Long time no blog....

Really thought I was going to cancel Christmas this year.....first my brother died and then I got a horrible dose of the flu - right up to Christmas Eve I felt dreadful...I am so glad I am always well in advance for Christmas because it really helped this year.
So - things that worked at Xmas

1 - Buying stuff in during the year - saved a lot of money
2 - Actually being ill was great for my purse - no last minute shopping as oh had to do it with a list and strict instructions nowt else! After the family came on Boxing Day for a left over buffet there was hardly anything left so very pleased indeed
3 - Trex makes the best mince pies ever! just like Mr Kiplings...mmmmm
4 - Homemade presents went down really well indeed
5 - Wrapping well in advance really helped too


Things to do better next year.....

1 - Try to buy every present in a sale
2 - Prepare more food in advance to put in the freezer
3 - Make more homemade presents i.e. knitting and chutneys
4 - Make homemade cards for family
5 - Accept help - I am not Superwoman and want to do everything for Crimbo myself - had to let go this year as I simply wasn't well enough

Managing number 1 quite nicely - my best bargains were Sainsburys on-line - 70% off toys so stocked up! Got all my cards, crackers and paper really cheaply (M&S cards for 50p)

So I am prepared for another Crimbo nice and early!

Will also be tweaking my budget this year - we are now running 2 cars and I need extra for my driving lessons so the food budget (which has been getting quite hairy) is the first to be looked at. Also I am giving my daughter a clothes allowance every month as from January so will see how that goes (will go to help her manage money when she grows up!)

We want to go away more in the caravan this year (I managed a total of 7 holidays last year so quite chuffed!)

I am also starting an Open University course in February - a bit of a dream but I would love to have a degree in History so this is a start at least. So need to be more organised as I will have studying to do as well as work.

So watch this blog for more of my attempts at frugality and making my money stretch as far as I can.....

I love Christmas.....

Busy wrapping up pressies with my youngest dd - snowing outside, spiced apple candle smells lovely - I luurrrrve Crimbo!

Another good night at Asda....

Back from the knitting club and decided to try Asda as I got loads of bargains at the same time last week - wee bitty early this week but still got loads of stuff (and saw a fox in the car park which made my night!)

Got....
Lamb chops - £5 to £1
3 x pack drop scones - only 29p each but reduced to 10p
4 packs rolls - 65p down to 10p
Pizza - £2.48 down to 89p
3 x quiche - £1 to 20p
2x fancy rolls - 77p to 10p
Biscuits - £1.20 to 10p
2 small desserts - 99p to 20p

Think that was all - anyway, would have cost £18.78 (not that I would have bought some of it!) but for £2.89 I was very pleased!

I love another car boot...

Been to our monthly car boot up at the Parkandride just outside Edinburgh - its never very big but I always manage to get some great stuff. Set myself a limit of £10 and spent £9.50...

Travel journal - £1.50 (to record my holidays - had £9.99 on the back!)
Bunch of plastic poinsettias - 10p
Banana scrabble - £1 (new - £16.99 in the Lakeland catalogue!)
Clothes for dgs 1 - spent £3 (including tons of tops for 20p each and 2 coats for 50p)
Tiny timberland boots for dgs 2 - 50p!
Sleeping bag for dgs 2 - £1
Red bodice for dd - 20p (shes out trick or treating with it on!)
Fashionable Checky shirt for dd - 20p
Xmas present (new - cant say as might be reading my blog!) - £1
Xmas present - second hand but looks like new - £1

Very pleased.....

2p stickers in Asda....

Popped into Asda for cat food (after spending a horrendous amount in Tesco realised Mr Fussy will only eat Tiger cat food!) and couldn't resist a quick peek at the reduced counter.....my heart nearly stopped......everything was 2p!

So got £24.68 worth of food for 36p - put most of it in the freezer (packets of cooked roast beef/chicken/turkey, quiche, couple of ready meals, curry puffs) 3 packs of butter in the fridge (earmarked for baking) will take the sandwiches to work tomorrow and have left enough snacks in the fridge for tomorrow, the savoury eggs didn't even make it to the fridge!

Woo hoo!

Need to knuckle down again......

Just came back from a fab caravan holiday at a Haven site (yes it was cheesey but had a great time anyway) - spent what I had budgeted for and more (long story but caravans we booked had no heating and had to upgrade)so that took a small chunk.
Got back to no food in the house so off we went to our new Tesco extra which only opened a couple of weeks ago. I had a £8 voucher off a £40 shop......
Note to self - never take dd shopping - she had cost me a fortune before we even got to the food department!
I don't know if it was being on holiday and eating all those nice things but my cupboards are full of "goodies" and heaven knows what meals I will be making! This is just what I am trying to avoid - making shopping a day out (even spent £10 in the cafe)It takes a while to settle down after a holiday...
So tomorrow is menu planning day - will see how long I can manage to stretch the food for! Once the goodies run out I intend to have a baking session and the my next foray into food shopping will be an on-line Asda order (found Tesco to be dearer)as real life shopping is just too expensive.
We have discovered a nice but dear butcher - this time got cumberland sausage, steak mince, lemon chicken olives and cooked roast beef cut thick for a dinner to try - cost £20 which seems a lot but if it tastes nice I am willing to pay a bit extra. However, I did notice there were none of the cheaper cuts of meat on display hmmmm....

Car boot

Have had a savings chat with oh and youngest dd - explained we were eating out far too much etc and I would be keeping more of a handle on our outgoings.....

Sunday - this time we boxed clever by having breakies before going to the car boot (or I thought we did!) Off we went - bought a tombola ticket for £1 and won a chocolate advent calender (still in date!) - into the xmas box. Then found a brand new large metal flask (still boxed) for £1. Bought some muffins for later on (£1.60) and that was all. Then went to another car boot at our local market and bought nothing at all there. Then came the hard bit, normally we always get a fish supper as they are really nice. Now because I had breakies I didn't want anything - but youngest dd and eldest dd how joined us were both hungry (hadn't had breakies) so I ended up buying them a fish supper to share (and 2 bottles of juice) Then oh decided he was hungry and I put the foot down - no way was I going to buy him something when he'd had a huge cooked breakies so made him pay for his own burger and coffee with his allowance (which instead of leaving in the bank as I usually do I got both our allowances out in cash) You could see he was torn - usually its always me that spends but it makes a change him actually having to use his own money - so dear reader, he bought them!

So re-capping - could have done without the muffins and made my own, could have saved more money by bring out juice - working on it a step at a time......

Saved by car sharing - £35.40
Housekeeping - £69
Extra Holiday money - £135.76
Food out - £9.60
My allowance left - £46
Household - £1

New car!

Feeling a lot better - tooth still giving me problems but going to the dentist on Monday for extractions so that will sort it!
2nd driving lesson went well (didn't cry - always good!) so booked another 10....
And.....bought myself a wee car! its a Fiat Sciento - bit of a carrot to pass the test but everyone persuaded me to get it to practice in - been looking at my own insurance for it and its do-able with a bit of financial juggling.
Talking about financial juggling.....going to have a re-think about how I keep track on spending.......have got a diary to carry round and am going to write down how much I have in each of my Freedom accounts for the following - Clothes, Entertainment, Repairs and Household. So before I whip out the old bank card to buy something I will check if I have enough in that particular account.Its funny how you get complacent about finances so I need to get back on track as I now will have extra insurance, road tax and petrol to think about (paid for the car in cash which was a good feeling!)

Saved by car sharing - £35.40
Housekeeping - £12
Extra Holiday money - £135.76
My allowance left - £47

Missing in action

No blogs I;m afraid - laid low in my bed with some awful lurgy and now coughing like mad - add toothache to the mix and I have not been happy - Driving lesson 2 tomorrow - bring it on.....

My first ever driving lesson

Didn't sleep last night - was so excited (honestly, I'm like a big kid!)

Picked up at 11.30 in a brand new BMW - I was expecting the mini he usually drives but turns out he got better deal with this one - very smart...

After 40 mins of explaining about all the tests etc and showing me how to use the clutch he said it was my turn - out I got and into the driving seat - altered the chair etc - went to press the button to start it and burst into tears!!!! Honestly, I do my own head in at times - I get sooo worked up about things and so emotional its totally ridiculous - thankfully, as he's been teaching folk to drive for nearly 30 years it didn't phase him. Sat and pulled myself together and managed to go forwards starting and stopping with the clutch. I have booked another 10 lessons as I am determined not to let being such a girl and crying stop me! Hopefully, next week I wont be so wound up and can manage without tears (gggggggrrrrrh at myself!) Its so much to take in all at once (and especially for a mature lady like myself!)So watch this blog for further events!!!!

(I'm exhausted and going for lie down!)

I love a car boot.....

Busy weekend - made some lovely soup yesterday (mmm what's left in my veg drawer - chuck it all in a pot!) from parsnips, turnip and leek. Made a big mistake by sending OH to the butchers on his own! (what was I thinking!!!!!!) wont do that again as he spent.....£33 and one of his buys was pork fillet! Can make 6 meals (possibly 7) with the meat so I am not happy - next time he will be accompanied. Spent £12 on goodies at Asda (night in) and went to Aldis and spent £50 on messages and treated myself to a lovely caramel and cream bedspread for a horrendous £25 (its sooo gorgeous) The messages will last us well into next month (I will post up a menu tomorrow)
Off to a car boot early this morning so put pots, carrots and stewing beef in the slow cooker and off we went.....

Bought - The Snowman fluffy toy (I love the Snowman!) £1
Toast rack for the caravan - 50p
Pink flowery crocs for me - £1
Quotation game for caravan - 50p
New Year Party games - 50p
2 big pictures in IKEA clip frames of lighthouses with waves crashing over them - bargain at 50p for the 2!
Furry boot slippers for youngest dd - £2 (she's fussy!)
Various bits for the grandkids - £1.50

and £7.80 on bacon rolls!

