Summer hols 30 day challenge - Day 15

On Friday I spent time on Pinterest and Ravelry (lots of time, oh poor me!!) deciding on projects to make for family Christmas gifts. Obviously, I can't really say much more as I don't want to let the cat out of the bag, but I found some gorgeous ideas. I did tear myself away from the computer long enough to start one project, a knitted item using wool donated by my Mum who no longer wanted it. 

Summer hols 30 day challenge - Day 14

In an attempt to get back on track I signed up with Approved Food today. I've had a bit of a browse around and found some bargains but much of the stuff I can get just as cheaply at our local Heron Foods shop. As with everything, research is the key. I also need to do a stock take and shopping list and will probably place an order next pay day to restock for the following month.  

Anyone else using Approved Food?

What are the best deals you have found?

Does it pay to bulk buy?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Surfing seal!

Check out this surfing seal off the coast where I live!

Summer hols 30 day challenge - Day 9

Does anybody out there use Quidco? 

Have you made any money from it?

I signed up for Quidco ages ago but, since I don't really have any disposable income I rarely buy anything. As a result I haven't given it much thought lately. 

This week, however, I decided to have another look so clicked the link on an email they had sent me. 

Hmmm - not about to book a holiday; hubby doesn't need a new suit; can't afford any home improvements or DIY projects; don't need a new phone deal (£5 pay as you go on my old brick lasts me months!) This is why I'm not their ideal candidate.

Hang on a minute, ClickSnap, what's that?

Apparently you can earn cashback on your grocery shopping by uploading your receipt if you buy any of the weekly offers. This week there haven't been any products that I would buy but as they cover the 3 supermarkets that I may use I thought it worth signing up for. From what I've read it is similar to TopCashback's Snap & Save scheme and it's a good idea to use both together. I shall check out TopCashback when I get a moment.

Any tips on getting the best out of Quidco or TopCashback?

Summer hols 30 day challenge - Days 6, 7 & 8

I would love to say that I have discovered some amazing money spinning/debt reduction secret and I'm about to share it with you here! In reality I have spent the last three days chopping up shirts, ironing and die cutting to produce more tiny triangles for my new quilt idea.

My son was throwing out some shirts this week, so naturally I nabbed them for my stash.

I also sorted out the next batch of material.... 

.....and die cut some old magazines....

...to add to the English paper piecing 'tumbler' quilt I'm working on.

I wish I'd gone more random rather than stripy now, what do you think?

Summer hols 30 day challenge - Day 5

More die cutting of triangles yesterday, my pile of old shirts is almost gone. 

I fear, however, that my iron is about to pack up on me having tripped the electrics twice on Thursday. I've been using a circuit breaker since then but need to start looking for a bargain just in case.

So much for saving money, eh?

Summer hols 30 day challenge - Day 4

Malcolm has spent some time lately getting rid of a lot of junk from the garage with the intention of being able to put his beloved Beemer in there over the winter (a money saving manoeuvre in itself)

 When he bought a motorbike a few years back it was kept in the garage while the car was relegated to the driveway. The bike was sold some time ago but the accumulated 'stuff' that took up residence beside it still remained.

That includes my stash!!

Much of the wool I had was used to make this crocheted blanket 

and what's left fits into one plastic box. The bulk is taken up by material that has been begged, stolen and borrowed over the years and it is long overdue for a sort out.

So, as part of my 30 day challenge, I have begun the process of turning my stash into 

• soft furnishings for our home or the kids uni flats
• Christmas presents/birthday gifts for friends and family
• items that I can try to sell online, either Ebay or in my currently abandoned Etsy shop

This morning I began with my stash of checked cottons, most of which began life as my daughters shirts.

From this....

....via the ironing board.....

....and the die cutter....

 

....to these lovely triangles just waiting to be made up into something new and gorgeous!

So far I've only used the smallest scraps for these tiny triangles, the larger pieces may become different shapes - hexagons or tumblers perhaps?

