Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

marionmgcars

Hope you are feeling a little brighter.  I’ve had that investigation, and the preparation for it is not for the weak hearted.  ……. Although I did loose a bit weight 🤣.  Hope your consultants manage to get in a huddle and sort your treatment.  Take care x

foxgloves

Hello m'dears,
Thanks for your support & kind comments. I do feel a bit less annoyed & fed-up today, as I received a phone call from the hospital to book me in for a different safer procedure. I also made sure it was booked at our local hospital, so I shall make that today's first small win:
*Next medical appointment is a 4 mile round trip instead of a 44 mile one, so a decent saving on fuel.
*Picked another cucumber (there are 6.5 cukes currently in our fridge!) & also a further kg of courgettes.
*Sunday's leftover roast lamb did us a nice lamb bhuna last night & will be doing spicy lamb & vegetable pilaff tonight....with a side serving of stir-fried garlicky courgettes.
*Transferred funds from our Dentist/Optician savings pot to pay for Mr F's filling this morning.
*Did quite a few surveys. July's PA earnings at £20 & we are not halfway through the month yet, so must keep at it.
*Updated library wish list.
*Sorted yesterday's clean laundry & ironed only what needed it. Re-hung kitchen door curtain, which was on my list of large bulky items to get laundered over the summer while outside line drying is so much easier (although we have just had an enormous deluge here, so there are always stormy exceptions)
*Am wearing a top from my 'Shopping from Home Boutique' wardrobe section. It didn't fit me last year, so it has felt almost like having something new.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
Sorting out my appointment took longer than expected as I agreed to it based on old information....that I would have access to the car.....then had to phone & re-book, but I have fitted in some leisure time during which I have been sitting in the conservatory with the doors open listening to sparrows squabbling, while sorting out an issue with my shawl knitting pattern. It has come right now & I am on the final section (textured triangles) before casting it off & applying 2 rows of tassels. (If any knitters amongst our number want to see what it is I'm knitting, the photo is online - pattern is called 'Boho beats shawl' - & it's an interesting pattern to knit. 
Right, must go & chop tonight's veg & see what Soot & Ash are up to.
F x
P.S @CRANKY40 - I don't know what Soot's ancestry is. He looks like an ordinary black short-furred moggy to me. He is very clever though (& a lovely shiny friendly boy).

milann

Pleased you’ve got another appointment with a treatment that’s more suitable for you. 👍

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
I have spent most of today on leisure activity mostly adding to & continuing typing up my latest genealogy project. I did plan to get a few more jobs done, but after Postie had delivered my hospital letter which included all the instructions for the day before my next scan.....well let's just say I thought I'd have a day thinking about something else instead. Thankfully Postie also brought a nice card & package of seeds from a kind friend so I had something nice to open too.
On the frugal front, just a few things, but we all know it is all the small daily habits which add up into cumulative savings:
*Had a decent free bending & stretching session cutting back overgrown bits of garden. Filled 2 trugs & then decided to add a few more steps by trotting down to the postbox with a mis-delivered letter.
*Made tomorrow's pack-up. Lunch was easy as Mr F said he'd take last night's leftover spicy lamb pilaf & wokked courgettes to re-heat. This week's work snacks have featured yellow-stickered Quorn cocktail sausages.
*Quick triage of the fresh stuff revealed carrots which won't get used this week, so prepped & froze for next couple of roast dinners.
*Did next week's meal plans, prioritising what we already have in.
*Wrote grocery shopping list.
*Re-wrote some of both the above when I saw hospital letter & realised I'm set to be 'Mrs Hardly-any-food' next Monday. You'd better believe I will be setting Tuesday as my next weigh-day! I'd been wondering when next to get on the scales. Then I read the words 'colon cleanse'.....oh my giddy aunt.....
*Then edited list again when I realised I could shop a couple of those additional 'special diet' day items from home. We rather front loaded our grocery budget the last two weeks to make good use of butcher offers, so the remaining two need to be pulled back.
Well, I am looking forward to 'Sewing Bee', & will have my shawl-knitting on the go throughout. 
Take care, all of you who read my yakkings.
Love F x

Makingabobor2

Good luck with next week's procedure. At least they are not making you wait too long. 

foxgloves

Thanks, @Makingabobor2 - It's like the expression goes, isn't it?.....I just have to "keep b*ggering on".
F x

foxgloves

Hello Readers,
Well honestly, I have so little to report today that I can barely see the point of posting, except of course that in common with most folk on here, the regular practice of doing so does help concentrate the mind on frugal behaviour. I have spend most of today continuing my efforts to get my genealogy project typed up. Very pleasant working in the conservatory with the doors open, though have had to keep an eye on Soot, as I don't think there's anything he hasn't had his nose into this afternoon. Finished my current library book as well. Anyway, today's pathetically small list of positive money saving wins is as follows:
*Speed-cleaned the house, all done by breakfast at 10am - used minimal products as usual. I'm counting that as my exercise for the day. 
*Fed sourdough jar ready for baking a loaf tomorrow.
*Feels like almost a 'free' meal tonight as am doing pasta with home made chard pesto from the freezer, mixing in sauteed courgettes & topping with cheese. 
*Mr F is picking up the grocery shopping on his way past Waitbl00m. Only a small list & I have impressed upon him the target weekly budget. I think he has taken this on board as I heard him counting up cat food pouches in the pantry first thing this morning!
*Wrote a list of jobs I could usefully do in town tomorrow morning, including posting 2 letters which I hadn't actually written, so I got on with those as well. Now addressed & awaiting stamps.
*Oh, & shopped a scented candle from home, despite saying last week that I'd used absolutely every last bit of home fragrance stuff. I was wrong. There was a final one lurking in the conservatory which I'd forgotten about & has only been lit about twice, so I have moved it to the living room & will use it up before buying a new one. I do intend to buy some good citronella joss sticks though, as flies coming into the kitchen are a constant source of annoyance to me during the summer months. I don't find the cheaper ones do very much, but we had some last year from the fairtrade shop in town & they really did seem to make a difference, so I am going to pop in & buy a bundle tomorrow.
I could do with picking & freezing a bag of beans, but it can wait until tomorrow now.
OK, that's me done. Think I will have a little tidy-up then knit until the wanderer returns.
F x 

Sun_Addict

Ooh never thought of burning citronella in the house. Might give them a try as flies coming in during the summer are a pain. 

foxgloves

I never noticed much success with it, @Sun_Addict, until several years ago when my Mum got some free citronella candles from a garden centre loyalty scheme. They were in not very attractive thick yellow glass containers but they defo worked. We had a really bad year with mosquitos & there were lots of them already in the living room, but it was hot & we wanted the windows open. We lit two of the candle jars & put them by the open windows to stop any more of the bitey beasts coming in. We forgot about them while we watched a couple of programmes on TV, then we noticed that they'd actually all gone! They didn't seem to have migrated to other rooms either. I think they found those bright yellow candles so stinky that they took themselves off through the window! I have had cheapo citronella joss sticks which haven't seemed that effective so it's a case of experimenting. 
A bunch of basil in a jamjar is also supposed to keep flies out, but I can't say I've noticed much success with that. Might try it again though as have plenty of basil.
F

scandimore

Good luck for Tuesday foxgloves. I have a bit of a grim appointment that day as well. The basil trick does not seem to work for me, will have to look into the citronella joss sticks.