Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

sarah_diamond

Sounds like a plan! We're moving house sometime soon and am so looking forward to a big shop. But of course I want to try and keep the costs down MSE style so I've said to my OH that we'll need to get everything in, figure out what needs filling up and head to the zero waste shops instead of buying more containers! With the added bonus of shopping sort-of-local.

foxgloves

Afternoon Sunbeams,
Yes, sun! Remember that? While the 2-day rain-fest lasted well into this morning, the skies did brighten eventually & I enjoyed a productive couple of hours in the garden, progressing up the border I'm currently clearing.
Any money saving activity? Well, not a lot tbh:
*Finished writing grocery shopping list.
*Started a list for next city centre visit as I've ear-marked a couple of presents I'd like to buy using loyalty points.
*Got both Christmas cake recipes out & made a list of ingredients. Then had a look in the pantry & ticked off those already in stock. This involved weighing to check amounts & I've popped these ingredients into lidded tubs & labelled either 'Our cake' or 'London cake'. Quite a few things I now shan't need to buy: Plain & SR flour, various spices, currants, golden caster sugar, muscovado sugar & white rum, etc. I shall aim to make the first cake around Stir-up Sunday, so will add the remaining ingredients to the next few shopping lists to spread the expense.
*A bit more knitting for the presents stash.
*Did 2 surveys.
And that's about it. A pleasant enough day though.
F x

KajiKita

I just love how gloriously organised you are - two lots of labelled cake ingredients. I aspire to your level of adulting …. 😊

KK 

Four_Seasons

Please could you tell me the cakes you are making - a traditional Christmas fruit cake and ? If you have already said I do apologise memory not what it was.We didn't get any sunshine today just overcast and dull x

foxgloves

@KajiKita - I am both organised & a planner, but I must admit that the labelling of some of those ingredients was also done out of stinginess as I don't want to find I've accidentally used them for something else, then have to re-buy them!

@Four_Seasons - I am going to be making our usual cake for us here at Foxgloves Manor. It's the jewel Christmas cake from the WI Christmas Cookbook (often turns up 2nd hand though mine was a present from my Dad years ago, I think when it first came out). Mr F doesn't like fruit cake, but yums this one down. It is a lighter cake than the more traditional ones. The darkest ingredient in it is sultanas. It isn't the cheapest cake to make, but we both love it & it's only once a year.
The other one, which is my contribution to the festive fare at my sister's this year, is Nigella's recipe, which is in both her 'Feast' & 'Domestic Goddess' books. I am going to make a 23cm square one, but she provides the ingredients for 3 different tin sizes, both square or round. It's just struck me typing this, that I've never actually made this Christmas cake for Christmas! It's the one I baked for my parents' Golden Wedding, for my Dad's 80th birthday (I knew it would be his last & wanted to make him a really good cake) & for the afternoon tea following my Mum's funeral. It turned out well on all 3 occasions. I shall use sherry for the alcohol content. I wouldn't usually make such a big one for Christmas, but my oldest nephew loves fruit cake & I want there to be enough left for him to take a decent chunk back to uni with him afterwards.
Hope this is helpful.
F x

foxgloves

And on to today's oddments of budget-helping activity. Not a No-spend day, as I shall need to pay the piano tuner, but worth every penny to have my piano returned to concert pitch & I jumped on & played it as soon as he left for his next appointment. Also, Mr F is calling in with the grocery list on his way home from work, so that's 2 spends today.
The money saving bits:
*Dinner will be one of my garden produce freezer batch cooks - veggie crumble.
*Garden pickings: Cavolo nero & the rest of the basil. Basil won't survive much longer & as I've already made plenty of pesto for the freezer, I decided to cut all the best stems & have put them in a jar of water on the kitchen windowsill for further snippings.
*Watered greenhouse salads.
*Made a start on re-potting geraniums, Christmas/Easter cacti, etc, to bring back indoors for overwintering. The geraniums have looked pretty this year & it seems a shame to waste them when they will overwinter perfectly well on a windowsill. All pruned down to a sensible size first, of course.
*Took some cuttings from a lovely plum-coloured penstemon my friend gave me. Have put these in a bottle of water as they usually root pretty well hydroponically.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
*Continued knitting a present.
*Did a couple of surveys,
I also copied a few more recipes into my new book. This is more of a decluttering thing, rather than budgetary, but this project had stalled, so I will aim to do a few each day until it is finished. It's been interesting discovering recipes I haven't made in ages, reading through them & realising how budget-friendly they are. Revisited the nice bean burger topped with salsa which I used to make & was immediately interested that the recipe requires 250g cherry tomatoes......then a slow cooker recipe I'd forgotten about which uses 450g. (Can't you tell I still have that big crate of the fiends getting riper by the day?!)
That has pretty much been my day. I shall just add for anyone who follows the doings of Soot & Ash that neither of them have so far set so much as a single TOE outdoors today, despite the welcome sunshine. Ash has spent the day in bed & Soot on various food pesters. I need to top up their biscuit container with a new bag, but as soon as he hears it, Soot will appear meowing his ears off trying to convince me that he's about to expire his last from malnutrition - honestly you should see the size of the big shiny chunk!
Enough now,
F x

Baileys_Babe

Could you make your nephew a small Christmas cake all of his own to take back to Uni with him as part of his Christmas present? You could always make the main one smaller to compensate.

Four_Seasons

Thank you Foxgloves I shall endeavour to find the recipes, I haven't made a Christmas cake since before covid but feel the urge this year x

Four_Seasons

Both recipes tracked down and saved xx

foxgloves

@Baileys_Babe - No, it's a good idea in theory, but I don't have any small tins, so I'd have to buy one & that would wipe out any saving. I'm happy to make a big family size one. I shall enjoy it. 

@Four_Seasons - I always make one, even if we are spending Christmas just the two of us. I'd miss it if I didn't bake one. I love doing seasonal things.
F