Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

Thanks all, yes we were both pleased to hear the news about the pay-rise. These things are quicker if all parties agree, rather than going to the vote re industrial action, & with the state of public services, we weren't holding our breath.
The gift tags were very easy....just stuff I had in my craft & wrappings stash. I like making gift tags from Christmas cards too, particularly choosing the nicest part of the picture to use, & now that I don't have my Mum on hand to use our cards in her crafting, I like to think they are being used. It's just a case of seeing things through the lens of them being 'resources' , isn't it? And once we can turn something into something else, then we don't have to buy it & that's pence saved.
F 

foxgloves

Afternoon Friday Frugalistas,
I thought I'd just put today's post on before I go & heat up a mug of leek & potato soup & make my toast. It's the right weather for a rib-sticker of a soup, isn't it? Our garden is still lying mostly under snow & I failed in my attempts to lift the ice out of the frozen birdbath this morning, despite a full kettle & a jug of hot water, so it has been a cold old night. We didn't get any more snow, we are on the east of the county & just outside the current snow line, but there were some hard little snow grains on our courtyard this morning, so we have defo had a sprinkling of those.
Right, enough yakking. has there been any budget helping activity? 
*Cleaned the house - usual minimal products & washable cloths.
*Soda crystals & boiling water down the sinks as I do every couple of weeks for maintenance purposes.
*Entered a competition.
*Did a few surveys. 
*Cut the remaining piece of Christmas glazed paper tablecloth into festive jar toppers which I'll use to tart up foodie gifts.
*Updated grocery budget after Week 4's grocery shop last night. 
*Finished reading the Hilary Mantel novel & added it to my pile of possible WOB trades.
*Strained & bottled blackberry & pear whisky (gift for B-i-L)
*Wrote a list for town tomorrow.
*Sowed a tray of cress.
I'm intending to have quite a relaxing afternoon & it's not my cooking night, so I think I will look through my Christmas piano music & see what I fancy playing this year, start a new book & generally potter around. Was glad to see Ash tucking into his breakfast this morning as he was off his food last night - a situation which delighted the resident furred black eating machine as it meant he managed to procure an extra half pouch of persian queen. 
Right m'dears, stay cosy. And keep it in your purse. It can't jump out on its own! (Though back in the Spendy Years, I'd certainly have told you that it did!)
F x

Cheery_Daff

Lovely gift labels 🥰 I make ours from old cards too, although never thought to cut round a biscuit cutter, I'll try that next time! I also have hole punches in the shape of a star and a Christmas tree, so sometimes I just use plain green or red card and punch a hole in them 😊

Makingabobor2

Have a relaxing afternoon.  We've just been for a walk to the village, and whilst we haven't had any more snow, it is very cold.  Even with 2 pairs of socks on my toes were getting numb. Need to source some thermal ones I think. 

foxgloves

Forgot to mention....there was sufficient blackberry & pear whisky to fill a smaller bottle for Mr F too, so that'll be a nice festive tipple. 
As usual, I've frozen the boozy fruit, as heated up with a bit of extra sugar, it makes a nice New Year dessert with some ice-cream.
F x

Blackcats

I don't even like whiskey but with blackberry and pear I could be persuaded.
good news on the pay rise though the negotiations are always such a protracted process.  Still it will be a nice chunk of backpay for the New Year but not very fair that the staff have to wait 9 pay days to get their increased wages.

Sun_Addict

We’ve had to wait since April for our pay rise but will be in our November pay. Also public sector 😐

foxgloves

@Cheery_Daff - You have reminded me that I have a couple of those hole punchers somewhere - I think a bell & a cat. The bell make be a Christmassy tag & the cat one could be used for birthday ones as I know quite a few catty folk. Will have to look for them in the New Year when I intend to sort through my craft stash.

@Makingabobor2 - I always find that if my feet are cold, I seem to feel cold all over. 

@Sun_Addict - It's annoying waiting for pay awards, but the chunk of back-pay is always nice.

