Giving without spending!

Okay, ready for some more quick catch-ups from my notes?

Here goes, then.

Month 11 - Bite 10

I questioned myself last time about donating stuff I didn't need while buying two for one items. The donation bins at the supermarket were for food so I did have some toiletries on two for one along with some perfectly good items, still in their wrappings from my sort out last month.

I noticed while in town that one of the shops is taking toiletries for their hygiene bank to pass on to those who need them, so no prizes where I'm heading today with my little collection.

Month 11 - Bite 11

The task in hand today is defrosting the freezer and checking my food cupboards. While I know that the freezer stuff can't be passed on, there are some tins and packs in the cupboard that I bought, thinking we'd try them and we didn't! Rather than trek up to the supermarket I'm off to the local community larder that takes surplus food and gives it away to try and stem the food waste that otherwise goes in the bin.

Month 11 - Bite 12

Finding out day next. After volunteering for years it's somehow gone by the wayside a bit so this is a bit of a prompt for me to start again. I could volunteer to help with ParkRun, but as I tend to decide whether I'm going or not on a fairly ad hoc basis that's not really helpful when planning dates. There are, however, other opportunities so I'm going to research a bit more and then dive in.

One easy activity is down at the beach. There's a supply of litter picking equipment by the cafe there so it looks like that'll be first on my list... and a good excuse to walk along the seafront too!

Month 11 - Bite 13

I was scrolling through some of the surveys that I signed up for earlier in the year. Some have been pretty fruitful while others seemed to want loads of time for very little in the way of points. I want to settle down today and go through all the sites I signed up for, check how economic it is in terms of time doing the surveys and then leave those that aren't really worth it. That leaves the question of what to do about the points that I've earned so far. It'll take me a month of Sundays to earn enough points for anything, however I noticed a while back that there are much lower points thresholds for giving to charity.

As I decide which survey sites I'm not going to continue with I can sift through and donate any spare or random points I've accrued. That way I'll have tidied up my inbox and made sure that the charities they support get something too.

Month 11 - Bite 14

As well as signing up for a pile of surveys way back I also started sending for freebies. So far I've only registered for those I'll use or know someone who'll want the items. From today I'm going to start sending for other things that can then be passed on or donated when they arrive.

 

Topping up the stocks

Another day, another attempt to catch up!

So, the cost of living is a huge issue for so many people. There are loads of ways to help without finding too much extra cash so here's my plans to try and find ways to add to the donations within my means!

Month 11 - Bite 7

Most supermarkets have donation bins like these...

 For a while I've popped the odd thing in, but it's not really been at the forefront of my mind. From today (and yes, I'm off shopping - who does eat the food in this house? why does it disappear so fast?) I'm going to put buying an extra or two to go in the donating points on every shop.

Month 11 - Bite 8

I noticed on today's shop that the self-service till is offering me the option of rounding my bill up to the nearest pound for a charity donation. I thought the odd few pence wouldn't make too much difference until I stop and began working out what would happen if everyone going through the tills added 10p in this way. Then I started looking at the numbers of customers through our local supermarket in one hour and it was mind-blowing. So, if I do this every time I shop and so do a significant number of others, it's got to help, hasn't it?

Month 11 - Bite 9

I had to pop in for one or two items that weren't available the other day. One of them was a buy one get one free and another '4 for the price of 3'. I don't necessarily like these as, with only two of us, we just tend to cause a storage problem - and don't get me started on the size of pre-packed vegetables where it's sometimes the only way to buy them and then it's just too much for the two of us!

It was a no-brainer, and I should have thought of it before - all I had to do was donate the spare 'free' item into the food box.

Hmmm.... I wonder if there are any other easy ways to donate stuff I don't need... watch this space.

Playing Catch-Up

I've got a bit behind with all my good intentions!

I don't know why that is.. I've made notes, taken photos (some of which I've managed to lose - don't know how I've done that either!!!

Anyway, the next few posts will need to contain a number of bites written from the notes I made. These may well read a bit like the Strictly Sunday show - with me referring to today or yesterday when it's obviously not - be that as it may it's all in the panicked catch-up of someone who feels the oncoming approach of Christmas and all that entails....

So...

Month 11 - Bite 3

In the sorting out I did last month I did put aside a number of items to pass on to others. I mentioned the tile cutters last time and once they'd gone I took a look at what I'd stashed away in the garage.

There's supposed to be a great photo of empty paint tins here - but it's one of the photos that's gone awol.. and I can't retake it as I've carted the tins off to a repair/art place locally that make good use of odds and ends of decorating materials to help spruce up homes and surroundings at no cost.

Month 11 - Bite 4

I did track down this picture though.

It's the home for retired tennis balls at our local club. People can then help themselves for practice sessions with the worn-out balls if they feel like torture or take them for dog chasing.

I found two or three tubes of balls that haven't been used in a while and added them to the club's collection.

