Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

It certainly has been a good year for courgettes so far, hasn't it? I thought ours were slowing down the other day when I only picked one, but there were 6 of the fiends waiting for me this morning!

Hello Diary Readers,
I intend to do not a lot this afternoon, so I am getting my post on while I remember & still have my laptop open. Not much to report but shall be keeping the faith despite it being a BH, which were often very spendy back in the bad old days.
*Popped to village farm shop cafe for our breakfast - used our Personal Spends, assisted by a free coffee from our full loyalty card, so budget-neutral. Didn't get tempted by their lovely shop, mainly by heading straight out.
*4 loads of laundry - 2 already pegged out, 1 churning & another rtg. Let's make use of this free drying weather while we still have it.
*Did my usual Monday morning budget updates & can confirm that the grocery budget was overspent again this month - by £32. We did entertain family at the beginning of this budget cycle & friends this weekend, but our assertion that Aug's Week 4 grocery spend was higher because we bought things in advance for feeding guests next Sunday was blown out of the water when I checked the receipt & found that the ONLY item we'd actually bought for that occasion was........a single packet of breadsticks! So much for that theory!
*Number-crunched latest bill from the Cephalopods. All as expected. We now have over £100 more credit on our energy account than at this time last year, so why they thought we were underpaying & suggested that big increase in monthly payment, I have no idea. Glad I took the time to sit & do all the sums, look at their own predictor tool, etc, as it was clearly some kind of blip in their algorithm for which I had zero intention of paying. Their monthly estimates of how much we will need to be charged is pretty accurate in the summer months but overestimates our energy use in Winter. For example, we used only about half of what they estimated we would use in April & May as we turned off our CH at the end of March, as we always do. I think September will be the last month where we add a decent chunk of credit before the colder months arrive, so at least we know we will be going into those with our account in good shape.. 
*Today's garden pickings: Blackberries, courgettes & tomatoes.
*Mr F's cooking night. He's making an old favourite - Madhur Jaffrey's whole Indian spiced chicken (recipe is in her Curry Bible). It does make for tasty leftovers which I will be using for a further 2 meals. Sharing a portion of homemade vegetable bhuna with it which means another container coming out of the freezer. I am still worried about how on earth I am going to get tomorrow's fish box delivery in there, as very little else is due to come out for the next couple of days.
*Leftovers selection for lunch. (I am evangelical about leftovers which always seem to make one's fridge contents seem more eclectic & somehow sort of more interesting!)
*Plan what I'd like to achieve over this week, very little of which will involve parting with money.
*Sort out a selection of jars from my stash ready for doing some bottling tomorrow. 
Apart from the above, I don't intend to do anything else of a job nature today. I have the Sunday paper to finish, the crossword, plus my book to be getting on with. If I find I need to get my steps up to their daily minimum, I shall float around with my secateurs for half an hour.
Enjoy your BH m'dears, & as always, remember those plastic cards can't leap out of your purse by themselves. 
F x

badmemory

I upped my housekeeping budget at the start of this year & by quite a bit - expecting to come in under budget.  Out of the last 7 months only 2 have not been over budget & those were close.  What can you do when the jar of coffee that you use in less than 2 weeks has gone up by 25%.  The only thing that has changed are the prices.  I have records going back to at least 2012 & keep thinking I should check it out but then wonder if I can take the stress!

Makingabobor2

Love that you are still getting courgettes. Ours seem to have died off now, looks like there might be one more, but that's about it. Think next year I need to find room for  more plants. 

Had to search for your post today, I noticed yesterday that I seem to have stopped getting notifications for my bookmarked threads, no idea why. Will see if some admin person can help

badmemory

I'm sure someone was complaining about notifications the other day.  Luckily it isn't a problem for me as I am on a computer so just go on my bookmarked threads.  Have you checked on site feedback I am sure there was something there about it.

Makingabobor2

badmemory said:

I'm sure someone was complaining about notifications the other day.  Luckily it isn't a problem for me as I am on a computer so just go on my bookmarked threads.  Have you checked on site feedback I am sure there was something there about it.

Ooh, I'll have a look. I am on laptop so can go to bookmarked threads, but it is so much easier when the little bell symbol at the top shows you how many you have. 

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - Yes, we certainly are still getting courgettes, despite me asking Mr F to stop their weekly feed so that we can catch up!

foxgloves

Hello Diary Friends,
Well, this was to have been the sewing afternoon which I bumped from last week, but guess what, it's been bumped again! It will now be on Friday, but hopefully all day. I did think first thing that I might manage to get all today's planned tasks done AND progress sewing my dress, but as lunchtime approached, I had to admit that this was unrealistic. Anyway, I've been quite productive. Budget-friendly stuff as follows:
*Garden pickings: Blackberries, courgettes.
*Made some blackberry & pear compote for tonight's dessert. I do have an expensive-brands-only-yoghurt habit so it is definitely money saving to have something else now & again.
*Prepped 4kg of tomatoes & bottled them. I got through quite a lot of audiobook with all that peeling to do. 
*Rubber chicken duties......actually, I've always thought 'rubber chicken' sounds a bit tough & yukky so in future I am going to refer to this particular frugal task as 'Magic Chicken'. It fed us yesterday, will be served tandoori-spiced with red onions & cannellini beans in pittas tonight & with  home made jacket wedges & salad tomorrow. There was still some left over so I've popped it in a container as I'm sure Mr F will be quite happy to have it for lunch in a sarnie. It is indeed magic how many meals one can get from a roast chicken.
*Fish box arrived - now divvied up & frozen. Also froze a box of trimmings & a spare haddock fillet for making a fish pie at some point. I like to include a nice fat leek in my fish pie base which makes the more expensive ingredients stretch further.
*Entered a competition.
*Did a couple of surveys. 
*Veg  (esp greenhouse) needs watering so I will pop out & do that later. Got to keep that 'free' food coming.
*We have agreed to do a joint meal plan & write this week's grocery shopping list later ready for town & Waitbl00m tomorrow at some point. We HAVE to free up space in the freezer so will definitely be prioritising garden produce (so it doesn't have to go in the freezer) & stuff that is already in there. Mr F nearly had kittens last night when I reminded him the fish was being delivered today as he said there was practically zero chance of it fitting in. He'll be surprised when he gets in later to find that I got it all in there much more easily than his doom-laden predictions!
But for now, as I have not had my sewing afternoon, I think I will take my book out onto the reading bench for a few chapters & enjoy both some literature & fresh air. Looking forward to 'Sewing Bee' tonight.
Chhers,
F x

PennysIntoPounds

I've just noticed your 2025 challenges in your signature, excellent aims

Sun_Addict

It's surprising how much you can fit into a freezer when you take everything out and put it back in neatly 😆

BrilliantButScary

Hi Foxgloves,
I have tried googling the WW Marrow and Lamb bake, but can't find it, would you mind posting the recipe please? Thank you