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Tuesday 26 November 2013

Xmas Preparations

Well I have been a very busy bee with all my Xmas prep. The house has been completely decluttered, I am half way through my Xmas clean, all my lists have been made, Xmas prezzies have and still are being made, any prezzies I already have are wrapped and tagged and hidden away, Xmas card list is ready to go, decs have been taken out and cleaned ready for the 1st Dec, the Xmas eve hamper is done, and the stockings have all been done. I still have a lot to make and am awaiting a delivery of lampwork beads for the bracelets I am making as gifts. I seem to be knitting ALL the time at the moment but with 4 weeks till Xmas its action stations on the homemade prezzies. I also have a few custom orders for snoods which I am also trying to get done.

I managed to get Brad a bargain of a Xmas present and something he really wants from one of the local selling pages on FB. I got him a TV/DVD combi for 15 pounds the lady even threw in a free digibox so next time my dad is down he can plumb freeview into Brads room which will cost me nothing. I have also managed to get Brandon quite a few prezzies off of the selling pages. I bought some very nice gift bags for the second hand prezzies as they are obviously not packaged so are often hard to wrap. I got 4 for 1 pound from the card factory and they are really pretty and of a good strong quality.

I have decided we are going to have chicken with all the trimmings for our Xmas dinner this year as it tastes the same as turkey but is not as dry and a turkey for the 5 of us would cost in the region of 10-15 pounds when I can get 4 chicken leg quarters for 2.60.

A few tips for you Asda currently have the tins of roses and quality street for a fiver and pringles are only 1 pound a tube so I got my tin of crimbo sweets today and 2 tubes of pringles. We love pringles but at almost 2.50 a tube they are out of our price range so these will be a lovely treat come Xmas. Asda also have their smartprice mild curry sauce jars at 20p so I bought 3 but will be going back with my trolley to stock up on them before they go up again. Also if like us you enjoy a sweet treat after your dinner they have a 4 pack of smartprice chocolate moose for 18p at the moment. I promise you this is not an ad for Asda lol I just happened to be in there today and spotted all the bargains and thought I would share them with you.

Dinner tonight was incredibly cheap I went yellow sticker shopping on Sunday and got lots of bargains tonight we had some of those bargains. We each had an egg salad sub roll 15p and a bag of melon and grapes for afters 5p so 20p a head 80p in total.

Anyway off to do yet more knitting lol

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Thursday 31 October 2013

Spooky Goings On

Happy Halloween everyone hope you have all had a good day. My day has been spent working my way through the mountain of washing that seems to have accumulated from no where lol. I did find time to make another 4 bracelets as xmas gifts and also to get a little more knitting done. I will try and take some pictures of them tomorrow but the lighting has not been great here its quite dull all day and my Eco light bulbs seem to turn all my pictures a slight orangey colour. We have had a fun Halloween here at Tilly Towers and it has cost me the princely sum of 60p.


Pumpkin cost nothing as Brad made it at respite and bought it home with him



The mountain of sweets the kids got trick or treating. This should last them a while and save me a few pennies in the process :)


I forgot to take a picture of them this evening but they were exactly the same as last year using the same costumes from the dressing up box which meant I did not have to buy anything for them to wear trick or treating this year. This picture was taken last Halloween.



We had a Halloween bowl (which I have had for years) full of Morrisons savers toffees for the trick or treaters that came knocking 3 bags at 20p a bag and we have a few toffees left over so that's where the 60p comes in. I cant afford to buy posh expensive sweets to give to half the children in my town but I also don't like to turn anyone away empty handed. This suits both myself and the trick or treaters as they get a sweet when they knock on the door and I don't spend a fortune so everyone's happy.

Anyway that's how we did Halloween on a budget 60p not bad hey :)

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

I'm Back

Recently I have found myself thinking more and more about the blog and how much I miss writing it. My reasons for taking a break have calmed down some what since making the decision and I have felt the desire to write again. I said I would mention my reasons for taking a break when I returned I wont go into to much detail but I was having a lot of trouble with my eldest son's behaviour. His Autism causes behavioural problems but these were way out of control and he was self harming and speaking of ending it all. I knew something had to give and I had to put all my time and efforts into him and giving him the support he so needed these last few weeks. I am pleased to say Brad is a lot better he has calmed down drastically he still has the odd wobble but find me a teenager who doesn't. My blogging may be a little sporadic over the next few months as I continue to support him but I hope you will forgive me this under the circumstances. I have him on the waiting list for counselling and a buddy mentor scheme all of which I hope will aide his recovery from what has been a pretty dark time for all of us.

In amongst all the darkness there has been an element of light. The Mr asked me to marry him and I said yes so I am now an engaged woman. We choose the ring together and in true frugal fashion I choose a ring that was second hand and not that expensive whilst still being incredibly pretty and I love it.






