Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

themadvix

Ooh, any chance of the potato, courgette and cheese soup recipe Foxgloves? That sounds lovely and just the thing to use some courgette up in the summer glut!

Do you take your own containers to the butcher for the meat? Mine have long been trained to accept this (by me!) - it saves lots of manky bags that would otherwise have to go in the landfill bin. We’re away this week, otherwise I’d be counting (very minimal) plastic.

foxgloves

Greetings Money Savers,
Well, so much for my 2 days of gardening. I was so looking forward to getting out there this morning, so there was some pretty choice language at 5.50am when I jumped out of bed raring to go, peeped out of the curtains & discovered a p*ssdown not mentioned in yesterday's forecasts!! It didn't let up until early afternoon, so I am now banking on tomorrow for an epic session on bed clearing & potting on. 
I haven't been idle however. Amongst today's activities have been a few small budget-helping ones:
*Sorted this week's dry laundry. Slightly warmer temperatures in the conservatory mean that it didn't require as much heated airer time as in the depths of winter & also only 4 items required the iron.
*Books returned to library in good time.
*Have got bolognese in the slow cooker. It's the recipe called 'Big Batch Bolognese' from the BBC Healthy Slow Cooker book. We love it & it is one of Mr F's absolute faves. I can only fit a half quantity of the recipe in my slow cooker, so that's 6 portions instead of 12, but as there are only two of us, that is still 4 portions to freeze for further meals. Was determined to get some bendy celery into it rather than buy new & also chose the oldest carrots from the veg basket in the pantry. There is loads of veg in this recipe but quite enjoyed chopping everything while listening to my audiobook.....sadly the last of the Washington Poe novels until the new one is published this summer.
*There was more mince than I needed in the pack purchased so I divided the surplus into two & have frozen it ready to make a couple of tamale pies - also half a jar of my bottled tomatoes left from the bolognese so have frozen those too (making 2 ingredients for the next tamale pie). I love paying ingredients forward into a future meal as it both lessens food waste & means that those ingredients will not need to be bought from that week's grocery budget.
*Made tomorrow's packed breakfast & defrosted an interesting looking container for packed lunch (Mr F squirrels all sorts of things away for sticking in the microwave at work for a free lunch).
*Baked the sourdough loaf I mixed up last night.
*Counted up people to whom I like to send an Easter card so that I only buy what I need.
*Scrounged a free carboard box rather than buy one for posting a parcel next week.
*Did a few surveys. March's PA earnings now at £24-20. Not halfway through the month yet, so I am thinking that my monthly target of £40 ought to be possible if I remember to check in briefly every day.
*Measured my knitting & found that I am only 10cms away from the next armhole.....even though I know exactly how this cardi is constructed & there is nothing difficult about it (just very long rows), it somehow just doesn't feel intuitive knitting edge to edge. I'd love to have it finished for our holiday. Obviously the yarn was paid for several weeks ago, so it will just feel like a new free garment - very hippyfied, have told Mr F there's no way he'll lose me on the beach in this!
*Did 1 Annoying Job.
Oh, I could honestly spit!! Now that it is too late, really, to be getting my gardening kit on & heading out to the shed to fetch tools, trugs, etc, wouldn't you just know that the sun has decided to come out?!! Ah well, it had better stay out for tomorrow as there is loads that I want to do out there. I need to reply to a few peeps, so will do that next.
F x

Makingabobor2

We've had rain all day as well, apart from about 15 mins when I managed to get to the village, but got caught in more rain on the way back. I can't wait to get tidying the garden and start getting things planted.  DD gave me an apple tree for mothers day, and it says to plan as soon as possible after purchase......no chance at the moment, so it is standing in the corner outside and hoping for the best. I know nothing about apple trees, bug G**gle tells me I can plant it in a huge pot, which might be a good idea as I'm not sure I have any actual garden to put it in....lol

foxgloves

@PennysIntoPounds - Yes, I also mention environmental/sustainability things when replying to survey questions or supermarkets. I am intending to write to a well-known business known for its food hall & lingerie after a recent knicker-buying visit. The knicks I intended to buy were only in stock in teenytinybum sizes or too large so instead of a multi-pack, I chose 3 pairs which were displayed on a plastic hanger - you'll know the hangers I mean. I paid at the till & while I was there, I said "I presume you keep these hangers to be recycled, don't you?" The assistant (very nice, am not knocking her, just the company response) gestured towards a large box behind the counter & said. "Well.......um....no, not really. I mean, people do sometimes want to leave them, but all that happens with them is that they go in the rubbish bins to be thrown away". I said that was disappointing to hear because really, waste plastic is something into which ALL businesses should be making inroads. It wound me up because years ago, on another knicker-buying excursion at the same establishment, I ended up with an array of plastic knicker-hangers to take home & put in our bin & I actually wrote to Cust0mer Services. The starting point of my letter was the slogan the company were using at that time about their environmental credentials. I pointed out that having row upon row of throw-away unrecyclable knicker hangers in every store was incompatible with their green/sustainability plan & asked what they planned to do about it, given how hypocritical it looked against their campaign at the time. I received a written reply explaining that they were aware of the issue but had not yet found an alternative way of displaying knickers to their satisfaction. And there I was, YEARS later, buying knickers on the same plastic throw-away hangers, still with no solution offered even re recycling from the company. Yes, the knicks look attractive when hung up & displayed in this way, but does that offset all that plastic waste going into landfill for eternity? I don't think so. So, it is my intention to write again & see what the latest response might be. I agree with you (you were mentioning the supermarket receipt surveys), that if customers don't bang on about it, they will assume we are complicit & accepting.
Hey @PennysIntoPounds, shall we both agree that we will defo turn into the sort of elderly women who turn up outside the Council House waving their umbrellas & shouting? 
F x