Came home and turned the slow cooker up high and put dumplings in (a la Jamie Oliver) - left them for an hour and it was probably the best stew I have ever made - for taste you really cant beat a proper butcher. I must admit I normally buy meat from the supermarkets but decided to give our local butcher (well, the next village!) a try but OH said it was really busy, he forgot his glasses and got all confused hence he spent too much - next time I will go with him and sort him out.

Just realised on my totals that I have underspent by £41.76 this month so that's going in my holiday account - meal planning definitely saves money

Saved by car sharing - £16.80
Housekeeping - £208.24
Holiday - £85.76
My allowance - £49.80
Entertainment - £37.50
Household - £32.50
Clothes - £60.10

Turning 50

Not blogged for a while - did some spending (nothing I couldnt afford!) and a lot of thinking....

Turning 50 has been a bit of a watershed for me - its probably about time I decided what I am going to do when I grow up! so have done the following....

Gone to the dentist (believe you me this was a feat - the last time I had treatement was when I was 15 and the few emergency appointments I have had since were horrific)

Booked driving lessons - starting this Monday! never driven before in my life!

Enrolled in the Open University - learning History (would be nice to head for a degree)

Stayed in the car during a car wash! - may seem daft but have been unable to do it since I was a kid cos of my claustrophobia - didnt like it but managed it

Now these might not seem very exciting things but for me they are all major hurdles I have been trying to overcome - maybe I have grown up at long last!

Being cheap isnt always the best....

For years I have used Asda's Smart price soap powder (and only 2 dessert spoons at that!) and a 30deg wash.......I didn't want to change it as youngest dd has really bad excema and it was the only soap powder that didn't annoy her. I also always used unscented fabric conditioner.

OH often has oily clothes and I always ended up piling in the soap powder, washing at least twice on hot washes.

I made my own soap powder (a la Frugal Queen)by using grated household soap and soda crystals (still only use 2 dessert spoons) and have been using a 40 deg wash, vinegar instead of fabric conditioner and what a difference in my clothes! Its not aggravated dds skin, everything is much cleaner and even softer and OH oily overalls are much better (not perfect but I wasn't expecting miracles!)

I know its fashionable to only use 30 degrees but it just doesn't work - and also after a couple of weeks of using a slightly higher temperature my washing machine doesn't seem to have that nasty whiff it used to.

Same with my dishwasher (gratefully got from Freecycle) I always used in on the 40degree quick wash but sometimes had to put things back. Tried all the various cheap dishwasher stuff and have found the best tablets are Aldis own but they only really work on a normal (55 degree) wash (which takes 1 hours 20 minutes but at least I don't have to put things back!)

So some times you just have to spend a wee bit more to get the results you are happy with.

Saved by car sharing - £4.20
Housekeeping - £146.24
Holiday - £41
My allowance - £39.80
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £7.50
Clothes - £60.10

Apple flapjacks and rice pud

Took my parsnip soup to work today and it was fab! Now car sharing - instead of paying £3.70 to get to work it only costs me £1! Will put the money away I am saving into a little fund of my own for a nice treat.....

As requested - the following 2 tried and tested recipes...

Apple Flapjacks

8oz butter (I used cheap block marg!)
8oz sugar
6oz golden syrup
14oz oats
2 apples peeled and chopped

Melt butter, sugar and syrup until dissolved - add oats and apples
Pre-heat oven to Gas 4 (180)
I used my deep brownie pan to make really thick gooey flapjacks - cook for 20 - 25 mins - slice when just out of the oven and leave to cool

Slow cooker rice pudding

3 oz pudding rice
1 1/2 oz sugar
1 1/2 pints milk

Mix - put in slow cooker - usually takes around 4-5 hours - one minute it looks really thin and before you know it it thickens up very quickly!

Housekeeping - £146.24
Holiday - £41
My allowance - £39.80
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £7.50
Clothes - £60.10

More bargains

Had a lovely day at the Museum of Flight yesterday (even better as it was free!) rustle up a picnic from stuff I keep ready for such occasions - even made some apple flapjacks which were lovely. Cooked them in my brownie tin so they were really deep and moist. Went to the regular car boot at East Fortune market. Normally not keen as it seems to be mostly dealers who want quite a bit of money for tat but actually got some good stuff yesterday.

11 vests
5 pairs pjs
3 babygros
Top and fleece pinafore - all for my gd Skye - totalled £2
Walking boots for youngest dd - 50p and fit perfectly

Then had to go to Tesco as needed bits (and dd needed stationary for school) - spent £36.02 but that did include quite a few reductions at half price.

Went to the dentist today (free as on Working tax credit) and popped into a charity shop - normally never buy anything as I find them really expensive but saw a lovely Evans gilet - poodle fleece inside brown mock suede - and paid £5 for it but am really pleased with it.

Also joined a car sharing website and have been matched up with someone who works in the same building as me - starting Weds I can get a lift in the mornings so instead of costing me £3.10 (or £3.70 depends which bus comes first) I will only be paying £1!!!! really pleased

Housekeeping - £146.24
Holiday - £41
My allowance - £39.80
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £7.50
Clothes - £60.10

Nothing much

Well, nothing much has happened in the last few days.....haven't spent any money at all which is good (apart from bus fares to work which are budgeted for)There are no car boot/jumble sales this weekend but its Open Doors day on Sunday so we will be going to the National Museum of Flight for free, saving £9 per adult - I have been before a good few years ago (on another Open Doors day!) so its time to see what's new.

Housekeeping - £110.22
Holiday - £41
My allowance - £39.80
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £5
Clothes - £55.10

My soup was lovely at work, with a cheese muffin and cheap raspberries to follow - bliss! The gammon joint was really nice and I am going to add lentils and veg to the stock (still in the slow cooker!) to make nice soup for tomorrow. Cooked extra potatoes (had mash with it) to cut up and make a fritata (is that the spelling?) for tea tomorrow night.

Knitted a tiny hat for a premature baby at the knitting club tonight - I'm starting to feel like a 50's housewife!

Housekeeping - £110.22
Holiday - £41
My allowance - £39.80
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £5
Clothes - £55.10

Asda bargains

The reason I do an on-line shop is to keep me away from Asda - and where did I end up tonight????? Youngest dd needed joggers for PE - got them for £4 and then decided to have a quick look at the reductions on my way out.....hit gold as I saw a nice lady putting 10p stickers on stuff! I got....

5 punnets of raspberries - reduced from £1.97 to 10p
3 x 12 garlic bread slices - from £1.37 to 10p
Carrot, sweet potato mix (Asda finest no less!) from £2 to 10p
Chicken satay sticks - from £1.50 to 10p
Punnet of plums - £1 to 10p
Tex mex dip - £2.11 to 10p
Fresh chicken soup - £1.50 to 10p
Mini salami stick - £1.70 to 10p

So £24.07 worth of goodies for £1.40! And the punnets the raspberries came in I have washed and will put away to put seedlings in next year as they have their own lids like wee propagaters.

Put 1 punnet of raspberries in 1/2 bottle of vodka I had left (again, a la Frugal Queen) so that should be yummy! The rest are flash freezing - thank goodness for a big freezer.

Housekeeping - £110.22
Holiday - £41
My allowance - £39.80
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £5
Clothes - £55.10

Baking

Well - both the food flasks worked equally well - perhaps if I left them longer it might be different but at work it will be 5 hours and it was piping hot.

Made scones (taste luvely but rolled them a bit too thin), cheese muffins and coffee and walnut muffins. Youngest dd was totally delighted when she came in from school "starrrrving" and attacked the cake tins.

Asda man arrived and so my cupboards are looking respectable again - the infamous egg, beans and chips for tea tonight! Strange that its cheaper to buy Smart Price Beans and Sausages then just a regular tin of Smart Price beans! Hey ho

Will pop the gammon joint in the slow cooker in the morning and have it with mashed pots and cabbage for tea tomorrow.

Housekeeping - £108.82
Holiday - £41
My allowance - £39.80
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £5
Clothes - £51.10

Food flask experiment and porridge

As I am back to work tomorrow I decided to do a bit of a food flask experiment. I have 2 food flasks - one cost me £12 years ago (thermos) and I just bought a metal one from Asda for £5. Filled both with boiling water this morning and heated up yesterdays lentil soup and filled them both. By lunchtime it will have been 5 hours since I put the soup in so will see how hot it is in both. Luckily, I don't like my soup piping hot but will see which flask comes out best.
And its such horrible weather today that I have reverted back to good old porridge - 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup milk and 3 minutes in the microwave.....real comfort food!
Off to look in my cupboards to see if I can bake anything before my Asda order arrives (not coming until 4-6pm)

Housekeeping - £108.82
Holiday - £41
My allowance - £39.80
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £5
Clothes - £51.10

Soup a success! menu planning is back...

Well just switched off the lentil soup in the slow cooker and it taste yum - next time will put more lentils in than the recipe (I like a thick soup)but very pleased.

Did my Asda order - came to £101.32 with free delivery - got loads of stuff that will last me longer than 2 weeks (ie lentils, soup mix, barley etc) The menu is as follows (in no order) - anything I will be cooking in the slow cooker is marked SC

1 - Beef stew - SC
2 - Goulash - SC
3 - Gammon joint - SC
4 - Gammon fritatas
5 - Gammon and lentil soup - SC
6 - Lasagne
7 - Lasagne (we like lasagne!)
8 - Pasta bake
9 - Macaroni cheese
10 - Sausage casserole - SC
11 - Creamy pork and mushrooms - SC
12 - Egg, beans and chips
13 - Chicken curry
14 - Mince and potatoes
15 - Beef olives
16 - Curried parsnip soup - SC
17 - Chicken broth with mushrooms - SC

As you can see its actually more meals than just 2 weeks by using up leftovers (and might manage to sneak another couple of meals in too) I also intend to make apple flapjacks, scones, rock buns and h/m hummus for snacks.

