For the last couple of months, I've been trying very hard, to use up stuff that I already have. This not only relates to the Project Pan, that I'm trying to progress with, but also with regard to fabric and haberdashery in my stash, clothing that I already have, candles, food and cleaning products/ingredients for beauty products that have been languishing in the cupboard unused, to name just a few.
On the Project Pan front, I am making progress. It is quite slow, but things are being used up. I will probably do a follow up post in the New Year to calculate my current situation on this front and to see if I have reduced the number of items I have left to use up, although I will be receiving a handful of items as Xmas gifts, so that will factor into my results.
With regard to ingredients for beauty products, I have made home made roll-on deodorant this month using ingredients in my cupboard. I don't use it every day, just on days where I'm staying home, going to the gym or not really going out anywhere special. On days when I am socialising or going out, I wear a bought deodorant, but this does reduce the frequency of needing to buy this product. I may stop buying it and just use the handmade at some point, as this will reduce plastic waste for recycling too.
I have also been making my own air freshener sprays and a festive reed diffuser from distilled water, polysorbate and essential oils. It works well enough for me and has minimal ingredients. It also saves a lot of money on buying mostly synthetic products.
I've probably been making the most progress in terms of using up fabric scraps and haberdashery in my stash, which I've been using for various projects, such as weaving and bowl making. This month I've also turned my attention to using some Xmas fabrics to make decor for the house this festive season. I have had to buy the odd haberdashery item, as needed for projects and I have bought and repurposed some charity shop jeans to make a gift for LB for Xmas, but I'm trying very hard to use every scrap of fabric from these, to avoid any waste. Any unusable bits are being cut up small for stuffing.
I'm also continuing to use up foods from the freezer and cupboards to make space for Xmas food and just generally clear out some things that have been hanging around for a while. Inspired by a fellow blogger, I went through my pantry and took out various items that we probably won't use and in doing so managed to almost fill a carrier bag to take to the food bank next week. I'm afraid this was the best I could do, as I don't have any spare cash for a donation, but everything was in date and usable. I'm keeping food purchases minimal, especially with rising prices in the shops, as I can't afford to stock up at the moment. It may take longer to look for good deals these days, but I've got plenty of time. I do try to buy yellow labels when I can and put them into the freezer and this has been saving me a fair amount of money on some items.
Thankfully, I have now completed my Xmas shopping, so this will help to keep me out of the shops during December, when there is greatest temptation to buy more gifts than you really need to. I'm done adding in lots of extras that aren't really wanted, it's a total waste of money and so I've been sticking to wishlists when buying presents. Instead, I can focus on taking my time to creatively wrap the things I have bought, using the paper and reusable wrapping that I already have to hand and not feel too stressed by the approaching festive season. I can also find inexpensive places to visit and things to do to celebrate and enjoy the lead in to Xmas and the festive atmosphere at this time of year. I'm enjoying not working in retail this year and wonder how I found the time to get everything done and work too in previous years.
All of these measures are actually making my spending (particularly on groceries) reduce a little. I think if I can stick to them, it will really help me to keep within my reduced budget going forward and in addition, it does provide me with a sense of satisfaction that I'm being more resourceful and mindful. I'm seriously considering everything that I put in my shopping basket these days, and questioning whether I really need it or whether I can manage without purchasing it for another week or two. It's a strategy that I'm sticking with for the forseeable. It's so easy just to throw things into the trolley or basket and not really give too much thought to it, but when you are trying to stick to a budget this can be very self defeating.
How are you finding budgeting these days? I'm finding it increasingly difficult, and am sometimes having to compromise by buying non- branded products to keep things in budget, as it seems that it is the branded food products (and meat) that are rocketing in price these days. What do you think?
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