Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

And now for today's small budget-helping wins:
*We got everything on our town list except for 1) Some refills from the eco refill shop which can wait till next time. We would have run over our carpark time & didn't want a fine from our very industrious local parking wardens. 2)Getting our regular savings account book updated - I forgot to take it with me.
*Bought 7 Christmas presents today. 4 in town & 3 online. All made use of offers, inc a '3 for 2'.
*Found a replacement 'emergency hospital bag' for just £15. It's very plain but holds everything I need in a 'grab & go' situation. I even popped a paperback novel in. I had shopped a bag from home.....a pretty holdall which belonged to my Mum, but it wasn't quite big enough & when I added my silver flip-flops & zipped it up, the zip broke & some of the lining ripped. I felt sad about losing the bag, but there was also a bit of a sense of relief. I know that sounds odd - we've been talking on here recently about making use of other folks' items instead of just throwing them away, haven't we? The issue with this bag was that it was the one Mum had in hospital when she was admitted. Of course, she never came out again as she died following an emergency surgery for a serious complication involving the same IBD I have now myself been diagnosed with. It's actually helping to tell you this. Much as I loved the bag & have used it on camping trips, overnight stays, etc, I found that using it for an emergency hospital bag made me feel too sad, as well as underlining the fact that the end game of the illness was the worst possible outcome for Mum. So, I have today bought a plain black £15 bag from the 'shop that rhymes with toys'. It is the perfect size & has pockets for all the stuff I will need IF I need to go in. I thought that was really good value, as I still have space left if I suddenly thought of some other vital thing I need to pack. I have transferred my stuff into the new bag & have let Mum's bag go in the bin. I have plenty of other lovely things which belonged to my parents (& grandparents). It felt a bit sad putting it in the bin, but also strangely liberating. It was those very difficult hospital memories it was raising.
Coincidentally, I got home from town to find a letter from the surgical registrar I saw the other week - my copy of the letter he has sent to my GP. Yes, it outlined my condition & likely future surgeries but it also included this line, "Mrs Foxgloves is doing remarkably well" & explained to my GP that I have decided to manage the condition to see how it goes. So I will do that & monitor things & I won't have to think about that emergency hospital bag again until I need it. It is in the bottom of the linen cupboard under a pile of cushion covers. As a planner, it is good to know I shan't have to start scratting about for stuff if I do need to go in. As ever, my approach is "Prepare for the worst while hoping for the best". Thank-you for listening to that digression x
*Treated ourselves to cappucinos & toasted teacake/scone in our favourite indie coffee shop. Budget neutral as paid using our Personal Spends, as I did for a gardening magazine.....I just suddenly fancied one.
*Today's garden pickings: courgette & a few more blackberries.
*Cooked up another pan full of autumn - stewed pears & blackberries. Big bowl of it now in the fridge for free desserts over the next few days.
*Posted our friend's birthday gift & bought a book of 1st class stamps before the imminent price rise. Worth doing as price going up by 15p per stamp. That's quite a big rise so worth saving over a book's worth. 
*Cashed out my September PA earnings at £32-25. I am still waiting for over £8 of payments, but that will give me a head start on October's total.
I think that is it for today's budget bits. Mr F's cooking night, so I am going to put a warmer layer on - the first time I've felt properly chilly for ages - & have some sofa time with my book.
Enjoy your weekends, all. Hoping for some time in the garden tomorrow, especially as Mr F has volunteered for a couple of hours of heavy grunt work. No way I'm turning that down!
Love F x

Sun_Addict

I think that they are a lot better at diagnosing cancer now than 40 years ago when you often heard of people dying from unspecified diseases that were most likely cancer. Treatment is more advanced too, Mr SA would never have survived 40 years ago or even 20 years ago. Having said that, it’s well worth avoiding carcinogenic ingredients as much as you can. There was a rumour the glue Mr SA used in his former job as a roofer causes lymphoma in the brain - but who knows. 

@cuddlymarm welcome back to the forums, I’m pretty certain I remember following your diary some time ago. Sorry to hear of what you and your OH have been through. I hope you both get back to full health soon. 

@foxgloves do you have a St0ck Giant near you? If so it’s well worth looking in there for new books. I’ve had a few recently released books from there at a fraction of the price. The shop itself is like a bomb site though, oh my days 🤣

foxgloves

Hi @Sun_Addict - No, we don't have that shop. We do have a fab BigCow'sfam charity bookshop though & it has provided countless treasures. The staff are nice too. We try to pop in every time we are in town as you never know what will have been donated. Earlier this year, I found a book I was waiting to be published in pbk (which I intended to buy new) on sale there for a couple of quid for the hardback edition! It was absolutely pristine. It's defo my fave local charity shop. Not sure if there is a branch in the city centre? I used to go into the city centre a couple of times most weeks when I Iived so much nearer, but don't know the shops as well as I did back then. Our branch only sells books, music & DVDs so is much more of a bookshop than the general charity shop.
F

Sun_Addict

Yes there are a couple of branches of said shop in the city centre, one does books only. We also have one on our local high street but they are more expensive than the city centre one for books 🤔

Makingabobor2

you do write such interesting posts FG. Still trying to work out what that charity shop is that @Sun_Addict mentioned. 

Sun_Addict

0xf@m @Makingabobor2

weenancyinAmerica

I once tried reading the ingredients on a packet of dried mushroom soup - there wasn't a single mention of mushroom, just a long list of chemical ingredients. Now I read labels carefully on most of the food I buy as trying to limit those chemicals. They are finally banning one of the red dyes here that I think was banned a long time ago in England. My brother used to have terrible reactions to it so I have always checked labels for dyes. Now if I can just stay away from items with high-fructose corn syrup.  Making food from scratch does help I think. Love hearing about all of the preserving you do. Gives me hope I might be able to do something like that too.

Makingabobor2

Sun_Addict said:

0xf@m @Makingabobor2

Aah yes, of course...lol.  I always find our local one quite expensive. Think it depends on where you live

joedenise

Decided to have a go at making some green tomato chutney today as had so many green tomatoes which just wouldn't ripen.  It's now jarred and in the dark as needs to mature for a month before using.  Just hope it's OK!

Going to use some of the ripe tomatoes to make some more tomato and chilli jam.  I made a small batch a couple of weeks ago and DH gave our DD a jar when she came to visit so only got 1 jar left now and the other jar is almost empty so definitely worth making more.  Still got loads of tomatoes so need to find some more things to do with them although I'm running out of jars so may end up making more tomato sauces and freezing them.

Sun_Addict

joedenise said:

Decided to have a go at making some green tomato chutney today as had so many green tomatoes which just wouldn't ripen.  It's now jarred and in the dark as needs to mature for a month before using.  Just hope it's OK!

Going to use some of the ripe tomatoes to make some more tomato and chilli jam.  I made a small batch a couple of weeks ago and DH gave our DD a jar when she came to visit so only got 1 jar left now and the other jar is almost empty so definitely worth making more.  Still got loads of tomatoes so need to find some more things to do with them although I'm running out of jars so may end up making more tomato sauces and freezing them.

The green tomatoes will ripen eventually if you put them in a brown paper bag or box with an apple. Takes a while but definitely works, tried it last year.