Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

ladyholly

Years ago my Mother received a gift from my bil that looked exactly like a frying pan (she hated getting household type gifts as she thought they werent personal). When she unwrapped it lo and behold it was a  record she wanted. You cant always tell what things are especially if you have slightly devious friends and relatives.

EssexHebridean

MrEH has made it his mission now to ensure that T0bl3r0nes are always wrapped in the most obscure way possible. If every there is something under the tree now which is a spectacularly odd shape that is always the first guess! 

foxgloves

Morning all! Productive day so far! Thanks for all your comments & contributions. I have disguised a fair few presents in my time.
@badmemory - Yes, you were right about the parcel. It had got itself onto the parcel van. It arrived late afternoon & I enquired why it had missed the delivery slot they had cited in the email. Apparently, it was simply that someone had scanned it for delivery on the standard Postie round, but the van delivery helps out at busy times of year by taking some of these parcels & adding them to their van route. No worries as it arrived safe & sound & Mr F was not yet home so avoided a race to the door.
@Sun_Addict - I am also a life-long present-feeler, though not as bad as my Mum was. She would even sometimes feel OUR presents & tell us what was in them! As a little girl, I still used to get told off for doing this myself, but on one occasion, I remember Dad, my sister & I got home from shopping, pushed open the living room door & caught Mum red-handed just re-sellotaping one of her presents which she had piggled open & hurriedly chucking it back on the pile under the tree. I never let her forget this naughtiness! 
Right, any budget-friendly activity today? A bit - mostly I have been clearing random jobs/clutter which have been overlooked over the last couple of weeks....& very satisfying it's been too.
*A bit of fresh air & steps as trotted to the postbox to post our Christmas cards.
*Wrote a birthday card (from my stash as was the stamp)
*Filled smaller bag with cat litter to keep indoors. The sack can now go down to the shed. I haven't worked out if it saves money to buy it this way, but I am sure it must do as a sack of wood pellet litter costs £13-99 at our village garden centre & fills several bags.
*Tweaked meal plans as Mr F decided to cook something from the freezer instead of buy something else. Good from a budget point of view, but the driving factor was that unless we free up some space in the freezer, we are not going to fit a turkey in there. Not usually a problem as we order a fresh one, but as plans are different this year, so are our turkey requirements. 
*Wrote grocery shopping list which was pretty short (all those freezer use-ups!) so added in some items from our festive food list too.
*Wrapped the 2 last presents. 
*Packed final bag of presents for taking down to London. All clearly labelled 'London' in big letters so we don't end up leaving anything behind. They look quite festive as have used big Christmas bags for life.
*Checked present bags for S-i-L's family (we are seeing them this weekend) & discovered I'd forgotten to include the jar of my home made preserves I intended to put in. Gussied up a jar with a festive topper & ribbon & added it.
*Tidied boxes/wrapping stash on my HQ shelves as had been much pulled about with all the recent wrapping - found a nice box the perfect size for Mr F's birthday fudge when I make it. Love a shopped from home success
*Took a big bowl of veg scraps out to the worm composter as apart from the recent snow, it hasn't been cold enough to stop them chomping. Noticed a good amount of free liquid plant food ready.
*Entered 2 competitions.
*Paid a transaction off my credit card.
*Did a survey.
*There'll be a round-up of veg later as I intend to make a use-it-up macaroni/veg bake topped with cheese. I have a lone carrot & parsnip in my sights plus a slice of homegrown pumpkin. I shall roast those with some garlic, onion & rosemary then combine with macaroni & some of the pasta sauce I batch cooked during the tomato glut. I think a topping of grated cheese pulls everything together & it should be tasty & autumnal. Of course the pasta sauce will mean one less container in the freezer too.
I'm not intending to do much else in the way of jobs today. I think I will crack on with re-knitting that shawl section I frogged last week. I'm pushing it for wearing at Christmas, but New Year could be possibility if I pull my finger out.
ERNIE forgot us this time, the pig, but I've told Mr F it's hopefully because he's saving his largesse for the extra money we will need to facilitate still hoped-for relocation to Suffolk. 
Right, I think I will go & sort out Soot & Ash's lunch biscuits before the desperate empty tummy zoomies start.
Love F x
P.S Forgot to mention that we watched that documentary about over-consumption & the waste plastics graphics were terrifying. We know it's happening though, so pointless pretending it's not. I'm so glad that over-spending is no longer a part of my daily life. Even less spending next year here at Foxgloves Manor & greater sustainability too.

EssexHebridean

I really dislike the fact that the vast majority of what ends up in our kitchen bin is plastic food packaging. It's not even all of it, as anything that can go with the soft recycling does, but I refuse point blank to be charged more for, or forced to buy imported produce in order to buy items unpackaged. It actually feels contrived quite often that the cheapest and most sustainable options in terms of food miles are usually in plastic. 

