Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2017

RnR - one of the first things to help stretch the budget is MAKE A LIST!! and stick to it lol! Although I've left my list on the kitchen table too many times to mention so I've now got in the habit of putting it on my phone.
Mend - buttons to be moved on a wrap skirt
Minimise - Electric knife, Julienne slicer and electric bottle opener all to go to CS or Freecycle.

Feeling pleased with myself as I managed to mend the boiler. I googled the fault code and fixed it.
Made do with transplanting hardy geraniums being moved from one part of the garden to an area i had minimised the weeds in it.
Had a bonfire and did burn the perennial weed roots i do have more to do but some done. It also looks better to plant in an area that I have cleared and to do it for free is even better.

I'm 65 and grew up with 'make do and mend brigade' parents. A lot rubbed off on me. I find, like them, that most things have other uses.

I use empty small jars for storing herbs, dried chillies, mixing salad dressings etc.(sauces such as mustard, horseradish etc come in them). I have a selection of larger plastic jars (Aldi fruit came in them) for storing nuts, lentils, barley etc. I also have some large sweet jars, some from a local shop because I asked what they did with them when they were empty and they gave me about 6. These are great for storing pasta and rice. I keep safety pins in an old tobacco tin and buttons in empty sweet tins. I like the plastic mushroom containers of varying sizes. These can be filled with shredded tissue paper and gifts such as toiletries then covered with cellophane and given as gifts. Rolls of tissue paper and cellophane can be bought at outlets like Country Baskets. All containers can be put to some use.

silvasava wrote: »

RnR - one of the first things to help stretch the budget is MAKE A LIST!! and stick to it lol! Although I've left my list on the kitchen table too many times to mention so I've now got in the habit of putting it on my phone.
Mend - buttons to be moved on a wrap skirt
Minimise - Electric knife, Julienne slicer and electric bottle opener all to go to CS or Freecycle.

Hi SilvaSava
Have you tried the app 'Wunderlist'? It's a great to do list app. I can have different lists for different things and have different folders too. That may sounds complicated but as we're doing home renovations I have a home renovations folder with a separate to do list for each room; I also have a shopping folder with a list for food and a list for other stuff. I can sync this with my partner so we can both see and edit the lists, assign things for each other to do and add calendar reminders and notes. I'm probably making this sound way more complicated to use than it is but I promise it's so simple to use.
NP

JackieO wrote: »

I also found a place for a half empty bottle of scotch as I am not keen and it was only sitting in the cupboard, my sis-in-law said she will feed some to a fruit cake.

Mmm, boozy fruit cake - yummy. I usually add brandy to jars of mincemeat for Xmas mince pies but whisky would also work.

Minimise: Seven years ago I inherited loads (and I mean loads!!!) of cleaning stuff from late DF’s home and these, added to my own not-insubstantial stock, filled a whole base unit cupboard in the kitchen. :eek: Since then, I’ve been plugging away at using them up and am so happy they’ve now been reduced to one small plastic storage crate. :j When I re-visited the cupboard at the weekend I took out four bottles with “bits” in; two went in the bin (dried up/very OOD) and the other two are on the counter to remind me to finish them off. Most of what I’ve been using up over the years won’t be replaced and in future I’ll be making do with just a stock of basics.

I also found 15 (yes, 15) old toothbrushes that I keep for cleaning jobs. Put back six and binned the rest.

Failed miserably to minimise my dual-fuel costs; my fixed-price plan finished at the end of August and I haven’t been able to find anything cheaper – in fact the monthly DD has gone up, but I expected that. I’m hoping when my fuel provider reviews my account in 6-months time I’ll have a refund to come back; lower monthly DDs would be welcome too.

Make Do: The usual using up of food stocks before buying more. That said, I’m now replacing store cupboard items like pulses, flour, oil, dried fruit, nuts, tins of tomatoes etc ready for winter. I’m lucky that I have a small walk-in pantry where I can store these things.

missychrissy: I’ll have to pinch your idea about the sweet jars for storage as I’ve just bought 3kg of red lentils and 5kg of basmati rice and haven’t got anything large enough to put them in. I’ll be passing the newsagents on Friday so I’ll bob in and ask them (nicely, of course ) if I could have a couple. A donation to their charity box might help.

Mend: Nothing in particular, but after our recent annual holiday my bank balance could do with a boost! On the bright side, next year’s is already booked and the deposit paid. Of course, the 2018 hotel costs have gone up compared with 2017 (but not excessively) so I’ll be doing my half-yearly budget review at the end of the month to see where I can make some savings. Note: I said "can" not "if"! I do like a challenge.