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Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
Comments
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Five reclaimed biscuits?! What a time to be alive eh Soot 🍻
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'aggressive safety shot' Ken Doherty6 -
I know, PiP. Imagine just going into the kitchen & finding 5 surprise biscuits! That would genuinely make my day!
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 -
Hello Sunbeams,
A pleasant weekend divided between leisure & productivity. Went to a plant/artisan fair yesterday & also enjoyed a woodland walk. Today's efforts include:
*Sorting out Monday morning jobs so I can hit the ground running (I love an early start).
*Planted 4 of the 5 bargainaceous plants I bought yesterday. The 5th one (from plant hospital shelf) needs to grow a bit bigger so will stay in its pot for a while longer. One of them - a full sized penstemon - had a tidy-up which provided a few cuttings for free plants next year.
*Today's garden pickings: 1.8kg tomatoes, 6 courgettes, lettuce, spring onions & a cucumber.
*De-gunked the pond & topped it up while trying not to dwell on the trajectory of the water meter. I do make use of as much grey water as I can, so will really prioritise that over the coming week. Cleaned out birdbath while I was still in my recycled plastic gloves.
*Made courgette fritters for lunch. Mr F did the wringing out of the grated courgettes in a tea towel as the arthritis in my hands has flared up in the last couple of days. It is satisfying eating our homegrown produce..…
*…..although some things have really struggled this summer & today we cut our losses on the rapini (we did make several cuts of this but it is now well past its best from the heat) & also the cavolo nero. This did fantastically in 2024 & 2025 when we were cutting it through to March but insane levels of aphids did for it this year. I sowed the last seeds of the pack for a later crop but the seedlings were stripped pretty much overnight by some small white caterpillar hatchlings as a butterfly found them under the greenhouse bench. Decided no longer to waste our time on it & will make some spring cabbage sowings this week, maybe a few other bits & pieces too.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast plus a mixed salad for tonight. No effort required later as Mr F made enough lovely lasagne yesterday to feed us tonight as well.
*Mr F watered all the veg.
Apart from that, I've been reading, we've done the Observer crossword together & I've enjoyed simply sitting watching our garden wildlife - swifts, dragonflies & butterflies being this afternoon's highlights. Soot left us a deceased mouse but thankfully decided that this one didn't need to be brought into the house.
Hope you're all having a nice restorative Sunday.
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 -
Would you mind posting your recipe for smoky chipottle black bean chilli pretty please?
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@janb5 - I can't remember where the original recipe came from. I've had it ages & by the time things get copied into my recipe notebook, I've usually made them several times, tweaked things, etc, but this is how I make it:
Smoky chipotle black bean chilli
I have a slow cooker crock which can go on the hob so I start it off by softening a large finely chopped red onion & 6 cloves of garlic (ditto) in 2 tbsp olive oil with a little salt & black pepper- no need to brown it - then stir in 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp chipotle chilli paste & 1 bay leaf & cook for another minute. Stir in 1 generous tbsp tomato puree, 2 tsp blackberry vinegar, 600g skinned chopped fresh tomatoes & 2 cans of drained & rinsed black beans. Set crock into the slow cooker base & & give it 8hrs on 'low'. About 15 mins before serving, I stir in about 2 or 3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander & check seasoning.
Serve spooned onto tortilla wraps & top with grated cheese before rolling them into burritos. I make a batch of blackberry vinegar pretty much every year & it's my secret ingredient in loads of things from salad dressings to stews. These quantities make 4 servings or if you live with a caveman like I do, probably 2 normal sized ones & a double.
Hope this is helpful. Freezes well & is a standard recipe here at Foxgloves Manor for tomato glut season.
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!10 -
Hello Tuesday Savers,
I don't feel I've achieved very much today. Internet provider problems in our village from yesterday afternoon into today, which seem to have been sorted out now, but meant that I haven't done my usual planned budget updates because of not wanting to start transferring funds then hitting another intermittent outage. Sadly, one thing that WAS working was the iron, so I had no excuse to ignore the enormous basket full of clean laundry (I really did make the most of the good drying weather yesterday). I only ironed what needed it, did it with the usual bad grace, but was pleased afterwards to be hanging up 4 summer outfits all ready to go, which will take me through the weekend if I manage NOT to throw muesli & kefir down my front - a stunt I pulled this morning - so that was item no. 1 in the inevitable linen basket refill…….grrrrr.
So budget updates are still to do, as is next week's meal plan. I wrote down the days, then felt as uninspired as a Gold Medal Winning Uninspired Thing at the National Festival of the Deeply Uninspired. I have decided that on one weekday, I will make a veggie crumble. Mr F usually cooks at the weekend, so I shall ask him when he gets in what he fancies making, then the other days will flow from that. I had a short notice request from a workman to do some prep today so I was feeling a bit discombobulated. Having said that, the prep has now been done & this whole damaged interior wall episode should hopefully be finished by Saturday afternoon.
I've baked bread, picked lettuce, spring onions & a cucumber, & pre-cooked some of our 1st earlies to make a spicy potato side dish to serve with tonight's fish & salad. I've washed & pegged out the back doormat, thanks Soot for the enormous hairball gagged up on that - not the sort of find one really wants first thing before there's even been any caffeine ingestion - & done a few surveys. I was also asked yesterday to supply 1 piece of additional info & another signature pertaining to my recent work pension application, so I sorted that out early & Mr F posted it for me on his way to work. I don't think I've ever had to supply so many signatures in a single document before & had managed to miss one off. I only posted the application off less than a fortnight ago so it shows that they have got onto it promptly.
I've done another triage of the tomatoes…..they are coming thick & fast now. I like to get a few soups, sauces, etc, into the freezer for our Autumn/Winter supplies, & also to make preserves for the pantry. I've already got a selection of jars out ready for making ketchup - Mr F prefers tomato, I prefer blackberry so I shall make some of each.
Oh & I have written a list of stuff I could usefully get done in town tomorrow when I go in to get my hair cut. But that's it for today. Most of my money saving efforts atm seem to involve harvesting & making the most of our homegrown produce, but that's no bad thing. I am like a squirrel at this time of year. I do like to go into the colder months with the pantry shelves full of interesting jars of tasty things!
Right, that's a long post for really not a lot of news so will bid you all a pleasant evening & sign out.
Peace,
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 -
Always discombobulating to get last minute workman requests but great that the prep has been done 🥂
Fabulous news the pension doings seem to be progressing quickly, fingers crossed for you it continues and you can proceed with plans asap
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'aggressive safety shot' Ken Doherty6 -
Thank you so much - that was really helpful and kind of you. A friend asked me for a recipe today and I too cant remember its source! Senior moment!
Blackberry vinegar sounds interesting!
6 -
@janb5 - You're welcome! Hope you enjoy it. I am thinking I might make a batch for the freezer while we have so many lovely fresh tomatoes. It would make for super-speedy cheap meals in Autumn as would only need tortilla wraps & grated cheese.
I add blackberry vinegar to all sorts of things & also sip a dessertspoonful to soothe a sore throat. Suggested this to Mr F back when he had Covid & he said he'd rather have a sore throat 🙄
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 just written such a job list for tomorrow (following quite a leisurely day today). If I don't rock up on here by tomorrow night with a decent showing of budget-friendly efforts, you have permission to take me to task!
Basket & string already by back door ready for hitting the veg garden 1st thing while it's still nice & cool.
🍅🍅🍆🥒🥒🌶🌶🍇🥕🥕🍐🫑🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅
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
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