Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Baileys_Babe

foxgloves said:

@Baileys_Babe - Is that the 'Doris Grant' loaf which only requires a single proving? Mine is smaller as I use 300g wholemeal to 200g white but it's a decent size for the two of us as I bake rolls quite regularly too. I alternate a yeasted loaf with a sourdough one usually, but it depends how I feel on the day (like everything else!)
F

No, the 'Doris Grant' loaf has sugar in the recipe and is not kneaded and resulting a heavy loaf which doesn't last long but has the advantage that it is quick to make.

In the past when there were 6 of us we used to bake 3 or 4 loaves a week, now there are only 3 people eating this bread we bake 2 or 3 loaves a fortnight and occasionally we make a batch of rolls if the mood takes us.

Makingabobor2

Saww this and thought of you @foxgloves

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - Yes, that was me at the weekend sorting out all my seeds. One of my favourite jobs at this time of year.
F x

foxgloves

Budget-friendly-stuff I did yesterday. My post was gobbled up when I jumped out of the kitchen chair to turn the rice pan down & I hadn't the heart to type it all out again. Anyway, Wednesday's tasks went like this:
*Wrote meal plans for next week, heavily prioritising stuff from the freezer as Mr F wants to defrost it & we are in the final week of our February grocery budget cycle & I'm hoping not to overspend it, especially as it's already lower from having stocked up on that lower priced cat food.
*Made packed lunch & breakfast.
*Home Care Hour = Vacuuming kitchen unit kickboards then all downstairs rooms. Dusted a couple of bookshelves & rearranged to make much better use of the space. Also, I think it makes that corner look more homely without having spent any money, which is a double-win.
*Did some surveys.
*Made a good start on preparing the greenhouse for seed-sowing. Picked the last little bit of autumn-sown rocket. The other bits of remaining salads had been frost-damaged so were added to the worm composter for helpful chomping. The autumn-sown spinach looked fine so potted it up into a deeper container & gave it a good water. It will at least provide some fresh leaves next month.
*Sorted out some library returns.
*Another low-effort meal  - last of the turkey bhuna from my post-Christmas cook-up. Only had to do the rice & open the last jar of my 2023 pear chutney to accompany it.
Not an exciting day, but felt I'd done a reasonable amount & I did strike it lucky with surveys in the afternoon. I'm above my £40 monthly cash-out target on PA & will keep looking.
F

foxgloves

And here are today's efforts:
*Wrote Week 4's grocery shopping list for Mr F to pick up tonight. He was bonding with a staff member over their broken customer coffee machine last time, but I know he's got his beaker with him in case the engineer has been out, lol.
*Dinner in slow cooker - used some nice bargainaceous shin beef from our local butcher to make a meal-in-a-bowl stew. Took the opportunity to include a selection of use-it-up veg. All I shall need to do is add potatoes mid-afternoon.
*Home Care hour = Trimmed, watered & fed all our houseplants. Put aside all the overwintered cuttings which require potting up next time I'm having a greenhouse session. 
*Printed out new car insurance documents (it was the renewal quote I told you about in which the price had DECREASED!) I prefer hard copies of insurance policies so I can circle bits & write notes on them should I need to make a claim or otherwise contact them. Printer has been telling me for weeks that the ink cartridge is very low, but I have had plenty of print-outs from it that have been fine so I'm glad I didn't change it too soon.
*Knit more of my current stash use-up socks for the present bag. I shall do this after lunch when I intend to watch a film. Believe it or not, this has a knock-on money-saving advantage (not just knitting a free present) because once this film had been viewed, we are cancelling our current streamer. We have discussed it & think we have plenty of stuff to watch on the free streamers plus from our own collection & we will also be busier in the garden as the growing season gets underway. We have decided to put the £8.99 per month into our Leisure & Entertainment Pot instead. We will probably subscribe again in the Autumn but it'll be a worthwhile saving in between.
So that is basically my plan....with a side helping of trying to keep my mind off the dentist tomorrow. It's only a check-up but it's my private dentist who wants to see how my implants have bedded in after the first year. If I don't go for annual check-ups, I invalidate the warranty on the work, so I defo need to go. Have been quoted a minimum of £75 but it could me more if I require a 3-D X-ray. I just hope he finds all is well with them as they cost a lot of money. I am not aware of any problems, so fingers crossed.

