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Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
Comments
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So close Soot, so close 😂
Glad you got your inheritance promptly and that you can look forward to getting on with your veg plot revamp.
And very glad the flare up has flared down, hope the baked spud is delish, I'm jealous nowhttps://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'aggressive safety shot' Ken Doherty4 -
Yes, it's certainly arrived in good time to finance the rest of the veg plot revamp, @PennysIntoPounds.
Morning all,
No frost or fog this morning & already looking like a sunny day ahead. I'm intending to do a roundup of various jobs which need doing, then reward myself with a good greenhouse session & some time sitting out with a new book.
*Unless Mr F pops out for anything on his break, it will be a No-Spend day.
*Bake the sourdough I made yesterday....oven is about to go on for that.
*Write Easter cards. Bought a little pack as worked out much cheaper than individuals, & I have plenty of stamps.
*Write a quick town list for tomorrow morning. Doesn't wandering around aimlessly invariably result in spending more money?
*Round up bottles & tubs for visiting the local eco-refill shop tomorrow.
*Clean bathroom, vacuum downstairs & empty bins.
*Water seedlings.
*Pot up chillies, cucumbers & at least another couple of trays of seedlings.
*Possibly a bit more hoeing or hawkweed/bindweed root removal depending on time & inclination.
*Enter a competition.
Right, that's looking like an actual list so I am off to make peanut butter on toast & coffee then crack on.
Wishing everyone a pleasant productive day.
F x
2026's challenges: 1) To rebuild our Emergency Fund to at least £5k.
2) To read 50 books (12/50) 3) The Re-Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg
Remember....if you have to put it on a credit card, extend your overdraft or take out a loan to buy whatever it is, you probably can't afford it, as that's not your money, it's somebody else's!10 -
Well, that's all my target jobs done, as well as dividing up a mutinous pot of a posh evening primrose variety I grew from free seed last year. It's made 7 plants so I'll take one when I visit my green-fingered friend tomorrow, as well as a spare tray of fancypants cosmos seedlings.
I do need to water the greenhouse & outdoor seed troughs but the sun is still too strong atm so I'm sitting on a shady bench sharing an apple with our new blackbird. I understand Mr F was planning to liberate himself from work at 4pm so doubtless we'll soon be having a potter around the garden & catching up on our respective days.
Oh, & have scattered a few packets of out-of-date seeds around our wild compost bins area. If we get a few colourful annuals up there, fab. If not, it doesn't matter as they were all free seeds.
Mum's pink primroses are glorious this year....& prolific too. Wish I could give one to each of my readers. We'll have to make it a virtual one instead.
F x2026's challenges: 1) To rebuild our Emergency Fund to at least £5k.
2) To read 50 books (12/50) 3) The Re-Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg
Remember....if you have to put it on a credit card, extend your overdraft or take out a loan to buy whatever it is, you probably can't afford it, as that's not your money, it's somebody else's!13 -
Such a sweet sentiment @foxgloves - all flowers virtual or otherwise are greatfully received!foxgloves said:...Mum's pink primroses are glorious this year....& prolific too. Wish I could give one to each of my readers. We'll have to make it a virtual one instead...4 YEARS 10 MONTHS DEBT FREE!!! (24 OCT 2016)(With heartfelt thanks to those who have gone before us & their indubitable generosity.)...and now I have a mortgage! (23 AUG 2021)Original End Date - Sept 2041 New projection - Dec 2039 (reduced by 21 months)4 -
I'm way behind, but just to comment on strawberry runners; they keep the strawberries in cold storage over winter so they are quite tough. We never bother to protect ours and always get more than we need.
How lovely that you already have the unanticipated inheritance money. Project Surbiton awaits. If you move near me, I demand the opportunity to meet up F2F and swap plants, honey and opinionsSave £12k in 2026 #2 I have banked £2870.61 so far, against a £10k target The 2026 Save £12k in 2026 thread is here
OS Grocery Challenge in 2026 I am sticking with a £3000 annual budget for 2026 - currently £568.34 and most of my March purchasing made
I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the grow your own in 2026 discussion thread
My keep within our budget diary is here6 -
@Suffolk_lass - That's certainly still our plan for when Mr F retires, so consider that a date if & when! He'd like to move now, but he is a few years younger than me so it isn't possible yet. The sector he works in (& me too before taking VR) has been decimated by austerity cuts so he has decided it's safer to work out his career here where he's known & has a post at a decent level, than try to relocate professionally as well as geographically when job opportunities at the right level are sparse.
