Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2018

Mend a couple of buttons on a top have been seen on.
Minimize books to League of Friends shop.
Make do with food in cupboards and some creative substitutes of some ingredients. All meals have been edible though

Make do - made a massive pot of chunky veg soup from bottom of fridge veg and slightly out of date broth mix, OH loved it (though had he seen the ingredients probably would have binned most of them lol) and we have been eating it all week. Some in the freezer too for next week.

Mend - I had a clear out of my sock drawer and found loads of old trainer socks. I almost never wear trainer socks these days so have tested a fix - using my overlocker to attach sections of other trainer socks or holey socks (i always keep them just in case they could be useful ) just above the heel to make them into normal socks. They've since been washed which should help soften up the new seams. We will see how comfortable they are but i can't imagine they will be any less useful than they were.

Minimise - still slowly slowly sorting through my 'craft room', we temporarily have a bit more space in another room so i've moved the furniture we want rid of into there for now. It's amazing how much more space i feel like there now is (might just be me though, OH came for a look the other day and was still shaking his head at the amount of clutter! i'll get there one day...) and i've been able to shift tubs of fabric etc around so they are easier to access. Am sorting through some yarns etc for any saleable balls i am unlikely to use (i inherited bagsful from a friend's mum and just took it all as friend needed the house cleared, now finally being a bit more discerning about what i actually like) and will eb*y some soon. Few things already gone on for auction so hopefully wil be gone soon. There's a long way to go but it's an improvement.

After a discussion with OH we realised we both hate the massive fluffy 'luxury' towels we've had for the last couple of years :rotfl: neither of us feel like they dry our skin properly and prefer our older and cheap scratchier towels! So i've kept a couple of fluffy ones for use with massage/aromatherapy clients, and the rest are being given away to some friends who jumped at the offer. I'll keep my eyes open for some more rubbish scratchy towels but we have enough to get by for now.

Happy MMMing all xx

Phone and broadband costs minimised yesterday with a new contract. I didn't switch providers as I'm happy with the one I have; instead I've got rid of a monthly boost charge for free anytime calls. This was a legacy from a few years ago when I was a carer for my late DF and seemed to be on the phone an awful lot on his behalf to what seemed like every man and his dog. I just never got around to cancelling it

Well, I checked our landline phone bills over the last 12 months and found we had made 40 calls (a couple of months we didn't make any). The calls were free but the monthly boost charge over that time came to a total of £63. When I costed out the calls as if I'd used my mobile, at 3p a minute it would have been the princely sum of £6.57! :mad: Lesson learned. So, although the line rental/unlimited broadband cost has gone up, by cancelling the boost I'm saving £5 per month and the price is fixed for 2 years. :)

Now waiting for the last two pieces of the annual financial jigsaw puzzle (water rates and - hopefully - increase in final salary pension) so I can see how expenditure stacks up against income.

A mend happened last night when I replaced the batteries in the TV remote.

The white stuff returned yesterday so there'll be more making do this week with food stocks we already have in instead of shopping. Much as I like a walk and a bit of fresh air, it's too parky to be out and about unless absolutely necessary. Plus, I'm trying to stretch 4 weeks grocery budget over 5 weeks this month. So far, it's going well.