Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Onebrokelady

Sunshine_girl2 said:

Hi Foxgloves, just coming out of lurkdom to ask where you usually buy your wool from. I am thinking of taking up knitting again , have plenty of needles and patterns but haven't bought wool for a long time . 

Wool Warehouse is usually very good 😊

foxgloves

@Sunshine_girl2 - I don't use any specific supplier, really. If I'm anywhere near a wool shop, I always prioritise that to help a specialist shop stay in business. Not many around though, so usually end up buying online, but from whoever has the best price on the yarn I'm looking for. So I tend to decide on a pattern first, then compare prices. The one suggested by @Onebrokelady is good, I've bought from there a few times, but I don't really feel any particular loyalty to any of them & select on price because decent yarn can be quite expensive.
F

Sunshine_girl2

foxgloves said:

@Sunshine_girl2 - I don't use any specific supplier, really. If I'm anywhere near a wool shop, I always prioritise that to help a specialist shop stay in business. Not many around though, so usually end up buying online, but from whoever has the best price on the yarn I'm looking for. So I tend to decide on a pattern first, then compare prices. The one suggested by @Onebrokelady is good, I've bought from there a few times, but I don't really feel any particular loyalty to any of them & select on price because decent yarn can be quite expensive.
F

Thanks foxgloves for the reply. We do have a wool stall at a local market will check out there as well as online. 

foxgloves

It's like Narnia out there this morning..i.dont think it would be possible for our garden to look any more white & frozen than it does this morning without actual snow! So no gardening again - there's simply no area of soil into which I'd even be able to insert a spade. We've decided to treat ourselves to breakfast at the village farm shop & then pop next door to the garden centre so Mr F can choose some shallots for the veggie plot. I think I will aim to get ahead with a few jobs, such as laundry, as I am hoping to get quite a lot of stuff done over the coming week, including a big batch cook & my annual.marmalade making. I also need to sit down with our latest energy bill figures.
I finished the first big yarn stash hiking sock last night while watching a film, so I want to cast on its pair & make good inroads into that too today.
Layers on today, please - I've got a long sleeved top under my dress & cardi plus tights & 2 pairs of socks..Hopefully that lot will.cope with this morning's frozen world.
F x

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Morning foxgloves
It is thawing here in my part of the NW thank goodness, I've barely been out since Weds, missed 2 exercise classes as didn't fancy going out on the icy roads!
I have 2 fussy felines too! I used to think they would only eat the Queen of S food but they will eat other varieties but don't seem to like the fish flavours or the jelly. Compared to other cat parents I seem to have got off lightly!
I've done a few PA surveys recently and nearly up to my £50 withdrawal limit. 
I had an offer from the tentacled supplier if I didn't use gas or elec for an hour last Thursday so I listened to the radio on my phone and didn't boil the kettle etc. It was a long hour!
Today I'm bulk making BNS soup and casserole 
Love Deni 

foxgloves

It's thawing here now, @Deni_debt-free_dreamer, which I'm pleased about because some plumbing issues have developed here this morning. Nothing major.....water in loo bowl started coming up higher than usual, water level in the drain from the sink & bath also higher than normal & loo bubbling when bath drains. Very rare for us to have this sort of problem so we have been working on a basic hypothesis that part of the sewer has frozen. We've put hot kettles down all reachable outside drains & Mr F removed a bagful of general gunk from 2 of them. I've also put a load of washing on at 40 deg, so that we can get a bit more warm water running through. Will see how things progress today now that the garden is thawing & re-test all the plumbing tomorrow morning before deciding if it is going to resolve itself or whether it is going to need a plumber. It certainly hasn't got any worse & I think Mr F may be veering towards the opinion that I'm worrying about nothing. However, I'm very much of the opinion that where potential plumbing problems are concerned, it's best to get on it asap, rather than sit back ignoring it while things get worse. So am very much hoping that my plans for a productive Mon-Weds this coming week don't get subsumed by phoning plumbers, waiting for plumbers, getting fed-up with the thought of what we might have to pay plumbers, etc, etc.
But apart from sending plenty of warm water down the pipes today, I can't see there is anything we can do until we've assessed it tomorrow, so I will have a quick check for surveys while my laptop is signed on, then make a nice snuggly hwb & curl up on the sofa with my book.
Enjoy your Sundays, all.
F x

foxgloves

Hello Money Savers,
I'll start with today's small wins:
*Did double rubber chicken duty - it was worth buying two as they were smaller than usual & roasting them together. All in all they will have provided 2 portions of roast dinners & some leftover roast dinner for today's packed lunch. 2 chicken & mushroom supreme, 2 chicken & veg stir-fry, 2 stew, 4 chicken chilli, 1 chicken dijonnaise sarnie & plenty of stock.
*Baked bread.
*Did the rest of this week's laundry, all at 30 deg, & on heated airer.
*Prepped first batch of marmalade oranges & put them to soak overnight.
*Did my regular Monday morning budget updates. Nothing peculiar. We did underspend January's grocery budget by £6.77, so I've sent that over to our Tech Replacement Pot.
*Topped up spice jars with the spices I bought from our local eco-refill shop - all under 20p each, as very lightweight & not paying for packaging.
*Did a couple of surveys.
*Cut up 2 old garments belonging to Mr F that he's finished with, as they will be fine for car polishing, cleaning boots, etc.
*Paid 4 more £1 coins into my secret tin.
*Hope to finish knitting leg of 2nd hiking sock this evening.
NOT money saving - the plumbing problem did not right itself, so it obviously wasn't caused by multiple nights of freezing temperatures. Booked a drain company to come & jet, rod or whatever else they might throw into the mix - earliest they could come is Wednesday morning, so we are being ultra-careful. Also annoying, my phone signal at home used to be so reliable, but in the last few weeks, it has got worse & worse. Over the past week, every time anyone rings me or I phone them, the call connects & we talk for a very short while, then it drops out. I had to ring the drain company back 3 times because of this & they rang me twice. Shall be going in to mobile provider shop at the weekend to say that it isn't acceptable for me to be paying them every month, then having to make calls on WhatsApp. So it's been a mixed kind of day, but I've been busy which has helped with feeling annoyed.
Hope at least a few of you have had a good start to the week,
F x

scandimore

A bit of a mixed day there foxgloves, but you definitely achieved more than me!
I'm making my marmalade next week and last year found that the shreds hadn't softened as much as I would like. Can I ask about your soaking - is that soaking the whole fruit or shredding then soaking? Am assuming you then use the soaking water? Any pointers appreciated! Thanks 😀

Sun_Addict

👎 to the phone signal and plumbing problem. Hopefully will be sorted out this week. 

foxgloves

@scandimore - Yes, that's right. I juice the oranges into a large bowl, them cut up the fruits finely & add those plus the lemon juice. I tie up the pips & some of the pith in a square of muslin & put that in the bowl too. Then I pour over the correct amount of water for the recipe, cover the bowl & leave it overnight. Tomorrow, I'll just tip the whole lot into my preserving pan to simmer the peel. I find the best test for checking if the peel is sufficiently cooked, is to take a piece out, cool it slightly, then rub it between your finger & thumb. If it rubs away to pretty much nothing, then it's ready & I start jamming.
Hope this helps a bit.
F x