I also bagged some bargains on ebay

Velvet scarf/wrap (gorgeous colours)
Blouse
Skirt
Red padded coat

Total including postage - £18.18. Very pleased with the coat - the picture wasn't great but its a padded jacket from M&S - the picture looked a very bright pink but read the description and it said dark red (problems with camera) so I got it for 99p with £4 postage - lets hope they all fit!

Housekeeping - £108.82
Holiday - £41
My allowance - £39.80
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £5
Clothes - £51.10

Slow coker soup

Been on a bit of a mission today - 2 loads of washing (put out, dried, ironed and put away!) Sorted out my kitchen cupboards and washed the inside (not a bad chore as its not long since we put the kitchen in!)re-arranged some cupboards, washed out the fridge and put a load in the dishwasher. Had a break (read my caravan magazine from the subscription paid for in Tesco vouchers) and had a cheese toastie (using one of those thingys in the toaster - mmmmmm)
Am going to do a 2 week menu this afternoon after checking all the cupboards to see what I have - freezers are looking sad as I have been using things up so time to re-stock - will do an Asda on-line shop.
Trying out soup in the slow cooker. I use my slow cooker loads but have never tried soup. Its a lentil soup from the slow cooker book I got ages ago in a charity shop (basically onions, carrots, lentils, chicken stock, tin tomatoes) and it says to cook it on low for 6-10 hours. Trying it through the day so I can see if I can leave it on all day (or even over night if I want to take soup to work) Been looking up a few more recipes for slow cooker soup so will report back.
Am bidding on a few more items on ebay so will if I get them will add them to the total below.
Feeling very domesticated!!!!!

Housekeeping - £7.50
Holiday - £41
My allowance - £39.80
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £5
Clothes - £32.92

Nights out and ebay

Busy few days - Fridays lunch at work cost £1.35. Stayed at my daughters on Friday night as I was going out for a meal with the girls from work. Had a great time and I think it cost me £26 (few drinkys involved) On the way home the next day I bought 2 pizzas, 2 bottles of lemonade and 4 loo rolls at a wee rural co-op (total £7.50) Me and both my dds were invited to a friends house at 3pm for a "ladies afternoon" - we had to dress up (had to borrow a dress from dd!) and had a great time. 18 of us in total - it was a scream! Played bingo, had a quiz (which I won!) and there was a jewellery sale and everyone bought bits to sell for no more than £1. Had strawberry's and champagne and salmon, cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches - weather was perfect for it. Then had a wee too many drinks for comfort and toddled off home at 9pm.....

I have also been hitting ebay - as I am a "ahem" larger sized lady I find it very difficult (and expensive!) to buy clothes. Very rarely do I find any at charity shops or jumble sales and the likes of Evans is extortionate. So I thought I would look at ebay - now its been a while since I bought stuff from there but the prices have really shot up. Anyway - I have bought the following

Winter Skirt (aubergine, suede look)
Purple going out top
Black patterned reverible skirt
Long length tunic
Black/cream top
Beige raincoat

Cost a grand total of £29.92 including postage which is still less than the price of one blouse in Evans.

Housekeeping - £7.50
Holiday - £41
My allowance - £39.80
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £5
Clothes - £32.92

Another day out

Took a flexi day off today as dd had a hospital appointment - everything is fine - off for a quick lunch before she had her college induction day. A nice lunch at the buffet at Pizza Hut (dds choice as I always treat her to lunch after the hospital) Popped into New Look and got 2 pairs of woolly tights for youngest dd reduced from £5 to £1 each and 2 pairs of knees length socks (like thick denier tights) reduced to 50p each. Got a new lipstick in Boots (used my £5 voucher from when I bought a picnic for the pictures at Boots with my luncheon vouchers!)so only had to pay £4.25. Then went to Asda and got some random stuff.....

Coloured pencils and colouring books
4 lunch bags (for picnics)
(the above bought for grandkids as we are all going on holiday in 2 static caravans - 14 of us including 2 babies! - must be mad!
Food flask (for taking soups etc to work)
2 nail varnishes and a lipgloss - these only totalled £5 - George makeup is very reasonable.

Got home and oh has been working (long story - he's a fisherman and only started back working in July but the boat has been out of commission since the beginning of August) and had brought home a big bag of prawns (which he cooked and shelled as I hate doing it) had them simply with noodles as they were so fresh we didn't want to drown the taste!

Holiday - £41
My allowance - £12.45
Entertainment - £17.50
Household - £5
Clothes - £3

A new month dawns....

Back to putting up my spending - put £50 from housekeeping straight into the extra holiday fund - was starving at work so had lasagne and chips (hangs head in shame). Went to the knitting club tonight and finished a little cuddle robe ( I have started doing charity knitting again - these are for premature babies)

Holiday fund - £50
From my allowance - £3.20

A cheap day out

Its Tuesday which means mother and daughter day out - this may stop as from next week as she is going to college and isn't sure what days (and you can guarantee it will be Monday and Tuesdays as they are my days off!) - got my hair cut this morning.

Popped to the pictures to see The Sorcerers Apprentice (well, I just wanted to see Nicolas Cage for 2 hours!) - took our sandwiches and crisps into the cinema (bought with luncheon vouchers earned from Pinecone research) - dd paid for the cinema as she owed me pennies and we indulgently had 2 Frappes outside Ocean Terminal on the terrace overlooking the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Meatballs (bought from Aldis) and Smart price paste for tea with a Lloyd Grossman sauce (£1 - normally make my own but always have a couple of jars in for quickness)

Nice day....

Well I am back blogging! thanks to my friend Caroline (thanks for the meal - it was fab!) who misses my blogs I am up and running again......
I vanished for a while as I turned 50 and was having a major re-think about my life (special birthdays always do that!) so I have bitten the bullet and sent off for my provisional driving licence and am going to take lessons - never driven in my life but think its about time I did - I have just over £500 to put towards them (birthday money and a lovely cheque from Scottish Power as all my moaning over the winter about not putting the heating on until really necessary paid off!)so lets see if this old dog can learn new tricks...
I will re-start my outgoings on 1st September - oh wants to have a 2 week holiday next year touring in our caravan up to the Orkney Islands and around the top of Scotland so that's a goal I can be saving up for (I find I am quite happy being frugal if I have a goal) Also, as oh points out, if (sorry, when!) I pass my test I would like a wee car so have to save for that and insurance etc.
Did make a start by making my own soap powder - got the idea from Frugal Queen - grated up 2 bars of Morrisons household soap and mixed with equal quantity of Soda crystals - whizzed up in the food processor and use 1 dessert-spoon per wash. So far I am very pleased with the results - more pleased than using the Asda smart price soap powder! Have now completely given up using fabric conditioner and use 2 tablsps vinegar which makes everything really soft (my towels are fab!)
Also tried out Aldis own make dishwasher tablets which are really good - I am going to try and break them in half to see if that works.
I have routed out all my nearly empty bottles of shampoo and mixed then together (its amazing how much you can get out if you leave them upside down when you think they are empty) and put them in a pump dispenser I bought for 50p at a car boot - considering I have to wash my hair every day it doesn't really matter what shampoo I use.I also added the collection of shampoo sachets I seem to have acquired!
So that's a start!

Vets bill

Heaven help us! our bunny (a cute dwarf lop eared called Bonzo) has been "off" recently so took him to the vets last week - they thought it was his teeth and gave him antibiotics (£26 thank you) and he had to go to the bunny dentist today - he had his back teeth filed down and is now a happy bunny - that will be another £58 thank you! Thank heavens for savings!

Otherwise - breakfast at Asdas (my eldest dd and me as we had to have the bunny up at the vets at the crack of dawn!) - £7
Visit to the pictures to see Wild Target - a British comedy with Bill Nighy which was quite good - £5.60 for both of us
and £4.60 on stationery for youngest for school.

June housekeeping - £90.27 left (might be able to put this in the holiday fund!)
Extra Holiday fund - £28.50
My allowance I have left - £12
Entertainment - £24
Household - £68.60
Spent with money paid back - £423.63

A few bargain buys

Again - been too busy to blog! I sold my dining room table and chairs as they were really too big for the small alcove they were in. Got £100 for them and the set I wanted were in IKEA for £89 so off we went.....and of course, didn't just stop at the table set! in total spent £157 but included a wire basket set to put my fabric stash in. The ongoing saga of the back room mess has now been resolved and I have moved things round - hopefully it will stay tidy now (have pictures on my camera of before and after and when I find the lead to put them on the computer I will post them on the blog) I also took piccies of my old table and the new table and will get them on.

Been doing very well on the meals out - only 2 this week - IKEA (£11) and a fish supper between myself and eldest dd at the market today (£6) Bought 5 new cushions for my sofa for £5, 3 books at 50p each (quite dear but I really wanted them!) and 5 nice poppy table mats for my new table for a total of £1!

Also been doing well on the grocery front - stuck to my menu and shopped today just enough to last me until my next on-line shop next week (£44)

June housekeeping - £90.27 left (might be able to put this in the holiday fund!)
Extra Holiday fund - £28.50
My allowance I have left - £26
Entertainment - £24
Household - £64
Spent with money paid back - £423.63

Another grandson....

Baby Kaidan - born last night - 9lbs 6 0z

Busy week

Hence no blogging! Went away for a few days in the caravan on the spur of the moment down to Lauder to visit friends - had a smashing time - cost £45.50 for the site, spent £26 on groceries for the van. Went down to the Common Ridings at Hawick and spent a grand total of £6!

Took packed lunches to work (only worked 2 days this week) so spent no money there...

Did the Race for Life today up in Edinburgh in the pouring rain! Walked 5km to raise money for Cancer research - did it with youngest dd (13) and my pal Linda and her dd Lisa - my eldest (the one who beat cancer) came to see us despite being full of cold which was nice. Didn't think it would cost anything (apart from £2 bus fare) but we ended up buying some wonderful Angus Aberdeen beefburgers cos we were starving (and didn't fancy carry a picnic on the walk!!) so that was £12.



