Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2018

Lynplatinum · 25 January 2018 at 12:29AM

Hiya Y'all!

Well we are all doing so well, despite some of us having very severe difficulties - health or location related! Thank whatever your Gods are for the internet hey???? :j

Well,chums (as Jackie O would say), i seem to be spreading the message! not only has my friend turned outat least 2 bin bags of chazzer stuff but her Mum has also had a turn out (since I was up here and going to a chazzer anyway

) and have a very large trolley bag of shoes (hardly worn) and another of clothes! Can I count that as my minimising?? Pretty please??

BTW I resisited the temptation to aquire any of my friend's stuff - there was a lovely pair of grey trousers and a grey leather jacket - however - they were both a size to small for me! I didnt take thm for 'when I weigh a stone less' - which I regard as angelic of me! But proves I really need to shift that stone!

Mend - while I had some peace and quiet while looking after my friend's place (and dog) I put radio 4 on and sat taking up the hem on a pair of jeans (picked them up when in Milton Keynes before Christmas and they were the correct size but on a hanger saying short, when actually, they were 'long' - not going from Cornwall to MK to return them (surprise surprise). Lesson to self (check the label first Grrrrrr :mad:

Minimise: Attempting to minimise me!!! And have Minimised my friend and her Mum's stuff

Make Do: Have only eaten wheat I bought for the original £20 plus some sausages and bread and milk. But have been going out to eat - with my friend's Mum!! She is such fun to chat to! Get her onto politics or how folks round here used to live and she is so lively and interesting! We dont listen to our older folk enough!

MmmBopper Hanson - welcome here and can I say I love your selection of books to retain!! I kept exactly the same + my Game of Thrones books and some other scifi - latest read is 'The State of the Art' by Ian M Banks (from my son via the chazzer) he manages to combine humour and sci fi - grab it if you can!

Welcome to other new folk and welcome back to lurkers and previous members of this thread from last year! (thanks again to Misstra!)
Frugaling onward! nite all

villagelife · 25 January 2018 at 7:39AM

Have been minimizing - books to League of Friends shop. Sold stuff on ebay and cleared rubbish etc.
Mended a cushion cover which was coming apart at the seams and found a button and then sewed it on DS2 trousers.
Been making do with food in freezer and cupboards

YorksLass · 25 January 2018 at 4:38PM

dolly84 wrote: »

Make do - wanted a glass of wine last night but wasn't prepared to open a full bottle so I had a hot chocolate instead, not quite the same admittedly.

Definitely not the same, dolly84 :rotfl: but well done on the restraint

Welcome to the newbies, hope your're having better success than I am.

The dreaded lurgy that's doing the rounds has decided to visit us for a second time :mad: so [STRIKE]not a lot[/STRIKE] very little going on here right now on the MMM front, other than minimising stocks of paracetamol, honey & lemon (with a drop of whisky for hot toddies

) and tissues. They're definitely going to need replacing soon. Knew I should have bought shares in paracetamol.

I've managed to minimise the toiletries by passing on an unopened bottle of bath soak to a friend. Various bits of paper and card have gone into recycling and I've sorted through my stash of glass jars that I keep for when I make jam or chutneys. Remarkably, there was only one that didn't have a matching lid so I'll drop that one off at the bottle bank next week.

Making do (as usual) with food stocks we already have. That's been pretty easy considering that we're not eating proper meals just now and have just been eating what we fancy at the time. Right now I'm fancying some tinned fruit and luckily have a good stock to choose from.

Mending, well nothing to speak of but I'm sure I'll find something once my GUAG comes back!

Just waiting for an unlock code from Voda so I can change mobile provider. I use my mobile purely for the odd phone call or text so don't want a monthly bundle but Voda's rate for occasional use is ridiculous (30p per min), so I'm changing to O2 (3p per min). So, once I'm set up, that will be another minimise.

mcculloch29 · 25 January 2018 at 10:16PM

YorksLass wrote: »

Welcome to the newbies, hope your're having better success than I am. The dreaded lurgy that's doing the rounds has decided to visit us for a second time :mad: so [STRIKE]not a lot[/STRIKE] very little going on here right now on the MMM front, other than minimising stocks of paracetamol, honey & lemon (with a drop of whisky for hot toddies ) and tissues. They're definitely going to need replacing soon. Knew I should have bought shares in paracetamol.

A friend has had Aussie flu strike her on the rebound and is ill again.
In the 1960s the Hong Kong/Chinese flu did that to me, as a schoolgirl. I was off school for two weeks, back for a week, then off again for at least another fortnight.

