We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
Comments
-
Ash cat is a real beauty. Cake looks very tasty, nom nom!4
-
Hope the bottling went well.Making the debt go down and savings go up
LBM 2015 - debt £57K / Now £26,764....its going down
Mortgage Free December 9th 2024! 18mths ahead of schedule.Challenges
EF £630/3000
.
Studies/surveys April.....£156.32
Decluttering items 1402/2025. 195/2026
Books read 23 in 2025. 2026- 11 (target is 52)
Jigsaws done 20 in 2025. 3 this year.
My debt free diary...https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6396218/we-will-get-this-debt-d£own-the-savings-up5 -
Hello BH Money Savers,
Feeling tired now & enjoying a sit-down. Glad it's Mr F's cooking night, though he's had a proper work-out with heavy garden jobs today & is probably more knackered than me! Anyway, today's generally budgetty positives:
*A no-spend day.
*Picked 5kg of home grown tomatoes.
*Added the above to 1kg already in the fridge & bottled them. No explosions (yet!) Jars swathed in towels on worktop for slow, steady cooling.
*Spare portion of chopped tomatoes which was insufficient to fill one of the big jars I'd sterilised frozen instead.
*Leftover lemon juice from the above process used to scrub washing-up bowl which was looking rather tomatoey (as was I!)
*Entered a competition.
*Mr F fed & watered the veg. We are now at that stage where harvesting is the key thing & plants are gradually being removed & composted when they have finished producing.
*Mr F managed to get the new water butt in place without needing to buy any additional gizmos.
*Other garden pickings today: Bunch of grapes & more blackberries.
*Did 2 loads of laundry & line-dried for free.
*The granny squares for Ash's new blanket are all finished. Will start crocheting them together tonight while watching quizzes.
Hoping to have an outing tomorrow morning if not raining. I shall defo need to pick french beans when we get back as there are l-o-a-d-s again. Freezer v full but I know a couple of things will need to come out tomorrow morning for the fish pie I'm intending to make.
Right......some reading time & then a lovely bath to de- 🍅🍅🍅🍅 🍅🍅🍅.
F x
2026's challenges: 1) To rebuild our Emergency Fund to at least £5k.
2) To read 50 books (12/50) 3) The Re-Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg
Remember....if you have to put it on a credit card, extend your overdraft or take out a loan to buy whatever it is, you probably can't afford it, as that's not your money, it's somebody else's!9 -
I got some plums from Olio. 12 jars of plum jam made. I’m donating 6 to a friend who has a charity bake sale soon. Thought I’d make them pretty to be more attractive to buy . The three little ones are for the volunteers to sample.
14 -
@marionmgcars - They look lovely. I love plum jam & am still intending to make some soon. I like trimming my jars up with toppers & labels too, especially for giving as gifts. There's something very satisfying about preserving. I've recently joined a FB foraging group & the folk on there have been making all sorts of stuff.
F2026's challenges: 1) To rebuild our Emergency Fund to at least £5k.
2) To read 50 books (12/50) 3) The Re-Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg
Remember....if you have to put it on a credit card, extend your overdraft or take out a loan to buy whatever it is, you probably can't afford it, as that's not your money, it's somebody else's!6 -
They look fabulous @marionmgcars 😀I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping)6
-
What a nice thing to do and a great use of Olio surplus @marionmgcars
Love your tiles as well, I'm very partial to a classy greenhttps://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'aggressive safety shot' Ken Doherty4 -
Morning Campers! Rise & shine!
Well, I have neither risen or begun shining, as have slept too deeply with my neck at a silly angle & woken with a headache. Bah to that! The lovely Mr F is making me some coffee & I've had some painkillers so hopefully I shall be rallying shortly.
Mr F back at work tomorrow so we've decided to have a lazy day at home & treat ourselves to a pizza later. I intend to do just 3 jobs today:
1. Ironing.
2. Pick french beans (there are loads).
3. Email gas place to find out why we haven't had our usual annual servicing letter for our boiler & stove. Have budgeted some money for this based on last year's cost).
Everything else can wait until tomorrow.
F x
2026's challenges: 1) To rebuild our Emergency Fund to at least £5k.
2) To read 50 books (12/50) 3) The Re-Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg
Remember....if you have to put it on a credit card, extend your overdraft or take out a loan to buy whatever it is, you probably can't afford it, as that's not your money, it's somebody else's!8 -
Love a list that includes 'everything can wait until tomorrow'!4 YEARS 10 MONTHS DEBT FREE!!! (24 OCT 2016)(With heartfelt thanks to those who have gone before us & their indubitable generosity.)...and now I have a mortgage! (23 AUG 2021)Original End Date - Sept 2041 New projection - Dec 2039 (reduced by 21 months)5
-
There is always a place for "everything else can wait for tomorrow" on a list!
I sympathise on the sleep and waking up uncomfortable - although over the past couple of weeks my main issue has been waking up at an ungodly hour and being entirely unable to GET back to sleep again! I hope your headache has now receded and you're having a nice gentle day of not doing much!🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her7
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354.4K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.4K Spending & Discounts
- 247.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 604.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.4K Life & Family
- 261.6K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards