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Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
Comments
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@Suffolk_lass - Yes, one positive knock-on effect of all the refurb work we did on our house is that we now know decent builders, decorators, a roofer & electrician. We also have a decent plumber. The only people I wouldn't use again are 2 plasterers. One kept cancelling appointments for no good reason & the other was a right messy b*gger, flinging plaster/slurry all over the place.
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 Hot People,
Considering how cloudy it's been today, I am surprised at the level of heat & have felt like a damp dishrag for most of the afternoon. Quite a productive day though. We made use of a free coffee at the village farm shop cafe & used our Personal Spends to make it up to a breakfast while we discussed job priorities. On the budget-friendly front:
*Called at village garden centre to price up gravel & edging.
*Did bank transfer for new car payment & sorted out vehicle change with insurance provider. I was expecting a much higher premium but it has actually only gone up by £45 for the year. Looked out our breakdown policy so as to get that changed this week too.
*Today's garden pickings: Courgettes, rhubarb & blackberries.
*Sorted out frozen chillies with the aim of using up last year's leftovers first. Also found a big bag of last year's blackberries which I intend to use imminently.
*Low-effort nosebag tonight. Spicy leftover chicken & cannellini beans in pittas with stir-fried courgettes.
*Made rhubarb sponge - it's just having an extra 10 mins in the oven which is perfect for sitting chatting to you.
*Mr F has been happily busy all afternoon getting the furniture & man cave stuff back into the repaired back bedroom. From all the singing, stomping around & whistling I can hear, I think it's going well.
And Soot & Ash have had a positive but surreal experience today. Tbh I feel quite envious. How would you like to wake up & find you are actually 2 years younger than you think you are?! I tell everyone, as does Mr F, that they are 13 & 8 years old respectively & that we adopted them in 2020. Except.....we were talking about our previous cat today & how we lost him during Lockdown in June 2020. Then we were meowless until all the renovations were finished.....which meant we didn't adopt Soot & Ash until 2022. It was February 2022 to be exact so they are only 11 & 6. Soot had 2 extra treats to celebrate his new found youth. Ash was back in the catnip so will probably get the munchies later.
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!15 -
Sounds like a good day all round. How lucky for the cats to find they’re younger than you thought they were 😆
I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping) -.literally have been run over by a bike, mobility scooter and a car - still here 💪7 -
You've discovered the secret of eternal youth for cats. I'm sure some celebrities turn back their age clock so Soot and Ash are probably in good company.
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@Sun_Addict & @Blackcats - Yes, wasn't that nice for them? I swear Soot even LOOKED younger this morning!
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 Pence-Wranglers,
Back to a horrid sticky 31° here. Have been drinking lots of water & thinking myself lucky I don't live in London or the SE where I bet it's another 3 or 4° on top of that.
Been quite busy but not much to report.
*We were able to make use of a £10 off minimum spend supermarket offer.
*Mr F has emptied & cleaned our car ready for part-ex tomorrow morning. We once left an excellent umbrella in the boot of a part-ex car & never did recover it (due to tedious & complicated reasons). We won't be doing THAT again! My lost 20p was found under the passenger seat so a teeny tiny win there!
*Garden pickings: Spring onions, blackberries.
*Watered front courtyard plants with recycled grey water & filled a 7th can for a refresh tomorrow.
*Sealed the delphinium seeds I saved into a labelled envelope. Intend to put them in the fridge for a few days then try sowing some, as an early start would make flowering next summer much more likely.
*Mr F has volunteered to water all the veg plus anything sad & wilty later when the sun's gone down. Got to keep those food supplies going.
*Washed all the cat bedding as part of my prep for Autumm. All dry in no time at all in this heat.
*Looked out a selection of suitable jars from my stash for chutney making tomorrow.
*Mr F did a little more furniture moving upstairs so there is now nothing in Foxgloves HQ which doesn't belong there 😁. He offered me a large cardboard box which will be perfect for posting my sister's birthday presents. I never buy packaging but this time I thought I might have to do so as nothing suitable in my stash & no useful 'find' at supermarkets or garden centre, so was pleased I can now shop one from home.
I did say I'd nothing of interest to impart, & I wasn't wrong, was I?! I have saved 'hot jobs' for tomorrow, when it is forecast to be a much more comfortable 24°. I shouldn't care if UK summers never got any hotter than that.
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 -
Ash chilling out on our back courtyard after his dinner.
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 -
Turned out 37.5 outside here today 😭
Well done on all your doings, that's a satisfying 20p to find 😁 Great Mr F could source you that packaging
Hooray for HQ being emptied of guest items 🥂
Ash is absolutely gorgeous and I don't believe a word you say about him scrapping and being out all night, clearly butter wouldn't melt 😂
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'aggressive safety shot' Ken Doherty8 -
awww what a beauty he is!
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 -
Ash is a gorgeous boy, what splendid stripes he has.
I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping) -.literally have been run over by a bike, mobility scooter and a car - still here 💪5
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