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Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
Comments
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Glad you had a great evening and your outfit sounds fab“the princess jumped from the tower & she learned that she could fly all along. she never needed those wings.”
Amanda Lovelace, The Princess Saves Herself in this One4 -
Sounds a great night out and a wonderful outfit 🥂https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'aggressive safety shot' Ken Doherty4 -
Hello Diary Readers,
Quick weekend round-up of budget-friendly stuff.
Saturday:
*Had our flu jabs. Mr F had a voucher for a free one as he's a key-worker so only had to pay for mine.
*Bought 2 Christmas presents from the list, picked up a 3rd via 'Click & collect' & when we got home, Postie had delivered another two.
*Visited eco-refill shop for cleaning stuff & some festive baking ingredients.
*Another £10 voucher arrived from my CC loyalty points. Am stashing these as 'Tech Replacement Pot' funds.
*Did 4 surveys. PA survey earnings target this month is £40.
*No mangoes on market. Still wasn't minded to pay £2.25 each. Found some in another shop for which Mr F had a £4 off voucher & mangoes were on offer so worked out at £1 each plus one on yellow sticker. This halved the price & I shall get the sauce made this week.
*Bought a long felt pumpkin garland for next year's window display- 1/2 price (£7-50) as Oct 31st been & gone. Had intended to make one myself but didn't get round to it & don't think I could buy the materials for less than that tbh.
Today:
*Rounded off our anniversary week with breakfast at village farm shop cafe. Personal Spends so budget-neutral.
*Productive garden session. Mr F cleared a large veg bed, dug it over & sowed it with a green manure mix. I cleared a section at the back of a border & did some planting - hollyhocks grown from free seed plus self-seeded sweet rocket & verbena bonariensis.
Rest of the day v leisurely - reading, bath, crossword, Sunday papers, chatting & stroking cats. They are both worried atm because of fireworks going off nearby.
Well, a new week is nearly upon us. Let's see what we can achieve.
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!9 -
Velvet wedding cloak?! Every detail please @foxgloves4
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Well, @Humdinger1, we were married in the Autumn so I arrived in a long black velvet cloak over my dress because it was chilly. Dress had medieval style sleeves so wouldn't have been able to fit them into a coat.
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 -
Ooh, I've got the outfit (not the personality) of the evil queen in Walt Dibbly's Snow White in my head now
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 here5 -
Marvellous @foxgloves! I had a black velvet cloak that got pinched from a wedding. I used to wear it sometimes as a scarf to work when very cold. It led to questions about whether Batman worked there. Love Humdinger xx4
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oooo - I love the thought of a velvet cloak! We have an occaision next week and while the dress is autumn weight &I have a pashmina, I was thinking of a velvet capelet for over the top! Then I'd not have anywhee else to wear it!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)5
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Lol, @Suffolk_lass - She is much thinner than me!
@Humdinger1 & @rtandon27 - I do think there are occasions when a velvet cloak has its uses i.e making an entrance.....or even better, making the swishiest of dramatic exits!
Hello Diary Readers,
I feel I've got off to a productive start to the week, although budget updates took a lot longer than usual because of transfers needing to be done from 3 different Savings Pots as well as updating November's grocery budget & Personal Spends. I'll start with that for today's budget-helping activity:
*Did my regular Monday morning budget updates & sorted out the £4 which was adrift on my CC balance.
*Did 3 loads of laundry, 2 of them had an extra spin which should result in less heated airer time. Quite breezy outside but didn't trust the overhanging greyness of sky sufficiently to peg out.
*Made mincemeat. It is now macerating in sherry for 48 hours before I pot in up into jars.
*Made a batch of my own (secret) recipe Hot Mango & Scotch Bonnet Sauce. It's a bit too hot for me, but Mr F loves things which incinerate his mouth linings off & I may also put a jar in one of the festive hampers I intend to make as B-i-L also likes things hot, hot, HOT!
*Froze the very last of the cayenne chillies from their ripening tray. I didn't think they would ripen this late but as soon as I brought them indoors, they weren't even bothered about light, it was just the warmth they wanted & there were new red ones waiting every morning.
*Swallowed the frog. Or I have for now. Am awaiting reply, hopefully followed by a helpful workman.
*Easy-peasy nosebag tonight. We have an online folklore talk early evening, so decided just to have some homemade tomato soup while that's going on, followed by scrambled eggs on toast. It doesn't get much simpler than that, especially as Mr F is the chief egg-scrambler here at Foxgloves Manor.
That's it for today. We shall have sad cats later, especially Ash. He is nil by mouth from midnight but has to stay in so that he doesn't 'accidentally' eat a rodent. So his dinner tonight will be his last food until he wakes up from the anaesthetic tomorrow afternoon. Soot will also have to stay in as the cat flap will be blocked off & will need to have a later breakfast tomorrow in case Ash muscles in on it. Ash isn't poorly, btw, but he needs a dental.
I am feeling stiff & a bit sore today - some of it is from digging/clearing & planting yesterday (Gardener's bum) but I think my shoulder, a knee & general aches are because I tripped over a coffee table last night & went flying. mr F called upstairs, "Whatever was that big crash? Did you hear it?" & rushed up when I said from the floor, "Yes, it was ME!!". (Then I nearly lamped him when he asked me if I'd "fallen over my feet"!! Don't know why it annoyed me so much but it did! He helped me up & made me take some deep breaths before saying I wasn't to do any more jobs, so I was all for that as a result, lol!
Hope your Mondays have been OK.
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!8 -
another velvet cloak owner here, blue, silver lining, big hood (like the Scottish widows ad lady), matching little bag, lots of hours on my knees cutting and pinning great swathes of velvet - love it but won't be making another !! Fabulous for the swish entrance and exit 👍22: 3🏅 4⭐ 23: 5🏅 6 ⭐ 24 1🏅 2⭐ 25 🏅 🥈2⭐ 26 🥈 Never save something for a special occasion. Every day is a special occasion. The diff between what you were yesterday and what you'll be tomorrow is what you do today Well organised clutter is still clutter - Joshua Becker If youre not already using a thing you won't start using it more by shoving it in a cupboard- AJMoney The barrier standing between you & what youre truly capable of isnt lack of info, ideas or techniques. The secret is 'do it'7
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