@Blackcats - I don't like whiskey either, although I can make a mean Irish coffee! I make fruit gins usually. Have also made a festive vodka in the past which had all sorts of bits & bobs in it. 
F

foxgloves

Hello Saturday Savers,
Well today I have mostly saved by not staying in town too long as it was so rainy! Went into a bit of an annoyed panic first thing as realised my credit card was not in my purse. Despite Mr F telling me to get on the phone & cancel it, I KNEW I had it yesterday & it had not been taken out of the house, so I said I'd rather look for it. Having looked in all the logical places, it became clear I must have picked it up with something else by mistake, so I decided we'd set off for town & I'd resume the search on my return. Still couldn't find it. Sat down & went through every single thing I did yesterday so I could check I hadn't accidentally put whatever it was away with my credit card tucked inside. No luck. Then I realised there was one task which I'd overlooked. I had changed the bath towels, so off I went to re-trace my steps with that. And there it was - in the linen cupboard for goodness sake! As soon as I saw it, I remembered that I had the card in my hand to take downstairs & replace in my purse, but decided I might as well get the fresh towels out to take down at the same time. I couldn't free the ones I wanted, which were at the bottom of a pile, so I popped my card down on one of the shelves just while I wrestled the towels out......then forgot to pick it back up again. Honestly, when I told Mr F I'd found it in the linen cupboard, he looked at me like I was losing the plot! Anyway, it saved the faff of getting a new one.
Now for budget-helping activity:
*Weather so dark & wet we decided we'd walk faster & just paid for a single hour of car parking.
*Free make-up item courtesy of using my Advantage card points.
*Resisted temptation in the charity bookshop. Always plenty of good finds in there, but I do have a decent-size pile of books in my reading pile plus I'm sure some of the titles on my library wish-list will turn up soon.
*Bought some tiny foodie items for finishing off our friends' Christmas bags (they will be the 1st pre-Christmas meet-up next week) & the 2 local beers for finishing off my B-in-L's presents. Also bought some chocs for filling our Advent Calendar wall hanging - not money saving in any other sense than keeping Mr F on Planet Realistic in terms of what I can fit in each of the little pockets!
*Quick eco-refill shop visit, including a couple of Christmas cake ingredients. Nice to be able to weigh out the amount needed & just buy that.
*Number-crunched latest bill from the Cephalopods. We spent £26-10 more on energy over the last monthly billing period than the previous one, but there isn't really any mystery to this - it will be the colder weather triggering the boiler more frequently (set at 18.5 degrees from 6am to 9.30 pm) & increased heated airer use as pegging-out opportunities have been much less frequent/effective. Had a look at their online payment predictor tool thingy which suggested that we need to be paying £124-79 instead of the £120 we have been paying. I have increased it to £126.00. We are still £379 in credit, but the next 3 months are the ones where credit can drop pretty quickly. Have updated Spreadsheet 1 (bills) but also made a mental note to re-visit bad energy wasting habits. I know I haven't been as hot on switching lights off & all the little things as I was when we were paying those really hideous energy prices, but the truth of the matter is that we are all paying more than we were before the energy prices exploded. £126 per month works out at £1512-00 which is less than the 'average UK bill' figure I've seen quoted a couple of times this week at £1700+. Anyone else feel that they have maybe been slipping a bit on the little daily energy saving measures? 
*Still on the subject of energy.....the Cephalopods have pinged to say they are doing a double session of free electricity tomorrow 7 - 9am, so 2 hours instead of the more usual 1. We have decided we can make good use of this. I am going to move laundry day from Monday to tomorrow & we have other planned tasks which we can easily move to much earlier in the day. Both of us have some stuff which we'd like to do at the dining table but with no CH in the conservatory, only an electric stove, it is expensive to heat. We are early risers anyway, so it's no problem to move planned stuff to early morning so as to enjoy some MUCH warmer time at the table.
*It's Mr F's cooking night so I shall be knitting my shawl & reading before doubtless settling down to some TV of some description.
Cats so fed up with the weather. Ash is up here in his snuggly igloo bed & Soot is curled up on the futon in the Man Cave. I set up a litter tray this morning having seen the weather. Soot managed to eat his breakfast with his legs crossed, but was then straight into that tray like a rat up a pipe! He loves exploring outdoors - a new thing for him since coming to live with us, but will absolutely not venture out in rain. Ash will go out in anything as long as he can come in & dry his soggy fur on Mr F's socks & jeans!
Right, off to cosy up the house with some curtain-closing & crochet blanket draping.
Love F x

PennysIntoPounds

I've been having internal debates about energy use the last couple of weeks re whether or not to turn off little lamps when I leave the room for more than a few minutes (I don't leave them on when I leave the flat). On the one hand, it is a waste of energy, on the other hand it's so nice to walk into a room and it not be gloomy or dark, and have lovely cosy lighting, especially from the lovely vintage lamps which make me feel comforted to see on. Difficult to assess where the line between reasonable indulgence and being daft is with things like this!

Glad you found the credit card, very considerate of your subconscious to let it have some snuggle time with the linen on such a grim weather day