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Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
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Hello Sunbeams,
What a glorious day! Didn't even need a cardi in the garden this morning, though I was quite busy moving about.
Today's budget-positive jottings:
*A no-spend day.
*The 2nd half of my batch of frozen falafels defrosted. Shall make some piri-piri veggie bulghur later & it'll feel like a free meal.
*Baked the sourdough I mixed up yesterday.
*Potted up remaining 2 varieties of tomato seedlings - 'Oh happy day' & 'Black Russian'. Now back indoors with trimmed down clear yoghurt pot cloches. It's musical chairs this time of year with tender veg seedlings.…well, musical windowsills, anyway. I have plenty of bubblewrap so am thinking of moving the chilli plantlets down to the greenhouse tomorrow, once all the sweetpeas have been shunted off to the coldframe.
*Weeded & forked over a section of flowerbed & added 3 of the plants my friend gave me last week. Also potted up a self-seeded centaurea, foxglove & aquilegia for filling gaps elsewhere. Still finding the occasional pieces of that nuisance foam from the old roof so am litter-picking that as I go too.
*Did 2 loads of laundry, pegged out & hopefully blowing nicely dry in the sunshine.
*Picked next week's meals from March's masterplan & started grocery shopping list plus an additional pantry stock-up list just in case the ongoing idiocy results in petrol shortages. We all know from fairly recent experience that supermarkets don't tend to carry much backroom stock onsite. I will temporarily hold that on a CC, then set aside the exact amount for paying it across when I set April's budget.
Right, it's far too nice a day to.be indoors. I'm off to see if the laundry is dry & maybe say 'hi' to the frogspawn.
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 -
The weather has indeed been glorious today. Makes such a difference. I don’t think supermarkets have fully recovered from the pandemic stock wise. They seem to run out of things on a regular basis. Last week Lid! had empty shelves where the sweetcorn had been but Mr T had loads.
I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping)6 -
@Sun_Addict - Yes, I agree about the gaps. No own-label plain flour last week. Entire large section of shelf empty. Not even a couple on the bottom right at the back which can usually be reached by Mr F's gibbon arms.
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!6 -
Hello Wednesday Pence-Wranglers,
Another dose of fab sunshine. Useful sort of day. Budget-friendly bits as follows:
*This week's grocery shopping done. 2 money-off vouchers used plus latest item on the Little Treat scheme which was a box of Twinings tea. Not much tea imbibed here so have put it aside for adding to a festive hamper. Think we should come in under budget. Time will tell.
*Also went ahead with our pantry stock-up so as to have more supplies in 'just in case'. I'd set a notional £100 for this but it came in at a lot less. Hadn't been to A*di for months so wssn't sure about current price differential. All just bunged in the pantry so shall need to get stuff properly on shelves tomorrow with older dates at the front.
*Very good ironing today as only 3 items so very little used either of electricity or my personal energy.
*More moving around of veggie seedlings. Chillies moved to greenhouse but still under bottle cloches & will be bubblewrapped overnight. As usual, trying hard to maximise future food crops while being mindful that seedlings are vulnerable at this time of year.
*Topped up the wormery with scraps. Shall want to harvest a tray of free compost very soon.
*Gave the grapevine a little bit of a Spring glow-up & a can of liquid worm tea.
*Watered all seedlings. Broccoli babies sulking. Shall need to pot them up imminently as they need more space.
*Mr F scrubbed out my cold frame so I was able to move all the sweetpeas into it.
*Tidied up & weeded strawberry troughs. Have lost 3 plants over winter, prob due to endless rain/sogginess but I had a couple of spare potted-up runners so was able to add those into gaps.
*Weeded a raised bed ready for sowing.
*Some free home fragrance from 2 hyacinths which had snapped in the wind so now in a vase smelling fab.
Am late with Mid-Month Budget Check-In so that will be tomorrow's priority task or I shall start feeling jittery.
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 -
Dear Readers,
A no-spend day, which is welcome after an expensive start to the year. Budget-friendly stuff as follows:
*Made bread dough for rolls & tonight's pizza, which will use up some leftover roast ham & small pot of surplus sweetcorn from the freezer.
*Big pantry sort-out to fit in the stock-up buy we did yesterday. Also topped up jars &wrote on a few dates. The pariah tin of haricot beans which has been passed over for around 3 years was just beyond its BB date, so I have turned it into a batch of breakfast beans from BBC Good Food Healthy Slow Cooker book. Very nice, though as I live with Mr F, I take issue with the assertion that it 'serves 4'!
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
*Did my belated Mid-Month Budget Check-In. Nothing lurking. £5.40 more than I expected, £4 of which traced to the arcanum of our latest broadband contract.
*Planted out remaining couple of plants gifted by my friend.
*Did daily seedling checks, which are at that tricky stage of needing to be uncovered every morning & put to bed at night.
*Remembered to apply anti-Evil Weevil nematodes in time. They are a living product so are short dated & money wasted if not used in a fairly tight window.
As the library has 2 books for me, I am now going to enjoy some sunny reading bench time with Kate Atkinson.