At least we make decent use of the plastic mushroom and tomato punnets as those go straight to the shed for use for various garden tasks! 

Makingabobor2

You have had a busy morning so far. Enjoy your knitting. 
I agree about the plastic. Try so hard to cut down on it. I even take my own containers when I go to the butcher. And always have those reusable veggie bags so as not to have to resort to a plastic bag.  That's one good thing about a Mr S delivery, they don't use plastic bags to put it all in.  i use a refill shop for as much as I can, especially cleaning products, shower gel, hand wash etc.  Even discovered the other month that she sells loose noodles, in little nests. Not that we have them much, but when we do, its so much better than buying them wrapped in plastic.  My favourite product she sells, is a delicious tomato ketchup. I just take an old glass jar and fill it up.  

kayannie

I have just dropped off 10 days worth of plastic at the supermarket - seeing just how much is a real eye-opener, & that's only the plastic that CAN be recycled. 
When I walk on our nearby beach, I always take a bag to pick up any rubbish that has either been washed up or just thrown down. Even on a short walk I come bag with at least a carrier bag full. The strangest item found recently - false teeth! I wonder if their owner lost them swimming or maybe they were leaning over the railing on their luxury yacht!
KA x 

Cheery_Daff

kayannie said:

I have just dropped off 10 days worth of plastic at the supermarket - seeing just how much is a real eye-opener, & that's only the plastic that CAN be recycled. 
When I walk on our nearby beach, I always take a bag to pick up any rubbish that has either been washed up or just thrown down. Even on a short walk I come bag with at least a carrier bag full. The strangest item found recently - false teeth! I wonder if their owner lost them swimming or maybe they were leaning over the railing on their luxury yacht!
KA x 

Or dropped them down the loo I've recently had to have a partial denture and the amount of times I almost drop the blithering thing trying to wash it. I can well imagine losing them somewhere stupid. 

foxgloves

Hi, Will reply properly tomorrow. I've had a fair bit of screen time this afternoon & am well ready to sign off & give my eyes a rest. 
Today's achievements: House cleaned - usual minimal products & washable cloths, bed changed, bed linen washed & on heated airer, baked a loaf, updated the grocery budget, updated our festive food list with items purchased & left it on the fridge so I can continue to do so & trimmed damage to landing carpet inflicted by Soot. Have had a decent run of PA surveys this afternoon which has added over £15 to my December earnings & I am being recalled tomorrow for a 2nd part too. 
Not so money saving - Mr F took our car in for its big service & MOT today. It will need 2 tyres & front brake pads in the next month or so - all still perfectly legal atm. All of that will come to around £800 in total. Now, we do have £800. It's the exact sum of what is in our Car Maintenance Savings Pot, but it will obviously wipe it out, so even MORE need for our 2025 household finances project. I found myself thinking, 'What on earth do people do who haven't put car maintenance expenses by ready for such an outlay?' Then it occurred to me that I know EXACTLY what they do, as it's what we always did. No savings of any kind. Big car bill. Whooomph, straight on a credit card. So on the positive side, at least we do have the money. Still a bit grrrrr to see that pot effectively zero'd though.
Mr F wasn't sure how long he'd be at the service centre so he took some sarnies & a flask of coffee to avoid the temptation of a stroll down to the nearest supermarket to avail himself of a Christmas-themed sandwich. The sarnies managed to behave themselves, but sadly the flask executed a leap of peril off the chair next to him, hit the tiled floor, smashing the glass inner & he (& everyone else!) watched as a pool of coffee flooded out. They were very kind to him -the cleaner came to help mop up & he was taken to the staff kitchen area to get rid of the remaining coffee & shards of broken glass. Then they made him an espresso because he'd lost all his coffee. No desperation to buy another flask, it was our big old camping one & we do have another we can use. He says he's going for a non-glass inner next time as it was so embarrassing!
Right, time to close the curtains & read a chapter or two of my book, so doubtless there will be some cat help with that. Ash had a noisy stand-off at 5am with another local cat - a very large white one with a lot of attitude. Mr F went out to fetch him in like a naughty child. He was mightily pleased with himself so must have had the upper hand at some point. Hopefully they won't resume it tonight. Bloody cats - can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em!
F x

PennysIntoPounds

As you say, always upsetting to part with a pot but that's what it's there for- maybe think of it in terms of by utilising it, that's £800 you're in credit for your hoped for retirement move!
Glad Mr F and others weren't hurt by the glass shatter at least. Good you've got a spare lined up.
Oh dear to the 5am cat alarm, but well done to Ash for not letting disrespect be shown in his territory 😁

Makingabobor2

Oh dear to the car & flask. But at least you have money in the pot, and another flask you can use. I must get our flask out, ready for when we go away at Christmas. Its always tempting to stop at the services if there is a Gr**gs. Not so much if its C*st* though.