New Leaf, New Day, New Ways

Triggles

Well, I've poured boiling water over a section of weeds in the corner of the garden. I keep peeking out the window, waiting for them to gasp dramatically and fall over dead. So far, nothing. Not very cooperative of them, I must say. I'll check back in the morning. Next is a good dousing of vinegar. (should I be doing an evil cackle while plotting their downfall?)

Triggles

I am slowly wading through all the paperwork on my desk. What a mammoth pile up!! I've still got quite a bit to go through, but at least I'm making progress. I've had to put aside anything that's a priority and do that first, such as updating direct debits for household bills.

Hopefully my budget will be sorted and finances organised by mid-June. My initial plan is to focus extra money on a bit of savings (for emergencies) and on a few debts. The first debt I will be aiming at is our old overdraft. I plan on throwing any money I can at it and getting rid of it. That will be £25 per month free and clear to then add to another debt. I'm hoping I can get that debt plus another debt paid off in full by next Christmas. There are a number of things around the house that need to be done too, some of which I will need to hire out to have done.

Unofficial grocery challenge for myself is £200 this month. We'll see how it goes.

Triggles

I'm trying to cut back on waste in my groceries. So here's a number of things I've managed to do this week towards this:

- instead of giving 3yo and 6yo a whole apple and having them waste some of it, I give them each half an apple, cut up - if they're still hungry, they can always have some more fruit to nibble (grapes, half a banana, etc). I will give them half a banana as well, cutting through the peeling. If the other half isn't used until later in the day, I just trim the cut edge slightly. So only a thin section is wasted, rather than part of the whole banana. Seems to be working quite well.

- we're using frozen instead of tinned or fresh veg. 3yo likes corn, 6yo likes green beans. One pan, some frozen corn, some frozen green beans, cook. Separate on to each plate. Easy, no waste.

- less meat, more veg, bread and butter. When I was a child, my mum made meals with more veg, and always a slice of bread with butter. I now realise this was filler, as the meat was more expensive. And I am doing the same thing.

- regular "variety" meals. Little snippets of leftovers that need to be eaten. Pieces of salami or ham, boiled eggs, cheese, fruit, a little toast. The DCs enjoy nibbling, and little leftover bits get used.

- leftover bread = bread pudding. DCs not keen on it, but yum! I've never tried to freeze it, but I think I'll try it and see how it turns out.

Nothing earth shattering, I suppose, but it helps in our house. Along with the rubber chicken, meal planning, being fairly flexible, and having a couple things we can use "last minute" for meals, it's helped a great deal.

I noticed at the supermarket, I'm used to stocking up on things frequently. Unless it's a good sale or something we're likely to run out of, I've decided it's not good practice. It just runs up the grocery budget. As long as I have some things in the cupboard to round up a few extra meals in case we can't get to the supermarket for my weekly shop, that's really all that's necessary. I will still pick up extra of things we use frequently when they are on sale for a good price - that's just common sense - provided it's not going to go past it's shelf life.

That just ties in with me trying to declutter as well. I've been a bit ruthless and thrown a few things, given some outgrown clothing away to friends with younger children, and some things to charity shops. I won't part with my DVDs or books, as they are cheap entertainment.

Still buying roasts from the local butcher - much much cheaper than the supermarket. I'm going to make an effort to make sure portion sizes are what is recommended, so we can make the most of the leftovers for more meals, sandwiches, etc.

Now if I could just get DCs to eat oatmeal for breakfast. I love it, would love to cook it as it's inexpensive, but 6yo doesn't like it much. I'm going to start introducing it more to get him used to the idea and see where it goes. He has a lot of problems with certain textures of foods, so if I start now, he may be more willing to try it and work towards eating it this winter (calculated waste - he needs to be exposed to the food a LOT before he is comfortable trying it). Lots of things we can do with oatmeal - add raisins/sultanas, brown sugar, cinnamon, maple or golden syrup, teaspoon of jam. I found a recipe online for making a mixture with regular porridge oats into the same mixture as "instant oats", so I want to make a good airtight jar of this mixture made. Then I can microwave the oatmeal in portions if needed.

Triggles

Oooooh, I'm ill. So MS is falling by the wayside for the day. I think my main goal will be, as it was yesterday when I was also ill, to get through the day in one piece!

