Juggling, Organising, and Holding it All Together - 2011

Triggles

The "pantry" is absolutely brilliant!!! We have them lined up nicely, so they look like one unit, and there are heavy moss green curtains in the front of each of them, so they look neat and uniform. I've even managed to use one of the curtains (from charity shop) as a gorgeous tablecloth (long curtain, quite wide). So my dining room actually looks matching at the moment!! Behind the curtains, the stocking up has begun. Much of the stock is basics or smart price items, with a few sales items in there as well. I'm going through and fine tuning a bit.

Things to add include:
mayo
tuna
tea bags
coffee
oats
chopped tomatoes
cream crackers
tinned mushrooms
jam
spaghetti
juice
raisins
tinned fruit, veg (basics)
spam (heavens, THAT dates me!!)
corned beef
washing up liquid
laundry detergent
hand soap
bottled water

We've already got some cereal stocked up, but generally 3 of us are happy to eat oatmeal frequently in the winter, except for DS2 who cannot eat it. It's so much cheaper than cereal, and we keep a couple jars of golden syrup and bags of raisins on hand, so we can add something to it if we'd like. Even a little spoonful of jam added to it is nice and basics jam is so inexpensive!

Asda has their 1.5L juice at 62p per carton, which is the same price as their 1L cartons, so we've stocked up on some juice, but will be picking up a bit more while it's still on sale price.

We found Branston baked beans for a very cheap price on sale (including DH's discount), so we stocked up - we have 30 tins at this point. Will pick up more if we see a good sale again as baked beans are handy to have on hand. I also have a couple bags of haricot beans (that you soak overnight and cook) to make baked beans in the slow cooker (my mum used to do this when we were children and it was delicious!!) as well.

Can't remember if I mentioned it, but we had to replace our kettle the other day. I went to clean it with vinegar and water and it immediately started leaking all over the place. I can only assume the limescale was holding it together at that point?? But we've had it for years, so I'm pretty certain we've gotten our money's worth out of it. So another inexpensive kettle purchased and working well. We're still boiling a kettle full of water first thing in the morning for coffee, and then pouring the remainder of the kettle into a thermos to use later in the day. Brilliant thermos for under £4 at Asda (metal thermos) that keeps the water steaming hot literally all day! Saves the need to keep using the kettle all day - saves wear and tear on the kettle and then the hot water is ready instantly from the thermos. :T

The winter blankets are going to be taken out today and aired out. We want them ready to use should the weather get cold soon. I am determined to wait as long as possible to turn on the heater. We don't go to ridiculous lengths, mind you, but a common phrase to be heard in this house will be "put on a jumper if you're cold!" :rotfl: DS3's radiator in his room was fixed at the end of last winter, so we're hoping that will make a big difference as well in keeping the upstairs warmer.

I'm watching poundland carefully for the cheap logs to burn. They had them two years ago and we bought quite a few - it was great to have something quick and easy to burn to warm up the living room in the evenings (and I love a fire in the fireplace!!). Monday morning I will be scheduling a time for the chimney to be swept. I've procrastinated a bit, but nothing gets burned in that fireplace now until it's done. Gas/boiler inspection scheduled for later this month. Still need to buy my boots for winter. We all have good winter coats, although mine needs to be cleaned.

Still putting together my winter "to do" list to finish up, and will post what I have left to do tonight. I WILL be ready for winter!! (is there a determined look smiley on here? ):D

I do like to stock up for winter for mainly 2 reasons - first and foremost I suppose because my parents ALWAYS did so. Granted, they lived in the states in an area that always had tons of snow all winter and being snowed in and having power outages was common place. :rotfl: But for us, it's not as much a matter of being snowed in, but all those possibilities - being ill and not being able to get out, children ill, car troubles, poor weather, etc. Even nice to have a good stock up in case finances are short for a month - such as if there's an unexpected car repair or something like that - then the money can be put towards that, knowing we have enough groceries to get by for awhile. Now that we have a pantry set up, the plan is to keep things stocked up year round.

redkez2012

Wow Triggles you are very organised, and well done on the frugal shopping. I need to find the sheepskin undersheets for the kids beds and give them an air out too. Thanks for the nudge.

RK x

Triggles

The freezer has arrived and has been set up and stocked up. I am so glad we purchased it, as when we took the smaller freezer out and emptied it, we found that ice had formed in the back panel (even though it was frost free), and it would have ended up breaking down in the near future as it popped part of the panel apart and was forming up towards the fan and such. Not good! So instead of giving it away, we had to take it to the tip and dispose of it. But thankfully, we weren't caught unawares with no backup! Timely purchase indeed!!

