Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

@Making@bobor2- LOL, that's just my sense of humour. Crone archetype important in pagan mythologies - wise woman, etc. Tbh, I still feel about 36 apart from my joints & they would probably improve if I resumed weight loss & walked more. With being a keen gardener, I do spent a fair amount of time bent in half, which means I am achy afterwards, especially early in the season. But never fear, I am.running a hot bubble bath even as we speak & I'm sure that will do me good.
F x

Makingabobor2

foxgloves said:

@Making@bobor2- LOL, that's just my sense of humour. Crone archetype important in pagan mythologies - wise woman, etc. Tbh, I still feel about 36 apart from my joints & they would probably improve if I resumed weight loss & walked more. With being a keen gardener, I do spent a fair amount of time bent in half, which means I am achy afterwards, especially early in the season. But never fear, I am.running a hot bubble bath even as we speak & I'm sure that will do me good.
F x

I'm not overweight, in fact I am underweight and need more muscle...lol.  But I have found that exercise has improved my osteoarthritis in both my knees and hips and combined with massage really helps my muscles. Weights and bone loading is hopefully helping my osteoporosis as well. The only way is up when we get to this age....lol.  I'm 66 going on 40 in my mind....lol.  (Birthday next month, but age is just a number)

milann

The rain has indeed been torrential at times…..roll on summer 🤞🌞

KajiKita

Ah, I have the orangey hawkweed here - didn’t know it was rarer - will speak nicely to it, as I pass it in its few reserved corners! 😉

Sympathies on the lost lettuces - I keep losing trays of marigolds to the molluscs here! 🙄

Well done on getting out and getting stuck in 😊

KK

foxgloves

Hello Frugal Diary Friends,
Thanks for your comments which I have enjoyed reading as always.
Such a non-day today, that I wasn't going to bother posting, but changed my mind, as it does provide focus with sensible money behaviour, doesn't it, to take stock of one's day & pick out the positive bits for the budget.
Rain on & off all day, which is probably why I feel I haven't achieved much, as most of the stuff I really need to get done is right out there in the rainy garden. A bit of sunshine late morning, but no....it was clearly some sort of meteorological error, as it was back to rain shortly afterwards. Perish the thought that one might get to see two consecutive actual dry hours! Ah well, on with today's positives:
*Not a no-spend day. Placed our June fish order - delivery to our area is every 2 months & I didn't order anything in April as we had some left & not a lot of freezer space. Ordered haddock, salmon, smoked mackerel & a big bag of raw prawns - £96 total. There will be a lot of meals there & as it will be a side of salmon (often a side & a bit extra), I get to portion it myself, plus trim the haddock fillets to the size we want, so inevitably end up with a boxful of trimmings for a fish pie too. Paid on my CC, not only for the loyalty points (mounting up nicely towards next vouchers) but because if I pay it off on my next Big Budget Day, I can just squeak it from July's budget instead of June's as I didn't put anything aside for it this month. 
*Positively miniscule amount of ironing (insert any number of smiling face emojis here!) so very little electricity used on that silly job.
*Put a colour on my yukky roots as was feeling a bit faded. With my £13 cut last week & a "twofer" on the home colour, I can't complain about the cost of that.
*Selected a week's worth of meals from our June master meal plan & wrote shopping list, which I pinged to Mr F for picking up as usual on his way home. He says he has money-off vouchers for a number of items on the list, so that will be helpful.....& he has his 'free coffee' beaker in the car permanently!
*Did a few surveys & unsubscribed from a couple of survey brand forums I've been on where I feel that they have had quite enough of my contributions for no renumeration - participants are entered into monthly prize draws - so have withdrawn my goodwill. Received a small PA bonus which has brought May's total to £54-39. I wonder if anyone else will pay me before my planned cash-out day tomorrow.
*Knitted heel flap on friend's socks for the presents bag while I was having my lunch break.
I don't have much else to do today. I've defrosted a pot of my batch-cooked chard & cashew nut pesto for tonight's spaghetti. Mr F is never impressed by my spaghetti portions. Have told him that if he thinks he will be hungry to the point that he's moaning about it, he can add some garlic bread to the shopping list. Off to have a tidy round now, then I think I will aim to watch an episode of something & turn the sock heel. 
F x