So if it all comes off, you could be the recipient of an actual one of Mum's fab pink primroses!
F2026's challenges: 1) To rebuild our Emergency Fund to at least £5k.
2) To read 50 books (12/50) 3) The Re-Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg
Remember....if you have to put it on a credit card, extend your overdraft or take out a loan to buy whatever it is, you probably can't afford it, as that's not your money, it's somebody else's!7 -
It makes me vicariously content hearing about Project Surbiton, I know 100% that you'll achieve it 😊https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'aggressive safety shot' Ken Doherty4 -
Afternoon Sunbeams!
Had to laugh a few mins ago as Mr F's fitness watch pinged him a storm warning! Can't see that happening, but the temperature had just dropped so I expect it twigged a change in air pressure or something.
Awful night - woke up at 2.30am rolled up in duvet & blanket like a hot cross sausage roll! Just couldn't get back to sleep & the first thing I reluctantly did on rising, was ping our friends to postpone our planned visit tonight. I'm not a good sleeper at the best of times but know that by about 8pm, I'll be falling asleep & not at my usual level of repartee. So I've been relaxing & reading most of today.
Any budget-friendly efforts? A few, maybe.
*Checked over all plant babies for pests/problems.
*Made use of local butcher's mix & match '5 for £20' offer to stock up freezer. This included a spatchcock chicken which Mr F is v keen to bbq. I have a feeling I gave his bbq tools to the charity shop & can't remember if I told him.
*Called into building society to get our passbooks made up with this year's interest. When we opened these 2 savings accounts a few years ago, I was surprised that in such a digital, costcutting age, they still came with passbooks. The advisor said that customers generally seem to see them as a positive thing, especially if they need a bit of encouragement to save, because the passbooks really show how saving regular quite small amounts can add up to a very handy sum. I remember him saying that it's the 'regular habit' which builds savings for most people. I think that's true of all good money saving habits, isn't it? Meal planning, budgeting for perfectly predictable expenses, sensible shopping lists to cut out the Curse of the Vampire Top-Up Shop, shopping from home as the initial go-to, oh & oodles of others. None of them in isolation will pay off an irksome debt, reduce a mortgage or build the security of an emergency fund, but put together, as single spaghetti strands in the pasta jenga of the budget .....well, they all have a role to play, do they not? Remove too many of those useful strands...aka reverting to one's old ways..... & down it comes.
Anyway, the interest was added & the up-to-date figures will feed into our Easter money summit.
*Mr F had an urge to make lasagne tonight so he is going to make an extra one for freezing.
We've done a crossword, I now intend to read, maybe knit, eat lasagne & watch tv until sleep deprivation kicks in & I end up comatose on the sofa squashed by one of the cats!
Enjoy your Saturday nights,
F x
2026's challenges: 1) To rebuild our Emergency Fund to at least £5k.
2) To read 50 books (12/50) 3) The Re-Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg
Remember....if you have to put it on a credit card, extend your overdraft or take out a loan to buy whatever it is, you probably can't afford it, as that's not your money, it's somebody else's!10 -
Awww, thanks for your encouragement & confidence in us, @PennysIntoPounds. You are always so encouraging to everyone on here, even though I know you are at the hair-tearing stage with your build saga.....I think it probably now qualifies for inclusion into the canon of ancient epic Norse sagas......not 'Njal's Saga' but 'PiP's Saga', maybe a bit 'Beowulf' in which she takes on the Grendel of the local planning department & half-a-job surveyors.
It's enough to make me want to get out my very large umbrella to stage a remote regional protest outside the council office!
F x2026's challenges: 1) To rebuild our Emergency Fund to at least £5k.
2) To read 50 books (12/50) 3) The Re-Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg
Remember....if you have to put it on a credit card, extend your overdraft or take out a loan to buy whatever it is, you probably can't afford it, as that's not your money, it's somebody else's!6 -
😂😊 thank you foxgloves, I feel like a blimmin Norse saga myself! Well if the ancient, often tragic, and seemingly futile glove fits.. 😁
Brolly likewise at the ready for anything that dares get in the way of your plans 🌂
Sorry you had a bad night but good on you for just calling it and postponing seeing friends. I think there are many worse ways to spend an evening than eating lasagne and watching something engaging whilst being piled on by cats, so hope you're having a good one and sleep very well tonighthttps://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'aggressive safety shot' Ken Doherty7
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