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!10 -
Well, it's been a frugal Friday as there has been no spending of any kind. It will be a different story tomorrow when I do need to go into town. Not much budget-friendly activity to report, but have kept the faith:
*Baked a crusty loaf to ensure bread supplies for the weekend.
*Another box liberated from freezer stores for tonight's meal - turkey chilli which I think I will serve atop jacket potatoes. Leftover coleslaw used up in my lunchtime roll.
*Cleaned all of downstairs, including extra effort in the bathroom, which for some reason I thought was looking particularly grubby. Made up some green bleach in the basin & got cracking. Washable cloths & minimal products as usual.
*Wrote a list of everything I could usefully get done in town tomorrow, including hopefully choosing some fabric to make a new door curtain for between the lobby & conservatory. I'd also like to buy a few Easter cards & need to visit the eco-refill shop plus the indie pet shop for a sack of Soot's biscuits & to look at carpet-based cat scratchers, seeing as that is clearly what Soot most likes to destroy, aaaagggghhhhh!
*Did a few surveys. I don't think I shall make my goal of £40 on PA this month, though am at £22-98 once everyone has paid me. I limit the time I spend on them at busy gardening times of year as I can make (longer term, of course) money by growing food too, iyswim & the gardening year has pinch points when things are a lot busier.
*Enjoyed my piano practice today. At the start of the year, I went through my big basket of piano music to find some new stuff to learn & old stuff to revisit & it has been a really useful & enjoyable bit of shopping from home as I haven't been tempted to buy anything new. I shall pick up the odd thing from our local charity bookshop if I see anything I particularly want, but I don't need anything as have plenty of pieces I haven't yet learned.
Apart from lobbing a couple of potatoes in the direction of the oven & putting the veggie seedlings to bed, I am not intending to do any further jobs today so am off to a sunny bench for some reading time. We've decided on a low-key weekend - town & garden tasks tomorrow, breakfast out followed by a day of leisure on Sunday. It's just what Mr F needs this week & suits me just fine.
Cheers,
F x
P.S While I have typed this, the most fabulous glossy jackdaw has been sitting in our neighbour's gutter watching me very intently, first with one eye, then the other, as birds do. I have a lot of respect for & am fascinated by corvids. Very clever birds.
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!11 -
We have some garden tasks to do this weekend as well. A couple that I need DH's help with, but he assures me, he can't spend much time on them as he has to service his motorbike and then has lots of guitar playing to do!….LOL That's what he thinks…I'll be trying to get him out for a decent walk first. At least while he is playing guitar, I can practice my piano playing.
Making the debt go down and savings go up
LBM 2015 - debt £57K / Now £26,764....its going down
Mortgage Free December 9th 2024! 18mths ahead of schedule.Challenges
EF £630/3000
.
Studies/surveys April.....£177.86
Decluttering items 1400/2025. 198/2026
Books read 23 in 2025. 2026- 11 (target is 52)
Jigsaws done 20 in 2025. 3 this year.
My debt free diary...https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6396218/we-will-get-this-debt-d£own-the-savings-up8 -
I'm lucky that Mr F seems raring to go with his 2 planned garden projects atm then, though both of them are going to require some sort of a spend.
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!4 -
Dear Saturday Friends,
Useful & thoroughly pleasant day so far. Budget-friendly stuff as follows:
*Easter gifts bought in time to get them wrapped & posted 2nd class. I do like to send just a very few Easter cards so was pleased to find a nice little pack, which obviously works out a lot cheaper than buying individuals.
*Bought the 2 outstanding items from this week's grocery budget, so if Mr F doesn't have a beer wobble (he's just realised it's Sat night & he doesn't have any 😂), we should finish our March grocery budget cycle with an underspend.
*We tried some of the slow cooker breakfast beans I cooked on Thurs (from that long-forgotten about tin of haricot beans) on toast with a poached egg & they were lovely. Mr F squirrelled the rest away in the freezer for a work lunch.
*Potted up broccoli seedlings into modules for growing on.
*Sowed some container veg - spring onions, rocket & carrots, plus a tray of basil & pot of coriander. I like 'Calypso' variety for coriander. It will still bolt in v hot dry conditions but it is usually possible to get 3 or 4 good cuts from it first, more if you alternate different sides of the pot each time.
*Mr F emptied out a compost bin which meant I could use less bagged for the veg containers. He will use the rest to top up the level in one of our raised beds for free. Other garden jobs done too, but those are the money saving things.
Fabulously sunny day - coffee & crossword out on the courtyard bench for us while Soot entertained himself with an old sheet of bubblewrap - the attraction seemingly being pouncing on it repeatedly to make it pop. I just need to re-cloche the chilli babies & water all the greenhouse seeds ready to put them to bed as the sun goes down, then it will be sofa/reading time as it's not my cooking night. Maybe a film later plus a gin & tonic with my name on it.
Enjoy your Saturday nights everyone,
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!10 -
That sounds a fabulous day and evening 🥂
You are giving me renewed hope for nice meals coming from my mission to eat down the cupboards before we move, that sounds delicious. How do you do your poached eggs? I used to be able to do them well then I was told it was hard to do and I got self-conscious and lost my knack 🤦♀️
Bless Soot, I hope he showed all those bubbles who's boss!
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'aggressive safety shot' Ken Doherty7
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