Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

marionmgcars

Sounds like a brilliant morning out.  Your shopping sounds such a treat - I love that body butter, and also the clothes shop you were in.  Great yr hubby got his coat -  great investment 👍. We bought a few microfibre fleeces in sale which are great to layer up in during cold weather.  

foxgloves

Hello Sunday Savers - Always nice to sign into my diary & read your comments.
This morning, I decided that if I drew the bedroom curtains & there was no frost, I would go out & do at least an hour of garden clearing, but if there was, then I would postpone it. (Draws curtains). Oh. Icy cars. Have advanced things nevertheless. Today's budgetty bits:
*Synchronised our diaries over coffee & breakfast so that I know when Mr F is likely to be working late & also packed lunch/breakfast days. I know I do bang on about it, but being organised always ends up saving us money one way or another.
*Ordered new mattress. This is planned spending, but the timings were important in order to get the 20% discount which is for a limited period, but also to wait until the purchase would definitely appear on my February CC bill instead of the January one. Signed into my CC account first to make absolutely sure I had entered the new billing period. Free delivery, but did pay the fee for old mattress removal for recycling (was surprised that 95% of the materials in it will be recycled). I was fine about the extra charge for this as would have had to pay for the council to collect it anyway.
*Made an instant porridge pot for tomorrow's packed breakfast. 
*Fed my sourdough jar ready for baking tomorrow.
*Sorted through my seed box, discussed with Mr F what we fancy growing to eat this year & made a list. Then went through it, crossed off everything we already have in stock & placed online seed order. I was quite surprised at the stock gaps on certain veggie seeds when we visited a nearby big garden centre last week & it reminded me that last year, there were a few varieties I was simply unable to get. Everything on my veg seed list ordered, low delivery charge as only seed packets in the parcel. Looking forward to them arriving already!
*Did a laundry load. Washer was full of towels & I thought it would be a good idea to dry them overnight on the heated airer to help keep conservatory temperatures up a few degrees on what is expected to be a very cold night.
Well, it isn't my cooking night. Mr F is making lovely WW one-pot goulash, a recipe which involves beef chunks, red pepper, potatoes & other things. It is one of those really warming meals in a bowl, just perfect for these chilly months. Didn't even have to buy a pepper, as I salvaged an unused one recently, prepped & froze it.
Still nothing from supermarket. I didn't really expect to hear from them on a Sunday, but hopefully the issue will be resolved tomorrow or Tuesday. 
Extra layers on for the week ahead, everyone. It is very unclear whether we are due for some snow here or not. First we were ...on Weds & Thurs, then this changed to Thurs only, before changing again to no snow for our region at all. Then today, I read that there could be some over night into Tuesday morning. I know these things are not an exact science, but I am just going to see what happens. Sounds as though it will be too frozen for doing much in the garden, so I will progress some more indoor projects.
Love F x

PennysIntoPounds

What a nicely productive Sunday. How exciting to be getting a new mattress, mind it's not so comfy you can't bear to get out of bed 😁
One of my 'when we have money' wishes is a really nice bed frame and mattress with hotel-esque bedding. It's amazing how even without any of those things a pretty duvet cover or blanket lifts a room and your mood 

scandimore

A comfy mattress is just so important. 
Goulash sounds tasty 😋 
Weather this week does sound quite dicey (in the north-ish anyway). 
Have just ordered my seeds too

Blackcats

Good planning with the mattress - getting the discount and delaying the purchase into a later credit card statement.  

I'm trying to be more deliberate with using our credit card - I stopped using it at all a few months ago but am now using it for bigger but planned purchases and then paying it off in full.  For our May holiday we booked travel in December and will pay in full at the end of this month, then this month we've paid 50% of the accommodation charges to be paid off at the end of February.  The remaining 50% isn't due to be paid until April.  Psychologically it feels better not to empty the holiday pot in one go and the money will earn a bit of interest as well as the pot growing again with each month's savings.

glad your dental work is nearly complete.

Suffolk_lass

We bought a Dunlopillo mattress before we got married, over thirty years ago. It was custom size (7' long, 5' wide) and with the addition of a quilted mattress cover it is still going strong, still really comfortable, and worth its considerable weight as a "stands the test of time" purchase, as promised by my parents. My Dad said we should save up for one as we would not regret it. We did, but in the good earning days of DH it was a cash purchase, (so saving came much later for us). Being allergic to so many dust and pollen type things, the no mite low allergen elements are fantastic, and the custom length has reduced the bad back issues DH had before he met me (your mattress should be 15-23 cm longer than the tallest person for back support to be at its best, was the medical advice). Other good mattresses have begun to catch up but honestly? it was one of the best things we ever bought 

themadvix

I have a Dunlopillo pillow (and have had one forever), interesting to  hear this given all the issues we’ve had with mattresses. Thanks SL!

foxgloves

@PennysIntoPounds - Lol, no danger of that here! We are both early risers.
@scandimore - Seed orders are so full of promise, aren't they? Looking forward to mine arriving.
@Blackcats - Yes, we both use our credit cards a lot more strategically these days. Of course in the Spendy Era, they were just 'some more money to spend', but since our reformation & decision to pay them off in full every month, we have been using them for most planned purchases, so as to rack up loyalty points for vouchers. Both our credit cards account providers send out monthly bills mid-month, so with a bit of an eye on dates, it is possible to get a longer period without having to pay. Mattress ordered yesterday, won't appear until Feb's bill which will be dated 15th, & payment not due until the end of the month before interest would be incurred. It sort of adds an additional fortnight of free credit on, which can be very useful in terms of deferring payment of a large planned item to the next monthly budget. But both cards are ALWAYS cleared in full each month, we have both paid quite enough interest during the Spendy Decades, time for us to get something back now, & that's the loyalty points......have just racked up another £10's worth on my card for next time they pay out & Mr F has £13 to come on his. I get ridiculously excited about vouchers & I don't care how tragic that sounds!
@Suffolk_lass - Sounds as though that was a good buy. From our point of view, anything with good support which doesn't have 2 just visible person-shaped troughs in it will be a vast improvement!
F

foxgloves

Afternoon m'dears,
Quite a productive day so far. Budget-assisting bits as follows:
*Did Monday morning budget updates. Still no supermarket response about shoddy delivery. It's supposed to be 'Within 3 days excluding weekends' so will hopefully hear tomorrow.
*Mixed up a sourdough, on its first proving.
*Did a few surveys
*Did the rest of this weekend's laundry - sunny out, but too cold to expect it to dry if I were to peg it out, so heated airer again.
*Sorted a few free resources to go off to the shed - a nice big jam jar to add to my stash for this year's tomato-bottling, a meat tray which is the perfect size for a seed tray cloche & some yoghurt pots which are useful for sowing cukes or potting on chilli babies & some other minor bits & bobs.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
Still to do:
*Divvy up fish box order when it arrives this afternoon, as it needs to be in portion sized before freezing.
*Mend handbag lining.
*Knit
And that will be it. I had intended to do my regular mid-month budget check-in tomorrow morning, but I may wait a day & do it Wednesday to ensure greater likelihood of having heard from supermarket, & more to the point, received a refund.
F x

Makingabobor2

@foxgloves where do you order your seeds from? Thinking of ordering some this year to save trudging round the garden centres and not being able to get what I want