Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

themadvix

foxgloves said:

*Saved on cat food by UTTERLY REFUSING to give Soot a 2nd breakfast, despite a level of persistence which was dramatic even by his impressive standards! 

Sometimes I just prefer the peace and quiet and chuck a spoonful of kibble on the floor for the noisy creatures to hoover up. Anyone who thinks cats are quiet pets doesn’t have a clue what they are talking about 😂

Blackcats

No need for a snog in exchange for a cup of tea in this house but a mug of MrBC's special frothy hot chocolate brew does require some negotiation skills.

ladyholly

I still bet cats are not as noisy as our dog. He has a very penetrating bark which he uses at cars passing the back gate, the scrap man that tours the area, the dustmen, the recycling men, our neighbour when she is in the garden or going to her car and anything else he deems deserving of an alarm call.

Sun_Addict

My youngest cat has a very loud and persistent miaow. The old cat rarely miaows and is very quiet. I mentioned her lack of miaow to a vet and he said that if a cat lives with a very vocal one they will often let that cat make all the noise. Previously she lived with our very vocal tomcat (no longer with us sadly) and now she’s living with our very vocal young female so she’s obviously used to letting another cat do all the talking 😆

You’ve reminded me to check our garden waste bin calendar as it stops altogether soon until March. 

milann

We are lucky and get our garden waste collected at no extra cost all year around - just the astronomical rates  - food waste also gets composted in the same bin. Ideally I’d like room for my own compost bin but sadly there isn’t space. 

Tescodealqueen

Since we are forecast heavy rain  for most of the remainder of the week I have changed to winter quilts and rather optimistically washed all the bedding in the hope of at least some line drying today.
OH advised me that the loo seat is cracked! Used the vouchers I get from CP surveys to purchase a new wooden one OH has decided will be more practical ( think he means warmer) so he is off to pick it up and fit it instead of the painting he had planned.
i had told him to get a decorator to quote for the  hall stairs and landing as at 73 I am a bit worried about him up ladders with the high ceilings we have but he stubbornly refused so although he has done it in bits he is on the last leg with dado rails and skirting just to top coat. Definitely the last time I hope

Suffolk_lass

ladyholly said:

I still bet cats are not as noisy as our dog. He has a very penetrating bark which he uses at cars passing the back gate, the scrap man that tours the area, the dustmen, the recycling men, our neighbour when she is in the garden or going to her car and anything else he deems deserving of an alarm call.

Our dog also knows when the retired (failed) greyhounds and the cockapoos opposite need putting in their place, and covers my windows with nose swipes as he chases all aliens away. Mentioning the R-word (Thumper) or Squi-shing and he goes mad. We just got back from walking him and our neighbours now grown up dog (since we got ours) and he is flopped at my feet.

Stealth cat just enjoys goading him and at twelve, has discovered the joys of teasing him. Always with claws in, I swear he has given her a new lease of life

EssexHebridean

All sounding busy with you as usual Mrs F!

As for cats - HRH was certainly capable of being very "full volume" when she felt it was required. She used to save her loudest miaows for the times when she decided she wanted to come indoors. we had a rule that if she didn't come when called at night, after three attempts that was it and she cold stay out and make the best of it - but we did eventually learn that if she progressively shouted louder and louder outside the door, we would eventually get up and let her in to avoid disturbing the neighbours! When we lived in our previous flat she did also have a habit of miaowing loudly outside the downstairs neighbours open window to get them to let her in through the main door so she could then pad upstairs and miaow outside our door! 