I have been doing a fair bit of reduced price food shopping (yellow sticker) and have done really well with my buys. We are currently eating down the stock piles and just doing the occasional top up shop for things like bread, milk, fruit, veggies. I am also walking a lot more. I will still only go out if I have some one with me in case of an attack but I have lost 1 stone and 5 pounds in just over a month by walking a lot more and not eating so many sweet treats so I hope to keep going with this. I have kept up my over payments and have cleared just under another 1000 pounds of debt which is great we are headed in the right direction. I have also completely de-cluttered the entire house and have a few things to sell (any money made will go into over payments) and a few things to take to the charity shop. I have also been busy making Xmas prezzies I am making the snood type scarfs for people this year along with an item of jewelry for the ladies and some form of chocolate from poundland for the men. Lee and I have also agreed to cap our presents to each other to no more than 30 pounds and the boys have a limit of 75 pounds each this year. I have been buying a few bits here and there over the year and have received a few free items which I have also put away for Xmas so in spite of the limit they should do quite nicely and be quite happy with what they get. I have also started a sealed jar every night I empty my purse and put all the 50/20/10p's into it and the first thing I do on a Monday when I get paid is put a 5 pound note in there once it is full I will empty it and use it towards over payments. I also have a penny jar where I save all my 5/2/1p's which will be emptied when full and used towards a family treat be it a day out or a takeaway (rare in this house).

Here is my To Do List (I'm hoping to get it all done before Xmas)

1= Get rubbish removed from the shed
2= Measure up windows and find a good deal on new nets
3= Wash all windows and frames down
4= Wash sofas
5= Wash curtains
6= Continue with prezzie making

I will keep you updated with how I'm getting on. Anyway bit tired now so going to head to bed hope to be back soon with some more updates.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Monday 23 September 2013

Tough Times

Well its been weeks since I posted but I do have very good reasons for my lack of presence. As a family we are experiencing some rather tough times at the moment largely in relation to Brads autism. I wont go into details right now as its some pretty personal stuff and I don't wish to be all doom and gloom today. I have decided to take a bit of a break from blogging so that I can concentrate on helping my son overcome the problems he is facing right now and be there to help and guide the youngest 2 boys as it is also affecting them. I may write about what we are going through when I return as it could help another family struggling with autism to know they are not alone but that will be something I will need to discuss with Brad first. It is after all his life I would be talking about. I don't know how long I will be gone but I do know I will return at some point. In the meantime I wish you all love and luck in everything you do.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Friday 9 August 2013

Our Free Day Of Fun

Hello all hope everyone is keeping well. We had a smashing day yesterday and the cost of the day was zero it was all completely free. Once a year the local churches get together to arrange a free fun day for the children in the area and it takes place on the big green just outside my house. This year they had giant noughts and crosses, glass staining candle holders, making a spiders web from wool, giant garden pick up sticks, giant snakes and ladders, learn to play the bongos, general drawing and colouring, sandpit, face painting, bouncy castle, and free tea/squash and cakes. We had a lovely time we found a nice spot on the green where we could keep tabs on Brandon and enjoyed our free drink and cake whilst Brandon made full use of the facilities on offer.









Such a wonderful idea and it helps bring the community together. Personally I would be happy to pay a small amount in order to have something like this more regularly in the community. It was a wonderful day and Brandon thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Sunday 4 August 2013

Flowers For Pennies

Hello all I'm back and feeling so much better. I had a couple of rough weeks following my operation but the last week or so I have felt very well and almost back to my old self again. Yesterday Lee had a day off of work so we went into Salisbury for the day. We took Ben and Brandon for something to eat and then went to visit my friend in Salisbury hospital. She has broken her leg very badly and has had to have an operation on it and is awaiting a second operation to put a metal plate in her leg. After spending a few hours with the bestie we decided to treat the boys to a cinema trip (Lee's treat) and we watched Smurfs 2. The kids loved it and it was nice to be able to watch a film in the cinema without the worry of having an attack. On the way home we stopped at Tesco and got some really good end of day bargains I got the following
6 white hovis rolls 12p x3
6 large bananas 6p
4 organic gala apples 25p
6 everyday value apples 20p
Large bag of grapes 20p x2
Bag of lettuce 10p
2kg of potatoes 14p
6 tomatoes 12p
Large bag of mushrooms 9p
Bag of sliced apples 5p x3
Bunch of pink freesias 30p
Bunch of pink roses 30p

That's right I have treated myself to this beautiful bunch of flowers which cost me the grand sum of 60p (the orange flowers which I think are some type of Lilly have been cut from my back garden).



They are lovely and for 60p I cant complain about the cost and they really brighten up the kitchen. Tomorrow I will be catching up on housework during the day and then in the evening we will be going over to Lee's for the night. I also hope to do my school uniform check and order what they will need new for September. I will let you all know how I get on with that and how much it ends up costing me. I have looked around for the best prices so I am armed and ready to go.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Saturday 13 July 2013

Just Checking In

I am still about but have been incredibly unwell with my MD and on top of that I have sprained my knee which has also triggered an old injury in the same place. I was given a strong dose of Tramadol to help with the pain but it made me really sick and as high as a kite so I stopped taking it after the first day and I am managing on paracetamol alone now. I also had a phone call from the hospital on Wednesday evening a cancellation has come up and I will be having my surgery on Monday now. I have had the surgery before and it is only a grommet to replace the one that fell out last year but it really does help with the MD. So as nervous as I am about it all I am also looking forward to a bit of respite from the dizzies. Anyway I will check back in on Tuesday and let you all know how the surgery went and in the mean time its leg up and rest.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Thursday 4 July 2013