Month 11 - Bite 5

A search in the loft for some fleece uncovered more towels that I must have stored up there a while ago. Perhaps when I was exploring the airing cupboard, who knows?

I've bundled them all up and they're off to a local pet/animal rescue centre where they'll be put to good use.

Month 11 - Bite 6

Time to open the coat cupboard and have another hunt through for coats I haven't used in a while. I know I did this earlier in the year, but there one or two that I thought might be useful until I realised that I already had plenty without them.

Our local libraries have warm rails where they put out donated outer layers for anyone who needs one to take. No prizes for guessing where my surplus is off to!

First rapid-fire selection over.. more soon!

 

Paying it Forwards and Giving it Back

 So that’s another month done and dusted.

As we fast approach the season of giving and getting why not get ahead with the giving bit?

I’ve not forgotten Month 10 and its extra mouthful, but I’ll catch up with that later - more photos needed...

Anyway, here’s Month 11’s elephant to start on.

Month 11 - Bite 1

I remember a story from Richard Carlson’s ‘Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff’ about motorists on a toll bridge. The driver at the beginning of the queue paid his toll and that of the following car. When the next driver found his toll had been paid, he paid for the car behind and so it continued. Everyone gave and all but that first driver received. One small act that made a whole lot of people’s day better.

In the spirit of that this month will be a whole heap of stuff I can do to contribute to others, while not breaking the bank myself!

Here’s the first...

I mentioned last minute month about how the neighbours round here tend to help each other out... well, I got a chance today. Often my next-door neighbours on either side go away. Today one of them popped in to say that they’ve got the chance of a quick break before Christmas. The only problem is that, being Christmas, they’ve ordered a number of things for gifts that would be delivered while they’re away and they are reluctant to go with so much due for delivery. So it was easy to agree to collect up their parcels and pop them indoors while they are away. First pay it forwards achieved.

Month 11 - Bite 2

While chatting to my neighbour I remembered her telling me about some friends of hers that had started mosaic work. I had a brush with it a number of years ago and made a fish ornament for the garden.

Somehow I haven't got around to doing any more, but still have some of the tiles and the tile cutter I used so they are gathering dust and spiders in the shed.

Time for me to pull them out and see if the friends want them - giving something away to someone who will use it has got to be better than it languishing round at mine!

Getting Together

 To finish off this month the bites return to the idea of doing 'stuff' together and being social.

As the nights draw in it's good to have some fun in company. I've mentioned playing games before, but recently we've had a couple of sessions with little outlay, no technology and time to gather with others.

Month 10 - Bite 28

A Sunday session of a numbers game which usually leads to hilarity (and a ruthlessness that I don't always associate with particular people) was a welcome diversion from TV and the (at the moment largely depressing) news.

I've also enjoyed breaking up a never-ending train journey being taught some new (to me) by a five-year-old - so you're never too old to learn or young to teach it would seem!

Just two ways of enjoying ourselves with no energy expenses...

Month 10 - Bite 29

It was nice to be able to answer a call for help from a neighbour. We live in a really friendly neighbourhood with lots of very talented and skilled people who are always willing to help - today was my turn. A neighbour has got a new printer and is having a bit of a time of it getting it up and running. In a former life I was the ICT person in school and so am used to trying to figure out how to get recalcitrant tech to do its job. So I've had a phone call to help and I'm only too happy to - I certainly owe her for the stream of dolls that keep coming my way from her grandchildren for my nieces' girls!

This give and take is a good way of saving cash between ourselves so I'm off for a cup of tea and a rummage through an instruction book and (I guess) a tussle with her router.

Month 10 - Bite 30

We've been chatting among ourselves around here about who can do what and how they can offer help. None of us want to deny work to specialists, but many little jobs, like my computer help yesterday, are almost impossible to get someone out to see to, or require booking a paid-for chunk of time for something simple from someone at a huge (or so it seems) cost. Where one of our neighbours has a profession - like the plumber across the road - we wouldn't dream of asking him to repair anything without proper recompense. However, helping each other with anything from putting up some shelves to checking brake lights on a car and saving a trip to a repair shop or paying for a worker in times like these makes sense. So it's time to start recognising the skills that we can offer each other....

Lighting up Time

 Just now when we're getting used to the clocks changing and the timing of darkness falling (well, when I started writing this anyway), here's a quick one I've just completed.

Month 10 - Bite 27

Decorating meant getting the light fittings down so they didn't get covered in paint. Obviously, they were all cleaned up before being replaced. It did remind me though, that in my efforts to keep the place tidy and clean during the decorating process I hadn't been that fussy about ALL the dusting.

Today then, I'm attacking all the light bulbs - and boy, are some of them dusty! If the light and energy from the bulbs in going into their dust blankets, then I can't be surprised if the lighting is a bit dim and the bulbs are working harder to shine....