My menu plan is working brilliantly - no more popping into the shops for bits so saving quite a bit at the moment. Added to the 21 meals I had planned are meal 22 - barbecue at my pals stuff with burgers/sausage/rolls from the freezer and meal 23 was shepherds pie made with left-over lamb from the lamb dinner and meal 24 was just cheese and crackers as my mum and dad came up and bought a big lunch!

June housekeeping - £134.27 left
Extra Holiday fund - £28.50
My allowance I have left - £43.50
Entertainment - £24
Spent with money paid back - £423.63

2 jumble sales....

Off we went yesterday to a big scouts jumble sale at Gullane.....find I'm being very discerning in my purchases - I just love looking at other folks stuff!!!! Bought.....

Box of 43 magazines - quite old ones called Out and About which gives reviews of areas in UK to visit, and reviews of motorhomes and caravans - hours of entertainment for £2

3 paperbacks for £1

Cute summer bag with cherries on it - 50p

Came back and went to our neighbours for a wee barbecue as it was such gorgeous weather (I took along beefburgers and sausages I bought with this months on-line Asda shop for such eventualities!)

Woke up this morning to rain but didn't dampen our spirits as another jumble sale this time up at Garvald which is a lovely wee village. Spent £4 on 2 bacon and egg rolls and 2 cups of tea.

Bought - 4 paperbacks for £1
Fleece cosy toes for new grandsons pram (hes due this Saturday coming)
Babys first blankie (with a blue teddy rattle)
Thick Reebok coat for gs no 1 for the winter
Bag of brand new school socks (around 10 pairs) for gs no 1
(all above for £2)

So had a lovely weekend!

June housekeeping - £134.27 left
Extra Holiday fund - £100
My allowance I have left - £43.50
Entertainment - £4
Spent with money paid back - £423.63

Frugal finds

In all this domestic bliss forgot to post pics of my latest frugal finds.

First pic is an instrument of torture - sorry, that should read exercise thingy given to me by my neighbour who is moving house. We have all had a go on it, screamed with laughter and probably will never go on it again so will put in on Freecycle.

- the tables I got at a car boot sale on Sunday for the princely sum of £5 and have 4 folding tables tucked under it (also bought a wee clock for the caravan for £1)

Another no-spend day (I'm on a roll here!!!!)


June housekeeping - £134.27 left
Extra Holiday fund - £100
My allowance I have left - £50
Spent with money paid back - £423.63

Domestic goddess!

Lovely day today - nice warm wind so done 5 loads of washing! All dried and put away...

Found some interesting peppers and cherry tomatoes at the bottom of my fridge, cut them up with some onion, thyme and drizzled them with olive oil and put the in the oven to roast - will make up some cous cous and that will be the basis of my salads for lunch for the next two days.

At the same time I made and cooked 2 lasagne (1 for tea and 1 to freeze). I made enough white sauce to use for another lasagne later in the month to freeze (might make spinach and mushroom lasagne a la Frugal Queen) I also squeezed in some cherry rock cakes and peanut butter cookies!

This is when I appreciate my new dishwasher - also when I got the kitchen put in I got the electrician to put new sockets in - before we only had 2 for the whole kitchen! so I now have my Magimix on the bench as opposed to at the bottom of a cupboard so I can use it whenever I want - home-made coleslaw to go with the lasagne!

O -and no spending today as I was too busy in the house.....

June housekeeping - £134.27 left
Extra Holiday fund - £100
My allowance I have left - £50
Spent with money paid back - £423.63

At last - a menu!

Well - raided all my cupboards and freezers (I have a small one in the kitchen and a huge one in the shed), made up a menu and did an Asda order. I am sooo proud of myself! My Asda order came to £101 (used my Asda credit card to get free delivery and Asda points - this is always paid in full by a direct debit every month so its like using a Switch card but with extras!) I always use Asda on-line - found Tesco to be terrible.

That £101 is for the whole month!!!!!! My big freezer has quite a lot of meat (bought on special offers) in it so this is using it all up. I have made up a menu for dinners for 21 days - although this is not quite a month there are also meals which can be made out of left overs or bits from the freezer(some meals are the same - batch cooking)which hopefully will make it up to the full month...

1 - Tomato and spinach pasta bake
2 - H/M Macaroni cheese
3 - H/M fish pie
4 - H/M fish pie
5 - H/M Chilli con carne
6 - Wild rocket pesto pasta
7 - Lamb shanks
8 - Roast beef dinner
9 - H/M Lasagne
10 - H/M Lasagne
11 - H/M meatballs and pasta
12 - H/M meatballs and pots
13 - Pork joint dinner
14 - Beef stir fry
15 - Chicken, broccoli & pasta
16 - H/M Salmon pie
17 - Lamb joint dinner
18 - H/M Spinach & mushroom lasagne
19 - Sausages & mash
20 - Toad in the hole
21 - Turkey with lime and coconut

I have also ordered quite a bit of flour etc as I intend to do a lot more home baking

June housekeeping - £134.27 left
Extra Holiday fund - £100
My allowance I have left - £50
Spent with money paid back - £423.63

Reminiscences....

An explanation of how I became frugal - 10 years ago we were drowning in debt - my partner had an accident and couldn't work, we were living off just child benefit as he was self employed and couldn't (or wouldn't) claim anything) - it got so bad we were buying groceries on our credit cards (which were all maxed out) I hid my head in the sand. Then I managed to get a full time job - not well paid but we claimed Working Tax credit to make up the money. At long last I added up every debt and with the help of an American frugal website I discovered the Snowball debt calculator and started understanding how much credit cost and the idea of the Freedom account. I started work in 2000 - we cut up all the credit cards, sold our jeep and caravan to start paying off some of the debts and were left with just over £14,000 (including interest) to pay back. For 3 years we bought nothing except clothes for my daughter when she grew out of hers (and these were bought second hand). We never went out,decorated, had a holiday, even had a takeaway of any kind. Neither of us bought clothes. We made every meal from scratch from reduced food wherever we could - my cheapest meal was a 19p pack of spaghetti with a 9p tin of chicken soup. I used vinegar and water to clean everything, made my own soap liquid for clothes and never used anything deemed throwaway - even made my own washable sanitary towels.

Bear in mind this was in the days before Frugality was the buzz word it its now - everyone is now interested in saving money and getting the best deal. I felt completely and utterly alone - we were ashamed of getting in that much debt in the first place. I know I could have gone bankrupt but I didn't want to do that - I had got myself in that mess (with OH's help!) and I was going to get us out of it. It got to the stage my friends were no longer coming round as they couldn't cope with our weirdness of not spending anything - every spare penny was thrown at that debt.

And finally in December 2003 we became debt free!!!! It was the most unbelievable feeling as the huge burden had been lifted from our shoulders. I continued my frugal ways until I had a reasonable bank balance but over the last couple of years I'm afraid my frugalness has kind of retreated. We are not in any kind of debt - my income now I have a better job more than covers our outgoings and I have available money to spend on what I want.

Why is it that I am trying to cut back? It doesn't feel right to be spending this much on, as my blog says, wants and not needs. Spending quietly creeps up on you. You get sucked in to consumerism.

Our dream is eventually to sell our house and buy a small holding and run a small caravan/tent area - we know we wont make a huge income by doing this but if we just keep ticking over it would be great. I know I can live on very little - I did it for 3 years. Trouble is that dream seems to be very far away...

Bargains

Went to a small car boot today but didn't buy anything at all - nothing caught my fancy....

Popped into Haldanes as it is closing down to sniff out any bargains - got the following...

6 bread rolls - 19p
Chicken and bacon sandwich spread - 19p
Quiche - 19p
2 lemon meringue donuts (mmm) - 19p
3 lamb shanks - reduced from £3.19 each to 99p each
Large joint of beef reduced from £12 to £6

Chicken sandwiches and cake for lunch - Quiche and Lamb shanks in the freezer and I'm going to cook the beef overnight and slice it when cold and freeze that for meals. Will be interesting to see how many slices I can get from it.

So that will be my basis for next months dinners - I feel a menu creeping up on me!

May housekeeping - £250 (and £13.73 into Junes!)
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £17.79
Entertainment - £157.70 (really getting out of hand!)
Clothes - £46.50
Household - £33
Spent with money paid back - £423.63

2 no spend days in a row!

Thats a first for me for a long time lol!

Have 2 car boots to go to this weekend - one on Sat and one on Sunday but the for-cast is awful - shame cos they are 2 really small but always nice car boots......

Back to mutterings about Smart price dishwasher tablets - did a load last night (on quick wash) with my Fairy tablet and it even took the burnt bits off my lasagne dish. I will have to use up the Smarprice ones (I never throw anything away I can still use!) but will only use them on a less dirty load and will use two.

Yet again I am gearing myself up to doing a menu - I really don't know why I stopped - its definitely the way to save on the housekeeping. Perhaps if I posted our dinners on this blog that might help me focus......

May housekeeping - £250 (and £4 into Junes!)
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £17.79
Entertainment - £157.70 (really getting out of hand!)
Clothes - £46.50
Household - £33
Spent with money paid back - £423.63

Nearly a no spend day.....

but fell at the last post.... Had to order a seal for our caravan door on the internet as couldn't get it in our local caravan shop - £27 - a real need as otherwise the rain will start coming in and ruin the floor....

Took a packed lunch into work and didn't buy anything else.

Did another load in the dishwasher last night with Smart price dishwasher tablets - it was a lot dirtier that the first load I tried with them and I have had to put quite a few things back in (including mugs as it didn't take the ring off them) Now I only use a fast wash so it might be that you have to use a hotter wash with these tablets but I think it would cost a lot more in electric just to use cheaper tablets! My quick wash is 40 mins and the normal wash is 1 hour 45 minutes so I think its a false economy having to use a hotter wash with cheaper tablets. I will go back to using Fairy (and only getting it on special offer) I have only had my dishwasher just over a month (got it off Freecycle!) so it will be trial and error until I find stuff I like - never realised how dear dishwasher stuff could be!

