Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

ladyholly

We once had hail in Devon in June. It has apparently hailed today in the west country. I dint see it but my daughter told me.

Cheery_Daff

We had snow on 6th May last year (but then we are quite high up in the Peak District...). I've not even bothered planting anything yet!

EssexHebridean

It was back below freezing overnight last night with us - MrEH brought the purchased but not yet planted bedding plants indoors overnight and I reckon that was a good decision judging by the layer of ice on the car windscreen this morning. 

Whilst I am resisting fully "putting the heating back on" I confess our hallway storage heater did get switched on for an hours "boost" this morning - much needed in the circumstances, and seemed more sensible to do so during the off peak rate and just perhaps not need to do it this evening! MrEH also opened the curtains to the front room very first thing as the free solar heater outside was beaming down. 

themadvix

We’ve boosted the heating a couple of times in the last couple of days, I confess. When it’s making us miserable and uninclined to move. But then our thermostat is only set to 17 so it is pretty chilly if we’re putting the heating on.

Lovely here today though and we’re making the most of the solar heating too!

QueenJess

Ooh Rhubarb chutney sounds lovely!  I grow rhubarb as I love it... sadly I am the only one in the house who likes it.  Apparently DH is happy to "force" it down if it's in a pudding though

I thought you'd enjoy my DS's comment from the weekend (he's 6).  We went out and I didn't pack myself lunch and bought it instead (we have to buy for DD as she's so little and refuses not hot food for lunch).  I hadn't slept for about 5 days as DD was ill before that and was too tired to prep sandwiches.  DS said "Why didn't you pack your lunch?  What a waste of money!" He's a proper little MSE'r in the making!

Baileys_Babe

I confess we have yet to turn our heating off but most rooms are set at 16.5°, the bedrooms are set at 14.5° or lower and the living room at 17.5° not exactly hot but stops it being cold. Unlike most heating systems ours has individual room sensors, thermostats and timers that only heats the room during the periods I've set and only to the temperature set. If people are cold they need to put more layers on.

Looking forward to being able to turn the heating off.

foxgloves

It was certainly cold last night. We didn't switch the CH back on. That is now off until October as far as I'm concerned. I did cave in at 8pm though & lit the stove in the lounge. We were off to bed at 10pm, so I'm happy that bedtime meant we only paid for an hour & a half of gas. I'm glad I put the effort into wrapping various plants yesterday afternoon, as we did indeed have icy cars this morning, although we both noticed that the pond hadn't frozen, so it wasn't as cold as it could have been.

@QueenJess - Lol, he sounds like he's going to be a chip off the old block!

F

Makingabobor2

We have had the heat off but then on a couple of times just for an hour. This morning I could see it was supposed to still be -1 when DH got up for work, so thought I ought to set the timer so it came on for him. But it went off about 7.30 and now its glorious sunshine, so making the most of sitting in the front bedroom to do some admin stuff. Just went for a nice walk as well, that warmed me up.  We do have a living flame gas fire as well in the lounge, so if its cold in the evening, we can put that on the economy setting for half hour and it warms the lounge up quickly.  Although my plan now is to sit in pjs, dressing gown and a blanket in the evening. 

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
A useful, rather than an exciting day, I'd have to say, but it's nice to have felt productive. Today's money saving wins:
*Two loads of laundry (i.e all of this week's) pegged out on the whirlygig in the sunshine to dry for free.
*Harvested a bundle each of chard & sorrel from the garden and ............
*Made chickpea curry in the slow cooker (the chard was chopped & added instead of spinach) & also cream of sorrel soup (a misnomer in that it doesn't include cream!) Curry recipe from the 'I heart my slow cooker' book. Mr F likes both of these. They will be frozen to add to his stash of work lunches.
*Did a few PA surveys. I won't have as big an April cash-out as I often do, but I'm up to £16 now, so I will see if I can add a bit more over the next few days in the spirit of every little helps. Mr F informs me he will be cashing out £49 !!
*Paid a few transactions off my CC which involved a small amount of money shuffling from a savings pot. I'm trying to keep everything as straight as possible in the run up to my Big Budget Day on Thursday.
*Friends dropping in tomorrow afternoon - my first thought was 'We'll just need to get something to serve them with tea/coffee", then I decided I will bake scones. I've everything in stock, plus plenty of butter & home made blackberry & apple jam. Quick to bake too, as I don't even bother rolling the dough, so will do them last minute & serve them warm. 
*Make-do & mend - A pair of Mr F's big hiking socks will be getting a turn on the darning mushroom tonight before they get any worse.
*Have also been thinking about a few birthday treats which won't involve spending a lot of money or travelling far (I'm still not feeling reliably great, though better than I was). Mr F keeps asking me what I'd like to do & I've said I just want to enjoy a nice day together, without putting pressure on myself to commit to a long day trip then discover I don't feel brilliant when I get there. I'm looking forward to it. Mr F has bought me a cold frame for my 'big present'. I almost cracked & opened the box for a peep this morning, but he doesn't miss a thing & I knew I'd get 'done' (& quite rightly so!)
Well, I think that is everything for today. I hope that after last night's chill, at least some of our number have enjoyed some sunshine today. I'm off to see how much of that laundry has dried.
Love F x

Baileys_Babe

@foxgloves   If I was your guest tomorrow I would prefer freshly made scones with butter and homemade jam to any bought baked goods.