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Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
Comments
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Those movement breaks seem pretty irrelevant when younger. Believe me the more above 60 you get the more necessary they become.
7 -
I love how your dad’s royalties are the gift that keeps on giving. He would love how you’re using the proceeds I’m sure. My mum was a ballerina and obviously loved ballet but also anything related to the performing arts. She still bought The Stage up until she passed. I always think of her whenever I go to the theatre she loved it so much.
My cats are the same with own brands. Just when I think I’ve struck lucky with a cheaper brand they start to reject it 😐
I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping)6 -
snap - my cat can appear to be on the cusp of downshifting his branded food but it turns out he is only joking and that box of 12 cheaper sachets will remain in the cupboard with 10 pouches left in it. 1 pouch used, 1 pouch rejected and 10 pouches awaiting another chance.
What talented parents Foxgoves and Sun Addict had.
7 -
In the meantime our cat has pretty much gone feral. We see her disappearing rear end as she heads out again, very briefly in the mornings, but only because we lock the flap overnight!
Loving all the veggie talk. You are prompting me to do something, anything this weekend! 😊 And 100% agree about Geoff Hamilton. Watching him on GW was like a warm hug. I particularly enjoyed his Paradise Gardens series. He influenced me a lot 😊
KK
As at 17.04.26:
- When bought house £315,995 mortgage debt and end date at start = October 2039 - now £216,847
- OPs to mortgage = £17,793 Estd. interest saved = £9,021 to date
c. 16 months reduction in term
Fixed rate 3.85% ends October 2030
Read 28 books of target 52 in 2026 as @ 23rd April.
Produce tracker: £78 of £400 in 2026
Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
Watch your words, they become your actions.Watch your actions, they become your reality.6 -
@badmemory - I think I'm starting early! If I have been sitting for a while I really do enjoy the limb/joint-freeing feeling of getting up & moving about. I just feel better for it somehow.
@Sun_Addict - Yes! Exactly the same when we go out to a concert - I think how much Dad would have enjoyed it. I wish he knew I'd bought a lovely piano with some of the money they left me.
@Blackcats - Oh, they are little horrors, aren't they? Neither of ours will touch duck flavour, so those pouches are stored up for our local hedgehog who has no such qualms about tucking in.
@KajiKita - My favourite was his series on cottage gardens. That's my style of gardening, really. I haven't been to his garden (Barnsdale) for years, but it is still owned by the family & when I last went, the lovely little individual gardens Geoff H made on Gardener's World were all still there. We really enjoyed exploring.
F
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 -
Greetings Friday Fruagalistas!
I hope everyone's managed a passably decent day today - @PennysIntoPounds this includes you! Please let today be the day where things have gone well on your Build & nothing new has rudely reared its head.
Started with a bit of a panic here first thing. Soot had vanished. We usually start stirring at around 5am & he is always at our bedroom door waiting for his breakfast. Well, there was no sign of him. Ash had his breakfast & he still hadn't appeared. Mr F went out to call him & I went out rattling biscuits……I swear Soot could hear that sound from space, but no sign of him. When it had been 2 hours of no-show, we were worried as although it's not a lot of time for most cats, it is hugely out of character for him. His tummy is the clock upon which all other timekeeping in our house is based. I went out again rattling biscuits & was just about to give up when he appeared. Ignoring me, he charged down the garden with the most serious determined expression on his face, delivered himself to the kitchen & wolfed his breakfast without once coming up for air. He seemed a bit skittish & then very glad indeed to be home so wherever he was, I think something had gone on. He's now at my side absolutely flat out! Anyway, enough of stressful cats, has there been any budget-friendly activity today?
*Dinner already done as made enough nice sausage hotpot last night to feed us tonight too.
*Garden pickings: Rhubarb, parsley.
*Potted up almost all the remaining seedlings - just the parsley babies left to do & it won't hurt them to wait another day or two.
