Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

@weenancyinAmerica - Yes, I think a good boil-up with some vinegar does a good job on lime scaled kettles. The first time I tried this, years ago, I filled it too full & created a rather spectacular mini-Mount Etna which reached a surprising way across the kitchen floor!

@Elisheba - I actually have of the cast iron branded kettles. The one we most use is a smaller one which I brought from Mum & Dad's house, the other is a bigger one, bought by me at the height of the Spendy Years. It was about £50 & as I never had any money because I spent it all, I expect it was technically bought by the bank. If I remember rightly, I was about 30 when I bought it & I turned 60 this year, so although I couldn't afford it at the time & was a naughty spendy girl, nobody can say it hasn't lasted well & there is plenty of life left in it too. 
F

Makingabobor2

foxgloves said:

@weenancyinAmerica - Yes, I think a good boil-up with some vinegar does a good job on lime scaled kettles. The first time I tried this, years ago, I filled it too full & created a rather spectacular mini-Mount Etna which reached a surprising way across the kitchen floor!

@Elisheba - I actually have of the cast iron branded kettles. The one we most use is a smaller one which I brought from Mum & Dad's house, the other is a bigger one, bought by me at the height of the Spendy Years. It was about £50 & as I never had any money because I spent it all, I expect it was technically bought by the bank. If I remember rightly, I was about 30 when I bought it & I turned 60 this year, so although I couldn't afford it at the time & was a naughty spendy girl, nobody can say it hasn't lasted well & there is plenty of life left in it too. 
F

Wow, it was certainly built to last, not like some of the kettles these days. 

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
Well, a disappointing day today, which we have been doing our best to pull around into a better one. We had concert tickets for tonight & were looking forward to a look around the city centre beforehand, but I had a rubbish night - awoke at 3am feeling unwell & the more I thought about going out feeling horrid, the more anxious I got. Felt so sorry for Mr F who had been looking forward to it, but it is unfortunately one of the perils of sharing his life with someone with an IBD. Have been eating lightly & drinking ginger tea, & it hasn't got any worse, so that's something. Anyway, I have thought quite enough about this & don't want to dwell on it further, so will go onto budget helping bits & bobs:
*Did next week's meal plans, which are based on a roast chicken on Sunday & knock-on meals from that plus stuff we already have in the freezer.
*Wrote grocery shopping list & placed an online order. Mr F quite likes doing the grocery shopping on his way home from work on Thursday nights, but this week he is on the other side of the county in an irksome sounding meeting, so we thought we'd let the supermarket come to us this time. Took advantage of one or two offers where they fitted in with our list.
*Found some rather elderly yoghurt in the fridge & used it to make a batch of garlic flatbreads. Tried a couple with za'atar just to see what they would be like - very nice.
*Ordered one of the 3 outstanding presents.
*Tried to order the other outstanding two.....now, we had intended to buy these this afternoon had we made it into the city centre, but I think this would have been pretty fruitless as I tried online & there are none in stock. Then I tried the official manufacturer's website shop & that was unsuccessful too - not stock levels, they had what I wanted, but I couldn't progress my order beyond the putting in my details page. As soon as I tried to move on to the payment page, I simply got a window saying "You are stuck in a loop". Their reason was "...probably because you have used a link to access this site".......er, no? It was their official site, so needless to say an email went off to say that they would need to get in touch with a solution asap if they want my custom. I'll see how that goes. 
*The money I ring fenced for food before our night out has obviously not been spent. Mr F, who decided not to go on his own as it 'wouldn't be much fun' without me is planning to make a veggie curry using a container of the Hairy Biker curry sauce I batch cooked during the tomato glut & as I am eating lightly, I am going to have soup & a garlic flatbread. 
So not the day we intended. I think we will cosy down to watch the GBBO final & I will probably make a start on the book I never did get around to picking up at the weekend.
Tomorrow is my Big Budget Day. It is beyond ridiculous how fast that has come round again.
F x

Makingabobor2

Hope you feel better soon FG. DH suffers with an IBD, and I have IBS, so I can sympathise with you.  Take care, and keep drinking the ginger tea, I find it really helps.  x

PennysIntoPounds

A shame but so it goes sometimes. Who knows which mysterious ways the universe may have been working in! Enjoy your book and grub, hope you feel improved tomorrow x

Humdinger1

Yes get well soon @foxgloves.  I'm no expert but I think making a decision early and relaxing into it helps with any digestive issue.  Love Humdinger xx 

Sun_Addict

Sorry to hear you’ve had to miss the concert. How disappointing. Hope you feel better soon and manage to have a cosy evening in.

EssexHebridean

I suspect Humdinger is right about the early decision and then at least knowing where you stand helping, as it must reduce the stress levels mustn’t it. Hopefully you will wake to a new day tomorrow feeling fully recovered. 

Baileys_Babe

Sorry to hear you had to miss the concert. 

We also have a big name cast iron kettle, well 2 really, 1 was a present from my parents and the 2nd was passed of from a friend when they moved house. At this time of year they are used frequently, they live on the top of our multifuel stove so when that is lit the water is being heated. If we are just making a pot of tea for 3 or 4 we transfer roughly the right amount of warm/hot water to the electric kettle. As the water is warmer than coming directly out of the tap if use less electricity to get to boiling. If we are making tea for 5+ people we move the cast iron kettle to the gas hob and bring it to the boil. We also use the water when cooking.

Moorviews

How disappointing for you to have such an ill timed flare up. You did well to make a decision on it though and try to take a pragmatic approach. I have a different condition but similarly just sometimes/often cannot carry out plans. I went from feeling like I could never safely plan anything to realising that I had to plan things but accept that I might have to change or cancel. It does make me feel that I look a bit flaky but the alternative is that I would never do anything or see anyone. Mr MV is also very understanding but I often struggle with the disappointment ( in myself) in addition to whatever I have missed out on. I hope that you feel better today.