Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

2Scratters

Happy anniversary @foxgloves and DH. 

Our mutts chose DH for their tea time meal they never ask me. I'm not sure what he does differently than what I do. She always asks (she is the noisy vocal one) for food or anything else that either of them want. Feeding time here is precisely 1800hrs. How do they know these things? So yesterday was off kilter. DH came in the house asking if I had sent the dogs down to the shed as they had gone barging in telling him some tale that he was needed. I do send them down when his tea is ready usually but not on this occasion. Yep it was that time in the new time. Ha ha so they got fed their tea and then trotted off doing their own thing.

2 Scratters xx

Blackcats

PennysIntoPounds said:

Me?! It's @Blackcats who's the bad influence! I'm a naive innocent.. 
Though having said that, fnar fnar and thrice fnar 😁
(Glad you'll be getting a goodly amount though 😂)

Outrageous libel from PIP 😉.   

Belated happy anniversary.

our appliances/tech pot is almost empty too.  Much to my horror, MrBC just announced that he might need a new 👁 pad soon 🙀.  I might try and eek it out for a little while and then be creative with timing of the purchase on the credit card so that it won't need to be paid for until the following month.  

foxgloves

Thanks everyone for your kind anniversary wishes. Much appreciated!
@Humdinger1 - 23rd! Yes, I agree that pleasure lies in the simple stuff over the stupidly spendy these days.
@KajiKita - Same approach here. Little & often, though I am nowhere near at tipping point yet. I do intend to get out there tomorrow & move things on a bit more. Looking forward to it.
@LadyWithAPlan - Hello & welcome!
@2Scratters - I caught Mr F just about to dish up a 2nd helping of cat biscuits the other day. I had already given Soot & Ash their biscuits & they wolfed them then went & meowed to him that they had been forgotten by their horrid Meowmy. Thankfully, I intervened before the little horrors managed to purloin another serving.
@Blackcats - Yes, I too dread the first little mentions (hintlets) of new 'tech need'. I am updating Mr F much more frequently about the state of the Savings Pots & he has defo engaged with this.

And a big hello to everyone else!
I promised myself a gentle sort of pottering around day today, but even so, it seems to have disappeared very quickly. On the money saving front, I have just done the usual Monday stuff, really:
*Did 2 loads of laundry. Am getting on well with the new washer. The little 14-min wash was so quick that I hadn't even got the main laundry onto the heated airer before it pinged to say it had finished. Drizzle first thing then the air just felt too damp for effective line-drying, so heated airer & dehumidifyer it was.
*Did my regular Monday morning budget updates - mostly groceries, which closed down October's grocery budget with an overspend of just over a £1. I'm pleased with that, as it included quite a lot of Christmas cake ingredients & was also a 5-week month. Also updated Personal Spends.
*Contacted milk delivery service to report a cracked juice bottle which we didn't feel we should use in case it contained glass or the bottom fell out while holding it (hairline crack right around the base). Arranged refund (which will more than cover the October grocery budget overspend).
*Did a small amount of recipe copying as this project has stalled. I must get back to copying just a few a day to get it finished as it is annoying me now when I require a recipe & can't recall whether it's in my nice new book or I shall have to riffle through a big heap of papers to find it. I want this job done by the end of November for sure.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
*Both some present & charity knitting.
*Did some surveys as quite a few around today, although none of them big payers. 
*Effort-free nosebag tonight as Mr F cooked 2 dishes over the weekend - one to eat on Sat & today & the other on Sun & Tues. So for me tonight, it's just a case of a simple oven bung-in & cooking a bit of veg.
*Cut out an extra Advantage card pts voucher from the free Christmas gift guide which I picked up in town on Sat.
*Entered a competition.
And that, m'dears, is all I have done today. Very much aiming to get into the garden tomorrow to progress the great cut-back & clear-up which is a big project this time of year. Am getting excited about our planned renovation of the vegetable plot which should be done in time for Spring planting next year. 
4.50pm & it's positively crepuscular here! Time to go round closing curtains to keep the heat in,
F x

Moorviews

Happy Anniversary for yesterday 🥂 It’s enjoying the time together in a way that you love that makes the day special. 

That was very canny work on the October budget! I need to take a leaf out of your book with the planning and communication with each other. I am guilty of expecting Mr MV to be a mind reader and see the same jobs as I do that need doing. 

Although replacing appliances is a pain the new technology does often make up somewhat for the inconvenience and the expense. A 15 minute wash is amazing! I am glad it has worked out well in the end. 

Makingabobor2

Whenever I've had a bad day I read your post & realise how much I could acheive if I try harder. 

Suffolk_lass

I've just read the last few days (I was at the NHS - not Our NHS; the National Honey Show!) - and I have to comment on the toy cat, Pyewacket; the familiar spirit. My next real cat will share this name. Marvellous. Especially if the wiki site is to believed as we live just under five miles from where the Witchfinder General (self-appointed) did his worst, in Manningtree, we are over the river into Suffolk though!

You are putting me to shame with your garden efforts. We only have one bag so far this week, with the collection for the village bonfire do taking place on Saturday. I need to make soup for that (on the following Friday), but with 26 bags of courgettes prepped in the produce freezer (just inventoried), I am confident I can do so from stores!