We really haven't taken the time to take things out to the tip before, but now that I see how quick and easy (and free!) it is, I am going to really look at getting rid of things that can be taken out there, as well as boxing up some clothing and such for the donation bins out there as well. It will be good to do some more decluttering.

I've got a couple things I'd like to work on with my sewing machine, but cannot do them until both boys are in school - the noise bothers DS2 and the only time I can do sewing when DS3 is home is during his naptime, which is counterproductive as the noise keeps him awake. DS3 starts going to preschool 2 hours per morning this week, and then into his 3 hours per morning schedule next week. Then here's hoping I can get a lot done. We've already got some tentative plans for minor DIY and household work for this week. :j

DS2's wheelchair has been ordered and should be delivered sometime this week. I have a couple things I need to source and purchase in the meantime - the most expensive being spoke guards for the wheels. I also a poncho-style rain cover with a hood so that he can use it in the rain without getting soaked if need be. I may look at some bags to go on the back as well (although a backpack may work just as well, depending on the style).

Our pantry is slowly getting more things stocked in it. I am just purchasing extra of things we use when it's on sale and putting it in the pantry. Laundry detergent, washing up liquid, hand soap, bottled water, lemonade and mayonnaise are on the list for this week.

Triggles

Our pantry is looking quite good now. A few more tinned goods, couple more boxes of cereal, some juice, and a few more odds and ends, and I think that'll do it for awhile. We initially were going to stock the UHT milk as we did last winter (came in quite handy a few times!!), but since then we've discovered that the basics powdered milk is actually quite good and much cheaper!! So we've got a very small stock of that and will most likely pick up a bit more for the winter supplies. We use it regularly ourselves, only using the full fat milk for cooking and for the boys. It really cuts down on our milk bill (as well as buying our milk at Farm Foods, where it's cheaper!).

We're having pork chops tonight for tea - a whoopsie that was marked well over 50% off on a rare evening shop a while ago (and put in the freezer). I'm quite looking forward to it, as we don't make pork chops that often. DH has requested we make an "asian pork ribs" recipe next month that we haven't made in awhile - will have to pop into Lidl's next time I'm in town as they generally have inexpensive apricot jam that the recipe calls for. I won't make a special trip into town for it, as then if you add the price of parking to the jam, it's a bit too expensive!

I see that Poundland (as well as other stores) have their Christmas items in stock now and on display!! :j So excited!! I added to our gifts supply with a couple novelty notebooks that DD and her DP will like - they were £2.50 each, and we had a £5 off coupon from Sainsburys (one of those "your shop wasn't cheaper so here's £5 off your next shop" vouchers), so we used that - free gifts! Very pleased!

Our yearly gas/heater check is tomorrow. I do like that it's a requirement here. It's not in the states, and I think it's downright dangerous to let it go for years without regular checks. Not to mention expensive - if it shuts down or breaks down and the weather is freezing, you run a real risk of having frozen pipes which can cause a lot of expense to replace! We had this happen years ago in the states when I had a house up for sale. The estate agent showed the house while we were away, was messing with the heater and left it off in the middle of winter. When we got back, the house was frozen and so were the pipes! Cost a couple thousand dollars to fix. We couldn't prove it was the estate agent, but she was the only one with access to the house. We had to pay it out and then just switched to another estate agent instead.

Anyway... best to get moving and get some things done.

Triggles

Pantry is still coming along nicely. I've had a couple wins on free bingo lately, so used that money to stock up a bit, as well as prepare for winter.

I used a small amount (about £100) towards finishing the living room. It covered new inexpensive but nice curtains (the old ones didn't fit well and were hideous - although serviceable for what we needed for awhile), wallpaper for 2 walls, a canvas print, 3 cushions (for sofa and chair), and two fleece throws. I also bought another fleece throw for £3 as I will be using it to sew covers for the cushions. :cool: Then I will be knitting a contrasting colour cover for one cushion. A friend that enjoys hanging wallpaper (imagine that! ) is going to help me put up the wallpaper, and she has the equipment, so I don't need to purchase that. A bit more towards paint before we wallpaper, and then we'll be putting a small amount of money towards carpet for that room. Wow, will it be nice to have that room done before Christmas!!!!:j

Triggles

Well, we're ready to start painting the living room now. We've got the paint and will be prepping for painting tomorrow and getting it started. I'm so pleased we're getting this done now!!:j

We've also taken the plunge and purchased new living room furniture. Well, new to us anyway!! We bought a matching 3 piece set (3 seater sofa, chair, and recliner chair) at a local furniture recycling place for £75. Gorgeous and like brand new! When they delivered the furniture, we donated our old furniture (which was still in working order, but mismatched and didn't really suit our needs as much anymore). This furniture has higher backs with more support, which is so much easier on my back as well! And the old sofa had a solid back part on it, which the boys were forever bumping their heads on, so definitely a plus that the new sofa has a higher back with cushioning!

