Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

badmemory

I think the vote is in!!

foxgloves

Oh my goodness, I've signed in to write today's post & found all your lovely comments. It is really quite humbling that people find my determination to remain debt-free inspiring. I recognise that I do have quite a lot of practical skills, but so do many other people on here & I definitely don't FEEL inspirational. Thank-you for your encouragement. I have been thinking about how our finances would look if we HAD returned to our bad old ways. One turning point might well have been when my my inheritance 3 & a bit years ago enabled us to pay off the mortgage. I did briefly consider buying myself a car, then knocked the idea on the head as apart from not requiring a loan to purchase one, all the other reasons for going down to a one-car only household still remained firm. I suppose for some ex-spendy people, this could have been the trigger to start spending again & it's probably a sign of how far we have come in our change of attitude that we didn't do this. Yes, we spent what is to us a very large amount of money, but this was on a much-needed house refurbishment & will help ensure we get the best price when we move (not for a good few years yet), as well as ensuring some problems such as dodgy drainage & ancient heating didn't get worse. We also put money into savings. I have been reading your comments & wondering what my budget would look like had we gone bonkers with spending instead & it is actually quite a scary thought. With hindsight, it almost feels as though this was a test to see if we have really changed & I think it proves that we definitely have. I always would have described myself as an environmentally-friendly person, but I wasn't really, as I simply bought way too much stuff, even for projects I'd have described as 'green'. I feel much 'greener' now that I am genuinely living a more sustainable lifestyle. There is a quote from somebody whose name I can't remember which is along the lines of, "The most environmentally friendly products are the ones you don't buy". That's another benefit to tackling my awful attitude to money after so many years.....I feel as though the last little outstanding piece of 'me' has slipped into place.
It's quite sobering to think just how much polluting plastic unnecessary crud has been bought on credit too - stuff which has long been binned or 'upgraded' before it has even been paid for.
Honestly, half a pint of good coffee & I am waxing quite philosophical. Must get today's efforts posted up.
F x

foxgloves

And now for today's small budget-helping positives:
*Did a load of laundry & have dried it for free on the whirlygig in no time at all as it is 29 degrees here in the murky midlands today.
*Reminded Mr F that if he wants winter-weight stuff like big hoodies, coats, etc, washed ready for autumn & winter, that now is a great time to do it as will dry free on the line instead of a day of paying for heated airer use. 
*Did my regular Monday morning budget updates. Signed into online banking to do a couple of transfers & immediately spotted that our balance seemed too high. Investigations revealed that the pet insurance claim for Ash had landed! That was truly a trouble-free experience. I transferred the money back to the Meow Fund which is now only £99 down......the amount of policy excess we had to pay. I will build that back up over the next few months.
*Did a few surveys. 
*Dealt with a few recipes which needed adding to my big recipe file. Also wrote out my tomato bottling method now that I am confident it works. It's a mash-up of hints & tips from @Suffolk_lass from last year, Nonna Gina's YouTube videos & instructions I found in a book. 
*Today's garden pickings: 2 courgettes, a small bunch of grapes & 1.25 kg french beans.
*Very easy nosebag as only needs putting in the oven. Mr F tried a new recipe on Sat - Green bean macaroni cheese (BBC Good Food website). He made enough to feed us tonight as well, so I only need to make a salad. We've tweaked the recipe & I have added it to our file as we will defo make it again. We don't grow runner beans so I have removed them from the ingredients list & just added more french beans to make up the total, as we grow those every year & they are usually good croppers. 
*Did a bit of birthday present knitting over my lunch hour.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
Am aiming to do some garden tasks early tomorrow before it gets too hot as 25 degrees is my maximum temperature for being anything other than a moany tortoise.
Haven't had enough water today either, so must go & fetch a glass,
F x

Makingabobor2

I agree about too hot to go in the garden. I have a few jobs I want to finish after the weekend, but had to go out this morning and by the time I got back at lunch time, I thought the garden will wait till first thing Wednesday, when I know I can spend an entire morning out there. Not that I'm complaining about this weather though, just that its too much to be humping pots around and weeding etc. 

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - My intention is to be outside doing garden jobs by 8a.m tomorrow..It should feel lovely & cool then.
F

Suffolk_lass

It's lovely at 07.00 here. And light too by then!

Tescodealqueen

Although the weather is a bit warm for me it’s lovely to see the sun and I think over yesterday and today I may have washed every sheet towel and fleece in the house in preparation for the autumn and winter and line dried them in shifts

ladyholly

I hate this hot weather. I just sit and drip. It's not helped by the news readers telling me how wonderful it is. 

rtandon27

The weather is just glorious - it almost seems a shame to waste a minute of it doing laundry, however I'm in the same boat & will be doing sheets/towels/bedding tomorrow whilst working from home and anything cosy and winter related on my Friday off!  I'm not one to waste solar power drying while it's about!

badmemory

I was so hot last night I landed up changing my nightshirt at 3 & still woke up dripping. No bed covers obviously.