Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Four_Seasons

Thank you they sound just the ticket will investigate, I volunteer at a NT house so need something comfortable xx

milann

Four Seasons - I can recommend Wolky sandals. I have to use podiatry inserts and I find I can use them with these. They’re expensive but have lasted me a few summers. I found them in a little independent shoe shop which closed so have resorted to buy online when there’s a sale on. Sorry to intrude Foxgloves but I’d never heard of them and wanted to spread the word 👍
You’ve been busy as usual Foxgloves. Love the crochet blankets - as do your beautiful cats by the look of it 😻

Humdinger1

I do hope I'm not hijacking your thread @foxgloves but 'Things can only get better!!  Hilarious...

badmemory

The only way is up!

marionmgcars

Hi, the cats do look cosy on the blankets 😍.  I’ve been busy making scrappy socks from some small balls of leftover sick yarn.    I hate to waste any wool.  I’ve also discovered a love for knitting fingerless mitts as they are similar construction & I can do matching socks and mitts for gifts.  Looking forward to seeing your new garment FG.  

I’ve balanced my books early this month after being away for a few days, I thought I’d better check the balance on my credit cards and pay off in full.  Glad I did as have a few pounds to last till end of month, so I’ll enjoy all the things I have a home and have a no spend week eating from freezer.  

foxgloves

@milann - You're welcome, as I had never heard of that shoe brand & will make sure I take a look too. I need an orthotic insole in boots as years of pronating my foot over in unsuitable & then overly flat shoes has given me a dodgy achilles tendon. 
@Humdinger1 - Oh, what a mess that whole thing was. "I have a plan"......but it obviously didn't involve actually thinking of an umbrella. I expect that suit went in the bin afterwards. Loved that someone turned up with D:ream. Things could hardly get any bloody worse, could they?! Am seriously thinking of making a small charity donation for everyone of the b*ggers who lose their seat....with a bonus payment for the biggest couple I'd most like to see gone - one in the rural South West & one very close to home (not that either of his big expensive houses are even remotely anywhere near to his constituency). 
@marionmgcars - I love knitting socks from leftover yarns. I have the self-patterning yarn ready to knit a pair of socks for both B-i-Ls, S-i-L & best friend. After that, there will be lots of leftovers to make some nice stripey ones for Mr F. He's been throwing out hints, as a couple of pairs of his have gone beyond further mending & been thrown out.
F

badmemory

I just want rid of mine.  He is the unpleasant one who made it impossible for the police not to reinvestigate Angela.

foxgloves

Afternoon Thursday Savers,
Well, a few budget-positives today, but I am going to start by moaning about the weather forecast....yes, the one which said 0% chance of rain all day. Hmmm, I did get a minor garden session in - way too windy to plant out summer bedding today -  but a shower & lack of meaningful priority jobs to do on a chilly day soon saw me retreat indoors.
Ok, so that's the moan......positives as follows:
*Potted up cavolo nero seedlings into modules & put back in greenhouse out of the wind. 
*Tied in all the tomato plants, prioritising the outdoor ones as I could see that they had put on a bit of growth which was waving around in the strong wind. Didn't want any to break off & compromise future food supplies. Then did indoor ones too, plus peppers, aubergines, cucumbers & chillies. 
*Did a master meal plan for June, including some new recipes to try & something Mr F really wants to cook involving pork ribs, which our butcher always has at a very affordable price. 
*Having worked on the list, selected meals from it for next week & wrote grocery shopping list. Mr F decided to go & get the shopping in as had received some useful vouchers for stuff which has often sold out if we leave our main shop to the weekend. Only spend £40-87, but will be over budget by a little by tomorrow as we still have to get cat meat & a few fresh veg from the market.
*Number-crunched latest bill from the Cephalopods (will pop this in separate post to follow) & added the figures to my cumulative table of stats.
*Did a few financials - Savings Pots transfers to pay my new sandals & secateurs off my credit card, a little bit of other updating & balance checking, nothing major, but due to the BH, tomorrow is an early pay-day, so will also be my Big Budget Day, & I do like everything straight for embarking on that.
*Did a few surveys. I don't think I will cash out of PA until 31st, as usually do it on the last day of the month, so if everyone pays up by then, I should have £50+, but if I put in the effort between now & then, I might squeak a bit more, I'll see.
*Tonight's nosebag couldn't be simpler.....pasta with a pot of the homegrown chard pesto I batch-made a couple of months ago, with a handful of cheese on top & some salad if I can be bothered. It was the last pick of 2023's overwintered chard crop & didn't look very exciting, but turned into 5 pots of pesto, so suddenly that bundle of dark green leaves became 10 portions of nutty, cheesy garlicky niceness. 
*Finished first sock of a pair for the presents bag late last night, will cast on its pair tonight. Great for TV knitting as can knit socks in 3 sizes from memory.....was not helped by Ash who decided to bite the needle every time it moved....so basically, every stitch. 
*And FINALLY......the rear windscreen damaged by the Manchester branch of repair garage used by our insurer......it has been replaced free of charge, which of course was always their stated intention, but this was the 3rd time of booking it after feeble cancellation excuses on their part. Mr F was very assertive (with the more local branch) & said that they really do need to get it done & stop messing us around. Car was collected at 10.30 this morning & we were amazed to hear a knock on the door (I was hoping it was the local Tories starting early...) & it was the transporter-driver with our car. Finally sorted out...from an accident that happened before Easter. 
Well, that is pretty much it for today's efforts. I have been thinking about energy bills, so will put that in a separate post, so that people who are rendered catatonic by other people's energy accounts can simply scroll on by.
Cheers,
F x

