Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

PennysIntoPounds

Wonderful MSEing by you and Mr F, enjoy your G&T 🥂

I am slightly ashamed I asked for my birthday for a moisturiser that costs £49. But I originally got one to review and most of my reviews are 'in reality this is no different from anything else and none of its claims are true'. However this expensive moisturiser makes my skin look all dewy and pretty and I love it and I am very annoyed I ever discovered it 😂

foxgloves

Don't get me wrong, I loved the £49 moisturiser. I received it as a birthday gift with 2 other products in the range & as it was a boxed set, it was on offer. I'd be more than happy to receive ir again as a gift, esp as I like useful things. It's good stuff too. I have good skin for my age & like to use more 'treat-level' skincare now & again. It was seeing the individual product prices which made me think this one's for a special treat, not every day. Mind you, when I went in the other shop, I noticed that a moisturiser I used to buy from there had gone up to £30 & I think that's probably getting close to a 'ceiling price' for what folk are prepared to pay in there.
F

KajiKita

Chocolate is another commodity that is only going to go up in price as climate change kicks in … (I don’t drink coffee so that doesn’t affect me as much but Mr KK does so it does affect our budget to some degree.) 

Glad Soot is feeling more himself again 😊❤️

I must admit the last time I went to the shop of body I was shocked at the prices (had always thought of it as being somewhere price competitive) and didn’t find any combinations of smells I wanted to use on myself. Even the neroli scent was mixed within something weird. Then went into the C0vent garden shop in the same city centre and nearly fainted at the prices! I didn’t buy anything there either …! 😂 I’m not very good at beautification 😉

KK

badmemory

Let me tell you a story about beauty products.  Over 50 years ago I dated a chemist (not the pharmacy kind) & he used to work for a beauty product company.  They brought out a product that was really cheap to make so the price reflected that.  It didn't sell.  So they withdrew it from the market.  They changed the name slightly & resold at ten times the price, big hit.  They are still selling that product, although they have since changed one letter in the name.

Humdinger1

Sorry if my comment came across as judgemental. I do have posh stuff for my face but it lasts ages and makes me feel good; I have a line in my budget just for this.  As many have said, it's seeing it in this particular shop that's the shocker. I know that skin is our biggest organ, keeps out nasties etc...I use all over after swimming and otherwise it's for feet only.  My view is that we ask so much of our feet and what thanks do we give them.  Love to all Humdinger xx 

kayannie

badmemory said:

Let me tell you a story about beauty products.  Over 50 years ago I dated a chemist (not the pharmacy kind) & he used to work for a beauty product company.  They brought out a product that was really cheap to make so the price reflected that.  It didn't sell.  So they withdrew it from the market.  They changed the name slightly & resold at ten times the price, big hit.  They are still selling that product, although they have since changed one letter in the name.

Changed the U for an O?  If so, many years ago a friend of mine caught her husband using it as handcream after a particularly oily job. She was not amused! 

badmemory

It taught me a lesson about various products.  I've tried an awful lotl but always come back to aqueous cream & sometimes wash my hair with it as suggested by a doctor a lot of years ago.

foxgloves

Interesting discussion about moisturisers. Enjoyed reading everyone's comments.
@badmemory - That story doesn't surprise me at all, old cynic that I am!
@KajiKita - Yes, I agree that chocolate prices are defo increasing....even though (halo time!) I haven't bought any for quite some time.

Hello Sunday Savers,
I'd earmarked today as a really good, useful gardening day, which hasn't happened because of the rain. However, that's helping the garden in other ways after such a long dry spell so I am not complaining. I've bumped it to tomorrow, when hopefully the downpours we are getting will soften up the earth to make weed-pulling & hawkweed root digging easier.
Instead, I've cracked on with some decluttering & feel nicely motivated with that. General budget-friendly stuff today:
*Did a YouGov survey & am well over halfway to cash-out.
*Finally dealt with the growing pile of books decluttered from various shelves onto the floor of Foxgloves HQ. Tried them on WoB, turned out they wanted 15 of them so have traded those & boxed up for collection. Remaining items bagged ready for next trip to our local charity bookshop.
*Decluttered my handbag, swapped everything over to a flowery summer one & cleaned my usual one so it's rtg for Autumn.
*Decluttered bathroom cupboard & sorted out my toiletries stash.
*Entered a prize draw.
*Bit of general decluttering.
*Will be chatting through our diaries over lunch so we both know what we're doing over the coming week. Being organised does generally save one money, does it not?
No further jobs planned though. Looking forward to finishing the crossword, reading the weekend papers & a bit more of my current library book plus a soak in the lovely bath salts I received back in April for my birthday & a hair wash & treatment pack (which must have been a freebie as I can't remember from whence it came!)
Enjoy your Sundays, all,
F x

Suffolk_lass

Sorry to be late to comment. I am that person who has just bought 3 of the more expensive serums in what I am guessing is that range. I was going to buy day cream, night cream and serum, but the price differential persuaded me to buy three of the most expensive ones to get one free. It won't date expire, and as well as 3-4-2 it was 20% off. It was a "spend to save" choice. 

I am very envious of your courgettes. My first two have been picked. I am hoping for courgette-ageddon in time. Oh, and the Guatamalan squash I bought on your recommendation @foxgloves, is going slightly bonkers. Escape committee has clearly been deployed. The one in the fruit cage (still awaiting successful cuttings from the berry bushes outside so deployed for squashes) is climbing the walls, literally, and the other is through the rabbit fencing and climbing the netting intended for climbing beans!

foxgloves

@Suffolk_lass - Courgettageddon has already started here. Very good variety - 'Black star' which I will defo grow again. They are very dark green & shiny and we have both commented that they seem less watery than some varieties. We both like them wokked with a bit of garlic & with some varieties, you can get quite a bit of water coming out so that they steam more than saute. These 'Black star' ones hold their shape & remain quite firm. Hope yours get a wriggle on now that we've had some rain.
Ah, now the Guatemalan Blue squash is a grower. I mean, it really is. Point it in the direction of Lowestoft this afternoon & it will be there enjoying some chips by Wednesday! We let ours get pretty big - like Robert Plant (hey, a great name for your squash!), they just have to ramble. Once they have set fruit & these are growing in size, we start chopping off new bits of vine so that it can concentrate on growing them to a good size & ready to harvest before the colder weather. We usually get 2 from each plant, occasionally 3, but they can be huge. We find that a single Guatemalan blue provides a decent amount of meals. They store well in the pantry too. I had never heard of this variety until I was sent some saved seed from someone who used to have a diary on here years ago & who had an allotment. Each successive year, I've saved my own seed for re-sowing the following Spring. Although they are a sort of greeny-blue-grey colour, they cut open to lovely orange flesh similar to butternut. Good luck with them!
F