Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
Hope everyone is managing to have a reasonably decent day. Another grey rainy one here.
Thanks for all your comments, which I always enjoy reading. Re cat carriers, I don't use the big river company & our 'local' cat rescues are both a good drive away - the one from which we adopted Ash & Soot is on the other side of the county & the other one which occasionally attends rescue situations in our area is actually city-centre based - but I appreciated the suggestions. I think we have now found one which is an acceptable price, which we can buy locally.
A most unexciting day, but that's fine with me after last week. Scaffolding still here. Have pinged to find out when it is going to be collected. I would like to see the back of it now. 
Anyway, I've dealt with my email inbox, washed cat travel bedding, done the ironing & (as my yellow sticker shell-on nuts are being gradually scoffed) cracked sufficient nuts to be able to make Cranks nut roast. Now in the freezer with the leftover chestnuts. Must remember to put this on February's meal plans - it will feel like a free meal as use-ups so often do.
Have also made my annual marmalade from the sevilles I prepped & soaked yesterday.
Latest bill from the Cephalopods landed this morning so perused that & crunched the figures for my records. Used around £3 less than the same billing period last year. Credit balance obviously being used now, as we are in the colder months, but that is what it is there for & it is still higher than last year's at the same point in the year so I think we should be ok - though must remember that our monthly payments have been a bit lower too, which may have had a greater effect once we get to the end of March when our CH gets switched off.
We are aiming to have our Annual Money Summit Meeting over lunch this weekend, so tomorrow I am intending to get together all the figures plus a rough agenda of things I think we need to discuss. Right, that's it. I said it was a highly uneventful day, didn't I?
F x

EssexHebridean

Seville oranges - good reminder there Mrs F, thank you! 

rtandon27

Really interesting energy use analysis! I'm now wondering what our comparison would be.

I don't track from year to year, but do an annual consumption average vs cost every mid-month.  For the past 5 years we are down 2 to 3 pounds a month, and this is with mandatory usage during the day as OH is convalescing at home.  I'm happy with this as our gas powered CH with the occasional boost from eco-electric heater is still half the cost of when we lived on the farm/Estate.  There, our CH was oil powered and eyewateringly expensive! By comparison our electric was low as we had huge windows with natural light in every room!

2Scratters

@foxgloves re your jewellery sort out have you considered collecting all your broken/unwanted metals and have a new piece made from them that would be wearable? I am saving mine in the hope to have a simple bangle made. As the yellow precious is increasing maybe better to leave the cash in till later if you go down that route, for sure it's not likely to do down any time soon.


2 Scratters xx

foxgloves

@EssexHebridean - Your're welcome! You know what seville orange season is like. Blink & you've missed 'em!

@rtandon27 - I don't track energy consumption in the same level of depth as some - it's costs I mostly look at as I know if they hold steady then monthly payments shouldn't suddenly incur a wild jump & our credit built up over the summer should subsidise us through the winter. It's interesting to do though. Agree it's important to maintain good temperatures while your OH is convalescing.

@2Scratters - No, I haven't, but am planning make a new necklace at some point by having a selection of silver charms which I have in my jewellery box soldered onto a long silver chain. It's nice to upcycle things, isn't it?