Summer Holidays Are On The Way

Well it is almost that time of year again the school summer holidays are almost upon us and boy have I been busy making plans for this over the last few weeks. I have leaflets detailing events at our local libraries and museums, I have looked at cheap days out at theme parks, and I have made plans for camping trips and visits to family and friends. August is almost completely booked up now which is a relief. Brad will be going on a ten day camping trip with an organization that specifically caters for teenagers with special needs. The cost of the trip is 350 pounds however there is a small pot of money to offer those on low incomes a free place and Brad has been lucky enough to secure one of the free places. They do ask for a donation towards the cost of the trip and I have agreed to pay 100 pounds towards the cost. This is the most I can afford to contribute and they are very happy with this amount as most families only give around 20 pounds towards the cost. I had to give what I felt was fair and 100 pound for a ten day trip seems more than fair to me. If I had the money I would pay the full 350 but am just not in a position to do so right now. Now that I am aware of the trip I will put money aside monthly so that Brad can go again next year and I will be in a position to pay the full cost of the trip and the free place can then go to another deserving child. They also very kindly lend the kids any equipment they do not have so that we as parents do not have the added expense of going out and buying a load of new camping equipment for the trip. Brad and Ben will also be spending five days with their dad and step mother and I will be doing several day trips with Brandon while they are away to ensure he does not miss out. Brad and Ben will also be going to their nan in Wales for ten days again I will be doing lots of day trips and maybe an overnight in Weymouth so that Brandon does not miss out. Despite Brandon not being Dee's grandson she never leaves him out and would have happily had him for the ten days also. However due to his toileting issues I felt it best that Brandon stay at home with me this time around. So this is how our summer holiday calendar looks at the moment although there may be a few day trips thrown in here and there in addition.

Thursday 25th July Trowbridge Tudors cost is free and all 3 boys will be coming and it is Brads birthday that day.
Saturday 27th July Brad goes away for ten days camping cost 100 pounds.
Tuesday 30th July Summer safari workshop cost is free and Ben and Brandon will be coming as Brad is away camping.
Thursday 1st August Picnic at the park cost is free and Ben and Brandon will be coming as Brad is away camping.
Friday 2nd August Stumpy's decorate it day cost is 1.50 each and Ben and Brandon will be coming as Brad will still be away camping.
Monday 5th August Brad and Ben will be going to their dads for 5 days.
Thursday 8th August Creative collages cost is free and Brandon will be coming as Brad and Ben will be at their dads.
Friday 9th August Make a mobile workshop cost is free and Brandon will be coming as Brad and Ben are not due back from their dads till later in the afternoon.
Monday 12th August Day trip to Longleat cost unsure as yet (we get discount tickets due to disabilities and being carers) all 3 boys will be coming.
Tuesday 13th August Summer safari clay modeling cost is free and I will be taking all 3 boys.
Thursday 15th August Luscious Landscapes workshop cost is free and I will be taking all 3 boys.
Friday 16th August Brad and Ben will be going to visit their Nanny in Wales for ten days.
Saturday 17th August Carry on card weaving workshop cost is free and I will be taking Brandon as Brad and Ben will be in Wales.
Monday 19th August An over night in Weymouth cost unsure as yet and I will be taking Brandon as Brad and Ben will be in Wales.
Wednesday 21st August Flowery felts workshop cost is free and I will be taking Brandon as Brad and Ben will be in Wales.
Thursday 22nd August Treasure chests workshop cost is free and I will be taking Brandon as Brad and Ben will be in Wales.
Saturday 24th August Picnic at the park cost is free and I will be taking Brandon as Brad and Ben will be in Wales.
Tuesday 27th August Fun with wool workshop cost is free and I will be taking all 3 boys.

So as you can see lots has been booked and the boys will be kept very busy this summer holidays. Hopefully this will make my life easier as they wont have a chance to get bored and play up which will equal a happy mummy :)

See You Soon
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Back To Normal Life

Hello everyone. We are now back in to our usual routine after being away for the weekend all the washing has been washed, dried, and put away, the shopping has been done (not much needed as we are still eating down the freezer I reckon I have a good 2 weeks of food in there). It's a good job I'm on top of everything as I have come down with a horrible cough and cold. I have a banging headache, stiff neck and joints, sore throat, bunged up and can't breath properly, and a yucky cough. Paracetamol and ibuprofen are my best friends right now that and lots of rest. So I am spending most of the day on the sofa either watching TV or reading but at least I don't have the worry of housework not being done. The good thing about being stuck at home unwell is I can't spend any money. I don't spend much when I am out anyway but being stuck in I can't spend anything which is good for my purse :)
For dinner tonight we will be having roast beef (yellow sticker), roast pots, Yorkshire puds, mixed veg, and gravy. Total cost 2.84 and will serve four of us so 71p per person.

I want to share something I have been thinking about since I got back from my trip to London. My family are very different to me and they don't really get the frugal homebody thing. They seemed to gang up on me a bit at the weekend (Lee included) that I don't go out and do stuff enough. That I should be going out with my friends and doing STUFF. I tried to explain that I do go out occasionally but that with my MD it can be difficult at times and that I prefer to be at home with my little family and enjoying my hobbies. I explained that I have interests such as jewellery making, knitting, reading, and learning how to sew, that I enjoy baking, making my own laundry detergent and such like. According to my family this makes me old before my time and I was referred to as grandma. I have to say this hurt a little especially coming from the Mr as I thought he would have defended the things I do in the home as he benefits from these things when he is here. I realise that simple living is not for everyone but it is a life that I enjoy, a life that has shown me the meaning of true happiness, a life that has enabled me to pay off almost 5000 pounds of debt in just under 6 months. Although their words hurt I am pleased to say that it has only made me stronger in my views and I will not be changing my lifestyle for anyone or anything I love my life just the way it is. So to my family and the Mr as much as I love you all it's a big two fingers up to you all now go pick on someone else lol.

