Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

rtandon27

5 minute showers! - Wow I'm amazed - I've managed in and out in 10 - but I shudder at the thought of cold water & cold self!

milann

I can I can do a quick shower in the Motorhome but prefer a bath. When we had the bathroom done a few years back I bathed in the middle of the living room sitting in a big builders bucket 😂😂😂😂 Dh said I wouldn’t fit - but I could sit crossed legged…..bet I couldn’t now 😂😂😂

Cheery_Daff

I love a long shower but started timing them last year and got it down to a regular 3 mins 30 😱 including hair wash (and my hair is down to my waist). Couldn't have done it while I was still shaving my legs though - that's been replaced by an epilator 😂

I certainly don't get in when it's still cold 😱😱  and ours seems quick to warm up. Wet hair, shampoo straight on then straight off, conditioner on to soak in while I wash everywhere else, then a good rinse. 

I'm not advocating that quick - I much prefer a longer one, but I was seeing how quick I could regularly get it when I was monitoring all electricity use. I started with a timer for 5 mins, then over the weeks reduced it by 15 seconds at a time 😂

Cheery_Daff

I much prefer a bath too - but in an actual bath, not a builder's bucket! 😂😂

Suffolk_lass

Cheery_Daff said:

I much prefer a bath too - but in an actual bath, not a builder's bucket! 😂😂

lol  

foxgloves

I used to have a shower timer from Severn Trent - 4 minutes, then a ping to tell you to get out! It was hopeless for me. My hair was too long & I couldn't get it below 9 minutes. Then the timer thingy snapped, so what was green & sustainable for water conservation definitely wasn't in terms of creating plastic waste, as it went in the bin. We got rid of our shower when we had a new bathroom fitted several years ago. It made the ceiling too mouldy. We have a short shower attachment on the bath mixer taps for hair washing, which is really useful & can also be used for a decent strip wash, but we mostly have baths.......sharing water whenever possible to keep gas costs down. 
F

foxgloves

Hello Sunbeams,
Very little to report today, but I haven't spent any money - well, grocery shop later this afternoon as Mr F is calling into Waitbl00m with the list on his way past - but that's all budgeted for, so doesn't really count. I've done a lot of pottering around jobs today, not many of them particularly money saving - a lot of pruning & dead-heading, tidying & sorting bits & pieces, that kind of thing. So today's 'small wins' are indeed small & few:
*Froze half of the sourdough loaf I baked yesterday to keep it fresh.
*Cut a small bunch of homegrown coriander.
*Top-dressed & fed courtyard containers.
*Added the free bag of coffee grounds I picked up from the cafe last weekend to our container grown witch hazels as they apparently like things slightly acidic.
*Jetted out disgustingly gunky bird bath..... honestly I don't know what they do in there. Mr F briefly wondered if we needed a new one, but we definitely don't. It just needed a clean, moving very slightly & the overhanging bits of shrub obscuring it pruned away. All now done.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
*Did a few surveys. My June PA earnings are already at £22-15, but I had to cancel one, as despite reading all the instructions twice & being a reasonably intelligent individual, I still hadn't the foggiest idea of what I was supposed to do. I submitted a comment to this effect when I cancelled as it may help if others are also baffled. Normally I enjoy giving my brain a stretch.
Postponed money saving......Mr F was all set to use the £5 off voucher he was given at Waitbl00m last week as a goodwill gesture because of their problem with stock shortages. Then he spotted that it isn't valid until next week. Never mind, it will come in useful then instead. 
I was going to feed the cukes & any fruiting tomatoes but Mr F has put his hand up for this activity as well as the shopping. He's been in the office all day & says the fresh air & greenery will detox his head. That's just how I used to feel when I worked full time. It was lovely to get outside on a sunny evening.
Right, I see another survey has appeared, so I will investigate that & say bye for now.
F x

milann

All sounding good 👍

foxgloves

Hello Sunbeams, Just checking in before firing up the coffee machine & having an hour in the garden with my book. Useful morning. Cleaned the bathroom & had a speed-tidy around first thing, then trotted out to post box to post a friend's birthday card, so as to make the most of my optimum TRE fat-burning window between 8 & 10 a.m.
On the money saving wins, just a few things today:
*Pulled some rhubarb & cooked it. I like it with yoghurt, so it helps our fresh fruit supplies stretch further while it is so expensive to buy.
*Emptied out toaster for a decent cup of crumbs to keep the sparrows going a bit longer - they are not happy that they only have peanuts. I have promised that I will buy some new seed soon, but crumbs are free just for between times.
*Cut several bunches of fresh herbs from the garden, tied them & they are now hanging from the kitchen beam to dry (sage, golden marjoram, thyme, oregano & winter savoury)
*While I was up on my kitchen steps doing this, I spotted a sprig of bay leaves which I hung to dry after it broke off in bad weather a while back. Now added to bay leaf jar as perfectly dry.
*Did a couple of small financial catch-ups.
*Surveys as & when.
*Dug out hospital letter for scanning appointment tomorrow to remind myself of how much the car park costs. No card payments & no change given, so it really is a case of arriving prepared. We know where there is free street parking, but it's near a small parade of shops & may well be busy on a Saturday. I was thinking that Saturday afternoon is an odd time for a scan, then my sister pinged to say she has one too...over 120 miles away....both CT....what are the odds of that?! 
Well, that's me for today. I think I will just put tomorrow's outfit out ready.....I always choose things which are quick to get on & off for these kind of appointments. I like a quick getaway & as little faff as possible.
I can hear that caffiene calling me, so will say bye for now,
F x

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, lovely herbs.  I was just looking at my oregano yesterday and thinking I should get some in. Will get on the case.