Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2018

Had another big declutter yesterday due to having to stay in all day because of the snow. My car boot is completely full of donations and is pretty much all clothes of mine. I have listed some on ebay and some are for rag but I have got rid of about 150 items of clothing, bags, belts, winter accessories and shoes.

When (if ever) I bring out my summer clothes I will be getting rid of anything that doesn't fit properly or that I have several similar of.

Hello chums, well I have been quite busy lately so back to MMMing again:) Topher you are in no way being mean I give freely to my DGC my time ,energy and love as they grow up so quickly , what you are giving them are memories they will have to tell their grandchildren when you are long gone .

I have taught all of my grandchildren to read ,write, tell the time, tie their shoelaces, play draughts,chess, poker and almost any card game I knew .

They can cook enough to feed themselves and know how to use a washing machine and hoover (boys as well as girls ) I have looked after all of them over the past 15 years or so and know their likes and dislikes .I have been very lucky to have beeninvolved in their lives so closely as I was carer for a good few of the seven of them at different times .Now the youngest is 13 and I am still around in his life.

In fact I am sitting in their sitting room drinking a cuppa he just made me
Both his parents are at work and his two older brothers are upstairs. The all know the value of a pound and know how to save for what they want .

By looking after the cash and making sure I get best value for money means I have four week holiday this year One next week with the family and a week in June with my oldest friend and then a fortnight in August again with my family. All of which has been carefully budgetted and saved for. MMM has been with me for most of my life and is second nature to me, but giving time to your children and grandchildren is worth much more than hard cash. I now have a new Gt Grandchild who was born a week ago, and I look forward to being able to give her my time and love as well.its never wasted and is saved well by the recipient :)

So far this week I have
Mended: a saucepan lid (the wooden knob fell off and I replaced it with a slightly bigger screw )

Made Do: shopping from the freezer mostly as I am trying to run my fridge down before I go away for a weeks holiday next week.

Minimising: both my freezer stuff and my wool stash as I have been making some memory bells for the Making Miracles charity.These are small bells to hang on your Christmas tree to remember the baby you may have carried but lost I make them in Blue, Pink, and Red and folk can embroider and initial on them afterwards ,very easy to make, takes about an hour for each one, and they will be on our maket stalls in the hospitals and fetes. also fineshed off another baby blanket for the charity as well.

Just about to make my DGS some lunch as I can hear tummy's rumbling already :)

Have a good day chums

JackieO xxx

Hello All!

Been reading along as usual - you have all been keeping me sane as 2018 has been a more than a little harsh for us so far

MiL died end of February, FiL (82) doesn't know which end is up and DH is an only child...... Guess who has ended up with the 'to-do' list..... Still, it has mostly been done although the number of relatives who decided they had a right of input..... :shocked:

So grateful for my MMMing ways - we have managed to continue eating well by defrosting things from the freezer. Managed to convince FiL to gift all unwanted things to charity shop - they came and collected 10 bin bags - 3 of them contained completely brand new stuff! That's besides the stuff we have taken.....

I took full advantage of the Easter veg wars in the supermarkets and did 3 large roasting tins of veg which were portioned up to replace the stocks we used. Our local A!di has started doing the 50% off tape so I managed to get 8 packets of different sausages in this (they are GF) plus a large free range chicken and a few other bits. The chicken was cooked and portioned and the freezers are full again.

I have discovered that M&S do a FANTASTIC range of wheat free/gluten free breads etc so I have been taking advantage of some offers and their yellow stickers to get some stocks built up. I am so happy I have more than 1 freezer!

I have joined a bargain group on fb so I have managed to get a couple of things we have needed a lot cheaper than normal - tefal 5 peice pan set as ours were sooooo goosed for £30 - so the bank balance is not strained - unlike me! :rotfl:

Need to do some sorting out of my clothes. I have successfully minimised me a little (2 dress sizes!), plus I have several work wardrobes (different types of jobs) plus the usual smart and casual :eek: The poles will snap if I don't do it soon......

Keep on MMMing

Well, managed to get the wardrobes sorted over the weekend. They are not groaning quite so much now 2 very large bags are waiting to go to the chairty shop

DH has drilled and measured up for shelving in my stock cupboard so we can see what we have. Found a couple of things I thought had been used and a number of things where we have used the newer ones first (doesn't bother me that much as it is mainly rice and tins) so we are hoping to get that finished soon.