See You Soon
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Our Weekend To London In Pictures

The Journey Down

 
Ben and Brandon


 
Brandon

 
Brad
 
I went prepared with books, games, paper and pencils, drinks and snacks and we had a pretty good journey and the boy's were very well behaved.


The Tube In To London


 
The boys with my dad


 

Buckingham Palace

 
Adam (my step nephew), Ben, Brad


 
Brandon looks so unhappy in this picture I can not remember why though

 
And 2 seconds later he is happy again lol


 
The palace guard
 
 
The queens water feature a bit to grand for my back garden lol
 
 

Big Ben

 
Little Ben and Brandon with Big Ben oh and grandad

 
Brandon with Big Ben and the top of Lee's head lol
 
 
We had a fabulous day the sun was shinning and we walked a good 4 miles seeing all the sights. London pride was on also but we did not stop to watch any of it as I think we just caught the tail end of it.

Saturday Night At Dad's

 
Brad and Brandon with their great grandad

 
Incase your wondering yes my granddad only has one leg he lost the other a few years ago due to an infection in his foot which spread up his lower leg.

 
Lee and Dad enjoying a beer and a game of chess

 
 
Shortly after this photo I went to bed as I was so tired from the days events Lee and Dad however played on in to the night with Dad being the overall winner.

Sunday At Mum's

 
I love this picture of Lee and myself

 
Brandon with aunty Carina




 
Brandon with aunty Leanne (my sister) and her partner Carina

 
 
We had a lovely day at my mum's having a good catch up and playing swingball in the garden with the boys.

The Journey Home




 

Some very tired boys on the journey home. We had a taxi booked for 5.50pm to take us the 10 minute car ride to the station so we could catch the 6.26pm train. The taxi did not turn up and as a result we missed our train. Furious does not come close to how we felt with this taxi company. We had to work out another route to get home which added an extra 2 hours to our journey which meant a 5 hour journey and we did not get home till midnight. Considering all this and how tired they were the boys were extremely well behaved and I was very proud of them.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx



Tuesday 25 June 2013

It's Turning Into A Costly Week

Well first it was the PC 95 pounds, then it was the broadband 114 pounds, now it's rail tickets. I have of course been doing all I can to save pennies where I can and they are all items that are needed and not just wanted impulse buys. But it is still taking money out of my purse. We have been planning on visiting my family in London for a few weeks now and due to my MD I am unable to travel that distance without Lee with me in case of an attack. So we have had to wait until he has a weekend off work this weekend Lee has a weekend off so we decided to make it then. Of course there are 5 of us 2 adults and 3 children and neither Lee or myself drive due to medical conditions (my MD and Lee's epilepsy although he has been fit free now for 5 years so we are hoping he can start driving lessons in the near future). We therefore rely on public transport for journeys especially ones of this distance (it is a 2 hour drive and a 3 hour train ride). I sat down last night to book the tickets through redspottedhanky.com. I was interested to see how much it would normally cost for the 5 of us to travel without any discounts and nearly chocked on my tea when it came back with a price of just under 174 pounds. I of course would never pay such an obscene amount of money to go visit family no matter how much I love them and how long I have gone without seeing them. Thankfully I am a frugalist and know most of the tricks of the trade :)

A few weeks ago I received 3x 5 pound vouchers for redspottedhanky.com through Tesco clubcard rewards totally free. I was alerted to the offer via Martin Lewis at MSE newsletter which I receive regularly through email and snapped them up quick before they had all gone knowing we would be making several train journeys this summer. I also have a 2 month free family and friends railcard which gives me 60% discount for children and 1/3 discount for adults on train travel. Armed with all my discounts and tricks I set to work to get the best price possible. I managed to get all 5 of us on the exact same trains that would have cost 174 pounds for just 62 pounds a saving of 112 pounds. I did have to do it in 2 transactions though as the 5 pound vouchers I received can only be used 1 per transaction. By doing it in 2 transactions I was able to use 2 of the vouchers instead of 1 and as there was no card or booking fees I was able to do this at no added cost. So the tickets are all booked and paid for and we pick them up on the day of travel just before we go from the ticket machine saving a further 7 pounds on delivery.

We are all really looking forward to our trip as we very rarely get to see my family and see my dad, nan, and grandad even less. Due to poor health they are unable to travel to us. Brad has not seen a lot of the family for over a year so I felt it important that he came with us this time and have cancelled his restpite this weekend so he can come with us instead. I have arranged for a friend to look after the house and animals whilst we are away so I won't have anything to worry about other than having a good time and enjoying the company of my family. On Saturday we will be going into Central London to visit some of the tourist spots as we thought the boys would like this and it will be free of charge just to go look and take some pictures of places like Buckingham palace, tower bridge, and the London eye (we will not be going on the London eye at 20 pounds a head its way out of my price range). We will be getting travel cards which will cover all our transport costs for the day for 21pounds for the 5 of us and I will take a picnic so we wont have to pay to eat out. I'm not sure how my brother will react to my extreme frugal ways but I am who I am and wont change for anyone not even for a day lol. I will of course take lots of pictures to share with you all of our day out in London.

