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Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
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@KajiKita - haha - that made me laugh - I just love when an 'Aunty' takes over! - the landlady at our local pub that has a habit of telling OH what he'll be having for dinner in a very motherly way - and to her credit he always enjoys the meal as it is usually a blackboard special.
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)9 -
Had to smile at your tales of partners' approaches to clothes shopping. Another thing with Mr F is that he seems to have concluded that trying stuff on is for wimps. I, on the other hand, won't buy anything UNLESS I've tried it on. Honestly, where clothes shopping is concerned, I think they need shaking up.in a bag!
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 -
And onwards into a new week with Sunday's post. I haven't done much today, so minimal budget-friendly offerings to report:
*A no-spend day.
*Garden pickings: Carrots & blackberries.
*Mr F made good use of some of our home grown shallots, garlic, tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes & basil to batch cook some Delia ratatouille for the freezer. I was offered a taste & it's very good. He's cooking tonight too - a smoked fish bake which will do an extra serving for the freezer.
*Did Monday's laundry as will be out tomorrow.
*Pottered around the garden with my secateurs, deadheading & generally starting to think about tidying up for Autumn.
*Home pedicure & painted toenails a new colour.
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 -
I think the thing about men not trying on is that they are annoying confident that they won't need to - a 36", 28" or whatever waist or length in men's clothes is just that - whereas ours can vary wildly! MrEH bought a pair of shorts yesterday. Chose them, didn't bother trying on and of course they fitted just fine when he put them on this morning!
🎉 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/her11 -
@EssexHebridean - Yes, I think there is defo an element of that. I have explained to Mr F that where he will encounter annoying variations in clothing size is in the fit of shirts. He is adamant that if he buys any shirt in the same size from the same shop, they should all fit because a size is a size. I found a few shirts all in the same size, turned them round so we could look at the back & showed him how anything described as 'fitted' has darts…..very unhelpful things for chunky blokes, whereas shirts which don't have them have more 'ease' & are therefore more comfortable to wear. I have a feeling that his planned wardrobe blitz is going to result in a couple of more fitted shirt offers coming my way to list for sale. With women, I think a lot of the variation comes down to boobs. I know that the Foxgloves boobs are invariably the thing which means a garment fitting well or barely getting it on!
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 Readers,
Oh my life, where has the time gone today?! I can't really say it's been a no-spend day as Mr F has filled up the car (bigger tank so the cost of a refill was a shock to both of us!) & I've ordered a fish box, though the money for that won't be collected until it's been delivered. I've done Monday morning's budget updates - I was out yesterday, dentist then lunch out - which took longer than usual as there were quite a few Pot transfers to do. We cashed out our PA earnings yesterday so I added those to our Personal Spends for a useful boost. Talking of surveys, there were quite a few today & have already managed to get my total up to over £20 in a day. Must remember to keep at it for end of August cashout.
Changed our breakdown cover to the new vehicle as that's the sort of thing which can kind of drop off the radar, as we are geared up to getting the insurance sorted out for new car collection day, then assume we've done everything. It's done now anyway.
Chopped down a large box to make a suitable sized one for posting my sister's birthday presents. I've wrapped them all this afternoon but won't get the box packed until tomorrow or Thursday as I ran out of time.
Baked a batch of rolls.
I'm using last week's leftover pastry which I froze to make another quiche tonight. Home grown carrots, courgettes & french beans to accompany it.
Cephalopod engineer this morning to upgrade our energy hub from 3G. The email said it wasn't essential but wouldn't continue to communicate with their tech for much longer so I'd be back to manual readings & not being able to use our smart monitor. I thought that sounded pretty essential, actually. It took 5 mins….just in case anyone else hasn't booked an appointment yet, thinking it'll be more hassle than it actually is.
I have a couple of cans of recycled water saved so will see which plants look thirstiest tonight.
Looking forward to watching 'Sewing Bee'. Still have next week's meal plans & grocery shopping list to do but I may await Mr F's input on that as he was talking about a BBQ at the weekend. I've checked in with the grocery budget though, which is always worth doing immediately before constructing uninformed lists.
Right, must crack on with that pastry case,
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 -
Our smart meter was changed over in minutes too. I couldn’t believe how quick it was. Not had any issues with it.
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 -
It was SO speedy, @Sun_Addict. He said it only involves undoing & replacing a single screw. Was just about to offer him a cold drink & he came to announce the job was done.
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 Readers,
A pleasant day....& thankfully cooler than yesterday's humid horridness. Not a lot of money saving activity to report today. We enjoyed a visit to the 'Helios' installation in the local minster - tickets v affordable & booked ages ago so felt like a free trip. Just minimal parking as the 1st hour was free. Avoided coffee shop 1 as wanted to get back to town to get the grocery shopping done.
Supermarket.....avoided coffee shop 2 as it wasn't lunchtime & I just knew I'd have a cake then lunch as well when I got home. Shopping within budget but we still need to visit the butcher on Saturday so no room for non-spendy smugness yet. A staff member was just yellow-stickering a vast pile of red grapes which were in perfect condition so I bought some of those - soon won't need to buy grapes for a while as our greenhouse ones are ripening well. Today's garden pickings = lots of courgettes. Mr F says he really fancies a big wodge of them stir-fried with garlic to accompany dinner, so that's just as well.
Cleaned living room & put out the 2 lovely cushions we bought in Norfolk back on our Spring mini-break for my birthday. I wanted to wait until all the dust-making repair work was out of the way. Binned the old cushion covers but recycled the pads for 2 cushions in the Man-cave as they were better quality ones & those old cushions have now puffed up like new - a shopping from home success!
Mr F is currently watering & feeding the veg and as Wednesday is his cooking night (I do Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri), I am out on the reading bench with Ash & latest library book.
You know, I've felt (as my Mum used to say) "All behind like a cow's tail" ever since the roofers were here in January (ridiculous, I know!) but this week, I had a glimmer of a feeling that I might now be starting to catch up. A clear day tomorrow once the piano tuner has been, so I am aiming to deal with a bit of produce, particularly 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅.
Nothing from ERNIE this month, so he needs to be on the naughty step having a word with himself in time for September.
Onwards,
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!12 -
We are still behind from the heat pump fitting saga (that started in November and was completed in January), so I totally understand what you’re saying about that!
Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days
'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway5
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