Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

milann

I’ve finally caught up after missing a week whilst away. You lot can’t half talk 😂😂
I was pleased to hear the accounts eventually tallied up. 

I was 18 before I was allowed to have my ears pierced when I was an adult and could make my own choices. A fact my gdd who had hers done last week for her 10th birth found hilarious. 

I had clackers after much mithering😵‍💫 it was a friend who bought them as a present as my parents weren’t having any of it 😳 I’d had them a few days when my brothers friend hit them so hard they acquired a big dent which meant they had a mind of their own - basically rendered useless. I was gutted 😳 I never got another pair.

foxgloves

@milann - The thing about clackers was that they were actually so boring. The 'wanting' of them was full of anticipation & feeling one would be part of the in-crowd with the latest craze toy, but if like me, you were actually afraid of doing the whole circular clacking them top & bottom (the action which became known for bruising people's wrists), then the only thing that could be done with the blimming things was holding them while they clacked. It was mind-numbingly dull once I'd realised that there was nothing else to them. 
@Makingabobor2 & @PennysIntoPounds - Thank-you yes, the annoying headache did disappear & I was pleased to wake up without it this morning. Oh, & @PennysIntoPounds - re your question about premium bonds? I think we had always intended to start buying these, but if you ever encountered my 1st diary on here, you'll know that we were both silly spenders & came to the concept of budgeting later in life than many. We still see ourselves as really quite new savers, so I think for me, I wanted to see some regular payments going into interest-bearing accounts as an ongoing habit before I started on anything else. Our first batch of bonds will go into January's prize draw & I know that whatever he says, Mr F will be hoping that Agent Millions will be calling shortly afterwards, lol! I think that was the other part of the decision, really, that like everyone else, it would be fun thinking what we might do with a decent win. 

And hello everyone else who has checked in on this sunny (well, it was, it's nearly dark now) afternoon. Quite a steadily busy, pleasant day. Small budget-helping positives as follows:
*Made dough for tonight's pizza & some bread rolls - on its 2nd proving, will be dealing with those imminenetly.
*Baked a cake for GBBO finale tonight. Chose 'Luscious lemon cake' from the Cranks cookbook as I hadn't made it for years. It has lemon syrup poured over the top as in lemon drizzle, but is baked in a small flat square tin so cuts into little squares rather than slices. I used to make it often & thought it needed rediscovering.
*Did the ironing much more quickly than usual, which I am putting down to that new iron being more energy-efficient.
*Paid a couple of transactions off my credit card - points starting to build nicely again.
*Read all the info for new premium bond holders - no, @PennysIntoPounds, strangely enough I didn't find that piece of cake-related small print you mentioned, but I will maybe write it in myself, as any excuse to bake!
*Did a few more surveys & was surprised to receive a bonus £1.05 on a study in which I didn't think I had performed very well. From another site, I have a box of product to test which arrived in the post today, so that should be a decent pay-out when I finish it & do the related questionnaires. Am not saying what it is as it is very hush-hush. I have another test product arriving soon too.
*Squidged out to the greenhouse to pick some rocket for a bit of a salad to go with tonight's pizza. I am making a fajhita-style one using some of the leftover roast chicken I divvied up yesterday.
A couple of arrivals to facilitate further festive prep - Mr F's final present arrived, having had its arrival date put back a fortnight, so that is everything bought for everyone now, just those socks to finish knitting & a batch of fudge to make. My sheet of Christmas stamps also arrived so no excuses for not getting started on the cards very soon. Was surprised to receive our first one in the post this morning! It still feels too early, but it was nice to hear from an old colleague & I do remember she always used to put her tree up in November.
Goodness knows what time Mr F will get home tonight, as he's been on a management course all day & you know how on these things, you just think you are going to be allowed to leave, then some numpty puts their hand up at the 11th hour to ask a long anecdote-laden question which then requires a 20 minute answer.
Anyway, before I yakk on any longer (no, I did NOT used to be that person on management courses!), I must go & get those bread rolls in the oven & decide what is going on this pizza apart from spicy chicken.
F x
 

Sun_Addict

I love how you get into the spirit of things and bake a cake for Bake Off. Luscious lemon cake sounds delicious. We’ve only just re-started buying premium bonds. We did have some many years ago but cashed them in. Our first draw is also the January one. It’s a little bit of excitement once a month and the money is safe at least. 

foxgloves

Yes, I also had some in the past, @Sun_Addict, but it was during the Spendy Era so they were soon cashed in for dealing with my shoddy finances which were very much debt-based at the time. Let's hope Ernie dishes out some beginner's luck to us in January.
F

ladyholly

January is my first premium bond month too. I only have £25 worth so not expecting much. I will add to them as and when.