Chimney sweep is finally booked. We're getting a general quote on installing a dual fuel burner as well, although we've told them that we do not plan on putting it in until next year. It will be much safer for the boys and means that occasionally we can have a fire in the fireplace in the winter without worrying the boys will fall into it. We'll still have to watch them closely obviously, but much better than an open fire. It also would mean we could have fires in the evening more regularly. The living room is the coldest room in the house, even with the heating on. Being able to have a fire in there would warm it up without having to bump the thermostat up in the rest of the house.

We picked up some more Christmas presents yesterday. Warm fleece pyjamas at Primark for £4 each for DSs and the grandsons. We always buy them pyjamas at Christmas, plus a book of some sort, and some sweets. Both grandsons have plenty of toys and regular clothing, so their mums have always said pyjamas are needed. And always books, as you can never have too many books, right? So we're doing well with sorting the Christmas presents slowly but surely ahead of time. We'll probably purchase some haribo sweets in mini packages for them, as that is the favourite for both as well. I seem to recall last year that there were Christmas looking haribo sweets in the shops, so I will have to look for them this year.

DS2's wheelchair was delivered a few days ago, so we took him into town to use it yesterday. He seemed pretty comfortable with it, although he kept trying to push it himself and was rolling away from us a few times. While I don't mind him propelling himself in more quiet circumstances, in the middle of a busy shop is not so helpful. So we had to keep reminding him not to touch the wheels. We haven't gotten the spoke guards yet. I'm still debating. DH thinks we need them, but I'm not sure I want to spend £40-60 on them if they're not needed. DS2 has been very good about keeping his fingers out of the spokes (he's much more interested in grabbing the wheel rim to push it) and DS3 ignores the wheelchair. I'm hoping to give it a few weeks and see how it goes, just watching them closely. The spoke guard doesn't cover the entire wheel, and there is a gap right by the rim, which is where I would expect DS2 would put his fingers by accident anyway. I certainly don't want to ignore it if it's a hazard, just not sure if it's necessary.

Triggles

Alright. This is it. Today is DAY ONE of my super frugal stingy money saving run up until Christmas.

I've found we've been spending more money than we should, mainly because I've had a few windfalls and we've used them to stock up and do some DIY/redecorating and such. Nothing WRONG with that, as stocking up and DIY/house upkeep needs to be done, obviously. But now it's time to pull back tightly and save carefully as we have the big winter bills coming up ... Christmas, car licence/MOT, 2 generally huge utility bills (November and February). I would like to make sure that these are easily covered - meaning without scraping and panicking beforehand. :eek:

So.. the following measures are in order starting today...
- mealplans written up and followed carefully (this week's is already done)
- no unnecessary purchases (Lakeland catalogue put in the recycling bin :rotfl:)
- no unnecessary grocery purchases and no "extra trips" to the supermarket (in other words - plan ahead!! and if we don't have it, we do without until the next shop!!)
- no takeaways
- no new clothing
- reuse, recycle, fix (rather than throw away), freecycle whenever possible
- waste less

The only exceptions for this are as follows:
- an evening out for a meal with old friends that we haven't seen in ages. It's a "date night" kind of thing and we made the plans weeks ago.
- DS1's birthday - money basically for him, as he's an adult and has a few things we know he's saving money towards. (I don't discuss DS1 and DD much on here as they are adults, don't live at home, and I want to respect their privacy as much as possible)
- a day trip for the boys that we've had planned since last spring, especially important to DS2. We've gotten the tickets free and money towards petrol, so other than parking, lunch at the venue, and a couple small souvenirs I don't think it'll be horrendously expensive.

I also need to take a quick peek in to my local surgery and discuss having my blood sugars checked. I have a massive family history of diabetes, and I've just been feeling off lately - been seeing some things that could possibly be caused by blood sugar imbalance, so I need to get that assessed. Until I can be seen, I will be trying to eat a bit better. There has been some processed sugar stuff in the house lately, but I think we'll be knocking that on the head as well. I don't need it, DH doesn't need it, and the boys certainly don't need it. Treats now and then are fine, but I think we need to cut it back. I think it's partly because I'm running all over the place with school runs and meetings and such, and then I don't eat proper meals during the day, grab something with a bit of sugar for energy, but then come crashing down later in the day.

