Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Blackcats

We are very fortunate that a lad in our street is doing odd jobs to raise money towards his £4000 🙀 school trip to Tanzania. He has done lots of cat feeding for us while we've had a few mini breaks.  The bonus is that his dad is a vet so we know that Blackcat will be in safe hands.  As part of his cat feeding visits he will water plants and put bins out so it's a really good help for us.  So far from various work up and down the street the has earned £1200 which I admire him for.

foxgloves

@Blackcats - Well, good for him! I would absolutely applaud that effort if it were to happen on our street. 

foxgloves

Hello Friday Frugalistas,
Not a great night for sleep. Awoke stressing about the car situation, then managed to fall back to sleep eventually with my neck in a ridiculous headache-inducing position, meaning that I was awake again a couple of hours later looking for paracetamol! Ah well, a few useful money saving behaviours today if nothing else:
*Took empty bottles & containers into the eco-refill shop for a re-stock, including the remaining 3 ingredients I require for chutney & pesto making next week. Deliberately didn't take spare containers as these tend to come home full of tasty snacks, which of course then need charging to the grocery budget!
*Had my hair cut at favourite little salon in town - still only £13 for a dry cut. She sprays my hair with water, briefly straightens it for a good cutting line, & it is done in 20 minutes. Managed to get next appointment booked for my first choice of day too, so that was a bonus.
*Stocked up our household medicine box with a few basics from cheap shop which rhymes with 'ravers'. I only buy generic drugs, never branded as the price differential for exactly the same drug is ridiculous. I could never get my Mum to understand this. She always bought branded painkillers because if she didn't know the box & it was cheap, then she was convinced it couldn't possibly be any good. 
*Remembered to buy soda crystals. I always like to have a bag of these in stock ever since I managed to unblock the outside kitchen drain with them in a last ditch 'just let me try this one more thing' effort before Mr F called the plumber. Until the prices started going crazy, I was paying 99p a bag for these. Today, same bag cost £1.79 - hugely above the grocery inflation rate, even at its highest. I think certain products did inflate in price a lot more than the headline rate we routinely being told. Anyway, not an expensive product as such if it can shift a kitchen drain, so will continue to buy.
*The 2 make-up items on my list were on offer & I got to choose an £8.99 lip-gloss for free. I don't tend to wear lip-gloss, but chose the most wearable of the colours, tried it out when I got home, & it will be perfectly wearable for summer. Wish it could have been a nail polish instead, but hey, as my Grandma used to say, "it's better than a slap in the belly with a lump of wet cod!"
*Shared out the weekly house cleaning between us, using minimal products & washable cloths, as always.
*Took the Easter twig tree down, packed away the decorations in recycled tissue paper & composted the twigs.
*Did a couple of surveys - one was for over £5 which got my April PA earnings off to a good start. Will keep checking while I have my laptop on. Mr F has got off to a very good start to his, which is just as well as he has apparently been ogling expensive 2nd hand camera lenses in town this morning!
*Tonight's nosebag will be built around a freebie. When we bought our Easter lamb from our butcher, he was including a free tray of pigs in blankets. We didn't require them with our roast, but Mr F thought they would make a cheap quick weekend meal with a poached egg & some home made jacket wedges, so that is what he is making tonight. 
*No garden jobs today, apart from daily covering & uncovering plant babies, which is definitely money saving when much of it is future food supplies. Discussed tomorrow's planned gardening day & got some key tasks lined up. Mr F trying to work out if having a bacon roll first, THEN gardening will provide an energy boost OR whether getting out there early with the bacon roll as a mid-morning reward for all his horticultural efforts would be better........N.B He hasn't suggested two bacon rolls, as there isn't enough bacon, lol!
OK, frugal diary friends, that is my lot for today. I am have had a recall for the library book I am currently reading as it is on a list, so I intend to get that finished this weekend, which means lots of lovely reading. 
Since I began this post, we have heard from the big garage in Manchester which has our poor bashed up car, that there is no news to impart as it is still with the assessors We are now thinking they are probably going to write it off. We have been told that we will hear on Monday. Such a shame -  a lovely chunky little hybrid, less than 3 years old which we had looked after & was in perfect condition. What an utter waste of resources that will be.....all because someone 'didn't see' a stationary car right in front of him on a clear day in broad bloody daylight!! 
Off to distribute afternoon cat treats before Soot kicks off.
F x

Sun_Addict

What a shame if your car gets written off. So annoying about the careless driver. I don’t usually wear lipgloss either as my hair always sticks to it even if it’s only slightly breezy. 

Makingabobor2

That's a good price for Soda Crystals compared to around here. Presume that was for 1kg?  I pay £1.99 in my "cheapie sell everything shop".  Hate it as it comes in plastic. My refill lady has started stocking it, but will be charging £3.50 for 750grms!  Talk about caught between the devil and the deep blue sea!

Cheery_Daff

When we used to have a community garden with a big polythene, we used to put all our seedlings on a bed of wet sand (in our case an old internal door with one side take off). No idea whether that was better than just standing in water, or whether it would have stood a week or two with no watering, but we were fairly inconsistent and it did stop them drying out. Hope you find a solution. Do you have any bit of garden that people can access without a key, and would Mr F consent to putting a little mini plastic greenhouse in it that someone could nip in to water?? No idea whether that's practical given your set up!

foxgloves

@Cheery_Daff - No, the problem is that there is no access at all to our back garden except through the house. I think we are probably the only house on our street where this is the case. It's because a previous occupant built a small extension to create a rear lobby with a cloakroom (horrid, we had it converted to a little utility back in 2020 at the start of our big refurb project) which linked the house to the garage. The garage (also horrid with asbestos roof) had actually been carpeted, the ceiling artexed & lighting sconces fitted. We had the asbestos professionally removed & Mr F & his Dad hit the rest of it with sledgehammers until it fell down. We replaced it with a conservatory which doubles as our dining room & Soot's favourite room because he can be in the kitchen in seconds.
So we now have something which works for us BUT there wasn't anything we could do about outdoor access through to the back garden as this has already been blocked off by the previous numpty's building works. Even all the barrowloads of sand & sandstone slabs for the new courtyard had to come through the house.
F

marionmgcars

So frustrating having your car damaged when it was no fault of your own, and you have lots of inconvenience.

I popped to see a friend who had moved house, took a bunch of tulips (from Al*i ) which were not expensive and a jar of home made marmalade as a gift.  She was delighted with them,  sometimes it is the thought that counts, and making time for friends.  Came home to a jobs list that will keep me busy all weekend, but made a yummy mushroom casserole  and jacket potatoe for tea, and have two portions left for freezer (unless the huge human mouse nibbles at it tonight).  

I’ve got some plums from Olio , so will enjoy making plum jam this weekend.  Some jobs on my to do list I will enjoy ☺️ 

ladyholly

If your car is repairable at reasonable cost you may be able to buy it back from the insurance company. I understand that this is possible and you getting it repaired would almost certainly cheaper than the garage the insurance compnay chooses.

PennysIntoPounds

It would be very annoying and very un-mse if the car gets written off, but (and please don't read this as dismissing your worries!) if the night time stressies try to get comfy tell them 'no thank you, I have Mr F here safe and well so jog on'.
I'm glad I'm a pedestrian, my nerves couldn't stand being involved in car ownership! Mr PIP has a rarely used car and is a responsible driver but whenever he goes to visit mates or family in it I stress far more than is usual until I hear he's back safe.
I would be well up for people having to retake their driving test every few years, it's astonishing to me that eejits can get a pass then go about their merry way in a lethal machine with no checks, and no penalty until damage has been done