Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

cbsexec

Trscodealqueen - did you know that the main ticket selling site has a resale section     I only discovered this when looking for tickets for something else and happened on tickets for Peter Kay (these are fairly last minute tho so worth looking up to the day before something you want to see).  As I had queued for tickets on their release and missed out - I think I was about number 35000 in the queue 😂 I was well pleased.  They are sold at face value so no stupid price hikes.  Worth remembering 

cbsexec

I really enjoy your budgeting foxgloves.  I aspire to be as organised as you.   I’m learning 

Tescodealqueen

cbsexec said:

Trscodealqueen - did you know that the main ticket selling site has a resale section     I only discovered this when looking for tickets for something else and happened on tickets for Peter Kay (these are fairly last minute tho so worth looking up to the day before something you want to see).  As I had queued for tickets on their release and missed out - I think I was about number 35000 in the queue 😂 I was well pleased.  They are sold at face value so no stupid price hikes.  Worth remembering 

I will look again thanks when I was offered resale on the day they  were asking 600 pounds😱😂😱

foxgloves

@Blackcats - Oh yes, exactly the kind of financial decisions you mention back in the Spendy Era pre-LBM. The thing with cheques was that you were covered if the postmark was dated for final demand day as you could say in all honesty that you HAD paid by the deadline. Other tweaks were bringing purchases forward a day to make it less likely that my card would be declined in the supermarket, ditto the day that back-up cash was withdrawn from the cashpoint or filling the car up with petrol for work as I had a 35 - 40 mile daily round trip commute for many years. Also, I remember paying red energy bills in person at the electricity/gas showrooms in the city centre (they were still a 'thing' in the 1980s) & pretending I'd only just found it or some other minor fabrication. That could add a few days on no bother, as the staff just wanted to collect the overdue payment & talking to an actual person felt more concrete somehow than just saying 'it's in the post'. Of course, to all of the above, there was a steady backdrop......in musical terms, it would be a ground base -  a basso ostinato - of "Poor little old me for not earning enough to have any savings". What a heap of old cobblers that was! I could easily have saved some of my salary each month but was too busy spraying money around like someone who was earning much higher up the public sector pay scale than I was.
We did come rather later than many to living within our means, didn't we, @Blackcats, but better than not reforming at all & heading into retirement stuffed with debt.
F x

foxgloves

Morning Foggy Frugalistas,
Very very cold again here today, but much less ice first thing - bad fog though, which isn't shifting at all as yet. Mr F had to work this morning so made porridge drizzled with golden syrup & a jug of coffee before he went out, which galvanised both of us into life.
I intend to go & fire up the coffee machine again shortly & sit in the kitchen armchair listening to a bit more of 'Strike' while I get on with the foot shaping on this final Christmas present sock. I would like it finished so that I can start planning my next project, as well as getting all Mr F's presents wrapped. Only a gentle level of activity today - have moved some plants around so as to bring our big Christmas cactus into the living room for festive flowering & put out another Christmas item. We don't put our tree up until mid-December, but from 1st of the month until tree-decorating day, I bring out something festive. Yesterday it was the advent calendars. Today, it is the candle arch which goes on the kitchen window sill. I find this a nice free Christmas activity which helps to build our festive spirit. 
It won't be a no-spend day, as it is 10% dividend day at the C**p & they are also starting the 4 x extra 10% dividend vouchers which they always run throughout December until New Year. With a bit of judicious choosing, we have done quite well for extra dividend points over this period in the past, so we are aiming to do so again. Just need to make a purchase to get the first voucher, so that will be a couple of items from our festive food list. Also want to get my dividend card scanned as the annual bonus will be added on - ours is an extra £21 this year - so will come in useful for Christmas Cava, wine & beer as well as other items from the list as we will have over £60 divi in total (we use this & nectar points as sort of unofficial Christmas Club money).
I have done just a couple of surveys this morning so have started working on December's earnings, but I don't intend to have my laptop on again today, I need to prioritise getting that sock finished. The yarn colourway is 'Winter Icicle; which seems very appropriate for this week.
Oh & re yesterday's opera thoughts. We had a look at available seats & pricing & made a joint decision not to book for the late winter season. The company return late Spring & we are going to aim to go then instead. Mr F reckoned that £40 tickets (with restricted view) was quite a bit more than we paid last year. I couldn't remember, but he still had the details & we paid £18 each for one & £20-something for another (both restricted view seats but they were fine). He wonders if they have increase the prices for very popular operas as they know they will get a full house as well as probably a few corporate type bookings. Last year, we saw 2 more obscure works, so when the next programme is publicised, we will be able to test this theory. In the meantime, I will get the Leisure/Entertainment Pot built up a bit more. I have prioritised other pots recently tbf.
Right, time for another coffee & I'd better distribute cat biscuits too before they start agitating. Hope everyone managing to have at least a reasonably decent day. Extra layers on m'dears!
F x