Anyway... I'm also going to get to work in the evenings on my craft stuff. DS2's school does a Christmas sale, so I'm going to make some Christmas gift tags and cards (out of supplies I already have on hand, so no extra cost to me!!) and donate them for the sale. I've got to get busy making Christmas cards for this year as well.

Triggles

Hooray! DH is off work (on holiday time) for the next week, so we're getting some DIY done! The list is huge!!! :rotfl: He painted the ceiling in the living room this morning. The walls are next to be painted (over the weekend), but we're holding off on the wallpaper until the boys are back in school. :cool:

School pictures came home this week. Good grief, they are expensive!! And not only two completely different pricing structures (two different companies, as boys are at two different schools), but different SIZES of pictures as well!! :mad: Why can't the picture sizes be standard?? And if you want the picture CD to print them off yourself, it's horrendously expensive!! We didn't order any the last 2 years (mainly because the pictures weren't that good), but this year the pictures are actually pretty good. I'm tempted to just order one photo of each of them, then just take our own of them together. It will keep costs down at least that way.

Two Christmas presents purchased online yesterday, as we found them at a cheaper price than we'd found them before. Nice, as it saves us a little money off our Christmas budget. That money can be put aside towards the winter utility bills. :j These were specific gift items that were on our list to purchase, so it's not like they were impulse buys or anything. We would have purchased them regardless, but at least this way they were less expensive. That was just over £15 saved. Not much, I suppose, but £15 here and there can add up in a hurry!

Oh, and we've been still sticking to the frugal plan. Planned purchases only, as far as Christmas is concerned.

brizzledfw

Well done Triggles, you are doing great..
Sorry havent been by for a while..fell off the MSE wagon

Particularly liked the comment about the Lakeland catalogue..yes the only place for it is in the recycling bin:rotfl:

Triggles

Whoops! Almost a month with no posts! But it's been busy, and I'll admit some of the time quite stressful and I just wasn't up to posting.

Let's see... our bathroom is painted a lovely cream colour (one of the many shades available - couldn't even name it, tbh!). We just need to paint the trim in the room, and then we can finish dressing it up. A couple things for the wall, the wallpaper border (already purchased ages ago on clearance at B&Q for £1 per roll), and put up a new towel holder (old one is broken). We are planning on finishing the painting while the boys are in school next week. Then DH is going to work on the hallway/stairway wall over the next two weeks.

We bought paint for the living room, but once we'd bought the furniture (from furniture recycling place), we realised the paint wouldn't go with the furniture very well. So a revamp was needed. We will still use the wallpaper we bought, but needed to choose a colour that goes with both the furniture and the wallpaper. We're still up in the air on it, so have decided to shelve the decision until after Christmas.

We generally decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving, so the Christmas tree and such will go up next weekend. We're hoping to get a base coat on the walls this week prior to the tree going up, so the wall looks like and uniform. So the Christmas decorations (all 7 boxes plus the tree :rotfl:) are coming out this week! :cool:

A big pre-Christmas clean has been started. The entryway/hallway has been cleaned. The dining room is next, along with the kitchen. Then the living room, then the bedrooms. Bathrooms last. Then it's just stay on top of it all throughout the holiday season, until another big clean just after New years.

Gas/electric bill showed up today. Approximately £100 cheaper than we budgeted for! :j We honestly thought it would be about £100 more than last year's bill for the same time period, as we've had the heating on some as well as the clothes dryer running a lot. But nope, almost the same as last year's bill! Which we're quite pleased with. We'll put the extra £100 aside for next quarter's bill, which is always a shocker. :eek:

Having the well stocked pantry is helping immensely. Because we have a good stock of food/household supplies, we don't have to do the "run to the shop to pick up an odd item" here and there - which always ends up costing us more as we impulse buy. So we're going to the supermarket less. Always a good thing.

We had to cancel the chimney sweep as we all were ill at the same time - nasty stomach bug. I didn't want to pass it on to him, so we rang them up. Now I've got to reschedule it, as we'd like to be able to put a fire in the open fireplace in the lead up to Christmas sometimes, but I'm not willing to risk it until the chimney has been swept.

We've picked up a few more Christmas presents, a couple stocking stuffers from Poundland, and thanks to a £20 gift voucher from Amazon for doing a survey last month we will be putting in an Amazon order for a couple more presents in the next week or so. :cool:

We browsed the new local Whole Foods Market. :eek: Very expensive!! Yes, nice stuff - the produce is good. But very high priced, and I can't honestly see us going there for much. Definitely be browsing their spices and such, as a good variety that you can buy in small packages, for things we don't use often. But for the most part, it's too dear for me.