I am copying you by ripening green tomatoes on a sunny windowsill too. Excellent nudge there!

foxgloves

@Suffolk_lass - What a great name for a future cat! I find the history of the witch trials very interesting & have read a lot about that period of history. I don't think that the WG was even all that particularly religious, but saw an opportunity to make some money. It's an important part of women's history & shouldn't be forgotten. Mr F says that certain sections of my bookshelves, plant knowledge & large preserving cauldron would have been sufficient to ensure my own demise! Really, it was about petty local feuds, jealousies & prejudice against those women who were perceived as 'different'. It did indeed all begin at Manningtree & East Anglia was hit hard. An audacious thing, as so close to the age of enlightenment, but it followed years of civil war  neighbour against neighbour & mistrust. I see a similar thing today with the growth of the tinfoil hat brigade & a collective need to 'blame' which is utterly detached from reality. The case of the Lowestoft witches is also very interesting - I have a book on that case in my collection by a local historian. 

Did you read the children's book 'Pyewacket' by Rosemary Weir when you were a little girl? I think you & I are a similar vintage. I borrowed it from the library when I was about 7 & loved it. He was a characterful battle-scarred cat with, I think, with just one eye & half an ear missing. It was published in the late 1960s, I think, so will be long out of print. I think I will maybe have to part with some of my November Personal Spends to procure a 2nd hand copy to re-read! 
F x

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
I've had a couple of days off from posting, as I felt I was saying the same things practically every day, but I suppose that's the nature of a more frugal, sustainable lifestyle, really, isn't it. We find things which work for us - those which keep us within the remit of sustainability for our budgets, our future & the environment, then we live accordingly. I am well aware that anyone wanting a daily read of drama-filled action & adventure is highly unlikely to be a regular reader of my doings, & that is absolutely fine!
Right, budget helping things which are going on at the moment:
*Did meal plans for next week. Based them around roast pork on Sunday followed by meals from some of the leftover meat, another batch cook of the butternut squash curry & some fish.
*Wrote shopping list for Mr F's regular swing-by the supermarket on his way home. As usual, he has vouchers.
*Fresh tomatoes shopped from home as removed a few more from the ripening bag in the pantry.
*Have made a pasta bake for tonight - had the last big chunk of squash to use so roasted it with some red onion & have added a portion each of my batch-cooked tomato pasta sauce & pesto. Only need to grate a bit of cheese on top later.
*Sorted out a date for a pre-Christmas meet-up with family members for exchange of presents. It seems early to be getting this in the diary but do remember how busy it gets in the run-up & how expensive parcel postage is these days. Venue is one which Mr F wanted to visit anyway, so that will save on fuel too.
*Cleaned bathroom first thing - usual minimal products & washable cloths. Refilled bubble bath decanter & diffuser bottle.
*Toiletries use-it-up still ongoing. Gradually getting through all my free samples & other freebies plus 2 tubes cut open to extract several extra days of product.
*Baked a batch of wholemeal bread rolls.
*Finished my charity knitting last night & have sent it off to the person co-ordinating it. Enjoyed having a little extra project & no cost, as I used yarn from my stash.
*Finished the first sock of the final pair I need to have ready for December. Will cast on the other one over my lunch hour.
*Cashed out October's PA earnings - haven't met my £40 goal but am pleased with the £34-89 I have cashed out. I've seen a dress I love in the 'MarineCondiment' shop. It's priced at £55-95 which I am fine with, as they are always good quality but I don't feel I can justify it from the Clothes Pot as it's very much a 'want', not a 'need'. I have a £20 gift card earned from loyalty points so if I add my PA October earnings, that is £54-89, so just £1-06 short of the total cost of the dress. How nice is that? 
*Postie brought the latest loyalty vouchers from my CC (£15) which I have added to the little stash of these I am getting together towards whichever expensive tech item decides to go 'Pfuutttt' next.
*My recipe-copying project is ongoing. I keep finding good economical recipes which had dropped from regular meal planning, so will get those gradually reinstated over the next few months.
*Autumn garden progress has also been happening. The wormery has been sorted out. There is a tray of compost ready to harvest in Spring, plus probably another one by then. I have topped them up with plenty of yummy scraps & a new moisture mat, as I did recycle that strong corrugated card I nabbed into a total of 9 of those. They should last about a year & obviously don't involve a spend. I am intending to get out into the garden after lunch today. My target job is to make a start on clearing a section of our vegetable plot ready to plant out some redcurrant bushes at the weekend. They were free ones as my friend with the allotment potted up some young ones for us last year. They are now a good size & ready to get their roots down.
Well, that's my lot for today. I'm looking forward to some time outside with my fork in the soil, no doubt accompanied by our tame robin & arrows of excited geese flying low overhead. I may or may not get 'cat help'. Ash has had his naughty head on this morning, so he might like to help by staying asleep! 
Samhain blessings & love to all,
F x

Sun_Addict

I was wondering where you'd got to. I enjoy reading your daily updates as I'm sure many others do. I always worry when a regular poster doesn't update for a couple of days or so. Glad all is well.

I'm hoping my PA pending will clear today to make my £40 target, although I've got some other survey earnings to cash out. Last month the earnings were so low I let them roll over to this month. That's brilliant that you've managed to cover the cost of the dress without touching your clothes pot. 

foxgloves

Awww, that's kind of you, @Sun_Addict. I am fine, thanks. Well done on your survey earnings. Mr F has managed £100+ again this month. He doesn't spend a huge amount of time on it, but seems to get targeted for high paying surveys on techy subjects. Apparently some nerdy boxset he's been wanting for years has been released today, so I know where some of it will be going!
I feel content just to be able to cover the cost of that nice dress I've seen so survey smiles all round here at Foxgloves Manor.
F