May housekeeping - £250 (and £4 into Junes!)
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £17.79
Entertainment - £157.70 (really getting out of hand!)
Clothes - £46.50
Household - £33
Spent with money paid back - £423.63

A no-spend day

At last - a totally not one penny no spend day......

Spent most of it in the garden moving stuff about and taking stuff out of my pots into my newly dug beds - worn out now!

Planted 3 courgettes and 8 peas grown in my dds greenhouse so hopefully they will happily produce - also sewn a pot of mixed salad leaves.

Back to work tomorrow and taking a packed lunch so hopefully no spendies tomorrow....

BTW - the Smart price dishwasher tablets worked out fine - so thats £1.79 for 30 - next stage is to try and snap them in half and see if that works. We were discussing this at work the other day - to me its just second nature to water down everything from handwashing up liquid to fabric conditioner (and using vinegar instead when I don't have any left) I also only use 1 dessert spoon of washing powder in my machine. Did make my own soap gloop but find it quite a faff and didn't have anywhere to store it. I also only use vinegar and water for my windows and glass and have another bottle with vinegar, bi-carb, water and tea tree essential oil for all my cleaning. I'm out of Stardrops at the moment - that stuff is fab for tiles or any white goods(ie front of washing machine/dishwasher/frige/micro as it brings it up with a lovely shine.

May housekeeping - £250 (and £4 into Junes!)
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £17.79
Entertainment - £157.70 (really getting out of hand!)
Clothes - £46.50
Household - £33
Spent with money paid back - £396.63

Must try more....

I always seem to be eating out! Me and oh popped down to the caravan shop to try and get a seal for our door (they didn't have it so will try to get it on the net) - ended up having a hot meat roll at the cafe next door and it was soooooo hot so popped to the beach and had an ice cream (that was £15 in total) Did yet more shopping (I still haven't made any kind of menu - really cant seem to face it) so that's another £41 on the grocery bill.

Again, today had lunch out today but treated my friend (and eldest dd) as she had got us free passes for a very upmarket hotels spa facilities. We had a lovely couple of hours using the pool, outdoor bubbly pool and various saunas/steam rooms followed by coffee and chatting in the lounge. Wouldn't buy lunch there as it was to dear so had it at a local garden centre (£18) but didn't buy anything there. Did however buy more leggings at Asda and some loo roll and reduced bits for the freezer - spent £10 and £5 on leggings.

I cant seem to get oh on the frugal ways at all - I'm struggling with them (trying out Smart price dishwasher tablets as we speak!) I do this - I am really great and hardly spend any money but then go on a complete bender which seems to have been while I have been blogging!

So the first thing I am going to work on is LESS EATING OUT!!!

May housekeeping - £250 (and £4 into Junes!)
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £17.79
Entertainment - £157.70 (really getting out of hand!)
Clothes - £46.50
Household - £33
Spent with money paid back - £396.63

I must get more organised!

Been off work all last week and didn't get half the stuff done I wanted to!

Anyway, 2 no spend days at the weekend - miracle!

Visited an old pal yesterday who came up trumps and produced laminate flooring for our kitchen from her garden shed! When she got her kitchen done she kept the old laminate "just in case" - girl after my own heart! Not sure about how it will look so not putting it down until I decorate the way I want it - will see then. Even if its no good I have plans to get a small summer house in the garden and can put it in there.

Had lunch out (£20) and came back to a whoopsied joint of pork in the slow cooker.

Tuesday today (so girls day out) but was busy so eldest dd came down and we just went to a local cafe (Cost £10) and then popped to Asda. I got some summer leggings for £5, a new mop and kettle (from my kitchen fund), £3.50 on new school shirts for youngest dd and spent £24.50 on groceries. Then had to fork out £20 towards youngest dd's summer camp weekend with the sea cadets.

Also was given a single mattress which was better than the one I have so chuffed to bits with that. I bought a double seat swing for my patio last year - turned out its always windy at my front garden so I spent most of the summer rescuing the canopy from next door - also I didn't find it as comfy as I imagined so its getting swapped for a reclining sun lounger with a lovely thick cushion.

Made 2 lasagnes tonight - one for tea and one for the freezer - nice and cheap with my whoopsied mince from the other day.

Got stuff in for making packed lunches for work this week so I am getting more organised (have got stew out for tea tomorrow which will be put in the slow cooker)

May housekeeping - £203.01
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £17.79
Entertainment - £129.70
Clothes - £41.50
Household - £33
Spent with money paid back - £396.63

Always spending

Busy day yesterday - I'm on holiday from work so intended to be a domestic goddess and do loads in the house......eldest dd came down and off I went out!

Asda - got there just as they were whoopsing loads of meat - spent quite a bit but got loads of stuff so quite happy - £49.23

Evans - needed new work tops - got 2 in the sales - £22

Lunch (aaaargh - total downfall) - £10.50

Got back and eldest dd helped House Doctor my back bedroom (the one I tidied and put pictures on the blog - bad as ever!!!!) Really got into getting rid of stuff - dd away with bags of wool and needles, clothes and a big basket. OH took 4 bin bags of clothes to the charity shop and a huge box of china and bric-a-brac. I never thought of myself as a hoarder but all this proves otherwise! Still need to get rid of some furniture but working on that. Put 40 Friends videos on Freecycle (and the unit they were in) but no takers yet.

Made a meatloaf in the slow cooker - first time tried it and I thought it was fine but oh and youngest dd weren't keen - it was a bit more moist than our usual meatloaf so next time will try cooking it up on rack so the juices run out.

May housekeeping - £178.51
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £17.79
Entertainment - £99.70
Clothes - £33
Household - £33
Spent with money paid back - £376.63

Baked yesterday....

Thought it would be a no spend day yesterday as I went out with my friend for a walk and she treated me to lunch but when I got back OH (the bank card is definitely to be hidden!!) had hit the shops again and spent £13.71.

Turning into a domestic goddess here! First, washed all my tiles in the bathroom with vinegar/water solution and they came up fab.

Then baked - lime muffins with lime frosting top, shortbread and scones. Scones rose but fell over but everything else was yum.

Sorting out my cuboards isnt going well as its lovely weather and I'd rather be outside! Ah well, thats what holidays are all about!

May housekeeping - £121.78
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £17.79
Entertainment - £89.70
Clothes - £11
Household - £33
Spent with money paid back - £376.63

2 car boots and a jumble sale!

Great weekend! - first Fridays spending - £2.50 on lunch and OH had another visit to the shops, this time to Aldi - £32.34.

First car boot Sat morning - didn't actually buy much - just love nosying round!
BOUGHT - new mop bucket - 50p
2 books - £1

Second car boot
BOUGHT - Timberland feather body warmer - £4
Necklace and earring set - £1
Cakes - £1
Youngest dds fab wellys - £2

My eldest dd got some great bargains - brand new Evans boots (price tag still on - £60) for £2 and a bike rack for her car for £2!

Then our favourite jumble sale at Longniddry - very good area and its amazing what gets donated. Trouble is its always really busy - there was a big queue when we arrived 30 mins early.

Lunch in hall - £4.50
Too much to list but spent £15 and got bags and bags (including 12 books at 20p each)
- loved the single sandwich toastie machine for dd for 50p

Then had a lovely Sunday visiting my mum and dad who live 90 miles away and bought a McDonalds on the way home as it was too late to cook - £19.50.

I'm off work this week so am sorting out a room a day - this morning it was the sitting room - scrubbed our leather suite (its amazing how much dirt gets on there), took the cushions off it and hoovered underneath - cleaned all the skirting boards, sorted out my unit, baskets and magazines, polished, did the mirrors and glass door - all I need to do now is sweep the laminate and wash it.

This week I want to get on top of my menu planning so off to the freezer with my trusty notepad and pen and see what we have left.......

May housekeeping - £108.07
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £17.79
Entertainment - £89.70
Clothes - £11
Household - £33
Spent with money paid back - £376.63

Always money going out...

Another mump going on here (must be time of the month!) so both yesterday and today bought lunch at work....£6

Youngest dd got the chance to go with the school to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Edinburgh Playhouse so jumped at the chance - another £26 out the door! (but well worth it as she is so excited to be going!)

OH quick trip to Haldanes..another £27 down (seriously thinking about taking his bank card off him!)

I'm off work on holiday next week so want to get down to some serious menu planning and batch cooking for the freezer. One of the reasons we spend so much on food is that OH isn't very good about thinking in advance for tea and defrosting stuff when I'm working and I haven't been very good on menu planning recently - all of this will change next week!

May housekeeping - £75.73
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £20.29
Entertainment - £64.70
Clothes - £5
Household - £18.50
Spent with money paid back - £376.63

Arent cinemas expensive!

I must admit we like the pictures - both dds have CEA cards as they are disabled and they get a free carer in for both of them - which means if the 4 of us go we only pay for 1 adult and 1 child....but its still a dear night out! Went to see Clash of the Titans last night - paid extra to see it in 3d but was worth it as we all really enjoyed it.

It was £17.20, I bought my own juice/water and sweets which came to just under £7 totalling £24.20. If we had to pay full price it would have cost £36.90 and I wouldn't even guess how much sweets/drinks/popcorn would cost if bought at the cinema. We went at night too which we don't normally do but the film had been out a while and it was only 2 evening showings. For future films we will try and see them earlier as it saves £3.30 (if seeing them in 3d) and cut down on sweets and bring own water in bottles from the tap!

And as its Tuesday me and dd went for a meal (£14.50) and I bought 3 plants (£5) and a pair of crocs (£5) and got my hair cut (£25) - its really going to have to stop - picnics all round from now on! I am going to go back through my blog since Jan and see how much I spend on meals out (no doubt going to get quite a shock!)

May housekeeping - £48.73
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £26.29
Entertainment - £38.70
Clothes - £5
Household - £18.50
Spent with money paid back - £376.63

I turn my back......

