Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

PennysIntoPounds

Problems maybe but we were gripped foxgloves, gripped! 😁 I do like a good yarn, which you are excellent at, and care deeply about the peace of mind of my friends and also the whereabouts of £50 vouchers.
Seriously, I am relieved for you that you weren't put into the position of having to lie to protect the feelings of a kind person due to some silly oversight

ladyholly

Your £50 gift card made me worry where I had put the book token from dgds but it was in the 2nd place I looked. Phew.

ziggy2407

Ooh, I like twenty-twenty-thrive @2Scratters! I too am going to steal it and make it my mantra for this year (hope you don't mind).  

I dont often post but am an avid reader of Mrs F and got to know her over the years on the "Small Things" thread and can often be heard at home to say "What would Mrs F do?" and her hints and tips are just legendary as is her knitting prowess. 

foxgloves

@ziggy2407 - Aww, that's kind of you to say so. I can assure you that I am far from perfect on the money front but I do know that if our circumstances changed & we had to pull our horns in, I do have the skills to make a lot more savings.
Yes, I did start out on the 'Small Things' thread didn't I? I can remember reading your posts & those from other regulars & thinking. 'Well this lot sound friendly'. I'd not been debt-free all that long - in fact, it may have been when we had taken out a temporary car loan & I was budgeting carefully so as to overpay that, I can't quite remember. I do know I was trying hard not to waste money though. I won't ever forget that I used to have a 24-year old overdraft!

@ladyholly - Oh, if only that had happened with mine! I felt like I'd looked in 102 places, but very glad you found yours in the 2nd place you looked.
F

foxgloves

Hello Monday Money Savers,
Not a lot to report today. The ice has finally gone from our garden, apart from the big chunks I lobbed out of the bird bath. It's been one of those days where you turn around & the time has just raced by, I don't really know where today has gone. Budget-helping bits & bobs:
*Had a think about what I'd like to achieve this week. Decided I need to have a session in the greenhouse dealing with frost damage & cossetting the stuff that has struggled on through. I want to resume cutting back & clearing garden borders & I want my handknitted shawl finished. I also want to have decluttered at least 2 cupboards & a storage bag by the end of the week. I've scheduled my Mid-Month Budget Check-In for Wednesday morning. Anything else will be a bonus.
*Prepared 2 kg of seville oranges ready for marmalade making. Now soaking in the biggest bowl I own. 
*Prepped the last of our homegrown pumpkin for roasting shortly. I am adding it to pesto pasta with some grated cheese. It needed using up if I was to avoid wasting it.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast. Have bumped bread making for another day due to Mr F finding a pack of bagels in the freezer which didn't get eaten over Christmas. Got to love a helpful freezer find.
*Put clean laundry away. Only one dress required ironing & it wasn't worth paying to heat up the iron for that, so it will be added to next week's pile.
*Cats have been cut down by 1/2 a pouch of meat each. This is because we had noticed that Ash had started to leave some of his food & Soot is getting porky again. Having tried a few days on the new rations, Ash is eating everything he is given. I think it will take a bit longer to see a change in Soot. When they are out & about being more physically active in the warmer months, we will re-assess things.
*Intend to continue knitting B-i-L's socks for the presents bag tonight. They are a funky 1970s colourway. I think I will write something on the label to this effect enquiring whether he used to have a tank-top in these colours & will also enclose some classic 1970s era sweeties. 
Right, I think I will sign out now & pop that tray of pumpkin chunks in the oven. I think a significant amount of tomorrow will be spent jammin'.
Take care, & remember that money really can't jump out of your purse  on its own & start spending itself!
Cheers,
F x

Blackcats

I am imagining the drama and histrionics from Soot on rations!

foxgloves

He's not actually been too bad so far, @Blackcats. I don't think the reality of the situation has quite kicked in with him yet. It didn't help that with Ash leaving some uneaten meat every day, our large black furry eating machine was waiting in the wings ready to provide a bowl-hoovering service!
F

foxgloves

Hello Diary Gang,
Not much to report today other than it being my annual marmalade-making day. 17 full-size jars & 1 half-size from my 2kg of Seville oranges. That's plenty for the pantry & allows for giving jars as gifts - i.e B-i-L often has a couple of jars at Easter as he's not fond of chocolate, some for the 2 Christmas hampers I intend to do, & I like a few spare jars for swaps too. All the jars were from my recycled stash.
Other budget-friendly stuff?
*Baked bread.
*Made tomorrow's packed breakfast & defrosted a work lunch mug, contents unknown, but I reckon it's Man Stew.
*Started a packet of nice crispbreads for my lunch - leftover from Christmas.
*Decluttered 2 storage bags - 6 items to bin.
*Tweaked meal plans as discovered we only have one portion of the thing I'd intended for tonight. Have defrosted some turkey chilli instead, so shall only need to cook some rice.
*1.5 hours planned knitting time this afternoon to progress my shawl, so I am off to get on with that.
Garden looking so tempting but I have ear-marked Thursday for that, so I WILL get out there this week.
Take care, all.
F x

PennysIntoPounds

Those marmalades look adorable 

foxgloves

Thanks, @PennysIntoPounds. If I was on your local treasure hunting route, I'd leave a jar out on our front wall for you to find. No use for your Flat Pot, but a thing of loveliness on hot buttered toast. And I naturally took advantage of that clause on the ancient charter of the Marmalade Makers Guild which decrees that the creator gets to finish off the rest of the Cointreau.
F