PennysIntoPounds

What do you mean 'turn into', I'm waiting for you to name the date 😂

joedenise

Read that last bit and thought you were going to say "waving your knickers!" rather than umbrellas, LOL!

scandimore

Very irritating about the hangers. The sheer scale of wastage from huge companies can sometimes make the tiny changes we make on an individual level feel fairly futile. Good on you for writing foxgloves and giving them a good telling off!
I also meant to get outside today but The Rains came last night, and look like they're here to stay until after the weekend (plus flood warnings). Might sow some seeds instead.

foxgloves

@themadvix - i)Thanks for your comment about water meters. We have started just very initial investigations which we may step up once our 2024-5 water bill lands on the doormat. I have always liked the idea of having a water meter because I do think it is a resource which needs using more responsibly & feel that payment on a usage basis would be a good way of cutting silly wastage. What has put me off is that we have quite a large garden (135' x 30') with a lot of cottage garden-type flower beds, a veggie plot (maybe 1/3 of total garden), a wildlife pond, as well as small planted areas around our front courtyard. We are not silly with garden watering, but in dry weather, we do use a hosepipe (if no ban in place) to keep our plants & food growing and our pond topped up to a reasonable level - we do have 2, soon to be 3 water butts to help during the summer. We had both assumed that this would make us high users, so have never looked at it in any more detail.
However......I am not a fan of the privatised water industry & I just now have a feeling that those of us who still have annual bills based on the old rateable value from days of yore, are probably paying extra in order to make up for lower use by those households which are metered. We are pretty good with water use in other respects - we will often get 2 baths from 1 fill of water, don't run the tap while brushing teeth, etc, & I use grey water regularly in the garden in dry spells. I am a devil for filling the kettle more than required, but am taking myself in hand (again!) for this atm. I am also careful with washing machine use. My feeling is that water companies encourage households to have water meters because they need us to be more responsible with water use, but this then hits them in the profit margin so the easiest way to ensure shareholder dividends continue to grow is to hammer annual price rises for non-metered households. Call me an old cynic, but there you are! So thanks for your comments & we will give it some thought.

ii) No, we don't take our own containers to the butcher's shop. I would certainly be willing to do this at a shop, but we currently buy our meat from our local market butcher. It's very good & his prices are excellent, as well as offering weekly freezer-filling deals, offers & a customer loyalty card. He is aware of the fact that he sells all his meat in plastic trays at a time when many are expecting progress towards alternatives & is looking at non-plastic options, but to date, they haven't found anything sustainable which would allow prices to remain at the same level. I am obviously torn on this, as I am in a position where I could pay a bit more for sustainable packaging, but I know that there will be many households in town who are really grateful for his consistently low prices because they are feeding their families on a low income. I do re-use as much plastic as possible for garden jobs - almost all my seed trays & cloche tops are recycled meat/food trays of one type or another.

iii) Courgette, potato & cheddar soup. Yes, it is lovely & somebody on here, it may have been @Kantankrus_Mare, also recommended substituting the cheddar with stilton for different vibe. Anyway, the recipe is not one of mine, it is from the BBC Good Food website. It's still there, as I've checked, so do try it next time you have a courgette glut. It freezes well too.

F x

badmemory

I don't know why they can't be sent to the store mostly packaging free & then hung instore & when sold the hangers get reused.  Best of both worlds.

EssexHebridean

I'm with you on the plastic knicker hangers! I encountered one for a twin pack when I had to make my emergency knicker purchase for my unexpected overnight stay on Thursday - I always usually make a point of ensuring that I DO leave them behind as at least that means that if they are just being thrown away the company concerned does at least have to pay for their disposal. This time round I was distracted and only realised when I got back to C's that they were still on the hanger, annoyingly.  As for more usual waste - it bugs the life out of me that more often than not you have a choice in T's as to whether to buy British fresh produce - in which case it's coming bagged up in unnecessary plastic - or whether to buy loose, when all too often it is not only more expensive, but also bears far more food miles. Very frustrating, and something I've been complaining about for a long while now. 

MrEH tells me that he is going to be potting on the first of our courgettes this evening when he finishes work. I'd quite forgotten how fast they take off once they emerge - three of ours are already a decent size and look like they will be very content to be given a little more space! These are the "Gold Rush" ones we have grown before and liked - I suspect we'd ideally also like to grow "8 Ball" I think they are called - the round ones - as well as those work brilliantly for stuffing.