foxgloves

Right, well I have just been looking at our latest energy bill from the tentacled ones - billing period being 21st to the 20th of the month. I keep a cumulative log of how much we have used (in £££s), broken down into electricity & gas. There are some positives here, mostly of course brought about by turning off the central heating, which won't go on again until Oct 1st.
The figures are dropping. We used £120-14's worth in April (combined fuels) & £74-63 in May, although we were away for a week during this period. That has fallen off monthly from a peak of £224-75 for January. Electricity use should be stable now, as we won't be using the little stove in the conservatory & obviously we are not using lighting as much. Our electricity cost was £71-26 in January & has fallen each month to £42-52 in May. Gas, mainly down to central heating as previously stated cost £224-75 in January & has decreased thus: Feb £195-63, March £175-35, April
£120-14 & May, as stated £74-63. 
For the first time this year, our monthly charge for amounts used was less than our monthly direct debit payment (£115-08), so our credit balance has started to rise again - currently at +£200-78. I looked at the Tentacled Ones' online balance forecast & their algorithm suggested the correct monthly DD payment for us is currently £106-73. It's such a small reduction, that I am leaving it unchanged. The important thing now is to get that credit balance continuing in the right direction over the next 4 months so we are in a good position going into the winter.
Which brings me to what I've been thinking about. I know I have posted about this before, but I defo need a reminder myself, so am mentioning it again. I always find myself (& Mr F says he's the same) more geared up to noticing & stamping out energy wastage during the colder months. I think we get to Autumn, the heating goes on, the stove is sometimes lit, we are needing the lights on a lot earlier, & suddenly we are very much thinking about all our little energy saving measures & implementing them with a fair amount of fervour. During summertime, I think there is a tendency to take one's eye off the ball. The figures on the smart monitor are looking soothingly small compared to what we've been seeing over winter, & I know I don't take as much notice of silly little wastages. Well, this is me telling myself that I am going to be on them this summer, & Mr F says he will too, as anything saved is a little bit added to our credit balance ready for winter. Twice this week, I've put the landing light on by accident & not discovered it for a couple of hours. The outdoor light has also been left on a few times when one of us has popped out late to call Ash in. We do save a fair bit on hot water by getting 2 baths from one fill of hot water, but I have noticed I am still in winter mode & having to add heaps of cold water to get it to a suitable temperature for warmer months, when I could have run it the right temperature & used less hot to start with. Also noticed I am rinsing soap off dishes with hot water when cold is all that is needed......it's all these little things, which won't make much of a discernible difference on their own, but do add up when taken together regularly over the 4 summer months I intend to be tackling such oddments of unnecessary waste. Will also be revisiting 'vampiring', as have noticed I've left a few things on charge longer than required recently.
So I am going to make sure I don't drop my game on this just because it's summer, the CH's off & the smart monitor is showing friendly figures!
Went into both Winter 2022 & Winter 2023 with a £600 credit on our energy account. This was partly due to them increasing our monthly DD at the height of the energy price inflation to more than I think it really needed to be, we won't be in that position this year, but I think we can still aim to get it into as good a place as possible.
Onwards with that, & it's greener too, so double whammy.
F x

foxgloves

@badmemory - Oh yes, a very unpleasant move, I agree. All the tax dodges going on with them & their cronies and they go after someone for £1500 (& that's if she actually owes it, which is far from certain). It was, like everything else, just to make someone look bad. I think it made him look worse, frankly. I would love ours to go, but he has a huge majority & I live in Toryville. He has changed his stance to very much more right wing because he thinks it will help him get a chance at party leader once this is all over. Unfortunately one could paint a rosette of that particular shade on a turnip here & it would win. The progressive vote will split 3 ways, which will also help facilitate his return. 
F