Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Cheery_Daff

Ooh,that sounds like an extremely pleasing evening! 😊😊

Humdinger1

Happy birthday to Mr F! Xx

foxgloves

Thanks. His birthday isn't for a while yet, but he believes in starting celebrations early, the young thing, lol x

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
Pleasant day so far. Most of today's small budget-helping positives are, as usual, from old-style-type activity. but here goes, for what these small efforts are worth:
*A no-spend day & that goes for Mr F as well, as no petrol required.
*Marzipanned our Christmas cake. This costs less then it used to, as I soon realised that despite always having used 2 packs of marzipan, our usual size of cake really does only require one, which is what I now use. Another small saving is using my home made marmalade for brushing the cake before affixing the marzipan instead of the apricot jam which always seems to be suggested. Being a jam-maker, I don't buy it, but I don't make apricot so always used to buy a jar for the cake, then find the rest of it months later, sitting in the pantry giving Alexander Fleming a run for his money. Marmalade works perfectly well, the orange is quite festive & as I make it myself, I usually have plenty in.
*Baked a loaf. In the spirit of using up stuff from the freezer to make much-needed space, we decided on home made tomato soup tonight (from our summer tomato glut) followed by scrambled eggs on toast.......until I discovered it would actually be virtual toast if I didn't get on & bake a loaf. 
*Last 50g of some rather elderly pudding rice will be turned into a rice pudding later. These use-it-up missions get rather addictive, don't they?
*Did a few minor budget updates (grocery budget & personal spends) ready for my Mid-Month Budget Check-in, which I intend to do tomorrow morning.
*Took a little cardboard box apart & re-made in a better size & covered it in festive paper. Once lined with baking parchment, it will be perfect for gifting some of my home made fudge. I have some cellophane for the top, a ribbon & handmade tag. Our local cake decorating shop closed down a couple of years ago & I really miss it for food gift boxes & other useful stuff like cake frills, ribbons, high quality cupcake cases, etc.
*Did a couple of surveys, but all the better-paying ones so far have required extra bits of tech/connectivity with which I have neither the time nor inclination to fiddle. Will do a final check before I sign out, just in case there are a few quick win ones.
Then, apart from taking the compost caddy down the garden before things get too crepuscular, I intend to have some leisure time - finish the last little bit of my book, start a new one & peruse a new slow cooker recipe book from the library.
Wishing you all a cosy evening. Felt a bit chilly last night, so have fetched an extra crochet blanket down for sofa-sitting in the evenings.
F x

EssexHebridean

We no longer ice our cake at all - although MrEH likes marzipan, I don't, and neither of us are fussed about icing, so we now have christmas cake without the embellishments! When I did though I did indeed use marmalade for the brushing rather than jam - or indeed sometimes just a differing flavour of jam! 

Completely agree about using things up being addictive as well - I finished a biro in the office yesterday and had a mini celebration! 

Blackcats

Quelle surprise - I also used to buy lots of expensive mohair type wool in the 80's.  I mostly bought yarn rather than actually complete any garment.  I did actually finish a red, fluffy Aran style jumper which I loved.  I particularly liked to wear it with tight jeans and red suede pixie boots - I thought that was a very stylish look, particularly with large red and black zig zag earrings.  The 80's were a unique fashion era but thankfully there aren't many photos of the fashion crimes I committed.

Sun_Addict

Blackcats said:

Quelle surprise - I also used to buy lots of expensive mohair type wool in the 80's.  I mostly bought yarn rather than actually complete any garment.  I did actually finish a red, fluffy Aran style jumper which I loved.  I particularly liked to wear it with tight jeans and red suede pixie boots - I thought that was a very stylish look, particularly with large red and black zig zag earrings.  The 80's were a unique fashion era but thankfully there aren't many photos of the fashion crimes I committed.

I have a LOT of photos of my 80s fashion crimes - funky belts, knickerbockers, studded belts, rara skirts, dodgy perms - you name it I have photo evidence 😆

foxgloves

@Sun_Addict - While I definitely had 'the perm' & impressive collection of big dangly earrings, I didn't really like 1980s fashion & mostly had a bit more hippyfied vibe with long fringed or tiered skirts. There used to be an expensive boutique on one side of the Council House building in the city centre. Do you remember it? Can't recall the name but it sold cocktail/evening-type dresses, handbags & shoes. It wasn't my kind of establishment at all.......until a particular display of boots appeared in their window. They were taller than pixie boots (which I also had) & came in a range of very 1980s colours including shocking pink. I must have hung my nose over those boots every time I went into the city for weeks. They were priced at around £85, which was a lot of money for boots back then. I was a student & was already 2 years into the 24-year overdraft. I knew I didn't have the money & would be running up my overdraft further, but of course in the end, their wonderful pinkness overwhelmed any struggling vestige of common sense & I went in & bought them. I did wear them for years - they were a mixture of suede & the softest leather. I was going to add that I wouldn't wear them now, but that isn't quite true, as I must confess I have been looking at a pair of pink DMs to replace my now seemingly unavailable purple pair when they finally bite the dust.
I loathed ra-ra skirts, but I remember my sister had one. 
F