marionmgcars

I love the term “ spraying money around”.  🤣🤣. I’ll remember that one to use in future 👍

foxgloves

@marionmgcars - Well, that's the most apt description of it really. I was never one for designer handbags & clothes or ultra top-end beauty products/toiletries, etc. It was really just a case of constant spending on lots of different things. Coupled with a complete lack of budgeting, this behaviour ensured I outspent my income every month, hence the 24-year-old overdraft! Looking back at the Spendy Era through the lens of hindsight, it does feel as though I must have been walking around like a sort of garden sprinkler-type money spraying device! Well, we can't go back, can we, so at least I came to my senses before reaching a position where I was unable to make more than minimum.payments, or not to have been able to pay at all. In fact, where careful budgeting is concerned, I sometimes think I'm channelling my Nana these days, lol.
F x

Makingabobor2

@foxgloves , hope you don't mind me hijacking your diary, but I know you are a bread maker. I  want to start making bread.....not made any for over 35 years, so really out of practice.  There seem to be so many different types of flour these days and also yeast.  What yeast do you use? I was looking at Mr S's fast action dried yeast, but I have no idea really.  Also do you.....or any of your lovely readers, have any tips or good recipes for GF bread?   
Sorry for the hijack, but I thought you seemed the best person to ask and I know you have many followers .x

foxgloves

Hello @Makingabobor2,
I'm going to answer your question to take my mind off raiding the Christmas crisps.
Yes, I do make the majority of our bread. I do occasionally buy a bag of granary or similar flour, but most of the time I use Waitbl00m own brand whole meal & white bread flours which are the strong flour you need for making bread. I have tried various yeasts but my favourite is the Doves Farm yeast in the little bright orange bags. I don't have a bread maker, but I do make the dough in my Kitchenaid mixer using the dough hook.
I know very little about gluten-free baking. Back in Spring following my illness, I did try an experimental gluten-free month to see if gluten was causing me problems, but when all the tests/scans finally provided a diagnosis, it became obvious that gluten was not a factor, so I reverted back to eating normal bread. For the couple of GF loaves I did bake, I used Doves Farm GF flour & the recipe printed on the bag. The recipe worked although I found the resulting bread a bit too sweet, but if I had to follow a GF diet, I would defo be fine to eat it rather than give up toast! 
I expect there are others among our number who know much more about GF bread making than me. Worth trying the library? Probably lots of recipes online too.
Hope you are soon buttering a slice of your own lovely handmade loaf.
F x
Edited to add that A*di bread flour is good too but not always in stock at our local branch.

Baileys_Babe

@Makingabobor2 we make our bread both standard bread and GF.

For both we use the same yeast as @foxgloves from Doves Farm.

When making standard bread we use Dove Farms Strong white or wholemeal flour. We either use the Kenwood stand mixer or a bowl and knead by hand. When making wholemeal bread we now use 4 parts wholemeal flour to 1 part white as we find we prefer the texture. We do have a cooler house than most people and this affects the rise.

To make the gluten free bread we use Dove Farms GF flour, branded Freee, with 3 e's we also use the recipe on the packet, it is also on the website, it is nothing like normal bread making. I like it as toast, my coeliac adult child says they prefer the taste to all the other GF bread they have tried including M&S's.

Initially, we had thought to make our own GF flour mix based on lots of research in books and online but having tried the Freee flour we have decided to stick with it.