Wow, I was ill, and much worse the second time too, than the first. Hopefully you haven't been. My mum was a nurse, otherwise I may well have been a hospital case. I was so weak. Almost fifty years ago, and I remember it vividly.

dolly84 · 26 January 2018 at 9:56AM

YorksLass - I had that virus over Christmas and it was awful, DD had it too and she's got something similar pretty much straight after too which she can't seem to shake off. Hope you feel better soon.

crazytree · 26 January 2018 at 10:40AM

I don't feel like I've posted forever! I need this thread to keep me motivated. This hasn't been a bad few weeks, especially after the expenses of December!
Make do... Erm with following the menu plan. Using up tinned pineapple with a super 6 mango in a fruit salad instead of leaving it in the fridge to "use later" which usually means throw away later! I buy a big bag of peppers coz it's cheaper but often have to throw the last couple away or cut out soft bits. I used some up while they were still fresh as roast peppers cooked with roasted spuds and onions. It was delicious and I don't understand why I don't do it more often!!!
Mend.... The usual, dog toys and underwire bra!:mad::mad::mad: And the duvet cover which got ripped when Himself who never steals the duvet wouldn't unwrap it from under him in the middle of the night! :mad:
Minimise... Nothing I can think of! Lots left to do!

Well done to all and thanks for keeping me motivated...
Tx

Viking_mfw · 26 January 2018 at 12:14PM

Can I join in the MMM thread? Minimised a Wii and some accessories and games out of the house yesterday, some via gumtree some via freecycle.
Made do with horrible reduced sugar Heinz beans we bought by mistake by adding salt and sugar! They tasted almost normal and that was the last can, thank goodness!

YorksLass · 26 January 2018 at 3:48PM

Thanks for the get well wishes. I remember having "proper" flu when I was 18 and how awful it was. This isn't like that, so I don't think it's flu - more like a really bad cold that doesn't seem to know when it's out-stayed its welcome!

I can cope with the sneezing, bunged up (sore) nose, eyes watering etc but the feeling of exhaustion is overwhelming.

Example: how long does it take to make boiled eggs for brekkie? This morning - 30 mins! :rotfl:

crazytree wrote: »

I buy a big bag of peppers coz it's cheaper but often have to throw the last couple away or cut out soft bits. I used some up while they were still fresh as roast peppers cooked with roasted spuds and onions. It was delicious and I don't understand why I don't do it more often!!!Tx

Stuffed peppers are nice as a side too, plus it uses up other bits for the stuffing (chopped mushrooms, grated cheese, shredded ham, breadcrumbs etc). Or, if you can't use them fast enough, you could chop and freeze them (no need to blanch) to add to stir fry, curry, pasta sauce etc.

Got 3 things out of the freezer this morning, re-arranged everything else but couldn't understand why there still didn't seem to be any spaces.

Brain eventually woke up and I realised I'd added a container of hm chilli and a thick sliced loaf that I use for toast. :doh:I'll plead fogged up brain cells.

dND · 27 January 2018 at 8:49AM

I thought it was time to check in, even though I read the daily e-mail.:D I'm still in France awaiting that elusive buyer and still doing my best to downsize.

Mending is an ongoing activity here; currently I have to mend fencing so I can move my alpaca boys nearer the house. One of them is very apt at crashing the fencing and did so the last time he was moved into the near enclosure. The girls have all been moved into the barn as their field had turned to liquid mud after nearly a month of wet weather

The field now has some mending to do!

On the make do and minimize front I decided to look at what was lurking in the fridge and found some vegetable frying fat that I wasn't using - and I wouldn't like to say just how long it had been lurking there :eek:

I'm also running out of fat balls for the wild birds and railed at the current prices for a 50 ball tub (anything up to 12€!!) added to that, a month or so back a pine or house martin had killed my half dozen chickens so I had 10kg of chicken feed that I am already feeding to the wild birds. So said fat is now being used to make my own fat balls with the chicken feed.

It's a win, win situation; my excess stuff is being used up rather than being wasted and the wild birds are getting a welcome treat and keeping me entertained :j

Well done everyone and thank you all for posting, you all are keeping me motivated during my long wait for a buyer. :T

crazytree · 27 January 2018 at 9:20AM

Thanx YorksLass, I freeze all sorts of veggies. But I've never even thought to freeze peppers! How daft am I?

dND - I am so sorry about your chickens, that is so sad.

Make do - I used up some of the egg mountain (and a pepper:T) to make a cheesy bacon fritata for dinner. I thought it sounded really nice in the recipe, but was just ok. I'll be making do with the rest of it cold for lunch with LOTS of ketchup for flavour! Woo...
Mend - nothing since yesterday.
Minimised - yup no progress here either

I too have a Wii to get rid of, (hello Viking) I was going to take it to CEX for their £20 but I might try selling it online, maybe!

Tx

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Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2018

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