2017 - Spend less, live more

sugarbaby125

Chanie, those summer dresses from H & M sound like a real bargain.

Starmummy

Just thought i'd say hi.
I REALLY love your spend less live more ethos. buying quality over quantity and only things that bring you joy. what a way to really live. I am trying to adopt this myself. being totally concious of myself and my life rather than what i think i should be doing. :T

chanie

Thanks for popping by starmummy

Having children is expensive, but i try to focus on stretching the pennies as much as possible.

chanie

I have taken to my bed, as we are in the middle of a power cut. We have no lights or heating, although luckily, we have gas for the hob. The children are playing on their tablets, but we have no WiFi, so they are not impressed.

This is about the 4th powecut we have had in two months. I called up the national grid and they said that all of the power cuts were unconnected, but I said that in the 10 years we have llived here, we have never had one before so there must be a problem somewhere. It!!!8217;s always our road that seems to be affected.

I suppose, the only positive is that we will be saving on electricity costs.

sugarbaby125

Chanie, I am very surprised that you and your family have been experiencing power cuts. It must be so annoying.

Are you getting any information from your Energy company about the power cuts? Are you warned that the power cuts will be happening?

I hope that is an end of them for you all now though.

chanie

frugal update

DD had a birthday party this weekend and I regifted a duplicate gift that DD had been given as part of the present. I managed to wrap the present without DD seeing, otherwise she would have kicked off.

I also darned some school trousers of DS which had developed a small hole in the knees. I can barely sew, but the trousers are dark, so my attempt is passable.

Me and OH ordered picked up our new wardrobes from IKEA on Friday. OH used his works van, which saved us delivery charges. It will be so great to finally be able to hang up our clothes and get our bedroom back to order.

sugarbaby125

Well done Chanie, you saved yourself money in different ways, just by thinking things through

I do lots of sewing to save me having to pay for minor repairs or alterations at the dry cleaners, that would be costly. I can not darn though.

I hope you are enjoying your new wardrobes

maman

sugarbaby125 wrote: »

Well done Chanie, you saved yourself money in different ways, just by thinking things through

I do lots of sewing to save me having to pay for minor repairs or alterations at the dry cleaners, that would be costly. I can not darn though.

I hope you are enjoying your new wardrobes

Same here sugarbaby. My mother was very 'handy with a needle' and it's something I grew up with. I remember years ago when DD1 was a bridesmaid for a cousin. The dresses came with unfinished hems and the shop wanted a ridiculous figure to take them up. Of course it made sense for them to be unfinished but, to me, it was a hidden rip off added to an already expensive dress. I did it myself on principle.:)


It would have to be a very complex piece of alteration for me not to tackle it myself.

chanie

My sewing is horrendous, I just try and do what I can to patch up the item. After Easter, the children will be in their final term of school, so I want their uniform to last until the summer. It usually does, but only just.

Maman I don!!!8217;t blame you for finishing the hems on your bridesmaid dresses. I would love to be able to sew and do basic alterations, but I never had the opportunity to learn. I am 5ft, so alterations are very much needed! I buy lots of my trousers from Uniqlo because they do free or cheap alterations.

sugarbaby125

Maman,

I was taught to sew, crochet, knit and embroider when I was a child and they are not skills that leave you. We also had a Singer sewing machine to use in the home, as my Mum liked to sew. I could make a dress from a shop bought pattern when I was a teenager, but I doubt I could now.

It is a real shame that these skills are no longer taught in schools as they are invaluable skills and save so much money.

I remember when I too was asked by one of my older sisters to hem some of her bridesmaids dresses. I had the neatest, almost invisible stitches, so I was left to do quite a few hems.

I also worked part time in a hat factory here in London when I was about 17, as all you needed to work there were good needle skills. One of my sisters was working there at the time, so she asked her boss if he would be willing to let me work there at weekends and in the holidays and he said yes after I did an unpaid trial.

When I was married, I shortened all of my husbands trousers that needed it, as the prices being quoted in dry cleaners was ridiculous. I had to be more careful and very meticulous when I was altering a pair of suit trousers.

Oh dear Chanie, you must be a lot younger than me, but you could still learn to sew now