At least I don't feel up to going anywhere and spending any money, right? :rotfl:

I am cancelling an appointment for later today, as I'm just not up to it. It's a frustrating thing to have appointments so frequently, between myself, and both DCs. 3 appointments this week, and all 3 at different places, and all 3 will cost a minimum of £3 or more for parking! So roughly £10 in parking costs in one week! And it's not like I can set all the appointments in one day and just walk from appointment to appointment, while parking in one spot either. Completely different areas of town! Taking the bus would cost the same as parking (okay, minus the petrol cost) and be more inconvenient as I need to go straight from school run to one appointment, then take child to school, then go pick up the other child.:eek: I firmly believe that hospital parking should be cheaper - it often costs £4-5 just to park for DS1's appointments there. The appointments always run late, and this is the second one he's had in the last couple weeks. I know it seems small but it really does add up.

Plus 20p to park locally while I run in and pick up prescriptions for the DCs that the chemist didn't have (again) the other day. I'm going to have to switch to a different chemist, as the little costs are adding up quickly. I have to pay parking (20p each time) to drop off the prescription - it always takes forever to get filled, so I have to then come back either later or the next day to pick it up. Then another parking fee to stop in to pick it up. They almost always don't have everything, so I have to come in the next day again when they get more. So 2-3 parking fees minimum for every prescription. And it is pointless to ring them to check, as they never give correct info over the phone - I've been told it's in when it wasn't. They say they will call when something ordered is in, but they don't. It's just maddening. I would rather pay a bit more for petrol to go to a chemist further away from my house that is more organised and customer friendly, tbh. I've run out of DS1's meds quite a few times (which is not good) because they need to be ordered, and even though I get the prescription to the chemist in plenty of time, it takes much longer than it should and then it takes them a couple days to get it all together. If I sound a bit grumpy about it, then that's probably because I am - it's not only a waste of my money, it's a waste of loads of my time as well. And heaven knows, I'm stretched thin enough as it is trying to get everything in my schedule without extra trips to the chemist!

And that's my rant for this morning. :rotfl:

Extra laundry to do today as I didn't do any yesterday (too ill - just wanted to try to conserve energy). Forgot to take out meat for tonight's tea, so will have to consider what to have for tea for the boys tonight - probably something easy like fishcakes and vegetables. Quick to make and they like it. That is the main reason we keep a few things in that I can toss in the oven on busy days (or the odd day when I'm ill like today).

Triggles

My goodness! What a crazy few days! Appointments left and right, while still getting over my cold/flu bug. (more parking fees grrrrr)

I just about fell over in shock as the chemist actually HAD the prescription I brought in today to fill! :eek:

I was watching Kirstee's Homemade Home on the television, as I had recorded it for ideas to decorate some of the rooms at home. I have to say, although she pitches it as moneysaving, I'm not sure the idea of going to a glass blower is the cheap way out. Some of her ideas for decoration are good, just the methods a bit iffy, IMO. I had to laugh at the idea of her trailing along streets, peering in skips, looking for items to pilfer. It was just funny, especially in her big expensive car. She had a lovely comment about just putting something pretty that you liked on your mantelpiece - problem is, my fireplace doesn't have a mantelpiece!! It used to have on older wood one, but it was damaged (previous owner, chimney fire, long story - or maybe not that long), so it's no longer there. Another thing to do.

I'm notoriously dreadful about choosing a colour to pain the living room. I've gone round and round on it. Thought I had it chosen, we bought living room furniture (second hand in brilliant condition for a steal) and the colour I wanted no longer matched. :rotfl: So back to the drawing board. A friend has offered to come over and help paint - but I may end up sending her around the bend before I actually decide on a colour for the walls. Oh well, at least I'm not spending any money on it while deciding, right?

I've found a solution (can't remember if I've mentioned it) to the issue of painting v carpeting the stairs. A company that makes gorgeous carpet blocking that goes on the stairs, so I can paint them, but put the carpet blocking on them down the middle and put them on myself. Absolutely love them - nice patterns, cheaper than fully carpeting them, but not as bare and stark as just painting them. Very happy with that idea.

I need to find a nice clock to put in the kitchen - one that runs on batteries. I can't use the cooker clock, as we have to turn it off at the switch when not in use (safety reasons related to DS1). I rarely use the microwave, so am going to turn that off at the switch and just turn it on when I want to use it too. Less power usage. So that means a battery operated clock on the wall will stop me from glancing around every few minutes, trying to gauge the time. :cool: I may buy one of those inexpensive little plastic white ones and embellish it with my painting and stamping craft stuff to match the kitchen. :j

Triggles

Busy day today. Loads of stuff done - bathroom floor swept and mopped, kitchen cleaned, laundry washed and hung up to dry, far more phone calls logged than I prefer to take care of in one day (every time I rang up for one thing, I ended up with another call to make regarding something linked to the previous call!), school runs, dinners, washing up done, DCs now in bed and asleep. Whew!! Time to relax for a bit.

