (which you could back then) but her view was that if they are 19p then they obviously weren't any good! It was one of a few subjects where tbh it wasn't worth explaining for the 114th time, so as she was happy to pay the extra, I let her get on with it.
F

foxgloves

Afternoon Sunbeams!
What a difference a day makes! Last night, we decided to eat at the dining table (conservatory) & couldn't hear ourselves think for thunder, lightning & a brisk hailstorm. No heating on yet, am fine atm with just fetching an extra layer when I need it, but I noticed at 5.30 this morning that our thermostat was showing 17 degrees. That would have triggered the boiler had we got the CH switched on. Well, how has today been for money saving activity? Everything still heavily geared towards getting our garden produce harvested & dealt with so apologies if this is getting boring.....growing more food is one of the things I said I would defo do when our income halved when I took VR so it's become a big part of our lives especially at this time of year. 
*Today's garden pickings: A handful each of carrots, cherry tomatoes (I am soon going to be dreaming about tomatoes.....), beans, spring onions, 2 tromboncino, 5 chillies, basil & blackberries. Also found a bunch of grapes I'd missed while pruning back the vine.
*Composted 3 pepper plants which had finished fruiting such as it was, having put on loads of growth then sulked for months. Also the 'Rokita' chillies which have been productive but were nearing the end. Loads of stuff around at this time of year for composting - free nutrients & soil conditioner & I find that used in containers mixed with bagged, it saves money too.
*Re-used 3 grow-bags to sow leafy stuff for winter - lettuce, mizuna & spinach. I might get some rocket seed too, but will need to get a serious shift on if I do as these seedlings need a decent amount of light to get going & we will soon be on short days. I do this every year to make more of the cost of buying the grow-bags.
*Also sowed some parsley & dianthus (free seed).
*Altered meal plan for tonight to prioritise using our produce, so have made a bowl of roasted veg couscous & am going to serve it with garlic butter pork steaks from the freezer. Should be sufficient couscous for tomorrow's lunch too.
*Found a 10-month old portion of roasted pumpkin soup in the depths of the freezer so that was my lunch today. Shame I didn't jot down what went in it as it was lovely!
*Not much survey activity today - just 1 Ip*s & 1 PA. 
*Mr F calling in for small grocery shop on his way home. I know he has 2 x £1 off vouchers for 2 items on our list & will doubtless be availing himself of the free coffee.
*Did a little more knitting for the presents stash during my lunch hour though tricky with Soot on my lap as he is a yarn grabber & massive claws + super-fine merino are not a good match!
*Remind Mr F (again) to try on his new boots. I need to transfer the money from the Clothing Pot to pay across to his CC & don't want to faff around with this if they need to be returned. The standard DMs will be fine as he has had lots of pairs of those over the years, but the hiking boots defo need trying on. Not wanting to ask this being a pretty equal household, but is this a bloke thing? I mean, when I have new boots, I have barely got them through the door before the box is open & I am pirouetting around in them. Have told him there will likely be a limited window of time for returning them if they don't fit. I think they should be ok. I took one out for a look & think you could just about fit a chest of drawers in it!
Right, I can see another survey has popped up so will have a look at that, then sign off for the day.
F x