*Re-potted all the outdoor tomato plants into bigger pots as they won't be going outside until towards the end of May. I left the Roma ones as they can go in the greenhouse border as soon as Mr F has moved the agapanthus pots outside. I've done a couple but some of them are too heavy for me.
*All tomatoes plus aubergines, chillies, peppers & grapevine had a dose of seaweed solution.
*Shopped a new notebook from home.
*Did a couple of bits of outstanding financial admin.
*Did a few surveys. Double figures on PA but can't see me reaching my old target of £40 a month. It all helps the coffers though, does it not?
Next on the list is baking a batch of rhubarb muffins. I intend freezing a couple for our mini-break drive picnic as this always saves so much compared to stopping to buy sarnies & stuff on route. They will also do us a couple of desserts & I'm sure our favourite builders will appreciate one with their coffee tomorrow - I feel sure they are working Saturday just to fit us in, which we really appreciate.
Oh & in boob news…..as we were discussing bras recently……my new one arrived today & I am giving it a test run. It's a very different style to what I would normally buy but I have to say that I don't think I have EVER put on a brand new bra to find that my first thought is how comfortable it is! If this good opinion (& bra contents 😂) hold up, then I can see me ordering one in magenta too.
Right, enough of my yakk. Off to chop rhubarb.
Love 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 -
Hello Saturday Savers,
Builders' visit went well & we now have a plan of action for the damaged wall before they return next month to finish the job.
Budget-friendliness? Well, not a no-spend day as we paid £200 deposit to the builders but had already put their money aside to be covered from the interest on our Savings Pots account.
Slow cooker bubbling away with a batch cook of bolognese sauce - tonight's nosebag plus 4 portions for the freezer.
Made bread dough - nearly ready for the oven but proving taking longer since we switched off the CH. It'll speed up again as the weather warms up.
Mr F dug over & weeded a bed for our broccoli - free seed which has made sturdy big plug plants. We got it planted up & he contructed an anti-butterfly covering from mesh & canes. Apparently this was Man Work so I got on with moving lettuce babies to the cold frame, potting up parsley seedlings, deciding where to put my agapanthus pots & planting out a few freebies. Also made a list for garden centre visit tomorrow....some stuff to buy & some things to look at & assess.
No further tasks planned for today so shall enjoy an afternoon of reading & a soak in the bath. I'm defo going in first after all the grubbing around Mr F has done in the broccoli bed! He laughed at me earlier putting a bucket of grey water by the loo ready for a free flush - I am in the 'metered water headspace' on this now. However, I've just spotted him emptying the dehumidifier tank by watering several plants, so we're both at it!
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!7 -
It sounds like Soot might have got shut in somewhere? 🤔 Hoping it makes him more cautious next time! 😉
All much constructive doings 👏 What’s the feedback on the new boob holster?
KKAs at 17.04.26:
- When bought house £315,995 mortgage debt and end date at start = October 2039 - now £216,847
- OPs to mortgage = £17,793 Estd. interest saved = £9,021 to date
c. 16 months reduction in term
Fixed rate 3.85% ends October 2030
Read 28 books of target 52 in 2026 as @ 23rd April.
Produce tracker: £78 of £400 in 2026
Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
Watch your words, they become your actions.Watch your actions, they become your reality.6 -
I wish we could go back to the engineeringly correct bras of my early teens. The ones where the straps are in the correct place to take the load instead of from the side that then fall off your shoulders, so you need an additional piece fastening the straps together. Makes getting dressed like putting a harness on. It doesn't help that I have to use a bra extender as per MnS instructions otherwise the relevant items are under my armpits.
5 -
@badmemory I thought it was just me re the straps falling off my shoulders. It seems to be worse when I am driving as they slide off 😕proper annoying. I keep sitting upright stick my chest out and still the damn things slide down. Big boobs and small shoulders I am not a mannequin as I move about 😤
2 Scratters xx
Anything is better than nothing-check back and see
On the declutter journey since 2023 with Mrs SD. Tilly Tidy since 2023.5
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