Humdinger1

But @ladyholly...remember Charlie Bucket? He only bought 1 packet and there was a Golden Ticket inside.  He ended up owning the Chocolate Factory! Love Humdinger xx 

kayannie

 'Luscious lemon cake' from the Cranks cookbook is one of my favourites that I make regularly. I've also made it with gluten free flour & it tastes no different - it doesn't even fall apart as some cakes do with gf flour. KA

foxgloves

@Humdinger1 - Yes, Mr F (who is a fan of the original film) is definitely hoping to be more on the Charlie Bucket side of things!
@kayannie - Yes, it's such a simple cake but very lemony & the brown sugar makes it a bit of a different thing from the standard lemon drizzle loaf cakes - I use Nigella's recipe when I want one of those. Good to know that the Cranks one works with gluten-free flour in case I ever need to bake for a GF visitor.
I use the country biscuits recipe from the Cranks book often, using blitzed up porridge oats. They feel a bit healthier to me than most biscuits & are nice eaten with cheese too.
Also make some of their soup recipes plus the mushroom stroganoff & the apple & ginger chutney recipe is lovely.
F x

ladyholly

Humdinger1 said:

But @ladyholly...remember Charlie Bucket? He only bought 1 packet and there was a Golden Ticket inside.  He ended up owning the Chocolate Factory! Love Humdinger xx 

Thanks humdinger unfortunately as my sil says our name starts with the wrong letter. In other words I rarely win anything and if I do it usually the last thing in a raffle that no one else wants.

foxgloves

Hello Frugal Diary Friends,
Well, there was no point at all me postponing yesterday's planned gardening day to today because it was even more icy today & even now, with dusk rapidly falling, the garden is still white with frost, entirely unmelted despite some decent sunshine for parts of the day. Never mind, the day was not lost, as I cracked on with the Christmas cards & managed to get them all written & stamped. Just two require a letter to be added, so I will get on with that tomorrow & call it 'job done'. Anyway, m'dears, today's little budget-helping positives (such as they were) as follows:
*Selected a week's worth of meals from the December master meal plan. Apart from buying a small amount of stewing beef, we will be pulling most meals in from freezer & pantry stores.
*Wrote grocery shopping list.
*Wrote a short list for the eco-refill shop as my only opportunity to go there this week will be a speedy visit on Friday morning. Got the bottles & tubs out ready so I don't forget.
*Updated Christmas card list, which only involved knocking people off, not adding anyone on, so this will mean that the sheet of stamps I bought will last well into the new year. Managed to fit a December birthday card in with a Christmas card too - I love sending & receiving cards, but postage can add up on multiples at this time of year, especially.
*Checked the pumpkin seeds I saved the other week had properly dried, put them in an envelope & labelled them ready for sowing next year.
*Very little effort for tonight's nosebag as it is jacket potato night. I am having cheese & coleslaw on mine & Mr F is making one of his Epic Man Stews, which seems to be getting rid of quite a few containers from the freezer if the pile in the fridge is anything to go by! He will get at least one extra portion for a hot work lunch out of this culinary creation too.
*Make tomorrow's packed breakfast & lunch. I haven't done this yet, but it is imminent.
*A piece of the Cranks lemon cake will serve as dessert tonight as we have run out of yoghurt & there is no fruit left which Mr F eats (shopping day is Thursday).
And that is my lot for today. I want to play the piano - Christmas music comes out in November otherwise I risk sounding like Les Dawson on the 25th - & read a few chapters of my book, still the novel about the Black Death, as much as I want to read it, it keeps falling off the bottom of the list. Have just started the latest Cormoran Strike novel on audiobook, so that will keep me going for ages.
*Oh & did a few surveys - have topped £50 on PA for this month, hope I get paid by 30th (cash-out day)
OK, m'dears, better pop down & make the wage-earner a pack-up. Cats haven't had their afternoon treats & it is most unlike Soot not to come upstairs to complain about shoddy service, so I had better see what they are up to.
Love to all,
F x