Was feeling quite smug about my spending...turn my back for a minute (well, not blogged for a week!) and it goes to h*ll in a hand cart!!! Just shows how blogging (for me) is the way to go....

Monday - cant remember but think it was a no-spend-day
Tuesday - mum and daughter day - did some gardening and then had to go to hospital for dds checkup - ended up buying lunch (£11), popped into Matalan and got a new top for work, new knickers (definitely a need Im afraid - some of my undies arent fit for dusters!) and a small handbag for work (my last one collapsed under the strain) - total =£19 - then attacked Asda for jeans for oh (gone up from £3 to £4!) - will have to find the receipt for the stuff I got as some was for the kitchen from my savings budget
Wednesday - no spend - even brought in a pack lunch for work
Thursday - forgot my lunch! £2.60 for a baked pot
Friday - latte and lunch day.....£3.50
Saturday - help jings ma boab - another plant sale - £9 on plants and £2 on lunch
Sunday - had a lovely car ride round the county - lived here in East Lothian for over 20 years and even found roads I had never been on! cafe stop for me and oh - £10

And I have found a couple of receipts in oh's car when he just pops in for lunch and something at Asda! (£8.21 and £6.52)It really mounts up when your back is turned..(found my Asda recept - £18 clothes £4.50 household)

And we have decided to go to the pictures this evening to celebrate the bank holiday - Clash of the Titans in 3d - will add this total up tomorrow...

So the moral of the tale is - - -KEEP BLOGGING! Its funny how you think before spending if you know you have to write it down for all the world to see!

May housekeeping - £48.73
Extra Holiday fund - £50
My allowance I have left - £51.29
Entertainment - £tbc
Clothes - £37
Household - £13.50
Spent with money paid back - £376.63

Freecycle bargains and a plant sale....

Nice day today despite it pouring down this morning!

Did my Asda on-line order first thing (spent £105 and used my Asda credit card to get free delivery)

Then off to Garvald plant sale - got some lovely stuff for my newly dug border (grand total of £5.50 but got quite a bit) Had a nice spot of lunch there (2 soups, 1 bacon roll, 2 pieces lovely cake and - in the end - 3 cups of tea each!) for the total sum of £8.50.

Then off to a Freecycle shop at a local old peoples home. Went to this the last time and got loads of stuff. This time there were a lot more people than stuff and it was quite poor. But did get the following...

Large pan with lid - good heavy one for soup
2 pairs John Lewis school trousers for gd
2 pairs shorts for school for gd
2 books for me
2 pairs of funky tights still in packets for my pal
Body warmer for my pals daughter
Top for my (wait for it...) step-daughters step-daughter!

So its been a nice day....

April housekeeping - £0 (and £48.73 to come off Mays!)
Extra Holiday fund - £0
My allowance I have left - £29.79
Entertainment - £89.48
Clothes - £17
Xmas - £1
Household - £5.50
Spent with money paid back - £376.63

More frugal musings.....

Well I sneaked another trip to IKEA/Tesco/B&Q - all stuff for the kitchen out of my savings but admit to having lunch so that was about £12.

Only managed to take lunch in to work for one meal this week (made it on Friday but forgot to take it!) so I am down £5.50 for lunches. And a small grocery spend - £5.69.

So at the moment my budget is looking quite good (the only reason it is is that I am getting my spending fix by buying stuff for the kitchen out of my savings!!!!!)

I have also decided to do a big online Asda shop tomorrow so it arrives on Monday. There is only a week left of April and I actually have housekeeping left! a whole £56.27 but I let my freezers/cupboards run down as I knew the kitchen was getting done so the online shop is going to be a biggie and I don't want to just use the £53 for bits (and end up getting more!) so I will do it tomorrow and take what's over the £53 from May's budget.

April housekeeping - £193.73
Extra Holiday fund - £0
My allowance I have left - £29.79
Entertainment - £80.98
Clothes - £17
Xmas - £1
Spent with money paid back - £376.63

Pre holiday spending!

Did go a bit daft before the holiday on spending! First took both daughters up to the Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. Went when it was first opened and it was ok but the price has really gone up.....anyway, it was excellent! loved the 4d film show and the dome where you lay back and watched the stars - well worth the money as we were there over 2 hours! Then had a Kentucky chicken lunch and a wee bit of the kind of recreational spending I am trying to fight against! We have a Marksys retail shop where I got a Suduko puzzle book for youngest dd and a cricket game for my dads xmas reduced from £9.50 to £1. I also had to fork out for spending money for youngest holiday to Skye (and money on her phone) and oh had to buy some swimming shorts(£10 in Asda)

(and included in the bottom totals is 2 trips to Asda)

Dynamic earth (inc parking) - £30.50
Kentucky - £11
B&M store - £9.38 (household stuff)
Peacocks - £7 (my race for life t-shirt)
Sainburys - £16.74
M&S - £5


April housekeeping - £188.04
Extra Holiday fund - £0
My allowance I have left - £34.79
Entertainment - £68.98
Clothes - £17
Xmas - £1
Spent with money paid back - £376.63

Back after a wonderful holiday

Didn't get time to blog before I went away - thanks for the info Silver Surfer - I will pass it on to my eldest dd. I have got some receipts from before my hol as I did quite a bit of spending but will find them and add on to the totals later....

Well, the holiday was wonderful - could not have asked for better weather -the sun shone every day! The picture was taken from Muasdale overlooking Islay and Ghia (our van and car are on the right) Took the caravan touring this time - Inverary, Mull of Kintyre, Oban and Loch Tay. Best of all, it only cost a grand total of £479 for the week (that includes everything we spent ie sites, petrol, ferry to Mull etc) As it was just the 3 of us my eldest dd had to chip in a third (£479 - £160 = £319 - holiday fund of £238 so I only have to get £81 from my main holiday fund in my Freedom account) Very pleased indeed with this!

And I have a new kitchen!!!!!!!! my son put it in while we were away - cant put up piccies yet as we have to plaster, tile, decorate and put a new floor in. All this has been budgeted for in my savings account.

April housekeeping - £90.50
Extra Holiday fund - £0
My allowance I have left - £34.79
Entertainment - £22.48
Spent with money paid back - £307.25

Budget musings

Well just balanced my bank account/Freedom account from March and am very pleased indeed. Before I started this blog although not in debt, I seemed to be borrowing from one Freedom account to pay for another - this last month I have only done that for the £50 overspend in my Entertainment budget (I was going to start putting it up from £50 to £100 but have decided against it - there are other ways of enjoying things without spending money!)Although I have reduced my housekeeping I haven't been actually really on top of it (i.e. menu planning) so that's my goal over the next 2 months.

We are getting a new kitchen put in next week (will all be paid for using savings that we put aside for it - its tiny so not costing that much!)so I am not doing a big shop this week (no point - not putting it in cupboards to take it out again!) so meals will be bitty this week. I have taken my "before" pictures and will post them with my "after" pictures so watch this blog!

April housekeeping - £90.50
Holiday fund - £238.65 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £34.79
Entertainment - £22.48
Spent with money paid back - £307.25

2 No spend days in a row!

Now thats a first! only because I was in a bit of a mump and refused to leave the house!! Did have a lovely Easter Sunday - took all the offspring and their offspring (and a couple of others folks offspring!!) to a indoor soft play - even better my OH paid for everything!!!!! I only had to fork out for a couple of pannins and juice (£7.35) and bung my eldest a tenner for petrol and that was it! Fab day - lovely to get home to a nice stew in the slow cooker....mmmmmm (and found a receipt for OH's shopping trip - £25.50)

April housekeeping - £90.50
Holiday fund - £238.65 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £34.79
Entertainment - £22.48
Spent with money paid back - £307.25

A new month....

Happy days - another new month I can try my frugal ways out in!!!! Again, bought lunch and a nice smoothie (£3.75) but that was it today.....until I came home and OH announced he had been shopping......will add that up later as he "cant remember how much he spent" Aaaarrrrghhh!!! Put £50 straight into the holiday fund for our west coast trip coming up.

This trip in the van will be Inverary, Mull of Kintyre, Oban and Loch Tay - never toured in the van before (tend to just stay in one place) so should be fun. Just me, eldest dd and OH as youngest is off to Skye with her friend. So far the actual sites will cost us just pennies under £100 but for a week that's not too bad. I have even made up a menu for the caravan trying to keep costs down this time!

April housekeeping - £65
Holiday fund - £238.65 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £34.79
Entertainment - £5.13
Spent with money paid back - £307.25

Laziness

It was simply laziness that I couldnt be bothered to make up my packed lunch last night.....so it cost me £2.95 for lunch and £3 for a birthday collection today...dreadful weather but I managed to get a 30 minute walk in after I got back from work so feel better now.

March grocery spend - £250 and £65 from Aprils!
Holiday fund - £188.65 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £0 (and £11.46 from April)
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £8.47
Household - £55.91
Entertainment - £100 (and £5.13 in debt to April)
Spent with money paid back - £307.25

I fear IKEA...

Another Tuesday has dawned....dd wasn't up to going out so I got my hair done (why? in this wind and rain did I get a blow dry?????) so that's £25 down so far....

Then OH suggested a trip to IKEA for a meatball lunch.....£9.85 for that....then there was the dreaded walk round IKEA (yes, I shouldn't have done it...) but actually I was very restrained indeed - bought another pan (the set I got didn't have a middle sized pan), kitchen scissors, rubber gloves, washing up brushes and a stuffed rabbit for our granddaughter who is far too young for Easter eggs (which I must actually buy!) So I spent £23.45 which for me in IKEA is a world record.

(and when I have totalled up I realised I have gone over my £100 entertainment budget for this month and am now in debt to next month - this is not good!....I must get a grip as that's 3 budgets I have over-spent on this month - bad girl)

So this blog is making me plug the holes (or at least see where they are!) I am getting better and not just hoping that it all will balance. My eldest dd laughs at me as I wont lie on this blog and hope the spend just vanishes - first step to ruin if I did that....