So as you can see it has turned into a costly week here at Tilly towers the only consolation is that I have paid a hell of a lot less than I should have done and saved myself 100's of pounds doing it all the frugal way and that deserves a little smile don't you think.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Monday 24 June 2013

Well Hello There

Hello all I am back from my little sabatacal. I picked up the pc today from cash generator and even managed to get them to throw in a free printer. So I got the screen, keyboard, mouse, tower, and a printer for 90 pounds quite a nice little result. When I got it home and set it all up I realised that the monitor to tower cable was missing so popped to my local independant computer shop to buy one. The man was lovely and knew exactly what I needed and only charged me 5 pounds for it so the total cost to set me and the family up with a new pc was 95 pounds not bad and I can live with that especially as some people pay around 500 pounds to set themselves up the way I have done today. I am hoping that as this has a lot more memory and is a lot more solid (not like the flimsy laptops we have had) it will last us a lot longer. The computer itself is a very good make the Mr assures me and all the programmes seem to run at a good speed. The only problem we have had is the speed of the internet which is nothing to do with the computer itself but the dongle. Bradley has informed me that when the green light is on the dongle it runs super slow not sure why but it does which leads me onto my next super saving. I went onto quidco to compare broadband prices and found a really good deal. Talk Talk is currently offering 6 months free internet and 3 months free anytime calls. The usual cost of this is 6.50 a month for the internet and 19.95 for the landline with anytime calls and 50 pounds instalation fee so a total of  367.40. I of course paid no where near this here is what I paid
6 months broadband free
6 months broadband 39 pound
3 months anytime talk boost free. After the 3 months I will cancel the anytime talk boost saving me 5 pounds a month.
12 months line rental 114 pounds I recieved a big discount by paying for my 12 months line rental upfront.
Instalation free
I also bought through quidco so will be getting 40 pounds cashback and will recieve a 50 pounds credit on my account as a new customer. So with all that taken into account and the fact that I am deaf so the landline phone will never be used it has cost me 60 pounds for 12 months internet with 3 months free anytime calls and then 9 months free evening and weekend calls which works out just 5 pounds a month thats half what I pay for my dongle. If you could see me now dear readers I am doing a little happy dance around the dinning room lol. The boys are chuffed to nuts that come next week they will be able to watch videos online without having to worry about going over our limit and they can play their games without it going at a snails pace. I of course am happy that I can get back to my blogging at a decent pace without the constant frustrations that dodgy laptops and snail slow dongles have been providing recently.

Anyway I am off to eat my 9p cheese and onion roll and 5p bag of grapes whilst having a play with my new (to me) bargain computer. I love being frugal :)

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Monday 17 June 2013

Saturday Happenings

Ok so I am attempting a post using my phone so this could get messy lol please excuse any spelling mistakes. The eldest 2 boys went to stay with their dad for the night last night so I decided to treat Brandon to a soft play session. We decided to go to the one in the next town as we have not been to this one for quite some time and Brandon loves going on the bus. Wow what a rip off £4.65 I could not believe my ears needless to say we wont be going there again in a hurry. Brandon had a fab time and bumped into one of his classmates who he had great fun playing with. We then had a little mooch around town I was on the look out for some second hand Mrs Browns Boys dvd's and hit the jackpot. I found one in cash generater for just £1.99 and they have a promotion on at the moment buy one dvd and get another one for free so I let Brandon pick the free one and he picked nanny mcphee. When we got home we cuddled up and watched nanny mcphee with a bag of approved foods popcorn and had a good old giggle. I have had enough of all this internet and laptop trouble. The mr was not able to fix any of the laptops so I am going to sell them all on ebay for parts and put the money towards a second hand pc I have seen in CG for £90. I am also going to look around for a good broadband deal as I am sick of not being able to watch videos on the internet and dongals keep breaking. Anyway I am off to bed as I am off to teach a friend tomorow how to budget and cut costs as she is having a hard time of it financially at the moment and has asked for my help.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Wednesday 12 June 2013

3 laptops and none working

We have 3 laptop's in my house and can I get one of them to work so I can write a post can I heck. Brads has had the blue screen of death come up, bens is going at a snails pace, and mine wont even switch on grrrrrr. I can't get a reception on my phone and it takes forever to do when I have got one. The Mr is working on the laptop's tonight as he is a bit of a whizz when it comes to computers and I have hijacked his phone to bring you this post lol. I have just informed the Mr that I will be using his phone to take pictures for the blog and write my posts until he either fixes one of them or until I can afford a new one (well new to me). His response was do I have a choice to which I replied no resistance is futile lol. On sunday we popped to morrisons at the end of the day and got some really good deals.  We got 3 salmon sandwiches for 9p each, 2 tuna baguettes for 9p each, 1 egg sandwich for 9p, 3 meat and potato pies for 28p, 4 corned beef slices 25p, 4 cheese and onion slices 25p, 4 Lincolnshire sausage rolls 25p, and a huge party sized fresh cream Victoria sponge 49p total cost was £2.25 bargain. Monday I was ill all day with my MD which was pretty horrible. With the weather changing constantly it is really playing havoc with my MD. Yesterday and today have been spent doing housework and ploughing through the mountain of washing that has accumulated.  We did pop into town today as I needed to get a couple of storage boxes to store the boys plus size clothing and I did manage to pick up a pair of gap jeans for Brad for 50p from the charity shop.

