Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Baileys_Babe

We have 2 Le Creuset kettles in lovely bright colours. @foxgloves I don't know which design of Le Creuset kettle you have but I would be concerned about underfilling and the kettle boiling dry. Instead of reducing the amount of water you put into the kettle how about putting the excess hot water in a flask for the next time you need it, depending on what you are using it for it might not need any further heating, and if it does it will use minimal fuel.

amber03

I decided during the week that we had enough food to last us till pay day which is this Tuesday, so didn’t need to do a “proper shop”. I would just get any bits we might need when needed. Since then I have been to Mr T everyday since and have probably altogether spent more than if I had done a big shop. 

So today all cupboards have been cleaned and sorted, list done for Al*I as I only go once a month as it’s the furthest for me, I get all my dog treats and cleaning stuff, biscuits from there. Usually I’m standing in the shop counting how many chewy bones I need for the month. 

Just had another shower where we are and not very warm either.xx

foxgloves

@Baileys_Babe - I would be worried about my big Le Creuset kettle boiling dry, but I think the smaller one we are currently using would be fine. I do sometimes save hot water in a flask, depending on whether I think I'll need it again. Most hot drinks are generated by our coffee machine tbf. 
@amber03 - That's the exact problem with top-up shops, isn't it? 
F x

Debsnewbudget

Why not use a measuring jug to top up your kettle. 

Humdinger1

Yep, top-up shops are the work of the devil.  This has prompted me to move checking cupboards up my to-do list so thank you for that! Love Humdinger xx 

MattMattMattUK

Top up shops are fine if they are purely for the items needed, the issue tends to be that people buy a few extras and that adds up, so they pop in for milk, bread and a bag of salad, they buy all of that that would come to less than £5 which would be fine, but they add a few bits on and before they know it they have spent £15. They do that 2-3 times a week and they have overspent by £20-30. With one "big shop" they might buy £10 of extra bits, but they only do that once, or in the best case scenario they stick to their shopping list. 

foxgloves

Morning Campers!
Well, the resident weather forecasting nerd informed me that today would be rainy, so I have postponed the usual weekly laundry until tomorrow. Naturally, there has not yet been even the merest drip of rain, & with a breeze too, I'm beginning to think I should have risked it. Ah well.....as long as the expected rain isn't now showing for tomorrow's forecast, as I am selecting best pegging out days now we are (at least technically) into Spring.
Today's small money saving wins:
*Did my usual Monday morning budget updates & wrote myself lots of notes for Thursday, which is my Big Budget Day.
*Did a couple of surveys.
*Received an email to say that one of my leftovers recipes is to be published in a forthcoming edition of a supermarket free magazine & that I will be sent a voucher to say thank-you. Tbh, I'd completely forgotten I'd even submitted one.
*Paid another 2 x £1 coins into my secret tin.
*Made bread (must go & get it into its tin in a minute)
*Dig out rhubarb chutney recipe as we have oodles of rhubarb atm & I need to get busy with using it. I've already spotted several odds & sods of vinegar I can use up in it instead of buying a new bottle of the specific type required.
*Make tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
*Ordered next fish box. Unusually, the timing of this works well with the financial cycle at Foxgloves Manor, so I will be able to allow for the cost of it when I set May's budget on Thursday.
*FIGHT THE URGE TO BAKE BISCUITS......I really am not going to go down this route.....tomorrow is Weigh-Day so troughing baked goods is not going to be a good pre-weigh activity, however delicately I intend to balance on the scales tomorrow. If I haven't lost any this week, I'll take it on the chin, but resuming an upward trajectory would not be a motivating result. 
This afternoon, I will need to prepare for tonight's frost. Will bring bottle cloches back into use so there's an extra layer between the plant babies & their usual night time bubble wrap. The sweet-peas I planted out recently were very well hardened off, but I think I will still peg a piece of fleece around the biggest wigwam & use some re-purposed sheets of glass (shelves from old bathroom cabinet) around the others. If the weather does remain dry into the afternoon, I may just aim to take out a bucket or two of weeds.
Right, that's my unexciting but useful day as we all head off into another week.
F x

Makingabobor2

Ooh well done on the voucher for submitting a recipe. Never heard of that before. That's a great idea. 
I think I may have sown some seeds a bit too early the other week, when we were led into a false sense of security. Think I'll have to follow your lead and go out and cover some things up. Can't believe there's even snow forecast for Wales & Scotland and then flooding in some areas...its just so unpredictable these days. 

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - The problem with the UK (for us gardeners) is that we can get these ridiculously late frosts. That's why I don't put any tender veg outside until the end of May, because frosts are possible until then, even if uncommon. I remember a friend telling me how she lost her french bean plants to a rogue frost the first week in June!! That's never happened to me - she did live in the Peak District - but I do always stick to my end of May rule unless the forecast is particularly good & warm the week before.
Off to find some fleece......
F x

Paspatur

Makingabobor2 said:

Can't believe there's even snow forecast for Wales & Scotland and then flooding in some areas...its just so unpredictable these days. 

Predictable in Scotland to have snow in April (last 10 years at least) and even hailstones in May. Snowed today and greenhouse temperature 3 degrees for the day, under 3 degrees for the week and less than minus 1 for the month. Minus 8 in December which made it minus 15 outside. I cannot put plants in the greenhouse never mind outside. Tomatoes need 10 degrees minimum