March grocery spend - £250 and £65 from Aprils!
Holiday fund - £188.65 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £0 (and £4.51 from April)
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £8.47
Household - £55.91
Entertainment - £100 (and £5.13 in debt to April)
Spent with money paid back - £307.25

A small spend....

Just to say hi to Silver sewer - we are in the same area! I am down at Dunbar....

Had a small spend today - £5 in the co-op on cake, feminine thingies and the Daily Record as there is a voucher to go camping for 95p a night - will have a look at the campsites later on....

Had my blood pressure taken as it was high last time and its even higher this time - i'm to go back in 4 weeks and if its still high....more investigations......

So despite the weather me and OH went off for a walk round a lake at Smeaton and then into the Garden centre for a wee cuppa and cake (£4.50)

March grocery spend - £250 and £65 from Aprils!
Holiday fund - £188.65 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £20.41
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £8.47
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £95.28
Spent with money paid back - £307.25

Yesterday no spend but had to go out today!

Stayed in yesterday as it was a lovely sunny day and got loads of gardening done - not looking forward to the rest of the week and forcast of snow!

Sunday is day out day - off to the pictures - again used the last of my luncheon vouchers and our 2 disabled cinema cards so the 4 of us had a McDonalds lunch, went to the pictures and had afternoon coffee for a grand sum of...

£27.15

which isnt too shabby! Will have to work on getting some more vouchers....

March grocery spend - £250 and £60 from Aprils!
Holiday fund - £188.65 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £20.41
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £8.47
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £90.78
Spent with money paid back - £307.25

No spending!

Well I have been very good the past few days as I have not spent very much at all - 55p for a cake at work and that's been it! Haven't any plans for the weekend yet and its miserable weather so might just curl up with a good book!

March grocery spend - £250 and £60 from Aprils!
Holiday fund - £188.65 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £20.41
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £8.47
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £90.78
Spent with money paid back - £280.10

Another nice day out

Well - me and eldest dd decided not to do a Tuesday this week as we have seen quite a lot of each other and been out and about and our houses are starting to suffer...by 9.30am I got a text from her saying not going out on a Tuesday was boring! So off we went......

Quite a long trip this Tuesday down to the Teviot water garden just outside Kelso - nice gardens going down to the river, nice shop and a lovely lunch. I got some smoked chicken and rasberry cheesecake to take home. Then came back via Kelso and found another big garden centre where we both bought some plants. So altoghter today I spent £30 which I shall be naughty and take off the money eldest dd paid back!

Only at work 2 days this week as I am having a flex day off so hopefully there will be at least 2 no-spend-days this week!

March grocery spend - £250 and £60 from Aprils!
Holiday fund - £188.65 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £20.96
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £8.47
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £90.78
Spent with money paid back - £280.10

Wee necessary spent on caravan

Had to spend £8.11 as the outside cover for our water filter on the van has finally blown away!

March grocery spend - £250 and £60 from Aprils!
Holiday fund - £188.65 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £20.96
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £8.47
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £90.78
Spent with money paid back - £250.10

Free day out courtesy of National Trust

We had a great day out at Cragside - the first house to be lit by hydro electric down in Northumberland - been there before but didn't have time to go round the whole estate and it was lovely to go back and best of all - it was free! Wish I had heard about the free weekend earlier as could have fitted in another property but hey-ho..

Packed a picnic and flask but OH decided to stop for coffee on the way down and I treated the 3 of us (myself, OH and eldest dd) to a cream tea so spent just under £20 (maybe not totally a free day out then!) I bought my mum a fold-able bag in the National Trust shop 1/2 price for £2.50 as a belated Mothers Day present as I didn't get to see her last week. Gorgeous spring weather really made it a lovely day out.

Then saw an offer for joining the National Trust - its usually £48 for a single person for the year but it was a special offer today of £40. Now I joined a few years ago when there was a cashback deal and free gift of binoculars but let it lapse as there really aren't very many National Trust properties near us. But as we are hopefully going to the Lakes and Yorkshire Dales this year decided to look into it. While talking to the woman about it she said that as my dd was disabled she would get a card to let a carer in free - so basically that's 2 people for the £40 - so I told dd I would go 1/2s and pay £20 and so she joined. As it would have been nearly £13 for each of us today if we had paid we hopefully will get our moneys worth if we visit even just a couple of properties.

March grocery spend - £250 and £60 from Aprils!
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £20.96
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £8.47
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £90.78
Spent with money paid back - £250.10

No spend but lots of work!

Having spend 2 days ripping out our caravans old carpet (the people we bought it off had dogs and despite steam cleaning it and paying a fortune for Febreeze every time it got wet it gave off a lovely wiff of Eau de Hound!) and putting in lovely vinyl tiles that look like laminate planks (totalling £21 in B&Q) we decided to flush out the water pipes and sterilise them.

Merrily running the pump and chatting to our neighbours when they pointed out there was a lot of water dripping from underneath the kitchen area!! Help, jings ma boab......turns out the hot water pipe had come loose and our nice new floor was flooded - in a way much better than if the carpet had been in! Got it all mopped up...

After much swearing and ranting OH had to make the pipe smaller as it was rotten on the end and put it back on with a jubilee clip.

Then while I was putting away the wastmaster noticed tiny puddle under the wheel arch (where the shower is). Now we dont use the shower (the shower head was cracked when we got the van) or the basin in there but today I run the taps just to clean them out. Much more swearing, ranting and raving from OH - hauled the sink out and it seems there has been a running repair in the past (consisting of lots and lots of sticky tape round the waste pipe) Again, cut the pipe where the hole was and put it back on with another jubilee clip.

As I said to him its lucky all this happened when we were at home - can you imagine trying to do all this at a site?

So a no-spend day cos we were too busy with the van to leave the house!

March grocery spend - £250 and £60 from Aprils!
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £20.96
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £5.97
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £70.78
Spent with money paid back - £230.10

Hardly spent anything!

Thursday - £3 for birthday collection at work
Friday - zip at work (didnt even get the infamous Friday latte!)

Did however go to Tesco after work and got a huge shop so am now in debt to next months!!!!!! Bloomin heck.....

March grocery spend - £250 and £60 from Aprils!
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £20.96
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £5.97
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £70.78
Spent with money paid back - £230.10

The leaky damn continues....

I knew it - once I had started spending there's no stopping me!

Today off to the B&M shop - wanted new accessories for the sitting room - got a nice picture of green trees for £9 and a tiny slow cooker for the caravan for £9 - spend another £8.41 on bits.....

Then went into Poundstretchers and managed to get a small oil filled radiator (again for the caravan) for £18 and a lovely bathroom mirror for £5.99 (our bathroom mirror was rescued from a skip years ago!!!! - it was grotty then but we were always looking for a smaller one and at long last found one that fits)

Lunch was a couple of Greggs pasties (£2.09)

And finally Tesco on the way home for cold meats and salad for lunches - of course couldnt just by them! Spent a total of £14.68 but that included a new bin for the bathroom but I did use my £5 money card so it cost £4 for the bin and £5.68 for messages.

There is a wee story behind the £5 Tesco gift card....last year while we were on holiday I bought some Finest Tesco BRITISH sausages - much was made on the front about them being British etc. - now I always try and buy British pork after the programme on telly by Jamie Oliver....anyway, the sausages were really nice (pork and black pudding) so for some unknown reason I decided to have a look at the labelling - in teeny tiny letters right at the bottom it had the pork was product of Denmark and the EU! British my bum!!! So I wrote a wee letter stating the sausages were really nice but the label was misleading and got a nice letter of apology back with the gift card!

March grocery spend - £159.46 (budget £250)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £20.96
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £70.78
From money paid back - £230.10

The damn has burst!

Gawd, once I get spending there is no stopping me! Its like a damn bursting!

First - put an order in from Food Bargains - for £17 (inc postage) I got a huge amount of bargains which I am very pleased with. Never used them before so will reserve judgement until I actually receive my order.

Next - visit to B&Q -(this was on Saturday - 20% discount day) Its been 4 years since we decorated this place and I know I much prefer to spend my money on holidays enough is enough - you have to keep respectable!!! The cushions (see photo)were a want not a need but I thought they really brightened the place up (bargain at £6 including pad)

We bought.....

Vinyl floor tiles for the caravan (had a grotty carpet in which we have ripped out)
2 bright lights for the caravan
Vinyl floor tiles for the bathroom
Wallpaper for the bathroom
Paint for the bathroom
3 new cushions for the sitting room
Paint for the hall
Bits ie white spririt, brushes etc

It came to £175.60 (with the 20% discount of £44.40 taken off)

March grocery spend - £153.78 (budget £250)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £23.05
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £70.78
From money paid back - £175.60

Happy Mothers day!

Got some lovely cards and choccies - ended up at the cinema to see Alice in Wonderland which was great in 3d - used our cinema cards and what was left on the Vue gift card so it only cost around £9. Went for a nice meal (paid for by OH and eldest dd) - popped into Asda on the way home and as usual couldnt just buy bread and milk - spent £16.02 (did include reduced rolls/cakes down to 10p etc which have gone into the freezer)

March grocery spend - £136.78 (budget £250)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £23.05
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £70.78

Booked our next holiday!

Just finished booking our next holiday in the caravan - we are doing a tour just me, eldest dd and OH (youngest dd is off galavanting again with her pal and her family) - we will be away for 6 nights..

Inverary - £23 per night
Tarbet - £17.25 per night (x2)
Oban - £10 per night (x2)-very cheap as its a Certified Location with the Caravan club
Killin - £22.20

Must admit the prices seem to have gone up a lot this year - it appears the whole world and their mums must be caravanning instead of going abroad!

Anyway, thats a total of £99.70 for the accommodation. It will cost quite a bit in petrol and we intend to take the ferry from Oban to Mull as well for a visit. We have decided to only have one meal out the entire trip and of course, one chinese! The rest will consist of picnics if we are out and I am taking the slow cooker to have nice meals to come home to after a days sightseeing!