Summer hols 30 day challenge - Day 3

This morning I spent a fair amount of time getting up to speed on our credit card debt. Between us we have 3 cards all of which we went over the limit on some time ago. Not a fact I'm at all proud of, we took them out when times were rather more secure, then used them as a 'lifeline' when they weren't. Ah well, no use crying over spilt milk.

Having checked up on all 3 balances, I've decided to take a leaf out of Frugal Queen's book. I'm hoping to pay more money towards the smallest one first while still paying the agreed amount on the other two. Then I can snowball onto the next smallest, paying the agreed sum plus what I was paying on the first, then snowball those amounts onto the third.

Well that's the theory, there's never much left at the end of the month, but it's got to be worth a try! 

Oh, and Malcolm gave Sam a haircut - a number 2 all over - with his hair grooming kit, saving him £6-£10. I bought Malcolm the kit a few years ago and it's saved him a small fortune by now. 

Summer hols 30 day challenge - Day 2

Today I began my reclamation of the wilderness that has become the garden!
As Malcolm had already done a lot of cutting back at the weekend the garden bin was pretty full and not due to be emptied until next week. I reckoned that I could squeeze in a few weeds though and, as it was a gloriously sunny morning, I set too weeding our driveway.
As you can see it is a long overdue job......

.......and a rather long driveway!

So how does this fit into my challenge? Well Malcolm's solution would be to zap it all with expensive weedkiller, wait hope for it all to go brown and then let me get down on my hands and knees to pull all the dead weeds out.
 An hour in the peaceful sunshine, chatting to neighbours passing by, no money spent - result!

Any tips for gardening on the cheap? 

Hallooooo! Summer hols 30 day challenge, Day 1.

Hi everyone, sorry I've been away so long - where has the time gone?!! 

 I've been stopping by on all your lovely blogs as often as I can, I just haven't had the time to comment let alone post anything new here.

Today is the first 'official' day of the school holidays and I am sooo ready for six weeks off. It has been such a tough year for us mentally, physically and financially. Since September I have been working 8 hour shifts with 2 yr old children in a Nursery and Malcolm has been back with the Council grass cutting and emptying bins since February.

At 50 and 53 it has taken it's toll on our increasingly aching bods, but it's good to be working - I'm just glad that I'm term time only!

Unfortunately Malcolm's job is only seasonal, ending in October and not due to start again until April next year. This and several years of unemployment following redundancy have meant us racking up some serious debt. We are constantly trying to live within our means and reduce that debt where we can. Many thanks to those of you with good advice to offer on frugal living, I have already made big changes.

To keep me focussed and help us further on our way I have set myself a 30 day challenge. During my six week break there are 30 'working' days (weekends off - don't want to be too drastic, it's my first ever challenge!) On each day I will take at least one action to

• reduce costs 
• save money 
• make money
• find extra work 
• generally help our financial situation

Today I have sorted out our Annual Renewal for Tax Credits.

I'm not sure where this fits in with the above as it may result in a reduction in income - obviously not the desired effect. However we were overpaid last year for Working Tax Credit (our fault, not theirs - oops!) so I really wanted to get back on an even keel. This seemed as good a place to start my challenge as any, it feels good to have it out of the way too.

Wish me luck!

What have you done recently to help your finances or live more frugally? I'd love to read your comments.

Etsy Treasury # 4

Another beautiful treasury for your perusal. This one is from Effie at UnicornsOgStuff who has kindly included one of my knitted bowls - many thanks Effie!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/treasury/NDQyOTI5MzZ8MjcyMzQyNTU5Nw/sundays-gifts?ref=pr_treasury

Etsy Treasury # 3

Here's an Etsy Treasury I put together the other day from the many talented crafters on that site.

I was inspired by the start of Spring, the welcome sunshine and the flowers seen on my dog walks.

 I hope you take time for a little look to brighten your day!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/treasury/MjAxODM2MDZ8MjcyMzM4NjkyMQ/snowdrop-and-crocus?ref=pr_treasury

".........try a little tenderness."

I just had to pass this on, it's so uplifting!

SPOILER ALERT - you will need hankies!!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/the-world-isnt-such-a-bad-place

Tiddlypots!