Anyway off to see how the Mr is getting on with these blooming laptops.
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Friday 7 June 2013

Debt Reduction Update

I went into the bank the other day to reduce my overdraft by £700 I can not tell you how good it felt paying off another big chunk of debt like that. My monthly interest will now be cut in half saving me £30 a month so that's another £30 a month over payment on one of my other debts. I sat down and did the sums and my starting debt totalled £10577. Since starting the snowball over payment method a few months ago I have got that figure down to £7120 so I have paid back £3457. I am so proud of myself and the journey I am on to become debt free. The temptation to spend is always there but I don't give into it anymore (well most of the time). I look forward to the day my debts are cleared and I have the boys savings accounts set up and my emergency fund set up and my money is my own. I have to be honest though I don't think I will ever go back to being a spendaholic regardless of how much money I have. This way of life has shown me there is so much more to life than money of course it will be comforting to know its there if I need it but I would rather invest it in my children's future. I am hoping that Ben will go to university an option that was never open to me because of the area I was bought up in and the fact we were pretty poor. I will be saving as much as I can to make this as financially painless as possible for him. He has such a gift when it comes to academics and I can really see him making something of his life when he is older and I want to do everything I can to help him achieve this. My other 2 sons Brad and Brandon are autistic so it is highly unlikely they will go to uni but I will not leave them out I will be setting up a little nest egg for them also. The aim is to save £2500 for each of my 3 boys to help them on their way to adult hood be it uni or setting up a home. Some people may not agree with me helping the boys financially but you have to understand 2 of my boys are autistic so work is going to be pretty thin on the ground for them. Although they will always be encouraged to earn a wage there is still a lot of prejudice out there when it comes to employing some one who is mentally impaired. I also have a rule I never give to one without the other so all 3 of my boys will be given a leg up to start with and the rest will be up to them.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

My Birthday

It was my birthday yesterday and I have to say I was spoilt rotten. The Mr got me a sewing machine which I have wanted for ages and a beautiful pink summer dress. My mum and 2 daddy's sent me money, my best friend got me a box of choccies, and another friend has a gift for me but has said she needs to do something to it first but that I am going to love it so I look forward to finding out what it is. The Mr took me to the cinema in the evening to see fast and furious 6 as I have a bit of a thing for Vin Diesel lol. I had a really lovely day and got so many cards and birthday wishes from friends all over the world which made me think about how blessed I am to have so many wonderful people in my life. The change in weather today has played havock with my MD and I am feeling really unwell today so I think today will be an easy day just doing what I can when I can. I will take a picture of my sewing machine to show you all at some point soon now I just have to learn how to use it lol.

 
Me and Lee just before we went out last night and my pretty dress Lee bought me.
 

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Wednesday 5 June 2013

A Very Late £1 A Day Challenge Final Costings And Thoughts And Feelings On The Challenge

Well again sorry this post is so very late I have been struggling quite badly the last week or so with my MD. Here are the final costings

Day 1 = 71p
Day 2 = £1.02
Day 3 = 79p
Day 4 = 76p
Day 5 = £1.31
Day 6 = £1.10
Day 7 = 49p
Toiletries including toilet roll = 87p
Cleaning products including washing liquid and washing up liquid = 27p

Total costs for the week = £7.32

Ok so I went over by 32p not to bad and it just goes to prove how little it is possible to live on. Ok not the most balanced of diets and not enough fruit and veg. But beggers cant be choosers and the purpose of my challenge was to see if I could survive on just £7 for the week for food, drink, transportation, and entertainment and I almost did going over my budget by just a few pennies. I enjoyed the challenge but would not relish the idea of living like this on a daily basis. A few times I saw something I really fancied but had to tell myself NO. It is possible to live like this with lots of end of day trips to the supermarket and value range products. Whilst I am frugal in my day to day life anyway I do like the occassional treat and found it hard to tell myself NO at times. I had to remind myself people across the UK are having to live like this on a daily basis and not just for a week as I was doing. As a result of this challenge I have decided to buy £2 a week of value products to donate to my local food bank. Its not much but it will help someone who is living below the bread line.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

A Very Late £1 A Day Challenge Days 6 And 7

I am sooooo sorry how late this post is but I have been really poorly with my MD and just have not got round to posting it untill today. So here goes

Day 6
FOOD
Shreddies 0p (Lee gets these free from work)
1/4 pint of milk 7p (yellow sticker)
An apple 11p (yellow sticker)
2 Slices bread 2p (yellow sticker)
Lemon curd 2p (value range)
1 Chocolate bar 30p (value range)
1 Mackral fillet 15p (yellow sticker)
1/2 Bag of small potatoes 25p (yellow sticker)
1/4 Bag of swede and carrots 3p (yellow sticker)
An apple 11p (yellow sticker)
4 Custard creams 4p (value range)

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORTATION
My legs 0p

ENTERTAINMENT
Reading 0p
Knitting 0p
TV 0p

Total costs for day 6 = £1.10


Day 7
FOOD
Shreddies 0p (Lee gets these free from work)
1/4 pint of milk 7p (yellow sticker)
2 Slices of bread 2p (yellow sticker)
Lemon curd 2p (value range)
3 Custard creams 3p (value range)
1 Mackeral fillet 15p (yellow sticker)
1 medium potatoe 15p (green grocers)
5 Custard creams 5p (value range)

