Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Blackcats

PennysIntoPounds said:

'Side-eye from a morose Christmas elf' 😂

Made me laugh too.  

Your festive hamper looks amazing.  I went to the table top market at the village hall today where they sell very locally produced honey.  I planned to give a jar to a couple of friends who (or should it be whom?) we are visiting for a cuppa over the festive season.  Bit of a shame that the market was last week 🤦‍♀️

ladyholly

foxgloves said:

@ladyholly - I look forward to hearing that you have scootered home some amazing post-Christmas yellow-sticker bargains. Defo worth getting mincemeat by the sounds of it.
F

Of course that will depend on there being no rain that day. Scoters dont like the wet.

foxgloves

Hello Frugal Friends,
Not much to report today but have been keeping the faith:
*Had breakfast in cafe at local lakeside park - as usual this came from our Personal Spends, so zero effect on the budget.
*Saved money by not buying anything at the pop-up Christmas market which was there (I suppose at least there WAS a market, @Blackcats, but it wasn't much use to me). I had intended to buy a festive scented candle as I don't have one this year & I had heard that there was a stall selling them. There was, & the candles were not bad prices at all, but having picked up 3 different ones, I couldn't discern any scent at all apart from wax. I asked the vendor if they were scented ones & was told that yes, they were. I can't help thinking that in that case, they might have been old stock, but it meant my money stayed in my purse. 
*Called into the C**p on our way home & managed to stick just to mushrooms & a newspaper, which is what we went in for.
*Mixed up a sourdough for baking tomorrow.
*Did a couple of surveys.
Then we both decided we had better go & get various jobs done even though we didn't feel like it because it's more of a coffee, cinnamon knot biscuit & crossword kind of an afternoon. Mr F suggested we give ourselves a deadline of 2.30pm to clear as many of these tasks as possible, which was very useful as I managed to do a total of 13 things & kept a 5-bar gate tally for motivation. Mr F says he also achieved a useful amount of tasks but he seemed to be including taking his trousers off as one of them, & call me picky, but I don't think that really constitutes a 'job'. Never mind, I can hear the coffee machine is being primed for action so the rest of my day will be spent on leisure pursuits. I want to get a bit more of my shawl knitted. I haven't yet quite knitted back to the point at which I frogged it, but it isn't a pattern I can rush. I also have plenty of reading, the crossword, & want to practise my Christmas music. 
In addition, we have had some useful financial discussions today which have all been food for thought, but my ponderings on those can wait until another day.
Stay cosy. I've just been out to fill up the bird feeders & thought the temperature had dropped from this morning when it was sunny & bright. Can't have our lovely little featheries thinking we are stingy with the nuts though!
F x

Makingabobor2

Definitely a day for doing the jobs in the morning. I have been waiting for DH to come back in from his jobs in garage & shed, as I know he will make a mess when he comes in. I want to clean the kitchen floor and really wanted it done by now, but if I do it now, he will tread leaves in the back door and then take off his work trousers and jacket and shake make even more mess!   He has been out there since 11, apart from a quick break for a sausage sandwich.  How much time can 1 man spend cleaning his bike and doing bits that apparently need doing?   Especially in this cold weather.  

foxgloves

Morning Campers!
A bit slower to get going this morning, which I'm putting down to a large gin & surfeit of crisps last night. Am raring to go now though. Again, our aim is to get all jobs out of the way this morning so as to free up a leisurely afternoon with the tree lights on. 
*Not a no-spend day as Mr F decided to pop out to the C**p to buy wine for over the festive period, including a couple of bottles & box of beer for taking to our hosts. Cost reduced by using our £24 worth of dividend points & a current '4 for 3' offer on wine.
Will be doing the following this morning:
*2 loads of laundry (already churning).
*Baking the sourdough I made yesterday.
*Making Mr F's birthday fudge.
*Making a rice pudding with leftover whole milk & evaporated milk from the above which will bump opening yoghurts another day.
*Clean house between us - it will be more of a lick & a promise today as I intend to put more effort into that next week once a few potentially messy jobs are out of the way.
*Product testing still underway - good size freebies.
*Shawl knitting needs to happen this afternoon. Can't believe I sat with my other knitting last night watching Christmas specials & turning the heel on a pair of socks for the presents stash 2025! However this does play well into our 2025 budget project, so I'm perfectly happy to get a few quid ahead.
Well, Mr F has just brought me a huge coffee & is now making quorn sausage cobs with blackberry ketchup. Soot & Ash dived around like crazed loons until their breakfast was served up. Now they are flat out & zzzzzz-ing for Britain.
Have a lovely Sunday, all. 
F x

