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Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
Comments
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Afternoon Sunbeams,
Thanks for all your comments & contributions. Am both smiling & grimacing at deceased rodent stories & nodding in agreement re covid working policies. I'm still symptom-free, but think it would have been a different story had it been winter with windows & doors shut & less outdoor activity. Mr F was fine to go into town this morning but says he still feels more tired than usual. Right, I've had it with jobs for today so thought I'd chat to my frugal crew, then settle down to read my book. No way am I going to hit my 100 novels in 2025 target, but I'm enjoying trying. Today's budget-helping miscellany:
*Baked the sourdough loaf I made yesterday.
*Parked on supermarket carpark for free & just made sure we didn't dawdle.
*Took advantage of local butcher's 5 trays for £20 deal to stock up freezer. Also bought & froze good-sized leg of lamb (£15) for a sunny June weekend as Mr F keen to try out a new recipe......(& wouldn't you just know I automatically started calculating how many knock-on meals I'd get from it?!)
*Re-stocked medicine box cheaply at sounds like Ravers.
*Swung round via A*di to re-stock pantry with a few specific items we generally get from there as price differential is still sufficient to make the effort to visit a 2nd supermarket.
*Cleaned kitchen & bathroom using usual minimal products & washable cloths. Emptied bins & sorted pantry stock-up shopping onto shelves. Mr F insisted on running the🦈 around but I insisted he do something restful this afternoon.
*Progressed hardening off courgettes & squashes.
*Did 2 loads of laundry & pegged out. Unplanned but there is apparently some much-needed rain in the forecast & I thought it made sense to get ahead of that with towels & essentials, etc.
The cats are both on one atm. Ash wanted to bring a mouse in last night, but Mr F spotted him & blocked the cat flap. We've had that stunt before....trotting in with a gobful of live rodent for gleeful release in our front room. Not wanting to be outdone, Soot hacked up a humungous hairball to ensure that Mr F (first up) had a sufficiently yukky task with which to begin his day. As it obviously takes two things to equal a mouse capture, he then stropped his claws with all the vigour he could muster before his breakfast on the landing carpet, adding to the damage he has already caused. Aaaaagh! Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em!
Ah well, take care now, m'dears,
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!12 -
I love that your Dads royalties have gone towards opera tickets. It seems so appropriate.4
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Your tales of Soot and Ash make me laugh.My cat vomited yesterday - he starts with deafening yowling and howling and then does his utmost to find carpet to be sick on. Not the cheap n cheerful washable rugs or on the newspaper I chase him around with and try to thrust under his face. Yesterday's offering was whole dreamies 🤢. I had tried to warn him to eat more slowly ... then the vile beast tried to re-eat them!7
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Ugh! Thanks for sharing... 🤮 At least my Stealth Cat crept in, brought up hairball on wooden floorboards near enough to wake me with the smell, then stalked off with her tail in the air as I mopped up with tissues (02.45, since you ask)Blackcats said:Your tales of Soot and Ash make me laugh.My cat vomited yesterday - he starts with deafening yowling and howling and then does his utmost to find carpet to be sick on. Not the cheap n cheerful washable rugs or on the newspaper I chase him around with and try to thrust under his face. Yesterday's offering was whole dreamies 🤢. I had tried to warn him to eat more slowly ... then the vile beast tried to re-eat them!Save £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 -
Oh they are holy terrors aren't they? Yesterday evening, Soot rediscovered the dead mouse....or more likely, remembered where he'd left it once Ash had lost interest. Thankfully spotted him speeding towards the door with it & just managed to block the catflap with the compost bin & a basket. So he performed rodent corpse-based juggling tricks for 10 mins before abandoning it on the courtyard, having first selected 'place most likely to ensure contact with sandalled human feet'. We didn't fall intp his trap. Mr F respectfully interred mouse behind shed.
Ash then added to the feline frolics by throwing up his dinner because he'd gobbled it, stayed out overnight in the rain & arrived bright & early this morning to dry his soggy fur on our duvet.
Oh joy!
F
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!7 -
More cat horribleness over here …
Chloe is now recovered enough from her tap by a car and resultant surgery to be hunting again ….
Mr KK came home on Wednesday evening to find a bloody mess smeared all over the kitchen floor and I had to deal with a dead bird yesterday afternoon, in between cleaning chores … 🙄 Thanks for the extra task, Chloe-bean!KKAs at 17.04.26:
- When bought house £315,995 mortgage debt and end date at start = October 2039 - now £216,847
- OPs to mortgage = £17,793 Estd. interest saved = £9,021 to date
c. 16 months reduction in term
Fixed rate 3.85% ends October 2030
Read 28 books of target 52 in 2026 as @ 23rd April.
Produce tracker: £78 of £400 in 2026
Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
Watch your words, they become your actions.Watch your actions, they become your reality.6 -
Not even going to comment on cat horrors 😬 but Mr F's comments about the sewing machine put me in mind of this blog post, about sewing being part of housework 😊
https://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2009/11/finding-time-for-crafts.html?m=15 -
More random cat antics....
Our young boy steals all manner of cardigans, socks, fluffy pencils etc from peoples gardens! Oh what to do!!! I feel for him because he is so proud of his finds and refuses to listen when I tell him stealing other peoples property is not okay.9 -
Had to rescue my cat from the downstairs loo the other day.. not actually in the toilet, but on his hind legs with his front paws caught in the hand towel, mewling away and not even trying to save himself. Have no idea what he was up to or how long he'd been like that. The other one had a dose of kitty ibuprofen for arthritis and immediately came back with a dead vole and a tick. They are fluffy fools.9
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😂😂😂😂 Brilliant 😊❤️scandimore said:Had to rescue my cat from the downstairs loo the other day.. not actually in the toilet, but on his hind legs with his front paws caught in the hand towel, mewling away and not even trying to save himself. Have no idea what he was up to or how long he'd been like that. The other one had a dose of kitty ibuprofen for arthritis and immediately came back with a dead vole and a tick. They are fluffy fools.
KKAs at 17.04.26:
- When bought house £315,995 mortgage debt and end date at start = October 2039 - now £216,847
- OPs to mortgage = £17,793 Estd. interest saved = £9,021 to date
c. 16 months reduction in term
Fixed rate 3.85% ends October 2030
Read 28 books of target 52 in 2026 as @ 23rd April.
Produce tracker: £78 of £400 in 2026
Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
Watch your words, they become your actions.Watch your actions, they become your reality.3
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