Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

@cheerydaff - No, I don't know of that blog. It sounds interesting. I have lots of vintage stuff. Some of it has come from family members, but antique/flea fairs were also a big area of spendiness for me back in the bad old days.

@ladyholly - I know the tablets to which you refer & also had an issue getting them from a pharmacist. I was on prescrption tablets first for my spell of middle ear/dizziness trouble, but my GP wouldn't let me stay on them longer-term & suggested the tablets you mention from the pharmacy would be a good interim step. Well, I remember standing at the counter in a major pharmacy chain ('something you'd wear on your feet') & being given the 3rd degree in front of a long queue of people. It was so embarrassing! I was given a box of the tablets, but raised the issue with my GP when I next visited. He said that the pharmacist had been too cautious but that the reason behind it was that these tablets apparently have a very tiny 'street value' as are sometimes used by addicts coming down from heroin. I worked in an area with a big drug problem & was buying the tablets there during my lunch break, so that explained it....even though I did think that as I was dressed for work (public sector profession, management role) that I perhaps didn't quite look like the usual groups of addicts I regularly used to see hanging around the town. Ah well.... Thankfully I only ever had one incident of the ear problem returning - I reached up to get a book down from my tall bookcase & fell over, so I haven't needed to do battle with any further pharmacists over what is basically just a travel-sickness tablet for a very long time!
F

EssexHebridean

Very glad to hear that your floodwaters locally now seem to be receding - here’s hoping for a period of drier weather generally to allow the countryside to generally dry out, otherwise I can see it being a problem for food growing this year both on an agricultural and for many folk a home level.

On that subject your comment about the time for thinking about garden planning approaching was a good reminder - because of course that will be something that we need to consider for this year too. In fact, I must also give MrEH a nudge about contacting his rugby club chat who might be able to cut out the section of patio we need removed! 

PennysIntoPounds

Glad you and Mr F and the furry Fs are safe.

What a gorgeous sounding bit of shopping from home

Though, as is my habit, I read too quickly and thought your later post said you'd had to repair the cats 'knicker toy'- I thought blimey, foxgloves really has been shopping from home!
Glad you've still got the big girl pants on hand for your dental appointment 😁

@Humdinger sending very good wishes to you and your daughter x

Moorviews

Glad to read that your river levels are falling and therefore has saved many homes from flooding. It must have been very nerve wracking for people. Here’s hoping that the brightness and cold permits some recovery before the next storms hit. We were fortunate in that our power cuts were very brief this time, although we always expect them when it gets very windy. With a wood burner and an oil fired range we are fine for warmth and cooking, however it is the light that I really miss. We end up going to bed very early and reading by torchlight. 

Good shopping from home as always and you end up having more of a unique look when making use of vintage finds. I have always been a lover of older things, long before vintage became popular. We loved a good mooch around an antique fair too! I never understood people ripping out their beautiful fireplaces, hand built cupboards and mouldings from Victorian homes in order to make them look modern. Having restored all the original features in mine, it sold at the first viewing precisely for that reason. There would be skips outside houses in the 1980s, full of these lovely fireplaces and doors. Thankfully, architectural salvage companies eventually came along and at least saved some for reuse. 

@Humdinger1 - What a difficult time for you and your daughter. I wish you all the best with navigating your way through the changes and that she starts to make a recovery soon. 

marionmgcars

Loving reading the posts. I have to stop eating Christmas leftovers as nibbles, and plan into meals, as it’s not helping my campaign to be healthier and loose a little weight.  If anyone needs a vacuum sealer I noticed there are some on offer in L1dl.  For £19.99,   I got one from charity shop last year and it’s amazing, and means I get lots more into freezer.  

joedenise

marionmgcars said:

Loving reading the posts. I have to stop eating Christmas leftovers as nibbles, and plan into meals, as it’s not helping my campaign to be healthier and loose a little weight.  If anyone needs a vacuum sealer I noticed there are some on offer in L1dl.  For £19.99,   I got one from charity shop last year and it’s amazing, and means I get lots more into freezer.  

