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Unque ways of solving problems

Suzanne

Suzanne

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
Having two slightly different sized feet ( very small), I have always had trouble finding shoes and slippers that I can walk in comfortably. Well, I have a pair of slippers that are in my size; accept due to years in my teen time, of curling to grip my shoes, so that I do not slip out of them, I now have trouble with them; ingrown toe nails etc and due to my new slippers fitting me too exact, the one that is actually a tad too small, where my toes are pushing, which has caused me huge amounts of pain.

Well, after a suggestion by hubby, I managed to cut the area of slippers where my toes go and they work to perfection and do not distract from the prettiness of my new slippers.

So, what have you come up with, without having to spend money?
 
I cut wood that I get free, for our wood stove.
I fix everything in the house, from windows to new electrical installs but electrics was always my employment.

All plumbing - me again :) My wife has a sewing machine and knits for a charity.

I make components on my lathe but nowadays I draw the line on car maintenance, can't stand it now. I did rewire a car trailer last winter for someone who lives nearby.

My cooking is dismal but there's someone here who can do a good job and used to be in catering :)

Fixed the roof a while ago, got someone to lay our carpets, lazy me:rolleyes::D
Grew loads of vegetables this year, fixed tv ( my electronics hobby anyway, so I enjoy it)

Did I say my sewing is rubbish?:D
 
About shoes, if they're leather it can be stretched. Either take it to someone who does shoe repair (it's cheap, we'v had it done) or wear the leather wet & let it dry to your feet. Just be sure & be walking around until they dry, or you'll never get them on again. (I ruined a nice pair of leather gloves that way. Came home on a snowy day & not thinking about they're being leather, just left them to dry on their own. Wow, did they shrink!)
 
I spotted some free doors outside a house along the road! I told my partner, who came to look, then carried them home one by one. We needed one to separate the kitchen and utilities, and the other upstairs. Also we got a free large storage dresser, top is 3 linked glass fronted cabinets, and below 3 drawers and 3 cupboards from a person who was moving. And 2 sets of drawers my partner made into a linen cupboard.

My partner can do a lot in the house. I made and am still making jams chutneys and soups from our allotment veg we grew this year. I'm very slow at prepping veg though, part of being generally clumsy. I don't hurry when using a sharp knife! We have pumpkins all over the place too for more soups and for carving at Halloween, just for fun. We grew some Zombie pumpkins, they're very warty and weird.

We give a lot too, we both do voluntary work and we advertise any unwanted furniture and give stuff to charity shops. Even the cat gives stuff, usually boxes of food she liked but then after we bought plenty, doesn't like any more...
 
My friend and I bought a saw, and trimmed down a tree to save money. But it was hot. We also cleaned the gutter. I wear my clothes over and over since it seems l have ongoing issues there. I quit work to save my mental health, car wear, gas, tires, etc. I had to deal with vandalism in my small home, so l just decided to fix things slowly, instead of stressing about it. I outfitted my place with gently used furniture.
 
I have made or altered too many things to list here, but I once made an eye shade for driving without stopping the car. I just wanted to tell you that there is an organization that matches people with different sized feet so that they can trade half-pairs of shoes to get the right sizes fo each foot.
 
Suzanne said:
Having two slightly different sized feet ( very small), I have always had trouble finding shoes and slippers that I can walk in comfortably. Well, I have a pair of slippers that are in my size; accept due to years in my teen time, of curling to grip my shoes, so that I do not slip out of them, I now have trouble with them; ingrown toe nails etc and due to my new slippers fitting me too exact, the one that is actually a tad too small, where my toes are pushing, which has caused me huge amounts of pain.

Well, after a suggestion by hubby, I managed to cut the area of slippers where my toes go and they work to perfection and do not distract from the prettiness of my new slippers.

So, what have you come up with, without having to spend money?
Click to expand...
I just hit upon a solution that is inexpensive for your smaller foot. Ballet dancers when wearing point shoes also wear a gel toe protector that protects their feet from the hard toe box in pointe shoes. These can be ordered online, two come in a package. These can't be used in sandals but maybe you just trim it down if the sandal cover will most your of your toes.

https://nikolay-world.com/NextCategory/en-US/P239/pointe-shoe-accessories
This is a European ballet retailer in Europe that had many different toe pads. But you can probably find these online anywhere.
 
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I love unorthodox practical solutions.

Sticky tack and duck tape can solve many things, pennies are cheaper than washers, etc. :-)
 
A simple computing solution for those with bad backs. I can't sit at a desk for very long, no upright chair is comfortable for me and some chairs actually cause me pain.

But I have a big cushy reclining chair and I lounge right back with the keyboard in my lap and the mouse on the arm of the chair. The screen sits on a small but tall table just above my feet when I'm reclined back. Sitting like this I can (and do) comfortably spend 16 hours a day on the computer.
 
I bought a cheap computer desk which was OK but MDF is not a good material for furniture. When I re-cased my PC it was a tight fit so I made a desk from scratch. I used the steel leg units from a commercially made desk, the glass door from the old one and kitchen worktop for the surfaces.
 
Suzanne said:
So, what have you come up with, without having to spend money?
Click to expand...
I constantly recycle things. I have always done that.
Maybe it's because of how I grew up (my dad was very inventive and we lived in a place where you had to be, sometimes). Or maybe it's because I hate to waste stuff (I'm not a hoarder, just hate throw-away mentality and consumerism, I seldom buy things I don't really need or truly want).

I buy second-hand clothes and use the cloth to see new ones.
I make bags out of old towels, and boxes out of newspaper, I have a trunk that's cardboard (like 5 boxes went into it before it was firm enough for me). I paint on cardboard. Or old sheets. The compartments in my bathroom drawers are boxes that contained champignons or cherry tomatoes. I have a shelf that's made of wooden veggie boxes I found somewhere.
There's many things more...
Unfortunately, I haven't been so creative since shortly before my latest breakdown. S3ms his time it's taking me longer to recover.
 
Duna said:
I constantly recycle things. I have always done that.
Maybe it's because of how I grew up (my dad was very inventive and we lived in a place where you had to be, sometimes). Or maybe it's because I hate to waste stuff (I'm not a hoarder, just hate throw-away mentality and consumerism, I seldom buy things I don't really need or truly want).

I buy second-hand clothes and use the cloth to see new ones.
I make bags out of old towels, and boxes out of newspaper, I have a trunk that's cardboard (like 5 boxes went into it before it was firm enough for me). I paint on cardboard. Or old sheets. The compartments in my bathroom drawers are boxes that contained champignons or cherry tomatoes. I have a shelf that's made of wooden veggie boxes I found somewhere.
There's many things more...
Unfortunately, I haven't been so creative since shortly before my latest breakdown. S3ms his time it's taking me longer to recover.
Click to expand...
I have used a skirt shape that I enjoyed and purchased some nice fabric and used that skirt as a template and it worked a treat.

Love charity shops and hope to go to one soon and do the same thing.
 
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