Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

PennysIntoPounds

Next time you visit family in London see if you can schedule driving back through the posher areas of North London for a little charity shop nosey, the people of Hampstead and Highgate (and around Muswell Hill) donate some lovely bits

foxgloves

@carolbee - They will certainly be on my list of places to visit again next time we are in Wiltshire.

@PennysIntoPounds - Yes, I can imagine that there are good charity shop finds around there. I have had some nice bits from Chiswick too, including a glorious pair of earrings which still come out on high days & holidays - real Miss Haversham-style!

foxgloves

Morning Hot People,

I can't believe we watched the weather forecast first thing & felt relief to see 29 degrees for tomorrow. 29! That's WAY too hot for us, but as I said to Mr F, 'at least it doesn't start with a 3'. I can't see it being a productive day today as I intend to retire to our shady courtyard bench to finish my book & maybe progress the present knitting I cast on yesterday. I did vacuum all of downstairs first thing while it was cooler & chose some thirsty plants for one of the watering cans of grey water I saved yesterday. I've done some budget updates, cleared some emails & ordered some anti-mozzie spray so we can re-scent our insect-repellent bracelets & make them last longer. I've also done 4 surveys & written a new library wish-list. Very low-effort nosebag tonight as I made enough of Delia's crunchy peanut drumsticks yesterday to feed us twice (plus a packed lunch) so I shall just cook some new potatoes to go with that & make a mixed salad. Today's garden pickings will thus be lettuce, tomatoes & spring onions.

I have so much sewing to be getting on with but I need the dining room table for both cutting out & for my sewing machine & with our conservatory doubling as out dining room, it is just way too hot even to contemplate any activity in there today.

We have a trip out planned tomorrow (just across into the next county) & we have decided to have breakfast before we go & just buy a coffee. I have their membership card for parking, which also takes 10% off all hot drinks so that will be a saving. I also have some rhubarb & cinnamon muffins in the freezer from my baking session the other day, so could also pop a couple of those in my bag to reduce our spend if we feel we might get nibbly.

Right, time to go & see what Soot & Ash are up to. We think there might be new cats somewhere as Ash is spending a lot of the night guarding our front courtyard & patrolling up & down looking for interlopers. Soot would regard this as a waste of time which could better be spent eating, snoozing or mousing.

Am doing better with my hydration levels this morning - I think plenty of water does help keep one functioning better in these very high temperatures. I sometimes wonder how I used to manage at work - I never had an office which wasn't like working in a furnace. Mr F (union rep) assures me that there is still no official maximum temperature for the workplace, it's still all just rather woolly with Senior Managers being 'made aware' of problem levels of heat. Fans help to a point, but they do eventually reach a situation where they are just swishing hot air around. So, everyone in a horrid hot office, classroom or other workplace at the moment, you have my sympathy. Yes, I am moaning about the heat, but I can at least sit on our shady courtyard or in a darkened room with a fan trained about my person.

Take care, m'dears,

F x

joedenise

I used to cut out on the floor @foxgloves as we didn't have a suitable table, more like a picnic table with benches! Don't think I could do that now but may be an option for you being younger than me!

Makingabobor2

Stay cool. I was up at 5.45 this morning to hoover and damp dust. Can't believe how bad it gets with fans and open windows, only did it yesterday. Then watered plants and sat outside for a bit until the sun started to feel too hot. Even doing stuff on laptop is hard as it chucks out heat. Will find a cool spot in the lounge and watch Wimbledon I think.

rtandon27

@foxgloves - I too have made use of the floor back in the days of theatre costume design - swathes of fabric were always easier to manage that way! I also distinctly remember sitting cross legged on the floor with the presser foot under my knee while making a velvet dress for some matronly character or the other as the material was too heavy to lift - doubt that I have that much flexibiltiy now!

foxgloves

Thanks for the suggestion. I remember my Mum making a big winter coat for my Dad in the 1970s & cutting it out on the floor. For me, there's only one room where this would be possible & that would still involve moving a heavy item of furniture. Not urgent so will wait for temperatures to drop back a bit so I can use the table.

thriftmonster

I always cut out on the floor and assumed everyone else did 😱. And no I don't have a big room

moginstein

I cut out on the floor too. I bought a superking size duvet, with the intention of adapting it to double size. Unfortunately that means trimming off 2 sides. In the living room, I had to move the sofa back, take the coffee table out, another small table, rug, push the sofa and a chair back...

Took ages, and then my sewing machine was playing up! Machine is fixed now, but I must get back to it…

foxgloves

Hello Monday Money Savers,

A usual Monday for me - generally I like to use the day to catch up with anything leftover from the weekend & to set us up for the week ahead. Have been reasonably productive & there is still plenty of day left. Budget-friendly activities as follows:

*Sorted laundry really thoroughly so as only to iron what really needed it.

*6 cans of grey water used on a wilty flower border. Both cans filled & put aside to do some 'free' watering tomorrow.

*Cut up the remaining roast chicken leftovers to make a 3rd meal for tonight & have also added some to a container of leftover rice & a veg dish to make a freezer lunch for Mr F to take to work at some point.

*Today's garden pickings: Tomatoes & courgettes.

*Did my regular Monday morning budget updates - mostly grocery budget & Personal Spends as I did buy a few little things at a market of curiosities we went to yesterday.

*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.

*Did a few surveys - was very surprised to have another win on the Ips0s 'Daily Wheel' - 75 points - so better than a poke in the eye….or as my Grandma used to say, "Better than a slap in the belly with a lump of wet cod!"

*Postie brought my latest vouchers from my credit card points - £25. Added it to my stash of these which I am counting as part of our Tech Replacement Pot funds - £155's worth of vouchers in total which shows that now I have the discipline to pay off my credit card every month WITHOUT FAIL, it's possible to make money from it, rather than create debt, which is basically what I used it for in the Spendy Era.

*Our homegrown garlic was feeling nicely dried so tied it into 3 bunches & hung up in the kitchen. Put the 2 trays of shallots outside in the sunshine for a final dry.

I've also done a lot of random tidying, sorting out type of jobs - identifying more potential decluttering opportunities, etc. Everything from sorting out magazines which can go as soon as I have read them, finishing the Sunday papers, topping up storage jars with purchases from the Eco Refill shop, just generally putting stuff away that's been hanging around vaguely annoying me.

Right, talking of which, there are quite a few more little jobs of that ilk that I'd like to get done this afternoon so I shall wish you all a pleasant productive week & crack on.

F x