Make Do, Mend & Minimise in 2025 (and 2024)

Cherryfudge

Make do - I batch cooked the other day so had some of that for my main meal. Used up banana and custard for a snack before work.

Mend - following the trend here: no mending done today.

Minimise - on spending, by using points on my coffee card to pay when I went out with a friend. Resisted getting end-of-the-day pastries on the way home from work. Also minimised on checking my emails - I reckoned once today is enough, there's nothing I know of pending that can't wait till tomorrow.

Cherryfudge

Make do - checked the fridge and realised I needed to use up mushrooms so I added them and an onion to a basic roux and some milk. Voila! Soup for lunch. It needed a bit of pzazz I added some lemon juice out of a bottle, and now I'm fed till tea time though there's a bit of left over custard that might disappear before I go to work.

Mend - I darned a pair of knitted slippers which took quite a while but I think the holes in the soles were disproportionate to the amount of wear the rest of them had had, so it was worth it.

Minimise - grabbed a handful of Things That Need Sorting and have disposed of half a dozen old receipts.

suzeesu2000

Make do - Dinner- a very nice roast lamb from the freezer. Bought back in November when they were half price in Tesco.

mend - nothing

Minimise - managed to put half a broken electric fan in the recycling.

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

Make Do & Minimise: Lo bowl of plain cooked spaghetti from fridge made into lunch by adding last of the pesto & heating in a lidded frying pan 😋 Jar washed, dried & recycled.
Mend: frayed cuffs on DSis’s top - by turning over & adding elastic

Cherryfudge

suzeesu2000 said:

Make do - Dinner- a very nice roast lamb from the freezer. Bought back in November when they were half price in Tesco.

mend - nothing

Minimise - managed to put half a broken electric fan in the recycling.

Now I want lamb...

First though - I can't go to bed till I know why you only recycled half the fan. Is it going to reappear as an art installation or a (very small) wind turbine? Did the other half fight you over being put in the recycling and is now hiding just out of reach in the neighbour's hedge? Or is it still in one piece and there just wasn't room to shove it all under the lid of the recycling box?  

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger, that's a lovely neat repair.

Chipps

Hello, I hope you don’t mind me joining in. I’ve just worked my way through this whole thread and have been so inspired and encouraged. 

Make do: I’m about half way through a 3-week menu plan, based on what was in the freezers and larder - have hardly needed to do any significant shopping in the last couple of weeks, and it’s lovely to not have to wonder what’s for dinner each day.

 Minimise: I’ve started crocheting granny squares with some odds and ends of yarn in my stash. DH asked what I was making - I told him I’d decide when I know how many I end up with 😂

Mend: this afternoon’s mission is to see if I can find and re-fit the trim from one of the conservatory blinds which has come off ( I suspect small DGD of having been over enthusiastic about investigating said blind)

YorksLass

Make do:
- Meal plan done for the coming week using freezer/cupboard stocks.
- Dug out a tin of coconut milk that's almost on its BB date and diluted it with the same amount of water.  Half used for a SC rice pudding and the other half for custard.

Minimise:
- Ironing basket emptied.  Tbf, there were only 3 pairs of pillow slips (about the only thing I do iron) but it's good to see it empty.

Mend:
- Front rib of rescued hand knit sweater re-done, will carry on with the back rib today while watching the rugby with DH.

Cherryfudge

Make do - I'm not sure there was anything today.

Mend - started to alter an old favourite skirt. So far I've taken the waistband off, bought matching wide elastic to make a new one and watched two YouTube videos on how to attach it. I suppose at the moment it's 'take apart' rather than 'mend'.

I've cleaned out the wild bird feeders, which is more in the line of getting them working again than true mending.

Minimise - I'd been putting off emptying the upstairs waste bins and have now done them! It's reduced the mental pressure as well as tidied the spaces. Cleared out my work bag and recycled various bits.

I will confess it's not been a big success as a minimising day: I'm doing an activity for young children tomorrow and bought a few craft things to help occupy them before realising we have lots of lining paper which is better than what I bought for drawing big pictures on. I also realised when I got home that I'd been charged more than the shelf edge price for several items so now I have that to sort out.

retiredinfrance

Me too, @Cherryfudge, I’m wondering about the fan. I’m looking at one we have sitting in the hallway and mentally demolishing it!

Wraithlady

Make do: Had a bit of a disaster when baking OH's birthday cake - went with a Nigella one as they're usually reliable, but it came out... odd and didn't want to bake. Left it another 20 minutes, but it was somewhat solid and although not exactly raw, wasn't what you'd expect from a cake- no idea what happened, maybe elderly plant yoghurt wasn't the best idea...

However, having quality tested it, it was edible so is in the freezer as 'chocolate mousse cake' and as OH says, will be fine with custard. Made another recipe and this has turned out cake-like at least.

Mend: Nothing at the moment, though the pile grows...

Minimise: Copying Joy of Painting onto external HDD so not clogging up the memory on our DVD. Also sorted out the overflow food box so at least I know what's in there and it isn't all squashed by the humungous bag of pasta (discovered some posh hot chocolate I'd forgotten about from Xmas so that's a bonus!)