foxgloves

Hello Friday Frugalistas,
Annoyed to wake up to another morning of drizzle, although it did dry up later & I managed to get outdoors to tackle some tasks. It's very chilly here, so although I am very definitely not a fan of hot weather, I am looking forward to the warmer days flagged up for next week. Yesterday afternoon, our thermostat was recording a reading of 18 degrees. If our central heating had been switched on, as it is from October to mid-Spring, this would have been cold enough to trigger the boiler & radiators! Anyway, a few useful activities on the general money saving front:
*Planted up the 3 big containers next to our front & side doors. One had a geranium, a home grown penstemon & some bedding asters, the other two had a couple of geraniums ('violet', which I grew from cheapo plugs last year) & some home grown zinnias. I left the ivy in situe for another season, just gave it a haircut. 
*Had money saving idea, which I did one year, but had forgotten about (der!). Some of the autumn/winter stuff which I was emptying out of those big pots this morning looked viable for another season, so I potted up 2 cyclamen, 1 fancypants primula, which I think is a lilac coloured one with pale yellow edges & a heather. I put a little bit of food in their pots with new compost & I am going to start a nursery corner in my cold frame for plants I can grow on to use in this year's autumn containers. I need to divide Mum's pink primroses - have promised to pot up 12 for my sister, but will still have plenty left, so I will put some of those aside for autumn too. By then, I was starting to think of this as quite a money saver, as I also have a free packet of pansy seeds, so I think I will sow them this summer & aim for free pansies to add to my autumn container stash too. I also intend to take some variegated ivy cuttings to grow some new trailing bits to go in a couple of autumn hanging baskets. Really no need ever to buy ivy plants - the stuff is everywhere & roots easily.
*Updated grocery budget. We have got off to a good start for Week 1 of our new budget cycle with an underspend of £20, although we will need to buy some bread tomorrow because I miscalculated the timing of my next baking day.
*Wrote shopping list for our planned city centre trip tomorrow. Remembered to put vouchers in my purse. Asked Mr F to check his various coffee apps to see if he has any offers atm.
*Did a few surveys. Will be cashing my May earnings out of PA today, probably at £61-64, unless I received any more payments. If I don't, then I will that outstanding £9 to start off June's earnings.
*Entered a competition.
Still to do:
I'm chatting to you while I drink my coffee. Intend to pop out to pack away garden stuff in a minute, pop those salvaged autumn plantings away in the cold frame, then potter around doing a few greenhouse tasks. I can see that the tomatoes in there need side-shooting & tying in again, & I want to have a sort out of remaining bedding plants to assess what still needs to go out, plus sort through the french beans & remove pots which are 'no-shows' plus a couple which have been snail-scoffed beyond reasonable recovery. I also want to have a look at the chillies to see if they have started fruiting & check young kale & basil modules. 
I can't guarantee I won't be sitting with a hot water bottle tucked up behind my back after that lot, to warm myself up!
Enjoy your Friday nights all,
F x

ziggy2407

foxgloves said:

I need to divide Mum's pink primroses - have promised to pot up 12 for my sister, but will still have plenty left, so I will put some of those aside for autumn too. 

This is probably a really dumb question but how do you divide primroses? ours are in really big clumps and can't really see the flowers. We're hoping to spend more time in the garden once life settles down - hubby has finished his current radiotherapy and now mum's in hospital since the beginning of May with a broken femur folllowing three falls, she's currently in a care home struggling to get mobile.  The garden may end up being our holiday destination this year so we want to enjoy it.  Hubby divided our Hostas a few weeks ago and they are going great guns and shooting out flowers.  The fire pit we planted up with succulents in Lockdown is doing really well and flowering too.

