Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

EssexHebridean

I used to have a friend who ironed her bras. In fairness, she did have the sort of built that would make this possible (think “two aspirins on an ironing board”) but I honestly never saw the point of that at all! 😂

We’re still using the toaster we were given as a wedding present 24 years ago - we keep thinking it’s on the way out but so far it’s clinging on. Various other general household items too from that time including our most commonly used flask. 

rtandon27

I used my iron this weekend, but only to apply iron-on patches. - OH managed to wear a hole in a perfectly fine fitted sheet!  Even the elastic is in perfect condition, it's only where he 'bicycles' his feet at night that is worn through.  I also patch the inseam of my favourite embroidered jeans, one of the only items of clothing I paid full price for about 8 years ago & which get worn regularly! - I did have to dust the iron before using it though!

Suffolk_lass

In the winter, I press anything like pillow cases flat on the covers over the hotplate on the aga - it uses the same amount of electricity and works in an upside down iron way. MrSL tolerates ironing two of the duvet covers, for which (among other things) I love him. Our iron is one of the solid base ones. Bought in the 1990s after two steam irons started spitting limescale or blew up. I find five minutes in the tumble dryer lifts the creases out of anything that needs ironing, then on to a hanger and on the rail above the aga or in the boiler cupboard on the clothes airer rails

I am told you can get replacement lids for the pyrex rectangular (lasagne) dishes now

foxgloves

Hello everyone & thanks for all your comments & contributions which I have really enjoyed reading. 
Re rolling pins - My Mum also had a glass one. It was really good. It didn't have removable ends for filling with cold water, but it could be run under the cold tap & dried to get it nice & cold for pastry. At school, we used the wooden ones. If you were lucky you managed to get one that wasn't still adorned with old pastry from previous lessons!

Re ironing - It is never going to be a job I enjoy but thankfully I am not one of those who irons tea-towels, pants, etc. Neither do I iron fitted sheets as they get flattened out by us lying on them. I iron as little as I can get away with but I don't go out in wrinkled up clothes so my clothes ironing methodology is really based on little more than "Would I go out in this?'. Agree irons also useful for crafts, dressmaking (of which I do very little) & blocking out knitted pieces of garments before joining them. If I liked polycotton bed linen, I wouldn't bother ironing pillowcases & duvet covers, but I don't, & on balance would rather continue to iron cotton bed linen than swap to a mixed/manmade fibre. So, I will doubtless continue to moan about ironing, but I have dropped it as low as I will go atm.

Re 'the bottom drawer' - Even as a voracious reader in my childhood, I hadn't heard this expression until I was about 13 when my Grandma gave me something & said if I didn't want it for my bedroom now, it would do for my 'bottom drawer'. I asked her what she meant & when she told me, I remember thinking how old-fashioned it sounded. Grandma's family was a bit better off than my Nana's, but even so, I suppose people knew how expensive it was to 'set up home' so started to put things by which would come in useful. Ah well, couldn't go out & furnish/fill a home on a plastic card back then, so there is some sense there, I suppose.