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORTATION
My legs 0p

ENTERTAINMENT
Reading 0p
Playing games with the kids 0p
Films from the library 0p

Total costs for day 7 = 49p

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Friday 31 May 2013

£1 A Day Challenge Day 5

I popped down the supermarket last night just before closing to see if I could pick up any yellow sticker goodies as I was fast running out of food and managed to get the following items
4 Mini donuts 9p
1 Tuna and sweetcorn sandwich 25p
Some sliced roast beef 25p
A small bag of potatoes 25p
A bag of diced carrot and swede 9p
A organic white bloomer 9p

Anyway on to today's costings

Day 5
FOOD
Shreddies 0p (Lee gets them free from work)
1/4 pint of milk 7p (yellow sticker)
An apple 11p (yellow sticker)
Tuna and sweetcorn sandwich 25p (yellow sticker)
An apple 11p (yellow sticker)
A mini doughnut 3p (yellow sticker)
Sliced beef 25p (yellow sticker)
Half a small bag of potatoes 13p (yellow sticker)
1/4 Of a bag of diced carrot and swede 3p (yellow sticker)
1 Bar of chocolate 30p (value range)
A mini doughnut 3p (yellow sticker)

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORT
My legs 0p

ENTERTAINMENT
A walk 0p
T.V 0p
Games with the boys 0p

Total cost of day 5 £1.31

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Personal Hygiene On A Budget

As you all know I am living on £1 a day for a week this is to include food, drink, toiletries, cleaning products, transport, and entertainment. I have already shared my cleaning routine on a budget so thought today I would share my personal hygiene routine on a budget. If there is one thing I can not stand its people saying they can not afford to keep clean. After all you can buy a bar of soap for 11p. Every other day I have a 5 minute shower and then every other day I have a strip wash this is enough to keep me clean and tidy and smelling fresh as a daisy here are my routines.

Shower Day
I start by washing my face and hands with my 11p bar of soap which will last a good month.
Next I tone my face by placing it in a bowl of very cold water.
I then use a huge tub of coco butter (my mum bought me 2 for xmas and they last for months but you can pick them up in one of the pound shops for £1) to moisturise my face and hands.
I brush my teeth using my 9p toothbrush which lasts me a month and my value range toothpaste 25p a tube which lasts approx 2 weeks if not longer.
I then jump in the shower and using my value range shampoo (40p a liter and will last around 2 weeks) give my hair AND BODY a good wash.
Once dry I pop on some of my value roll on deodorant (lasts around 2 weeks) and bobs your uncle I am clean as a whistle and smelling fresh as a daisy.

Strip Wash Day
I start by washing my face and hands with my 11p bar of soap which will last a good month.
Next I tone my face by placing it in a bowl of very cold water.
I then use a huge tub of coco butter to moisturise my face and hands.
I brush my teeth using my 9p toothbrush which lasts me a month and my value range toothpaste 25p a tube which lasts approx 2 weeks if not longer.
I then run a bowl of nice warm water and use my bar of soap to give my body a good all over wash and rinse clean.
Once dry I pop on some of my value roll on deodorant and once again bobs your uncle I am clean as a whistle and smelling fresh as a daisy.

The total cost to keep myself clean like this for a week is approx 53p so it really does baffle me when people say they can not afford to keep clean. If you ask me its just an excuse for being lazy.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Thursday 30 May 2013

My Big Weekly Clean On Just 9p


Here is how I did my big weekly clean on just 9p. I will go through room by room. I used a third of a bottle of all purpose cleaner, a few rags cut up from an old towel, a shammy, and my mop and bucket and hoover.

Upstairs
BATHROOM = I started by opening the window nice and wide to give the room a good airing. I then washed down the toilet, bath, sink, shower, and tiles using a small bucket of diluted all purpose cleaner around 2 caps full with hot water and then dried it all down using one of my dry rags. I put a cap full of neat all purpose cleaner into the toilet bowl and gave a good scrub with the toilet brush and then flushed. I then hoovered the bathroom floor and used the same water to mop the floor. Bathroom done.

BEN AND BRANDON'S BEDROOM = I opened the window to give the room an airing and then tidied up. I then used a small bucket of all purpose cleaner 2 caps full and hot water to wash down everything I would normally use polish on the bed frame, window sill, t.v and unit, and games console (please remember to ring out your cloth thoroughly before doing this as electric and water are not a good combination) and then dried it all off with a dry cloth. I then stripped the bunk beds and put fresh bedding on. I then hoovered the room. Bedroom 1 done.

BRAD'S BEDROOM = I opened the window to give the room a good airing and then tidied up. I then used the same bucket of water to wash down the bed frame, window sill, t.v and unit, and games console and then dried it all off with my dry cloth. I then stripped the bed and put fresh bedding on. I then hoovered the room. Bedroom 2 done.

MY BEDROOM = I opened the window to give the room a good airing and then tidied up, I then used the same bucket of water to wash down the bed frame, window sill, t.v and unit, my craft draws, and picture frames and dried it all off with a dry cloth. I then stripped the bed and put fresh bedding on and hoovered. Bedroom 3 done.