Our garden waste collections are monthly all year round - and we do have to pay for the service too, although it's not expensive and I do think it's reasonable that those of us with gardens pay for a service that is specific to us. I suspect it'll be a couple of months before our bin will need to go out again now anyway. 

foxgloves

Afternoon m'dears, & thanks for all your comments, which I have been reading during a welcome sit down & drink. Interesting about loud pets. Soot is defo the most vocal cat we've had, especially where food is concerned. We are used to it, but when my friend was here at cat biscuit elevenses time recently, she said "Oh my goodness, I can't believe how hungry he is!", & I had to explain that is just his normal level of volume if he is thinking about his tummy, which is pretty much every waking hour.
Useful day today. Yesterday's laundry needed more time on the heated airer than anticipated. It was sunny yesterday, but still as a millpond so no blowing around of laundry. Never mind, it was switched off overnight (we no longer have an Economy 7 tariff) & just needed an hour first thing to finish it off. All now ironed & put away. Then on to my regular mid-month budget check-in, which went without any nasty surprises.....well, apart from the discovery of an e-receipt I'd forgotten about which meant I needed to deduct another £21 from this month's remaining grocery budget. However, Mr F is apparently all for the challenge of a canny meal plan & food shopping list for next week, so we are not downheartened. 
On the positive side, having checked all the figures twice, we seem to have £55 more in our main October budget than I was expecting. I couldn't see any obvious errors & went through the budget line by line to see if there was any money which I committed, but hasn't yet been spent/paid. I couldn't see anything of that ilk, so am assuming that it is some sort of anomaly from the many Savings Pots transfers I have done this month. Well, I shall leave the mystery money sitting there until my next Big Budget Day in 10 days time. It may solve itself when reconciling statements. If the figure is correct, then I will probably use it to cover the cost of a few more presents.
An hour of fresh air & free exercise out in the garden tackling the most overgrown garden border. This has got very much more jungly than usual because of the new fence my neighbour installed. All those pernicious weed (bindweed, hawkweed, briony, bramble, etc), which originally just used to poke through from next door & get chopped off by me, have really gone mad from all the additional light & moisture previously gobbled up by the old hedge. Mr F is going to help me do a serious zero tolerance on them, but first, I need to cut back large perennials like sea holly & remove oodles of self-sown sweet rocket so we actually have somewhere to walk. A big job, but I can see I started to make inroads this morning.
A discovery of some rather elderly yoghurt led to making a batch of garlic flatbreads this afternoon, which solved the issue of what to serve with the leftover sausage & cider casserole we are eating tonight. Also used one for tomorrow's packed lunch. Will freeze a few as very useful when bread suddenly runs out unannounced.
And apart from surveys, I think that's it for today - my PA October earnings are now up to £36+, so I will press on with those, as it is a useful addition to my Personal Spends.
Oh & 2 letters......one a scan date from gynae dept (they say they are not worried but just want to do a final scan just to check they haven't missed anything.....I turned out to be rather complicated as the main issue turned out not to be gynae, but had set off general pelvic infection.....was pleased to see the appointment is at our local hospital, so a 2 & a bit mile round trip instead of a 42 mile one. The other letter was FINALLY confirmation from HMRC telling me in writing (as requested) that they had received the £5500+ payment I made to them back in March for my Voluntary NICs. The other part of my complaint has been passed to the relevant department but they are the one with the 60 week+ backlog. 
Right, time to sign out & go & shut the greenhouse & coldframe. Then I fancy a couple of chapters of my book.
The heating hasn't been on much today - I think the sunshine has warmed the front of the house.
F x

PennysIntoPounds

What a productive day, especially good news that they're being thorough with gynae and it's local, and that HMRC have confirmed payment. You'd think that being one of the most important institutions in the country they'd be on it with keeping things updated but I still can't see my last few tax years NI payments on the online portal 🙄

Speaking of vocal cats, when I was last at Mr PIPs, we heard one of his cats meowing outside and went out to check, and a neighbour was just about to put this poor starving neglected cat into a carrier and take him to the vets as he was so obviously a cruelly abandoned stray! In fairness the cat is feeling a bit bony on the spine due to age, but the cat had also had his dinner and the remnants of ours not ten minutes before! We assured the neighbour that the cat is much loved, well fed (including his favourite mission of nabbing food off our plates if we're foolish enough to take our eyes off them for a moment), and was within five minutes sitting purring on our laps completely unabashed at having brought shame on the family with his plaintive wails 😂