I'd better put today's post on....back soon......
F 

foxgloves

And here is today's effort. It's been a pretty random day as I have just been catching up on things in a leisurely way.
I haven't spent any money, though it is grocery shopping night so not an NSD. No unplanned spending though. back in the Spendy Era, I hardly ever had a day when I didn't buy at least something, & my usually twice weekly city centre trips were, with hindsight, just the most awfully wasteful cash-spraying excursions. Anyway, before I go off on a tangent (plenty of past 'debtisodes' in my previous diary, I don't need to repeat them), here are today's budget-friendly activities:
*Tweaked the meal plans (again) as we remembered we'd decided not to buy 2 of the items we'd got on our meal plan so as to maximise using stuff we already have in the freezer.
*Wrote the grocery shopping list. Mr F will doubtless have some money-off vouchers & he defo had his coffee beaker in his hand this morning when he left, so he will be making the most of it. 
*Mixed up just half a pack of hair colour to perk up my roots. I'd normally leave them a bit longer, but I decided that if there are festive family photos in London next week, I don't want to be looking like the Krampus! I keep a spare empty applicator bottle for this. Next time, I'll use a full pack to do all my hair, then the following one will be roots only using the leftover kit from today. I did this when we were debt busting & think I will resurrect it as it saves a few quid of my Personal Spends each year & isn't a faff to do.
*Delved into my yarn stash for a little portable project I can take with me & chose a nice ball of ombre-style blues/purples sock yarn which I received as a birthday present. Edited a pattern for lacy panel socks to print out as I only need the lace bit of the instructions, the rest is in my head. Still q good few projects in my yarn stash so should hold naughty yarn temptation at bay for a while yet!
*Emptied out our shrapnel tin to make us each a cash float for playing card games next week. Though may as well hand it all to oldest nephew who invariably wins everything. The first Christmas Mr F spent with my family, he won £15. It has never happened again, but he always mentions it every year (while he's losing....) 
*Added a couple more items to the charity shop bag & will drop in off on Saturday.
*Wrote a town list for Saturday. Free parking at weekends this month so will need to get there early. No problem, as there's quite a lot of things on my list. I've told Mr F he can buy a la-di-dah fancypants Christmas sarnie for his lunch & in addition, he reckons he has a couple of birthday freebie offers at various coffee shops.
*Did a couple of surveys. 
*Got out the Christmas crockery, paper napkins (tightwad Foxgloves still using some of the 10p napkin packs bought in Wilko's sale about 3 years ago......awwww, how we still miss Wilko's....) & my Mum's old musical festive bicuit tin. Nothing new in this line has been bought for years. Ironically, a large quite expensive Christmas pudding plate I bought towards the end of the Spendy Era only lasted a year before part of the pattern chipped off, before smashing on our belfast sink. Hmmmm!
*No effort for tonight's meal. I am serving some of the gigantes plakis I batch-cooked during the tomato glut with homemade crusty granary bread & a side of use-it-up pumpkin chunks roasted with garlic & thyme.
Well, that's everything done for today so I intend to put the tree lights on & watch the 1st episode of the new 'Strike' mystery. I've read the book so it will be interesting to see how they translate such an 'online' story to TV. I do like the books.characters though plus the earlier series.
Talking of tree lights. Our tree has received a small amount of 'cat help' this morning. I blamed Soot, but now think that there was a window of time during which Ash could have done it so I'm not sure. The whole tree had moved a small distance, 2 decorations had been knocked off - a bead having also been removed from one of them (not swallowed as I found it) & there was just enough of a scattering of artificial pine needles to indicate that one of the lower branches had sustained a chomp. 
Ah well, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.
Enjoy your evenings,
F x

foxgloves

P.S Meant to tell you that Mr F loved his birthday fudge. He was even putting a couple of daily squares in a little box to take to work as he said they made him feel festive. Can't fault him! Cheap recipe, nice result & not difficult to make, so a win all round.
F

Sun_Addict

Our old tom cat used to be a devil with the Christmas tree. One year we had a real one and he casually sidled up to it and tried his luck pawing a bauble. When I told him off he suddenly shinned up the middle of the tree and we had a right palaver trying to untangle him from the lights and baubles. Thankfully the current cats aren’t interested not even the young one. 

Glad Mr F is enjoying his fudge. 

foxgloves

@Sun_Addict - Thankfully, we haven't yet had any of our cats, past or present, climb the tree......but I don't want to speak too soon as there are plenty of Days of Christmas to come.
F

Humdinger1

Please can you trot me through 'The Krampus' @foxgloves? Sounds like an interesting back story! Revelling in your diary as ever love Humdinger xx 

foxgloves

@Humdinger1 - No back story. I just like pagan folklore. See images of the annual Whitby Krampus Run! I wish we had such an event locally.
The Knecht Ruprecht is another European folkloric seasonal visitor. I remember learning about him back in school German lessons. St. Nicholas & presents for good children, but a bundle of birch twigs from Knecht Ruprecht if anyone had been naughty! I think you said you are like me an amateur pianist? I have Schumann's "Knecht Ruprecht" piece open on my piano atm. I can play it, but not as fast as it should be (unlike all the bloody annoying child prodigies on YouTube!). Never mind, I very much only play for my own amusement these days.
Right, better get cracking. I've got 2 cakes to ice & a horrible feeling that one of the reindeer decorations I'd intended to use has no front legs!
F x