Before I go, I just wanted to share some little savings from our Project Surbiton Challenge this year. As you know, this is all about Savings Pots.....as in more money needing to go INTO them than flowing the other way! Here, as with everything to do with debt-busting or savings, the small things are key. Two classic small things from the last couple of weeks 1) TIGHTS!! Had planned to do a bulk order of tights from my purveyor of choice in the New Year. I do wear coloured/patterned tight but I mostly buy black 80-denier ones as they go with all my stuff. Well, I had a good sort through my drawer & separated the tights I currently own into 'Good, plenty of life left in them' & 'Very rarely worn because they are other colours or I'd simply forgotten I had them'. There are 3 pairs in the latter pile which are various shades of purple plus a couple of black pairs which are holed (above the waterline, so I can still wear them!). I decided that if I prioritise the good ones for going out & the others for around the house, I can put off buying new ones until next Autumn. Thus money not spent from the Clothes Pot.
2) Cat bowls. One of their bowls smashed to smithereens this week but because I'd been sorting out kitchen cupboards on my daily Home Care hours, I knew we still had a pile of the same bowls in a different colour which are never used. Ash is now proud owner of a new green bowl shopped from home with no pence vacating the Home & Garden Savings Pot. There is, however, a slight lesson from this......those unused bowls have been in the cupboard for years. We bought a cheap set of crockery for our camping trips (last one in 2019) but only ever used 2 of them & there was 4 of everything in the box. When we visited the blue & yellow Plastic Plant Emporium before Christmas, we saw the same bowls in white & decided to buy one each for Soot & Ash to replace old degrading ones which they inherited from our previous feline friend. Now they weren't in anyway expensive, not at all, but it just shows that keeping a good working knowledge of what we have in stock at home can save money & buying stuff we don't need. They are EXACTLY the same china bowls, the only difference being the colour, yet even when paying for them at the till, neither of us remembered the spare ones we'd got knocking around at home. It's not as if they were stored somewhere unexpected either, as they were in a cupboard where I store infrequently used crockery & glassware. I wonder how many other little moneysaving opportunities I'll find while sorting & decluttering.
Well, the two rascals are tearing up & down, meowing, trying to & attract my attention. Tbf, it is their lunchtime, so I shall wish you all a pleasant day & sign out for now.
F x

Sun_Addict

For years our cats used DD's old melamine baby food dishes/bowls until they eventually disintegrated from well over 30 years use. I certainly got my money's worth out of them 😆

rtandon27

Sending supportive vibes for the dentist appointment!

I had my first round of orthodontic work yesterday - one word - OUCH!

Your shopping from home is quite the inspiration! The OH and I always take a moment to use your phrase before any pennies part from our grip. 😁

badmemory

Your comment about printing you car insurance gave me a slightly unpleasant reminder of what I nearly did with my house insurance.  When I checked I was flabberghasted.  Letter 1 from them 22 pages, letter 2 was 24 pages & letter 3 was 26 pages.  THEN they sent an email with over 26 pages & I almost printed them.  I had never really noticed before & then there were all the pages that said deliberately left blank.  I am now much more careful about stuff that comes through the door & print most stuff on those blank pages incl shopping lists which I print as arthritic hands = illegible writing.

Makingabobor2

sounds like you are busy as usual. Interested in you saying you planted spinach. Never even thought of growing spinach, don't know why, but I do like it, even though DH will only eat it if its heavily disguised....lol.  Must read up on it and give it a go.  Need to do a check of what seeds I have in my tin and a list of what plants I will need.  I don't have the space to grow everything from seed yet...maybe one day when I eventually find space for a greenhouse...lol

Suffolk_lass

Doris Grant! I love her books. I have several, and it just goes to show that old nutrition works just as well as new. I must admit, I have never added black treacle to my bread (that is her alternative to sugar). I can't readily buy wholewheat flour so I tend to add back the wheatgerm to mine for that lovely nutty flavour