foxgloves

Hi @ziggy2407,
Sorry to hear about your Mum - that's a big stress on top of everything else. I hope her mobility improves & she is being well cared for.
Re primroses. I wish you were near enough to call round for a coffee as it'd be so much easier just to show you, but I'll do my best to explain.
Right, dig up one of your big congested clumps of primroses, shake off a bit of the soil, then start to tease the clump apart. Keep in mind what a small individual primrose plant looks like & aim for ending up with several of those. It's important that each one has good roots or it will struggle to establish, especially in hot weather (not much chance of that atm!) From a big clump of Mum's pink primroses, I would expect to get up to 8 divisions. Then it's just a case of planting them where you want them & watering them well to help them get established.
I'm going to replant several into the borders, but also intend to grow some on in individual pots for using in my autumn/winter containers, as they flower in early Spring along with mini daffodils.
Hope this helps a bit? It isn't a difficult job to do, because once you've dug up the clump & can get at it properly, you can usually see where it needs to be pulled apart. I've a feeling that when I get going on mine, I could end up with about 100 new plants! I've promised 12 to my sis & will see if B-i-L & neighbour maybe want some, or I will be inundated. Got to love free plants though!
Nice to hear from you,
F xx

foxgloves

Hello Saturday Savers,
City centre trip this morning. There was spending. Oh yes! But nothing unplanned, not on the list or covered by my Personal Spends. 
*Decided to pay for just 3 hours parking & not faff around.
*CC loyalty vouchers reduced the cost of some clothing for Mr F, including a nice sale rail t-shirt, & some undies for me. Also used a triple points voucher to boost loyalty points.
*We did have cappuccinos & toasted teacakes for breakfast but that was budget-neutral as used our Personal Spends.
*Bought a really nice big stripy bag for my new 'hospital bag'. Mr F has taken a liking to the very plain black holdall I bought for this purpose last Spring, when it looked like I might need surgery. Luckily I avoided it & fingers crossed haven't had any subsequent flare-ups but as I know I could  need emergency surgery in the future, it has felt very reassuring having a grab-bag of nice & suitable possessions ready to go. I needed a bag in a hurry & had no time to shop round for a 'pretty' so was quite happy to donate my plain black one to Mr F for his holiday bag & choose myself a new one! Hopefully it will sit in my wardrobe & not need to come out! Will be charging it to the Dentist/Optician/Medical Pot!
*Was ALMOST tempted by a rather lovely summer top in the MarineCondiment shop. I was into the fitting rooms with it in an instant. Such nice cool fabric for summer & suitably hippyfied-looking. But.....(& this is why I need to try things on to avoid wasting time & money), I am short...a little over 5'3" & so the waist wasn't in the right place for me. No matter, I went home with my.money instead.
*Popped in the footwear-sounding pharmacy shop to pick up a few toiletries & all the baskets had a leaflet in them. I went to take it out as assumed an advertising flyer & found it contained 2 expensive serum samples from Cla***s! Got to love a freebie. Will enjoy trying those. Do look if you are in the shop in case it's a national promotion.
*Came straight home for lunch rather than being tempted to stop off on route.
*Picked 1st homegrown cucumber of the year plus enough strawberries for dessert tonight.
*Started sorting out our herb bed. Will start cutting bunches of various herbs for drying very soon.
*Took a basket of salvaged jars down to shed stash ready for tomato bottling later this year.
*A free wee!! I am including this for the benefit of @PennysIntoPounds because I KNOW that in the same situation, she'd have had that saved 20p into the flat pot in the twinkling of an eye! Machine at city centre loos churlishly spat out my 20p 4 times but still opened the door, lol.
This is a long post, I know, but I'm just going to mention a joyful little purchase from my Personal Spends this morning....a gloriously bright pink nail polish which I can't wait to paint onto my toes. Why couldn't I be this happy with a little purchase like this back in the Spendy Years? Why did it always take boots & a top, or a dress with a jacket, or 2 tops, a dress, cushions & that well-known cosmetic counter's Bonus Time offer to provide that level of joy?
Ah well, times change do they not, as do people & their attitudes to money, thank goodness!
Mr F is cooking beef & pea kerala (a recipe which gets 2 tasty portions from a single rump steak) & I'm going to attempt the crossword.
Have a nice evening, everyone.
F x

Sun_Addict

I know you like the marine condiment shop so might be worth taking a look at High Street Outlet as they stock their stuff at a fraction of the price. Had a few things from them and have been pleased.