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

YorksLass

Wow, that's a lot of plant pots @Cherryfudge!

Bad luck @wumph, I hope your appeal is successful. 

Tonight's dinner is a Minimise/Make Do - the last large wrinkled/sprouting potato will make chips to go with cooked gammon slices from the freezer and a tin of mushy peas.

A Mend of sorts - have cleaned a pine tray with some specialist wood cleaner that was in the cleaning cupboard and it's come up a treat.  There isn't any room for a table in our kitchen so we have a dining table and chairs at the back of the living room.  It's a nuisance carrying plates, cutlery etc backwards and forwards so the tray will be very useful and save my little legs into the bargain!     

Floss

wumph said:

Received a parking ticket last week.  Was parked in special car park at hospital for blood tests, was having one,  for Blue Badge - free - which I have and was on show. It is a very small car park so lucky to get a space at all  right on the edge so just on the yellow line but no parking area next to it, just a bit of paved area.  Have appealed immediately and sent various pics of appointments/blue badge, eye appointment half a mile away a half hour later so not there half the day.  Still waiting result otherwise £60 fine.  I go there at least twice a year for diabetes tests so am really miffed.

Hope they cancel it.

My hospital gives you 40m free which is enough time to have blood tests. The cancer centre there also give free parking if you are a patient & put your reg number on their list.

Cherryfudge

That doesn't sound fair, @wumph. I hope they can see they made a mistake.

@YorksLass, yes, far too many plant pots!

Nothing really achieved today in terms of making do or mending. I did buy quite a few yellow-stickered fruit and veg, which will be minimising expenditure provided none of it goes to waste, but I only had half the stir fry veg and it's just past its best so it may not get used up.

wumph

Thanks for comments,  yes it is free parking for a while and doubt I was over time. But have to wait and see. x

Nelliegrace

I get my blood tests done and collect my prescription at the local hospital, and have telephone appointments with my consultant at the main hospital. I know the free parking places just a short walk from the hospital, and take a flask of tea to have in the park gardens afterwards. I visited the library and charity shops while I was out for bloods yesterday. 

YorksLass

Small grocery delivery arrived early this morning, not a problem.  All P&C, nothing for the freezer (again) and put away in record time.  Budget looking good with a potential surplus of just over £42 - providing I don't buy anything else for the rest of the month, that is.     There may be some odds and ends needed but I'll try to keep them to a minimum.  Always up for a challenge!

Latest energy statement for the last 30 days arrived today, lowest one so far this year.  We're not eligible for Pension Credit and will lose the winter heating allowance so I'm pleased we have a credit balance building up nicely for the winter months and that we fixed our prices back in June.

Today's food Minimise/Make Do: Cut a couple of soft pieces off a yellow pepper, sliced the rest and added to a bag of mixed peppers in the freezer, cooked some more spirali pasta adding the last bit of frozen mixed veg near the end of cooking time and stirred through some cheese spread while still warm (will use on tonight's salad), baked a loaf.

General waste put in outside bin ready for collection and washed a mattress cover that soon dried as it's been quite breezy out today.  Hope it's the same tomorrow so I don't have wet sheets draped on the airer.  Poor tumble dryer hardly gets a look in these days!

realthing16

I'm the same re heating allowance. I was all poised ready to get it but no! My house is old and cold and will probabaly remain that way. I will have to just get dressed and get out. Sometimes I think its almost psychological this feelig the cold thing.
Todays minimize, used up a Ramen kit , it will make 2 meals.
Mend, sorry not got into the swing of it yet!

YorksLass

Hairdresser appointment on Thursday and hair minimised as was the money to pay for it - budgeted for, so not a problem.  After that I popped next door to the Post Office and paid £10-worth of 20p coins into my current account.  These were from the loose change pot we keep on the sideboard.  On Friday I transferred that from my current account into a savings account.

Also on Friday I had a walk to the Co-op with a very small shopping list that I stuck to, apart from a bag of ys frozen mixed veg that was reduced to 35p.  I don't really want to put more stuff into the freezer just yet but, at that price, I wasn't going to ignore it!  I saved £1.84 on the bill, spent £1.50 of it on a small tin of lip balm (winter prep) and put the other 34p into the loose change pot.

Detour via the Little Free Library on the way home and was surprised there were very few books to borrow but I found one, a biography, that I've already started to read and am finding hard to put down.  At this rate, it will be going back next week!

Just one item for the CS bag this week, an unused bottle of shower gel gifted to me a while ago.  I'm not keen on the smell - too fruity - so maybe someone else will like it. 

Kitchen Make Do/Minimise this week - a large custard tart, a dozen rich coconut tarts (6 frozen) and the usual loaf of bread.  Meal plan done for the coming week using what I already have but will definitely need more potatoes and possibly eggs.

Cherryfudge

Make do - a coffee and walnut cake for DH from stores, also helping minimise the coffee I don't really like and the eggs that need to be used up.

Mend - nothing today.

Minimise - a car boot bargain dress has gone to the charity shop as it didn't fit and some more plant pots have been washed and stacked ready to take to recycling. That's also helped me rediscover a 'slug pub' that I'd forgotten and which is broken but I'm think I might scrub it as clean as possible and try to mend it. Slugs have been a problem this year! I know I could make do with a margarine tub or something but this one actually says 'slug pub' so they know where to go.

mandy47

Minimised 
DD leaves home next week finally gets the keys to her new home. We emptied all her stuff from the loft and cupboards around the house. All boxed and ready to go.
 A box of fiction books taken on Olio.
Old lamp and electric blanket taken by scrap man.
Camping mat given to a friend.
Huge bag of her old uni towels to the local cat charity/sanctuary. 
3 bags waiting to go to the charity shop. 

Mend.
DH drilled and fitted 2 silhouette metal robins to the garden wall. Gift for my 60th from friend at work. They're lovely and look great now they're in place.
Not quite a mend but a job that needed doing.

Make do.
Eating from the freezer. Trying to make room for the garden produce. Not a bumper year on some items but enough for us with a little spare for friends and neighbours. 

We won't recognise the place next week when all DDs stuff is gone. The garage may even have room for a car! Currently full of furniture and boxes.