foxgloves

Hello Thursday Readers,
Oh my days, it's dark here today. Low grey overcast skies, rain pretty much all morning & the continued presence of the scaffolding is making the house feel even more sepulchral. Decent levels of productivity though. Am just popping on to chat to you before I go & make a cottage pie for later. Budget-friendly stuff as follows:
*Baked bread
*Pulled a bunch of carrots from the garden. Very soggy top-growth from the recent cold snap but carrots themselves are fine.
*Labelled yesterday's marmalade & & topped the jars with cut out wrapping paper circles & string.
*Updated grocery budget after yesterday's main shop. Still need to buy meat & veg from the market tomorrow but we have sufficient left to cover that. The butcher has a good deal on at a neighbouring town's market today so I am hoping it's on here tomorrow too as we'd get a decent amount of meals from it.
*Managed to intercept an online order, cancel it & arrange a refund. I suddenly remembered receiving a £10 discount code for this company so obviously wanted to use it. Luckily the staff were really helpful & managed to nab it before it went through their system, so I can re-order & get the £10 off.
*Did a couple of surveys.
*Entered 3 competitions.
*Packed charity shop stuff for dropping off tomorrow.
*Prepared for our Annual Money Summit which will take place this weekend. I have printed out a current snapshot of our Savings Pots, the balance of our 6 general savings pots/accounts, as well as an agenda. I also have my notes from last year's discussions to enable a review of goals/actions. I have included 'Car replacement' on the agenda as I think Mr F has been having a little mostly secret wobble about going through with this in 2026 following the big expense of re-roofing. I have explained to him (as the administrator of the purse strings here at Foxgloves Manor) that the car plans are nothing to do with the Emergency Fund/roof situation. We have saved for a new car, buying one will not impact any other parts of our budget/savings & our Car Fund savings plans were based on a carefully worked out timetable of keeping our current car long enough to enable us to buy outright with no recourse to car finance or any other form of credit, but not so long that it won't be worth the decent chunk we hope to get for it part-ex. So we settled on 6 years, with the monthly amounts we'd need to save worked out & squirrelled away in a savings account. The key action on this is going to be to take advantage of good deals on pre-reg cars just before the new reg comes out, as we have had some very good prices over the years by doing this. Mr F would like something a bit bigger, but still 4-wheel drive as he has quite a long rural commute & the roads around here & his place of work can flood quite regularly. We both think that 10 years from either of the models we are looking at will be entirely realistic even with his commuting & in a few years time, longer regular journeys as we hope to put our relocation plans into action. What we have learned is that it is possible to avoid car finance but the trick is to work out the monthly savings schedule so that it begins AS SOON as the new vehicle is purchased. Replacing it is years away, but it is an expensive item so we estimate what we think is a realistic part-ex, think when we would be aiming to replace, then divide the guesstimate of funds required between the intervening many months. If you'd have told me back in the day that either of us would EVER have been doing anything as sensible as this, I'd have fallen on the floor laughing. We always had cars on finance, even with the double full-time income we had back then, & one car loan Mr F took out actually included bits of remaining finance from his last TWO vehicles! Anyway, enough of that. Our Money Summit meeting will happen this weekend & it will give me a framework for targeting this years money as best I can. 
Right, I can see it is time for cat treats to be dispensed, then I shall get on with making that cottage pie. 
Stay cosy, m'dears,
F x

Makingabobor2

Love your posts FG, you always give me such good ideas and useful tips. We started a New Car Savings Pot, based on your posts from a while back, but haven't got much in it yet, but its moving in the right direction which is the main thing.  We always buy 2nd hand cars, and back in our "spendy" era we were loaned money by DH's parents to buy a car once, which they then decided they didn't want all of it back after we had paid back a good chunk. Previous to that we had used credit, which was not the best idea in the world.   Then in 2021, our car was written off by a lorry and we managed to get a new (2nd hand one) with a combination of the insurance and the little bit of EF we had at the time.   Ours does a lot less miles these days, as DH uses motorbike for work the majority of the time.   I am also wanting to have a financial annual meeting soon, as last years, was ok except that we didn't actually get round to some of the things on the list. So hoping to make it more realistic this year. 
Enjoy your cottage pie. x 

Blackcats

I think that 2 big expenditures in one year can create a wobble but, as you say, your costs are funded from different places and the car money is in place.  We bought a new mattress this month, saved for it and used a sale discount and blue light card discount but it still felt a bit scary handing over the just for points credit card.  It is so comfortable that we are both pleased we splashed the cash.

Suffolk_lass

Interested in reading about the cat carriers and I just took a look at Marketplace on FB and there are lots there within ten miles of us and the going rate is about £15 for a decent one.

I've made my marmalade and for the first time, I used the Pressure cooker. How did I never do this before!? So much quicker. I varied the recipe because scraping out all the pulp and pips before bagging and cooking them falls into the PITA category. In the past I have delayed and delayed and ended up binning a bag of SO. I haven't made any for about three years now.

So this year I went simple. I soaked and scrubbed, quartered and pressure cooked (12 minutes at pressure for a kilo with 2 lemons in 500ml water) and then I left them until the following morning. A fork and spoon to remove said pips and pithy bits, it was easy to add the other 500ml water and make it with 1.4k of sugar. The yield is higher too, and less boiling to reach setting point. A lighter coloured marmalade but not suitable for my Mum, as she prefers a jelly or finely shredded marmalade.

foxgloves

Busy weekend with the ongoing mega decluttering, our Annual Money Summit Meeting (this afternoon), charity shop drop-offs, a trip out to buy this year's veg seeds & another tip run for Mr F. Have also lined up necessary post-new roof jobs in the most sensible order for completion, decided to book the electrician sooner rather than later & chased up an explanation for the scaffolding still being here.
Will reply to comments & post properly on Monday. Enjoy the weekend all. 
F x