I made these lovely little knitted pots over the weekend and popped them in my shop to see if they would sell. I'm sure I can find many uses for them if they don't!

I found the pattern in Craftseller magazine, which I love. It is a Gina Alton design from Pots To Knit And Crochet. 

I'm now off to raid my stash (along with the biscuit tin!) and see what variations I can make.

Peace, love and chocolate biscuits :-D x

Reasons to be cheerful!

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I seem to be chasing my tail a lot these days. Malcolm working full time again (yay!), my work schedule changing weekly to fit around school trips, sports days etc., new job jitters and general, everyday 'stuff' seems to have me more than usually frustrated and tired. 

I'm also trying to get my house in order, quite literally, but with each task I begin to tackle  I'm thinking of all the others still to be done! Add in the mountain of debt we're supposed to be trying to clear and......well....*@#*!!

Anyhoo, time to find something to make me smile :-)

I made my first sale on Etsy! These lovely little crochet pots are winging their way to a lovely lady in the USA, I do hope she likes them.

Don't get too excited, it's taken me a year to get a sale, but hey it's a start :-D 

The lettuce is growing well,

enough to make a salad to go with our quiche, they're sort of 'cut and come again' so I just pick what we need, when we need it, no more left over lettuce going soggy in the salad drawer,

and the spring onions are growing too. I know I should probably thin them out but it always seems mean to the ones I remove!!

The pumpkins have failed to put in an appearance, though!

I used Frugal Queen's idea of making an inventory of food in an attempt to get meal planning under control (we used to be sooo good at this!!)

Freezer	Dry goods	Tins/jars	Baking	Seasonings/spices
1 portion lasagne	¼  pack prawn crackers	Hoisin sauce		Fajita mix
Sm. Pot cooked, diced pork	Gravy powder	Wholegrain mustard	Golden syrup	Malt vinegar
4 bags fresh herbs	Cornflour	½ jar gerkins	Black treacle	Sea salt
5oz sliced crusty bread	Red lentils	½ jar pickled onions	Custard powder	Fish sauce
Sm. Portion hot pot	Star anise	¼ jar beetroot	Suet	Oyster sauce
4 flour tortillas	Cinnamon sticks	Branston pickle	Cocoa powder	Rice vinegar
7 homemade samosas	Box cloves	Pear halves	Gelatine	Dark soy
½ bag cooked mussels	Box dried red chilli	Sardines	Baking powder	Light soy
3 orange lollies	Box whole cardamom	Beetroot pickle	Bicarb. Of soda	Sesame oil
8 pack white rolls	Barley	Marmite	Cream of tartar	Chilli sauce
½ bag peas	Broth mix	Honey	100’s and 1000’s	Worcester sauce
½ bag sweetcorn	3 poppadoms	Peanut butter	Glace cherries	Balsamic vinegar
½ pack raspberries	½ pack lasagne	Chocolate spread	Easy bake yeast	Sherry
1 mini choc ice cream	Mixed pasta shapes	3 cartons chopped tomatoes	Mixed fruit	Ketjap manis
4 portions Bolognese type sauce	Spring roll wrappers	1 tin corned beef	Currants
500g lamb mince	Egg noodles	1 tin cannellini beans	Few sultanas
2 sm. packs beef mince	Basmati rice		Handful dried figs
500g pork mince			Sm. pack flaked & ground almonds
2x8 pork sausages			Vanilla extract
1 pack cass. steak			Jelly glaze mix
1 pack pork chops			Handful mixed nuts
Whole chicken			Plain flour
Ready made steak pie			Self-raising flour
5 chicken breasts			White bread flour
			Icing
			Caster sugar
			Demerara sugar
			Wholemeal bread flour
			Dess. coconut
			Ready to roll icing

 and as a result we also have two scrubbed clean and organised kitchen cupboards! Two birds with one stone - result!

Just a few reasons to be cheerful but I'm feeling better already! Perhaps the best thing that has happened this week is that Malcolm received his first full months pay cheque in three years and his self-esteem is well on the way to being fully restored :-D (I'm now off to pay the car tax!!)

Peace, love and marshmallows 

Louise x