Frugal refresher - make do and mend

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much to everyone who left a comment and those of you who became followers. This is the way, this is the future and whilst we may be trailblazers for a while; the rest of the consumers will see the light eventually and see that over consumption and waste is destroying our world and it's neither sustainable or affordable. I'm writing the current blogs for people who may be new to this, who may have Googled 'frugal' and sought help or you may have found you way here via another blog. I've blogged about these issues before but these are refreshers for any of you who may be interested. Today's blog is about making do, about mending, about using it up and just using what you have, or what you've found.

I was inspired to write this as I almost bought a new pair of sandals today. My sandals are servicable, with plenty of sole and they have years of life left in them. I bought them in 2008 and by my standards they are almost new! They are looking very scruffy and needed a tidy up. I bought some brown shoe dye and polish in one from Lidl and have given them a clean up. I need to keep staining them and polishing them until they build us a patina and look better. I think they are good for years to come.

A few more coats of polish and they'll look much better.

Sometimes we just have to make do with what we find or can afford. I'm feeling a bit ticked off to be honest, it was my school's leavers' ball last night and I really really have nothing to wear to it. I've been looking out for a dress and some shoes or sandals for years and nothing like that really appears in our charity shops and I certainly don't have the money to buy a posh dress for one night only. I looked into hiring one and even that was out of my price range. It's sad when we can't afford to go to something we really really want to go to. Then I thought of all the year 11 students all over the country who didn't go to their leavers' ball (the UK version of the High School Prom) because their parents couldn't afford to buy them the ticket or any thing nice and posh to wear and it put me not going into perspective. (Neither my son or daughter went to theirs as I couldn't afford the ticket or the suit/dress/limo hire). I can find clothes to wear so long as they are not for work of anywhere posh. Today, I found some knee length shorts for 50p on the sale rail and they are good enough for me and they will have to do.

The picture isn't good but I really like them, they are like new. All this coming week is going to be all about what I can and have to make do with, what I mend and use again. Oh, and the new shoes? I did look in the window and I even went in and tried them on...............and you guessed right! I didn't buy any. I'll make do with what I have!

Over to you now. What do you mend and mend and mend and keep going? Do you have any items of clothing or shoes that you've worn for years and year? Are there things that you'd really like to do or go to but you'll just have to do without?

Until tomorrow,

Lots of love, Froogs xxxxx