Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Onebrokelady

foxgloves said:

Hi @Onebrokelady,
No, I wouldn't do that - I need to keep our bay in a pot so it can be moved to a more sheltered place for its winter quarters. I lost a lovely healthy one during a longer than usual cold snap one winter, although tbf, I am a good bit further north than you & I suspect our garden may also be a bit of a frost pocket.
F x

I just looked it up to check my info and I was informed wrongly. The berries aren’t poisonous but the seeds inside the berries are and they can be used for medicinal purposes. Mine is planted right by my back door in clay soil with full sun in the summer and everything that can be thrown at it the rest of the year. I prune it vigorously every year otherwise we wouldn’t be able to get out the back door. It seems to be indestructible because it’s not sited in the best place for that tree. I don’t want to chop it down but might have to at some point 

EssexHebridean

The fact that our Bay at the flat was planted into the ground is why we now have two small bay trees - one in the ground and one in a pot - at the house. Meanwhile, the new owner of the flat will shorty be discovering quite how fast the little blighter we left behind  can grow in the spring! we are watching with interest to see how long it retains the relatively nice rounded shape we left it with... Actually, the potted one we have now had better be planted into something bigger at some stage - it's still in the one we brought it with us in! 

I'm always a fan of having bread in the freezer too - I buy YS'd when I see it, as well as us always saving the end of the loaves we make ourselves ready for future toasting. 

We had a quite distinct frost this morning as well although it warmed up fairly fast - MrEH didn't have to scrape the car when we left home, which he was quite glad about!  

joedenise

We have a bay in a big pot and also a self seeded bay at the back of the garden in the ground.  We didn't even know it was there until we took down the old rotting shed!  No idea how it grows as it's actually in a bit of ground which is covered in broken concrete and we're on very heavy clay soil so no real soil underneath the concrete but have to say it's a far better bay than the one in the pot and the one I usually pick leaves from unless it's raining and then it's the potted one.

rtandon27

Our little bay topiary is in the ground, but I'm not sure he realises it!  He struggles to put out leaves and has not grown past waist height in the three years we have had him. We have yet to harvest leaves from him, and are still using ones I dried from a large pruned bush we had at a former property.

foxgloves

Interesting reading about everyone's bay tree experiences! It actually prompted me to pop out & have a proper look at mine & the verdict is that it could do with a nice helpful dose of seaweed solution! I shall get onto that at some point this week.

Good afternoon campers,
Been quite busy so far today, not everything to do with the 'financials', but there have been a few budget-helping things:
*Not only did the weekend's pegged out laundry only require a couple of hours on the heated airer to finish off, but when I came to sort it out first thing this morning, there were only 2 items which required ironing - that's always a result in my book!
*Made bread dough for tonight's pizza & half a dozen rolls.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch.
*Did my slightly belated Monday morning budget updates. Took longer than usual, as there was a lot of updating, transfers from a couple of savings pots & some transactions to pay off CCs. Week 1 groceries came in over budget - more than I'd estimated as we also stocked up on household supplies/spices at the eco-refill shop & bought a big sack of potatoes. Shouldn't be a problem  - we often find that the first week's shop of a new monthly grocery budget cycle is  front-loaded, but if we don't take our eye off the game, we should be fine to come in on budget for the month. Knowledge is power as in all things & I do feel more equipped to source next week's groceries now that I am smack up to date with the figures.
*Pondered Dentist/Optician savings pot. My scarily expensive (& just scary!) course of private dentistry was completed in January & we have paid the bill for our new specs. My feeling is that the amount left in this savings pot is a little high. I am torn between leaving it in place or moving around £200 of it to another more needy pot. No decision made - Soot & Ash are at the vet tomorrow, so I thought I would wait & see what the Meow Fund looks like after that, as that could be a candidate for an injection of money if some were definitely to be sculling around.
*Wrote March birthday cards - no spend required as 3 nice ones all from my stash & still have the last few stamps leftover from the sheet I bought at Christmas.
*Ordered more supplies of a supplement I take - priced it up in a shop in town which is well-known for such things, but the price differential (even as someone who prioritises supporting physical high street shops) was too large, so have ordered & saved £12.
*Did 1 Annoying Job - & it should hopefully result in a few free geraniums, as I have FINALLY cut off some very annoying sticky out overgrowth & trimmed it into cuttings, which are now sitting in a couple of recycled bottles where they should hopefully root. 
Well, I had better get a shift on as I want to write a letter to my sister this afternoon, as well as get a few household tasks out of the way - the idea being to free more time up for a good garden clearing session tomorrow. I also want to look on the council website for glass recycling collection dates as we have taken delivery of our new glass recycling bin this morning (free service, though we do pay for the garden waste one).
So out with my pen & on with the letter......
Take care, m'dears,
F x

EssexHebridean

A reminder to re-stock on stamps before they increase in price in a few weeks time - another 10p on each level if I recall correctly. No wonder folk aren't using the flipping post much any more! we should probably buy in a book of each so we at least have "some" come to think of it. (Although I'm more tempted to buy two books of 2nd class and make people wait!) 

foxgloves

@EssexHebridean - Yes, I'm intending to do that as we are seeing big increases in stamp prices. I still do love the fact that for under £2, I can stick a stamp on a letter, pop it in a box & my sister in London is reading it over a coffee a day or two later. However, when it comes to sending Christmas cards, it does feel.much more expensive than it used to.
I love writing & receiving letters though.
F x

EssexHebridean

Yes - if your post gives you that service, I can see why it feels like value. Unfortunately around us first class takes around a week, and second class might arrive eventually - or possibly not...! 

foxgloves

Hello Wednesday Pence-Wranglers,
A few small budget-positives so far today:
*Vet visit first thing for annual boosters & check-up. Not money saving in that I think the cost had increased & Ash also required some £15 medication, but I am including it because we do now have a vet savings pot - the Meow Fund & we are much less 'caught out' by vert bills than we used to be back in the Spendy Era. 
*Chose next week's meals from the March master meal plan.
*Wrote grocery shopping list.
*Effort-free nosebag tonight as have defrosted spare portions of the Chilean Pork & Beans I slow-cooked for Valentine's Day. Will serve it on jacket potatoes. Heaps of those, having bought a sack of spuds at the weekend.
*Did a YouGov survey. I will leap on any invitations which appear as only require an additional £4 for cash-out & I have savings pots waiting for that nice juicy £50.
*Salvage - Another spread tub cut up for free plant labels.
*Made tomorrow's packed breakfast & lunch. 
Very grey here first thing when I trotted down to the post box, but the sun is now making an effort & that suits me fine, as I have planned a garden clearing session after lunch. 
So, I shall depart now to eat my tuna & sweetcorn cob, then on with the boots & out with the tools & trugs!
F x
Oh, I meant to ask if anyone else has noticed a real step-up from scammers over this last week. I am getting a couple of real belters a day.....don't worry, these skankers would have to get up a lot earlier in the morning to catch me out on any of their nonsense......one of this morning's emails in my folder of spammyness actually addressed me as "Good morning dear". Could anyone really fall for anything so unprofessional-sounding? I don't open them, so I can't entertain you with the contents. 

EssexHebridean

I had a scam call this morning - a lady with a very strong accent who said she was calling me from "The Amazon" about an attempt by someone to buy an iPhone on my Amazon account - was that me? I asked her to hold on for just a moment, tapped my fingers frantically on the worktop for a few seconds before saying how strange, it wasn't showing for ME on my Amazon account - could she explain why that was? That was when the phone went dead, unsurprisingly. I do wonder how many folk get caught out by these things though.