March grocery spend - £120.76 (budget £250)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £23.05
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £61.78

We really have to spend on the kitchen

Well, yougest dd (and a mountain of washing!) had a great time skiiing - took to it like a duck to water....

Wee bit of a spend yesterday - the now infamous Friday latte (£1.60) and lunch (£2.95) so not really too bad.

But here's the hard part - we must do something about the kitchen. We only have a tiny kitchen with hardly any work space (or even cupboards for that matter) We managed to get a dishwasher from Freecycle a year ago and its still not plumbed in (I know its a year cos the guy we got it from has bee offering his new dishwasher which is just out of its years warranty and broken!)Our bench is coming away from the wall and water has got into it so its all warped. We have been thinking about what to do with the kitchen ranging from just changing the worktop to putting a whole new one in and never actually got round to doing anything. Trouble is, I will never like this kitchen (its simply too small) so I don't see the point about putting new units in (we only have 3 small units on the bottom and 3 1/2 on the top) As we are a downstairs flat we have the back door and 2 under-upstairs-stairs pantry cupboards. The units are in good nick (need a good scrub with sugar soap) We need a new light, it desperately needs re-painting (last time we did it was 4 years ago!) and new flooring. We put down lino tiles as that's all we could afford at the time and they are now moving away from each other. Also they are textured (never again!) so you have to get on your knees and actually scrub them which hasn't been happening due to my back problems and oh's neck problems. So basically the kitchen has been getting grottier and grottier......

We have acquired a new length of worktop (thank you Freecycle!) and my eldest dd got some back payment of money due to her so she is giving me some of the amount she owes me so I think its now time to actually deal with the kitchen! My son is a joiner and has offered to put units and worktops into the two pantry cupboards to give more working space - might look a bit daft but its never going to be a show kitchen - I would just like to be able to make a Sunday dinner without having to resort to putting the ironing board up to put dishes on!

So I have text him to get me a price list for our local Howdens - I want a smaller sink and new taps - will try and get a plumber arranged and phase 1 is ds can take out the old worktop, plumber do his bit with the dishwasher, ds put in the new worktop and plumber put in the sink/taps. Phase 2 is to deal with the pantry cupboards and the last phase is to get new flooring, light, blind and decorate...

I will be ok when the work has started but always find it difficult to actually start!

I will post pictures of the kitchen as its is in all its glory (when I have washed the dishes and tidied up! lol!

March grocery spend - £120.76 (budget £250)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £23.05
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £61.78

No spend for me - just OH

Thought I had a cracked another no spend day but when I got home OH had been shopping again and spent £8.26 on groceries (bless him, hes in the house all day and I think he gets bored!)

I have been spending in my head though - got the lovely Lakeland catalogue in....mmmmmmm

Youngest dd is coming back tomorrow after a weeks skiing with the Sea cadets - shes phoned and has been having the time of her life!!!!!

March grocery spend - £120.76 (budget £250)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £27.60
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £61.78

A no spend day!

At last - i spent nothing and oh spent nothing!!!!!! yayyyyyy!

March grocery spend - £112.50 (budget £250)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £27.60
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £61.78

Gardening Tuesday

And yet more money spending!

First went to our local garden centre - was actually looking for a new cover for my dds plastic walk-in greenhouse but no luck - will look on the net.... Simply had to have lunch - I had pot and parsnip soup and eldest dd had bacon, brie & cranberry ciabatta followed by a selection of cakes (5 lovely wee bits of cake and we cut them in two to share!) - my share was £10!. Bought 2 packs of seeds (Night scented stock and some climber for my trellis) £4.49.

Off to my dds to tidy up her pots and plant some seeds - planted peas, beans, 3 type of ornamental grass, sweet peas, poppy (from last years seeds) and 2 type of tomato's. She had bought a pack of seeds from Asda - smart price for asters, marigolds, rudibeckers (not sure about the spelling!) and one other pack for the grand price of £1 for for packs of seeds! Will be dead chuffed if these grow!

It was actually very pleasant sitting outside planting things - the sun shone for a change!

Then popped into Asda to get some salad stuff for my packed lunches and bought a red fleecy jacket for £2.50 and a pack of 5 tea towels for £5 - bought some groceries - £5.52.

March grocery spend - £112.50 (budget £250)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £27.60
Clothes - £8.35
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £32.46
Entertainment - £61.78

Cheap day out

OH decided he fancied going to the pictures today so off we went.....

Bought a McDonalds for lunch using some luncheon vouchers - spend - £1.88
Cinema - free as used Vue gift card from son for xmas
Sweeties & juice - bought in Boots with luncheon vouchers - free
Rennies for OH - £1.99

OH treated us to coffee and cake afterwards with his allowance!

Went to see Legion which was ok - not as scary as I thought (thank goodness!) but fine. Really want to go and see Alice in Wonderland in 3d next!

March grocery spend - £106.98 (budget £250)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £27.60
Clothes - £5.85
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £22.97
Entertainment - £51.78

Budget musings

I have been looking back on my blog and am really happy I have been doing it. Although it seems I spend nearly every day when I look back on my spending before I blogged it really was out of control (well, out of control for me - always within what I get paid in! and certainly not involving getting into debt!!) I always thought that by doing my banking at the end of the month (i.e. I put everything on my spreadsheets for my freedom account and compare it with my bank statements) I was really doing well but since I have been accounting for every penny I spend I can see there were amounts on my bank statement I literally just used to ignore!

So another wee grocery spend today (OH did this one - went for coffee and ended up spending £20.46!)

March grocery spend - £104.09 (budget £250)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £27.60
Clothes - £5.85
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £22.97
Entertainment - £49.90

Money, money, money and a huge craft fair

The stuff seems to be constantly pouring out of this house!

Fridays spends - forgot my packed lunch - lunch at canteen - £3

Meal out with girls from work (very nice too!) - £20

Saturday - up and off early to the Creative Stitches/Craft fair at the SECC at Glasgow with both dds - eldest had very kindly made up a picnic. Eldest dd had never driven to Glasgow and was a bit dubious but she did really well - coming back it was manic - never seen driving like it and 5 lanes totally terrify me - thank heavens I cant drive! Anyway, we all had a great time - both dds bought crafty stuff (took eldest dds pal and another friend too)I'm not really a crafty person - I do try occasionally but its not really me. My eldest has done every craft going and is a fab knitter/card maker/jewellery maker. She bought a felting beginners kit, beads and buttons. Youngest dd bought a decoupage kit,scrapbook paper, small cross stitch kit and some scarfs. I was very restrained - bought 6 glass pendants and 3 necklace cords to put them on (total £13) and a cross stitch kit of a summer sampler reduced to £4.99. I haven't cross -stitched in years but thought it would a good way to get back into it. My entrance fee was £6.90 and I paid the car parking fee of £5. Then, as usual, it was really late when we got back so I ended up buying kebabs as a treat for us three and OH - totalling £18!

Youngest dd is off today for a weeks skiing up at Aviemore with the Seas cadets so off to help her pack........

March grocery spend - £86.63 (and quite a bit in the freezer!)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £27.60
Clothes - £5.85
Birthdays - £2.97 (mums had to come out of savings!)
Household - £22.97
Entertainment - £49.90

Happy Happy Thursday!!!!

2 bits of great news today - my eldest has had the all clear after a brush with cancer and our local Tenants group (of which I am the secretary) got a grant for a new play park - great day!!!!!

So me and dd had a celebration lunch - £16.98 - another chinese all-you-can-eat buffet. She treated herself to some new underwear and I bought some nice smellies and travel items for my youngest dd who is off on a skiing trip with the Sea Cadets on Sunday (also got 1/2 price sanitary towels for her!!!!) - £12.97

Also had to pay for bus fare from the hospital to the centre of Edinburgh (£1.20) and then home (£4.10)

March grocery spend - £86.63 (and quite a bit in the freezer!)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £48.60
Clothes - £5.85
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £22.97
Entertainment - £22.28

Weak willed Wednesday

Really thought it would be a no-spend day today - went to make my packed lunch up last night and found out it had been nibbled at!

So had to spend 90p today for chips for lunch (mmmmmmm) at work.

Got home and OH had done a wee bit of shopping (some reduced bargains so he was happy!)

March grocery spend - £86.63 (and quite a bit in the freezer!)
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £48.60
Clothes - £5.85
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £10

Trying for a cheap tuesday...

As you know by know if you are following my ramblings that a Tuesday is mother and daughter day (i.e. my eldest who drives takes me somewhere!!) Its a family tradition - my grandmother visited my mum on a Tuesday and when I left home I visited my mum on a Tuesday...

So decided it would be a frugal day - I made up a picnic! Had already decided to go to Dobies for inspiration for the garden and would take the picnic to Vogrie Country park.



Off we went - determined not to spend any money at Dobies (actually fairly easy in there as I refuse to pay the price of stuff!) But as usual got sucked in....they had a sale bit and I got 3 mm-mms (that's code talk for surprises!!) for birthdays reduced from £5.99 each to 99p so they have been put in my gift box. Then bought 2 packs of seeds - lettuce and rocket (and got another free - aubergines) for £3. The park was really nice as there was loads of snow so we walked for nearly 40 minutes after having our picnic in the car.

Then feeling very chuffed we headed home but dd decided on a wee de-tour to our local re-cycling furniture shop as she has been after a smaller tv stand - got one she really liked and then spotted 2 leather sofas which she has now bought! I bought a cupboard for our tiny bathroom to keep towels in - really pleased with it and it only cost £7 (some of the stuff can be quite pricey in there - people give it to them and to be quite frank, they charge quite a bit for it) In fact we saw a mahogany unit my dd had given to them and they were charging £30 for it - she had already tried to give it away on Freecycle and nobody wanted it!




March grocery spend - £63.47
Holiday fund - £196.76 ( last hol cost £442)
My allowance I have left - £49.50
Clothes - £5.85
Birthdays - £2.97
Household - £10