foxgloves

Morning Campers!
Oh my goodness, a stray ray of sunshine has just lit up the room.....it would be so nice to have a few dry days after so much rain. I might even get into the backs of some of those garden borders with my secateurs if the weather is set to improve.
I think not too many budget-helping bits & bobs today, but as we know, they do all add up:
*Mr F is calling into the supermarket on his way home from work to pick up this week's groceries. Shorter list than usual & I know he has money-off vouchers for 2 of the items & will defo make use of the free coffee.
*Defrosted two portions of the butternut curry I batch-cooked in the slow cooker recently. Will only need to cook some rice to go with it later. Also defrosting some chicken & a container of stock for tomorrow, so that is 4 containers out of the freezer this morning. I am quietly confident there will be space for my mince pies when I make them next week,
*Did my mid-month budget check-in. All looking fine, no nasty surprises. I am about £7 up on where I expected to be, but that's not something which I intend to investigate. Did a little bit of related financial admin - paid a transaction off my CC, updated a spreadsheet - just that kind of minor task.
*Continuing with various 'use-it-ups' - pantry, freezer & toiletry items. Surprising how long these bits & pieces can last & it's nice to use them to delay opening/buying new for a little longer.
*I finished my current Money Book this morning, & was able to shop a new one from home. I love stationery & would have loved pootling around town choosing a lovely new book, but it would be a waste of money as I found a large A4 lined notebook which might not be an object of loveliness (leftover from a past voluntary secretarial role), but is perfectly functional so I've saved our House & Garden Pot a few quid there. Ruled it up ready for January's budget, which I will be doing at the end of this month, also wrote up 2024's grocery budget log & transferred the Holiday Pot payment schedule, so as to keep it accurate - we are going on holiday much earlier in the year than usual, as one of us has a pretty enormous birthday, so no room for dropping payments due to sloppy accounting!
*Did a couple of miniscule surveys - just pence - but nothing doing today atm, so will leave it to another day.
Postie brought a bundle of excellent post this morning - several cards & my new yarn & waterfall cardi pattern. Yay! Love new yarn. I am glad I stuck with my original choice of colourway ('Caribbean') as it contains lots of different colours, but not bright red, which is a shade I definitely wanted to avoid. There is a photo of me, aged 6, wearing a bright red dress with a white maribou (?) fur trimmed neckline, lovingly crocheted by my Grandma - & that, m'dears, was probably the last time I wore red! If I ever fancied wearing it, I would only have to fish that photo out to go right off the idea!
Right, time to tidy up, have some lunch & plan best use of this afternoon. Today would have been my Mum's birthday, & despite losing her 5 years ago, it still feels odd not phoning to wish her a Happy Birthday or planning a visit. Ah well, death is a part of life, how ever much we might wish it wasn't so. 
Love F x

EssexHebridean

Happy new yarn day Mrs F! I confess I did go and nab a sneaky look at the colour you had chosen and yes, it's gorgeous isn't it!  I'm currently eyeing up a purchase of a similar nature for myself mind - as am considering getting a bit more adventurous on the crochet front. First though I must finish my current project to ensure that the staying power is there for something else! 

Good work on the shopping from home for the new notebook. It was something that surprised me when we packed stuff up to move - I am nearly at the end of the supply I had of various books of that type - indeed, although I do still have 2 A4 sized ones they are the two spares waiting to be used when needed for our voluntary role, which I will not be using for personal stuff, so next time such a thing is needed I will indeed get the joy of going and buying one! 

Loving your boot story - I remember in a similar vein and after a thoroughly grim day at work back in the 90's going out and impulse buying a gloriously soft pair of tan leather ankle boots. I can't recall how much they were, but I know that money was tight at the time, I was probably still at the stage of clearing debt in fact, and I really shouldn't have bought them. In the cold light of day I knew I ought to take them back, but then I tried them on again and no, it just wasn't happening! Those boots got work regularly for absolutely years though, so in the event, rather like your pink ones, all was not lost! Clearly the MSE message has got through though to a degree at least - as although the sparkly pair I bought on Saturday were still an impulse buy, they also cost under £16 AND the money was already in  my clothing pot ready for them!