Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Sun_Addict

Soot and Ash are very handsome boys and look very cosy on their lovely blankets. 

foxgloves

Thank-you, @Sun_Addict - Yes, they are lovely boys. I am not sure that Ash will ever be brave enough to stay in the same room as a stranger. His first instinct when there is a person other than us in the house is to run. He must have had the most terrible treatment before he was dumped/abandoned/took off to live on his own. 
F

foxgloves

Greetings O Friday Frugal Ones,
A bit of an annoying lingering muzzy head today.....my own fault as woke up with my head hanging over the side of the bed. What a narna! Nevertheless, there have been some budget-helping positives today:
*Big Budget Day. 3 days earlier than usual due to early BH pay-day. Thought I'd better get on it before we start spending it & I lose track of exactly what we had to begin with. Reconciled May's budget. Grocery budget went over by £12, but I have accommodated that, rather than rolling it over into this month as I like a good clean start. Set June's budget as usual & allocated money to savings. Our regular saver is paid automatically by SO, but I also sorted out £100 to the Car Fund, more premium bonds & that left a total of £629-07 to divide between the Savings Pots. Some of them are at our agreed current maximum capacity, so I paid Holidays, House & Garden, Clothes, Presents & Tech Replacement. The Presents Pot was looking a bit lower than I like to see it at this time of the year (most of our family/friends birthdays are in the winter months) so was in need of a decent top up & I will continue this over the summer. I had just double-checked my arithmetic, running through each budget line in my trusty Money Book, then rounding up stuff for filing, when I found an error - because pay-day & thus Budget Day have happened early, the final week's shop from May's budget cycle still hasn't cleared. I initially thought I'd transfer a sum back out of the Clothes Pot, but then I decided that would be a shame, as I know Mr F needs a few bits & bobs on our next city centre trip, so I have accommodated it from the buffer zone instead. This should be fine & in fact, will probably stop me buying little odds & sods from it over the next month. I was just glad I spotted it, or I would have been back on here on mid-month budget check-in day bemoaning the fact that I have £47-37 less than I should have! Anyway, that's the budget up & ready for June. 
*Hair cut this morning. Washed it last night, straightened this morning & just had my usual dry cut at the excellent price of £13. She has razored the layers at the front around my face, which I like. I get bored & fidgetty sitting around being faffed over for longer than half an hour, so a dry cut is perfect for me & she does a nice job.
*No cafe temptation in town, as we are aiming to have breakfast while we are out tomorrow & didn't want a double-hit to our Personal Spends.
*Entered a competition. 
*Did 3 surveys. My May PA total will be over £50 when everyone has paid me, which I hope they will have done by the 31st.
Mr F's cooking night tonight, so I am going to relax after all my number crunching, start a new book from my charity bookshop pile & knit more of B-i-L's socks for the presents bag. Have been wearing in my new sandals, just around the house & popping down to the greenhouse & I must say that so far, they seem very comfortable & supportive. I hope this will continue when I am out & about on walks, although I do still wear my walking boots on grassy/wild summer walks as my ankles are unfortunately adored by all manner of bitey critter.
Enjoy your Friday night, all.
F x

DawnW

Toryville here too. Ours is / was generally pretty bland, but blotted their copybook recently by libelling 2 academics and getting we taxpayers to stump up the damages    However, due to boundary changes we are ending up with a really nasty, rightwing piece of work - unless they jump ship like so many others to find other lucrative ways to top up their bulging bank account. It drives me mad how many people 'aren't interested in politics' or vote against their interests because they are indoctrinated by the tabloids or social media conspiracy theories. Grrr!

badmemory

People should always vote.  If you haven't voted you have no right to complain.  And oh how I like to complain!

foxgloves

@DawnW - Oh yes, I read about that & was outraged that the taxpayer had to foot the bill!

@badmemory - Yes, I agree. I am infuriated by people who say, "Oh I don't do politics", then proceed to moan about not being able to see a GP, the price of their grocery shopping, the state of the roads & depleted public services. I am not able to separate politics from daily life. Even when buying a loaf of bread or certain other items, I have to avoid brands from companies which fund a political party I believe to be unethical, divisive, hypocritical & corrupt. That is just part of who I am & is unlikely to change. I want a fairer country where the only growth is not in food bank use, street homelessness & child poverty. I am aware my diary posts sometimes have a political slant, but assume that those who think differently will simply find another person's diary to follow & that's fine by me. 
F x

foxgloves

Today's Saturday budget helpers:
*Nice morning out at local-ish historic parkland. Used our annual parking pass which more than pays for itself by the end of the year. Good opportunity for Mr F to do some wildlife photography.
*Had cafe breakfast as planned but used our Personal.Spends so 100% budget-neutral.
*Did not succumb to gift shop temptation, but did buy an item for the present bag for a hard-to-buy-for male friend.
*Baked biscuits
*Tested kimchi which seems to have worked, unlike previous attempt at sauerkraut, which morphed into a big bowl of grey rancid cabbage which was swiftly escorted off the premises despite having no access to hazmat suit. This kimchi is imo too heavy on garlic & requires a lot more chilli. It is now in the fridge & I will experiment with adding a small spoonful to my lunch salads & cracker toppings to see if I get on with it.
*Sock knitting for the present bag ongoing. Think will make a pair for best friend next as should finish B-i-L's this weekend.
*Moved remaining bedding plants & beans back into greenhouse before all the rain we are apparently expecting - it will fetch out vast numbers of snails so I wanted to be a step ahead & not lose plants.
Not money saving.....needing a new lawnmower. Tbf Mr F has been expecting ours to cark it for the past 3 years. He did just manage to finish cutting the lawn today but only by giving it a rest halfway & it sounded shocking. As is usually the way, I top up the House & Garden Savings Pot, then something instantly needs replacing....grrrrr....but of course it is exactly why we HAVE savings pots, so I am trying to concentrate on feeling grateful that we have the funds for a replacement.
Right, time to get my feet up with newspaper & the word wheel puzzle & the easier of the 2 cryptic crosswords. Mr F & I can't usually do these, but just lately we have started getting the knack, so the grey cells will be having an outing!
Ah well, keep it in your purse, m'dears,
F x

DawnW

Isn't there someone near you who services / fixes lawnmowers @foxgloves ?

No help to you, as out of area, but my son in law (agricultural engineer) does this. He is kept very busy at this time of year.

foxgloves

I think it is probably beyond that, @DawnW. It's an old petrol one which I suspect is now largely held together by rust. I do generally prefer to get things repaired though. 
We are thinking that an electric one would be greener, but would need to make sure our extension lead is long enough as our garden, like those of many 1930s properties is narrow & long. Mr F apparently researching what is available, as it is a long time since we bought this one.
F

Sun_Addict

We have a very long garden like yours and bought a Spear & Jackson battery lawnmower a couple of years ago after the petrol one conked out. It’s brilliant and you just need to charge the battery every so often. It’s really lightweight so easy for me to use.