Well, I SAY relax - that actually means I'm sitting here sorting through more paperwork getting it organised and ready to file. And double checking my budget against bank statements. And going over my meal plan for next week, and shopping list for next week's groceries.

I was going to do a bit of baking tonight, but am just too tired - and I still have another load of laundry to hang up on the racks to dry overnight, so that's my lot for the evening. Feet up and doing my paperwork with a nice cold lemon squash. :cool:

I'm also making my list of things I need to get done next week, including any appointments, phone calls to be made, and bills to be paid. I'm a list maker, me. :rotfl:

Triggles

Argh! DS2's school sent a little bean plant home with him today. It's lovely, and he was so pleased with it. But of course, they've impressed upon him the importance of planting it somewhere at home to grow. So now I need to root through a bunch of things and see if I even HAVE any plant pots (I got rid of a whole bunch last year!) and sort out a place to put it. One more task to organise - watering and caring for a bean plant. I know, I know - it doesn't sound like much extra, but I'm still trying to catch up with everything else!

My cold has morphed into a sinus infection, so I'll be ringing the surgery for antibiotics tomorrow. I get sinus infections quite frequently and they generally will only clear with antibiotics. Another task to add to my ever increasing list.

I started a monumental task today - organising containers. You know the kind - Tupperware, click and seal, cleaned out margarine containers. All sorts of containers of every shape and size. It's just a shame that so many don't have a COVER of the same shape and size. :rotfl:On the one hand, it's great as I can toss them in the bin without feeling guilty, but I can't help but wonder where these covers are. I suspect they are the same place that all my matching socks are. I do have quite a few containers of the margarine variety, but they are such good containers and, let's face it, they're free when I'm already buying margarine! I use them for leftovers in the fridge, snack foods, crayons for the DCs, little snack packs for the DCs when we're out for the day, odds and ends. As long as they're labelled, it's all good. That leaves my snap and lock containers for the freezer, as they have a better seal.

Ah, my grocery bill today was £40 (almost exactly). I was quite pleased. I'm aiming for £50-60 per week (hoping more for £50) and this leaves me £10 for fruit and milk later in the week. I stocked up on toilet roll at farm foods last week (2 - 9pks for £4, regular price). I'm still trying to decide where I'm best shopping at. I don't mind shopping around a bit at different supermarkets, however, I don't want to drive to a different shop just to save 50p - that's not really saving money, is it? I think it's time to visit that website mysupermarket and see what's cheaper. I'm not sure if they compare basics/smart price items though. I may have to do that one by one. :eek: We'll see. My time is relatively free in the evenings to do a bit of research.

My DS1's school is requesting people donate old tiles to the school for an art project - so I'm going to donate a box of them that we have had sitting around for a few years, taking up room. I don't need them for anything, so it's part of my "de-cluttering" effort, plus bonus that it benefits the school! :j

Then I need to start cutting squares with pinking shears to prepare for quilting. If I start now, I may finish in time for winter. I've got tons of spare material (old clothing, material, etc) in a few boxes that will provide plenty of squares - hopefully I can make a quilt for each of the DCs' beds. Neither of them likes comforters, so I'm hoping they'll like the quilts - they don't like the puffiness of the comforters.

So lots of projects to work on.

Triggles

A few moneysaving things lately:
- sold an older mobile for about £15 (will put that money towards Christmas costs)
- hung up clothing to dry instead of tumble dryer
- sweeping carpet during midday (only takes a couple minutes, but not only less hassle than doing an extra vacuum, but less electric used - how much I'm not sure, but we're borrowing the line of "every little helps" for that)
- drinking more water today (myself and the DCs). Cheaper than squash, soda, milk, or juice - and most likely better for us too. Plus always good to keep hydrated in the heat!
- time out in the garden, rather than taking children to a play place (we've got a trampoline they can bounce on - I see no point in paying extra money to go to a soft play)

I'm going to relax a bit tonight as I'm still fighting off this sinus infection. Ick.

pennywisepoundstupid

Hi Triggles, good to see you back posting.

Hope you don't mind I've put a link to this diary on your old one.

Off to subscribe

brizzledfw

Thanks PWPS you helped me find Triggles:D

Hi Triggles, good to see you posting again! :T sounds like as ever you are very busy and getting lots of stuff done and sorted. Your energy is quite exhausting

Have subscribed and will pop in..

Brizzle