To start he month I decided to do a low spend week, only spending money on groceries and bills. It was going fine until I sabotaged myself by browsing Vinted. I know, I know, I was throwing myself into the path of temptation because I reached for my phone when I was bored, instead of doing something else. I crumbled when I saw a new pure wool M&S sweater for £6.50 including postage and fees. Given that last year I paid around £55 each for two similar wool sweaters and wore them almost every day it was too good to miss.
Culprit A:
Moving on from the sweater controversy, I’ve had low spend success with meal planning. On Sunday I sat down and looked at the food inventory I keep of all the food in the freezer, fridge and cupboards and came up with over a week’s worth of meals which we’ve been eating this week, and more meals where we just need fresh veg. It’s saved money on groceries and has saved us going to the supermarket on what’s been a busy week in and out of work for Mr Crafty Blueberry.
It’s also been an expensive week for Mr CB due to swerving to avoid a child who ran into the busy road he was driving on, ripping open two tyres and damaging the wheels on a kerb. But seeing as the alternative if he’d not seen the child or had swerved into traffic is unimaginable, we’re both grateful that the only damage done can be fixed. We also had to buy a new freezer as our old (very old) one started leaking freon. It’s a toxic gas so as soon as we smelled it (it smells like nail polish) we scrambled: I moved all the food into the garage freezer and crammed it in whilst Mr CB dragged the toxic freezer outside. It’s been taken away by a local charity who repair and recycle appliances and our new freezer has settled in happily. Oh, and our air fryer broke recently and had to be replaced because I don’t know how to function without one anymore.
All the breakages and expenses made me very grateful to the past me and Mr CB who agreed to save up a household fund for emergencies, large purchases, and unexpected costs like these. When I started this blog it was a tiny emergency fund so I’m very grateful to be a position where we can maintain a useful amount. When you’ve had an insecure or just too damn low income you never stop appreciating what you’ve got once things improve, and remembering that many people are in the terrible position of being one emergency repair away from major financial hardship.
Yesterday I was delighted to see sunshine and feel warm. I finally got out into the garden yesterday to clear some ground, plant flower seeds and top them with cat prickle mats. These feel like a betrayal of my cats but they started it, or at least Lars did, by using the area as an al fresco litter tray.
Culprit B:
It was a veg bed but considering the use he’s been putting it to I decided to change it to growing flowers only. The mats are plastic with slightly blunted spikes sticking out of them; sharp and close together enough to deter cats but not sharp enough to cut them. Time will tell if they work, but if they do I'll get more for the veg bed that he doesn't seem to go in so I can protect it once I plat veg in it this year.
As well as adding anti-feline protection to the flower bed I planted mangetout seeds in containers and added Scented Stock seeds because the flowers give off the most wonderful scent you can imagine. I planted sweetcorn seeds in a propagation tray and they're in the conservatory, which gets as hot as a greenhouse on sunny days. That's probably all the seeds I'll plant this year, other than scattering more windflower seeds when I plant out the corn. Gardening here is more about beating back the weeds and brambles that constantly invade from the wild land behind out house, but I don't think I'd have it any other way really; I love that we have a semi-wild garden with birds, squirrels, foxes and insects, and without giving them space the garden wouldn't feel alive.