Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Makingabobor2

I'm hoping those of us with gas hobs would be ok, as long as gas supplies don't ever go down...but who knows. Should we get a small camping stove just in case??

foxgloves

And hello Saturday Savers!

I seem to have been really busy today without feeling I've really achieved a huge amount. We had a leisurely start to the day by popping out to the village farm shop cafe for breakfast where we made a start on the crossword & chatted through stuff we still need to do pre-holiday. Budget-friendly bits & bobs as follows:

*Afore-mentioned breakfast from our Personal Spends so budget-neutral. Avoided temptation to pop next door to the garden centre when Mr F asked me if I fancied a look round. I have enough plants sitting in pots waiting to be planted out, I just need extra hours in the day rather than more greenery. But money saved.

*Updated my diary with garden waste wheelie collections next year. I couldn't remember how many months we have the winter schedule of only one collection a month - it's December, Jan & Feb. As this is an additional service & has an annual charge, I like to get my money's worth!

*Did as little ironing as I could get away with & did a bit more pre-holiday laundry.

*Mr F went out to collect our newspaper & came back with mini-chocolate pumpkins which had already been reduced. They didn't even make it through to the end of Hallowe'en without being yellow-stickered, though I suppose they don't want to be left with boxes of the things.

*Added my September & October PA earnings to my Personal Spends (£62-21). Mr F has cashed his out too.

*Dinner is in the slow cooker - sausage hot pot - which will make enough to feed us tomorrow as well. We shall be eating tonight's share with a crusty baguette so it really is very low effort. It has an extra ingredient in it thanks to our pesky squirrel who had excavated 3 carrots before leaving them untouched on top of the raised bed. Perhaps he was looking for gold. Perhaps it was revenge because I have put a protective metal grid over my tulip pots or because I haven't yet got back putting peanuts out, Idk, but they weren't going to be wasted so into the hot-pot they went!

*Shall be knitting tonight & watching a suitably spooky film from Mr F's extensive collection…& doubtless consuming mini yellow-stickered chocolate pumpkins!

*Mr F planted out the garlic & shallots but I am going to put my 2027 veg garden stuff on the thread @Suffolk_lass started for that very purpose so shall hop over to that now.

Enjoy your weekends - if you do trick or Treat, I hope you get nice door-knockers & not all the kids that wouldn't even acknowledge you in the street at any other time of the year. We had a neighbour (now moved) who would go out of her way not to have to speak to us or even smile, but you could guarantee that every 31st Oct, she'd be bringing her kids round to our door on their way up the street, each with their own carrier bags for all the sweets they were hoping to get! Well, they got sweet b*gger all at our house, I can tell you as we'd spot them coming & 'fail to hear' the door!

Samhain Blessings,

F xx

foxgloves

@makingabobor2 - Well, that's the thing, we don't know, do we? It's just about making our first 'line of defence' more resilient, as it is in many other countries. And because 'being resilient' is about being prepared for a variety of scenarios, it's not possible to know which bits of kit or supplies will be the most useful. We used to go camping, so we already have a little stove & a few spare gas cannisters. When we ran into various problems during re-roofing earlier this year, including losing most of our electricity supply until the next day, we were glad of our gas hob. We weren't able to light the oven, not even with a lit taper, but we could light the hob so that meant we could cook, & as our kettle is a big one which goes on the hob, we could also make coffee in a cafetiere & have hot water for washing & hot water bottles. I think that is defo an advantage of gas, though I wasn't so happy with the gas CH because of course that requires electricity to trigger it to come on. Our gas 'woodburner' stove worked though so we were able to heat the living room & it was a test run for my box of candle glasses (I save these when someone gifts me a scented candle in a glass & I've used it up), tea lights & other bits & bobs. I confidently took out the wind-up lantern from our camping days & found it no longer worked at all, so that was worth knowing & there is one on the emergency radio we have just bought. I'd really like a hurricane lantern. I don't know if you read @Elisheba's diary but she recently posted a pic of a lovely one she's bought as emergency lighting & I can imagine owning one of those would be a useful addition to candles.

F

Makingabobor2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82187886#Comment_82187886

Yes you're right, we just don't know, so maybe it might be a.good idea to get a stove.

I used to read Elisheba's diary. Think I must have come unsubscribed somehow, I will have a look. X

gemini12

A couple of years ago my dh created a bar of led's that attach to an old car battery which we keep charged. Not enough power for the car but runs the little lights very well and give a good enough light to read with. We even have a 12 volt TV. We have the cooker in the caravan with a grill and 2 burners plus an old camping cooker. Water might be a problem because I refuse to buy bottled water but we do have a 5 gallon and a one gallon container for water. The toilet can run on the water butt water in the short term. I haven't considered a wind up radio as we have a couple of portable radios which can run on batteries. We do keep a fair stock of batteries and have several torches plus candles. I also keep some cash in the house. Food is a different matter as Mr LH is so fussy so that is a challenge. I must get some long life/ powdered milk and keep extra supplies of tea coffee and sugar.

KajiKita

@Makingabobor2, I think Elisheba started a new diary, here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6613544/the-frugal-hearth-stories-of-simple-living-and-living-well

KK

thriftmonster

I had a reasonably steady stream of trick or theaters. All were polite and the older ones, including teenagers had really made an effort with costumes.

Blessed Samhain

foxgloves

@gemini12 - How odd that your 'name' changed from 'Lady Holly'. I think I'll always think of you as LH!

What a good idea of Mr LH's to make that LED/car battery contraption. I can see that would be really useful if the light is good enough to read by.

Yes, those big water containers are useful. We kept ours from our camping days & I do store it in the utility where I can get at it because if there is any work (scheduled or otherwise) in our village which requires ST turning the water off for a while, I know it holds a decent amount because of all the times I've filled it up at campsites.

@thriftmonster - That was good then. I saw from our village FB group that there'd been a few issues, but we had very few knocks on our door as I expect word gets round that we don't engage with it. I do decorations, sometimes bake soul cakes & like an atmospheric autumnal walk & ghost stories but I don't do the plastic stuff & trick or treat.

Suffolk_lass

I have two 10L water carriers that pack down flat (they are a pita to use as they have to be dry inside to stop them going green before storing away and no need to ask how I know that the airing cupboard takes about a month to dry them; the aga about a week). They live on top of the clean water tank in the camper van, to top it up if needed. We also have two rigid 10L drinking water containers with a tap on each, and we have a chemical toilet in the van (and a camping/composting one in the garage, along with lavender-scented wood shavings

teapot2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82187842#Comment_82187842

I used to think this too @Makingabobor2 however I discovered my gas hob won't light if the leccy is off as the clicky ignition doesn't work and it also wouldn't light just using a match so might be worth checking yours out unless you already know it will light?