foxgloves

I'm sure I have posted this fudge recipe before, but it may well have been in my previous diary, amongst all the tales of past 'debtisodes'. Anyway, I thought I'd post it again in case anyone has a situation where a little homemade gift might come in useful. I have previously gifted this fudge for birthdays, Easter, Christmas & also when friends are hosting us for dinner, as an inexpensive change from a bottle or flowers. This is an old recipe from one of those little books of traditional stuff published by Salmon which used to turn up (maybe still do?) in gift shops. 
I should just add that this is proper traditional fudge which requires boiling together sugar & dairy to the required setting point. I have had people tell me that they like it because it is crystalline, more like the Scotch tablet than commercial fudge which is much softer & probably has additional ingredients such as possibly glucose syrup, etc. 
This is an inexpensive recipe & you will end up with sufficient leftover whole milk & evaporated milk to make a rice pudding should you fancy a knock-on 'free' dessert.

You will need:

1lb white granulated sugar
2oz butter
1/4 pint evaporated milk (no need to use branded)
1/4 pint whole milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

Line a small shallow square cake tin with baking parchment. 
Put all of the ingredients except the vanilla into a medium sized saucepan. 
Slowly heat, stirring, to dissolve the sugar.
Bring to a steady boil (& it does need to boil) & keep this going, stirring occasionally, until a little bit of mixture dropped into a small bowl of cold water forms a soft ball when you roll it between your finger & thumb. 
Remove pan from the heat & add the vanilla essence. Now take a wooden spoon & beat the fudge mixture hard until it thickens & starts 'graining', which is a sign that it is getting ready to set.
Pour it into the lined tin. Work quickly as it doesn't hang around once it's in the mood to set & you'll want to spread it out into the corners. Allow it to cool. Once it has set sufficiently, mark it into squares with a sharp knife & allow to finish setting before cutting it up. 
I save pretty little boxes for gifting this fudge & have previously donated it for raffle prizes in cellophane bags tied with festive ribbon. The batch I've just made for Mr F's birthday has gone into a box I saved from some truffles I was given earlier in the year. I lined it with baking parchment first & added a ribbon & label afterwards from my wrappings stash.
Just a note if anyone decides to have a go......
When the boiling mixture is reaching 'soft ball' stage, make sure to watch the pan for catching on the base as the liquid fudge will be thickening. I often find that at this stage, there can be darker brown flecks appearing which I first thought meant I'd burned it, but I think it is just the milk proteins as once you get on with the off-the-heat beating process, they just dissolve back into the mixture & don't affect it in any way. If you end up with black lumps, then I think you'd better assume you have burned it & start again (there is sufficient evaporated milk & whole milk left from this to have another go if necessary).
Oh & the 'soft ball' test for the right setting consistency. Make sure you can actually pick up that bit of fudge mixture from the bowl of water & actually roll it into a proper little ball. Don't get excited too soon because you can see it's thickening. If it is still like fudge sauce when you pick it up, it isn't ready. When you can roll a little ball of soft fudge which looks like a ball & holds its shape, then it's time to whizz that pan off the heat & get beating.
Hope this is maybe useful to someone at some point.
F xx
P.S When you cut it up into squares, it goes without saying that the uneven edges which you trim off are fudge-maker's bonus. NomNom!

Debsnewbudget

Thank you for that recipe
I am helping my grandsons make some presents for their mum  next weekend.  Doing truffles and Chocolate fudge crinkle biscuits so this makes a good extra one.

kayannie

I make fudge this way, it's so easy to make & very popular. A couple of years ago, I made some to put on my home-made crafts stall & gave out some samples. One lady loved it so much she bought all I had for sale!
KA

foxgloves

@kayannie & @Debsnewbudget - It's an easy fudge recipe to adapt with different flavours too. I have made coffee & pecan for my sister in the past and a cranberry & popcorn version for my nephews. It's just a case of stirring in the flavours just before the beating. I wanted to add candied peel & whisky to this batch but Mr F wanted plain vanilla, which I went along with, as it is for his birthday.
F

Makingabobor2

Thanks for the recipe. Definitely one I will try