They've also got the rolls for them - 3 rolls for £4.99 which is a good price.  I'm planning on getting some when I go this week, assuming they've got some left!

foxgloves

Greetings Sunday Savers & thanks for all your comments. @Moorviews - Yes, I have always loved vintage stuff. It doesn't matter whether I am fitting out a room, a flat or a house or what my intentions are for the interiors, everywhere I live pretty soon defaults to shabby-chic! 
Quick flood update - Big river has now subsided into less scary territory & was pleased to hear that S-in-L's village hasn't flooded as they are a good few miles downstream of us & that is where that big surge of extra water was heading overnight. Sadly some of the houses in our village did flood. Most of the water has receded from that street now, but we saw all the soggy sandbags on our way past this morning. It isn't the first street I would expect to flood, but having seen it & thought about it, I can see why it has. It is all to do with that surging extra water mounting up as it comes across from Staffs & Derbys getting bigger & bigger, then it overfills the village marina which is like a big bowl. It overflows, the river keeps coming, so it keeps overflowing & this time, the duration of the overflow has clearly been sufficient to spill onto the nearest road where it has come downhill & pooled at the lowest point, entering homes. Not only have they now got all the work of getting their homes habitable, I am assuming that insurance will now be much more difficult for residents on that street to procure. So very many communities in the UK dealing with this problem, as these events do seem to be getting more frequent.
Anyway, from tomorrow I am going to try to yakk less on here.......I don't know how long this will last though! A few budget-assisting positives today:
*Treated ourselves to breakfast at local village farm shop. Budget-neutral as used our Personal Spends. Cost reduced by redeeming a free coffee from our loyalty card. Due to an administrative error, Mr F received double bacon which pleased him no end!
*Mr F chose his first earlies seed potatoes from village garden centre - 2 varieties, a 1kg bag of each. One of the best thing about getting them from here is that they are loose & if a customer wants just 3 tubers to try in a pot, then they will perfectly happily sell 3 tubers.
*Treated self to a small festive chocolate item from the reduced goodies section. Was horrified when I saw that its original price was £4.60!! Artisan choc tbf, but it was truly small.
* 'Free' Christmas dinner tonight, lol, well not really, of course as it's Jan 7th, but we couldn't see the point of buying a roasting joint when we have leftover turkey slices in Mr F's famous Christmas Day gravy in the freezer, plus 2 stuffing balls, so we decided to have that - we still have plenty of our December sack of spuds left-  & just buy carrots, broccoli & parsnips.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast porridge pot.
*Finished library book for returning tomorrow, though I think the deadline is Weds.
*Was able to supply Mr F with a hand-gel & a hand cream, both of which I received as freebies so that's a few quid saved.
*Synchronised our diaries for the week ahead. I always say that being v organised always ends up saving us money one way or another. 
*Planned a rough 'shape' for the coming week in terms of what I'd like to achieve. With Mr F having had to WFH a couple of sessions on Thurs & Fri, I don't feel I have really got properly back into my routines yet. I do intend to have a productive week though....well Mon-Thurs, as Fri will mostly be taken up with trek into & around city for dentist, actually being in The Chair, then the trek back, which comes in at the best part of 50 miles & stupid amounts of traffic.
My dodgy back muscles have improved really quite a lot, so am off to make a hot water bottle to put on those while I cosy down to start the book I got for Christmas. Tomorrow I will have another try at shorted daily posts again & see how I get on with those - I am just the same IRL - always plenty to say & an opinion on everything!
F x

Baileys_Babe

Pleased to hear you are the same IRL 🤗

Less_Talk_and_More_Action

Hi @foxgloves. Still reading along and enjoying it very much.  I am of a verbose inclination (both speaking and writing) although my diary is thin on content at the moment.  

Thank you again for all the personal spends info - we have utilised them today when meeting friends for coffee and definitely has made us think more.  I havnt yet had the opportunity to test my avoidance of motorway services - that comes this coming week and I am prepared.  

Hope you have a good week and the dental stuff goes well and floodwater continues to subside. 

L x 

Makingabobor2

Gosh, even on a weekend you are a busy bee. I'd not even thought about buying seed potatoes yet. I am still a bit of a novice a this, having only tried it for last 2 years and in massive tubs. Will have to have a think once I'm out & about again once I get some energy back after this dreaded covid.