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