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Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
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My coriander has also bolted! despite being in the shade - most of this year's parsley has hung on, but last year's and the previous year's has gone yellow. The lemon balm is thriving as always and the mint - well it is pretty hard to kill that!
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 - Aug 2038 (reduced by 3 years & 1 month)4 -
I've got a remarkably vigorous lemon balm too - first time I've had one so it was nice to know it was very heat tolerant. The chervil in the other end of the trough doesn't take this world-view at ALL though and is keeling over more and more each day.
🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her5 -
You have ONE lemon balm? Next year you will have about 101! 😀 I bought (or was given) one years ago, and these days I have to pull them out from all the beds and pots, even the paths. Even when I have done that there are still loads.
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@Sun_Addict - Charity shop treasure hunting used to be a favourite activity of mine & it defo needs reinstating. Our town still has quite a few, but at least 4 have closed - I suppose people are selling things online if they can & the cost of living crisis affects all shops, not just expensive ones. I must find time for a really good trawl around the ones we have left.
@Makingabobor2 - My best charity shop haul was in Marlborough when I was on holiday nearby. Honestly, most of the stuff in there was better than stuff hanging up in my wardrobe!
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!5 -
Hello Diary Readers,
I am glad I'm an early riser as the early mornings are definitely cooler during heatwaves. It's always my favourite time of day anyway, but particularly lovely at the moment to be able to enjoy the sunshine before it heats up to endurance test levels. I decided to get a few things done this morning (especially cooking) then find a cool spot to sit with my book later when the sun's at its hottest. Budget-friendly tasks as follows:
*Baked bread.
*Made a veggie rice salad for tonight & made sure there's enough for Mr F's packed lunch tomorrow.
*Have resurrected my old copy of Delia Smith's summer cookery book, which used to be an old favourite & made the crunchy peanut chicken drumsticks. The drumsticks we bought were quite big so I decided to bump tomorrow's planned meal (which was salmon so can stay in the freezer) & have some of them with the veggie rice & a mixed salad as planned, then have some tomorrow night with new potatoes & salad/poss carrot mayonnaise. That will still leave 2 for Mr F's packed lunch along with the leftover rice. I did ping him to enquire whether having crunchy peanut chicken drumsticks for tomorrow's packed lunch as well as dinner would be a problem & (as predicted because he is a drumstick hoover) he assured my it wouldn't be. That means I shall barely need to cook tomorrow & makes best use of that pack of chicken too.
*Today's garden pickings: Spring onions, cucumber, lettuce & tomatoes.
*Bailed out bathwater to provide 6 watering cans for the back garden borders (they soon slurped that up!) & also filled an extra can to put over the front courtyard plants tomorrow morning. Am trying to make good use of grey water since we went onto metered water supplies.
*Cast on Mr F's birthday socks - utterly gorgeous yarn from an indie dyer. If I spot him stomping down to the shed in these without shoes on, he will be getting short shrift, I can tell you!
*Did a couple of surveys, but there really are not many around for me today so I am going to take that as a sign that I should be out on a shady bench reading my book.
And if anyone hasn't had a glass of water since this morning, please do go & fetch one now (me included!)
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!11 -
Good grief - definitely drink more water Mrs F - I'm most of the way through my second litre, and that's on top of a couple of cups of tea! 😂
🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her6 -
very few surveys here this month too.
About 20 years ago I got a bur berrie raincoat in a charity shop for £7.00. It was in footballers' wives, stockbroker belt ville. I think branded items like that are sold separately by charities now and never make it into the shop.
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Yes, I think they do identify items which will fetch more money online. This could be self-defeating though as plenty of people love the treasure hunt nature of charity shops. If it becomes predominantly rackfuls of stretched old cheap stuff, which doesn't fare as well for longevity, customers may not bother visiting as often, if at all. We all love a little find, like a couple of months ago when I found a Portmeirion dinner plate in a design I don't have for £3-99. That was a positive experience of the shop & I'll go back. Had it been put aside & sold online instead, I'd have left empty-handed for a much more 'meh' experience.
I like looking for stuff I can cut up to use the fabric too. Last year, my sister bought a cotton duvet cover from a charity shop & made a dress from it.
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 -
@EssexHebridean - Don't worry, I've had so much water now, I shall be peeing like a pony! Soot joined me & had a big drink from his bowl.
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!5 -
I’ve moved from Kent down near Marlborough and can indeed confirm how fab the charity shops are there!
Carolbee5
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