HALL, STAIRS, AND LANDING = I opened the window again to give the area a good airing. I then used the same bucket of water to wash down the window sill, picture frames, and banister and dried with a dry cloth. I then hoovered the whole area. Area done.

Downstairs
FRONTROOM = I opened the windows to give the room a good airing and tidied up. I then used a fresh bucket of all purpose cleaner and hot water as the current bucket was pretty grubby. I washed down the window sills, t.v and unit, mirror, wall unit, fireplace, stereo and unit, picture frames, and leather sofa and dried with a dry cloth. I used my shammy on the mirror, picture frames and t.v screen to get rid of any smears. I then hoovered under the cushions of my sofas and underneath the sofas themselves and the frontroom carpet. Frontroom done.

DINNING ROOM = I opened the window to give the room a good airing and tidied up. I used the same water to wash down the dinning table and chairs, chest of draws, window sills, and picture frames and dried with a dry cloth. I used my shammy to get rid of any smearing on the table and picture frames. I then hoovered the room. Dinning room done.

KITCHEN = I opened the window to give the room a good airing and tidied up. I did the washing up dried it all and put it all away and washed down the sink area. Then using the same bucket of water from the other downstairs rooms I washed down and dried the fridge freezer, all the cupboard doors and worktops and shelves, tiles and windowsill, microwave, kettle, toaster, washing machine, cooker, chest freezer, and emptied and wiped over the kitchen bin. I then hoovered the floor and washed it using the same bucket of water. Kitchen done.

MONTHLY JOBS = I used a fresh small bucket of  all purpose and hot water to wash down and dry the following which I do monthly but usually with a range of different products skirting boards, light switches and plug sockets, walls doors and door handles, light shades, and windows and window frames. I used an old free newspaper to buff up the windows after washing them and a shammy to remove any smearing that was left. I finished my big clean by going round and closing all the windows.

I managed to do all this using only one product and the house is just as clean as when I have used several products so I think this will be a change we will be keeping in place. I used 9 cap fulls of all purpose cleaner in total so around a third of a bottle so 9p to clean the whole house top to bottom.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

£1 A Day Challenge Day 4

Well I am more than half way through the week now and it seems to be going ok. I am eating 3 meals a day and having the odd snack here and there and I don't feel hungry at all. This said it is very much a case of eating what you can get cheaply. I am certainly not getting enough fruit and veg as on my current budget I can only afford to buy this on yellow sticker reduction and there never seems to be much fruit and veg at the end of the day. Here are my costings for day 4.
Day4
FOOD
1 Slice of pitta bread 4p (value range)
Lemon curd 2p (value range)
1 apple 11p (yellow sticker)
1 egg 10p (friend with chickens)
1 slice of pitta bread 4p (value range)
4 Custard creams 4p (value range)
100g Dry spaghetti 4p (value range)
Maggi ham and bacon pasta sauce 25p (approved foods)
1 chocolate mini roll 7p (value range)
5 Custard creams 5p (value range)

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORT
My legs 0p

ENTERTAINMENT
TV 0p
A friend popped round 0p
Reading 0p

Total cost of day 4 = 76p

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Wednesday 29 May 2013

£1 A Day Challenge Days 2 And 3

Sorry for not posting last night I was so very tired after a hard day of housework and rambunctious children running riot. I have spent the best part of today in a dizzy haze thanks to the MD rearing its ugly head again so this will be a short post to keep you up to date with my daily costings.
Day 2
FOOD
Sausage and egg sandwich 25p (yellow sticker)
Prawn mayo sandwich 25p (yellow sticker)
Bag of apple slices 5p (yellow sticker)
2 muffins 14p (yellow sticker)
2 eggs 20p (friend with chickens)
ketchup 0p (collected on my travels)
1/4 chocolate cake 10p (yellow sticker)
3 custard creams 3p (value range)

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORT
None 0p

ENTERTAINMENT
Games with the kids 0p
Film in the evening with Lee 0p

Total cost of day 2 was £1.02



Day 3
FOOD
Shreddies 0p (Lee gets them free from work)
1/4 pint of milk 7p (yellow sticker)
An apple 11p (yellow sticker)
1 Muffin 7p (yellow sticker)
1 Egg 10p (friend with chickens)
4 custard creams 4p (value range)
100g dry spaghetti 4p (value range)
Maggi ham and cheese pasta sauce 25p (approved food)
An apple 11p (yellow sticker)

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORT
My legs 0p

ENTERTAINMENT
X-box with the family 0p
T.V 0p

Total cost of day 3 79p

Back tomorrow with my cleaning routine on just 13p and costings for day 4.
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Monday 27 May 2013

£1 A Day Challenge Day One

Wow this challenge is going to be harder than I thought it would. I woke up hungry and realised I had nothing in ready for my challenge. Thankfully my friend had given me some cheese dippers so I had one of these as my breakfast 0p (her dad works in a cheese factory and often gives her lots of free cheese which she will often share with me). We then headed off to the supermarket where I bought all the toiletries and cleaning products I listed yesterday as well as
a packet of 4 breakfast muffins 25p (yellow sticker)
6 eggs 60p (a friend who has chickens)
a chocolate sandwich cake 39p (yellow sticker)
a sachet of custard 15p (value range)
2 bars of chocolate 60p (value range)
2 pints of skimmed milk 50p (yellow sticker)
dry spaghetti 19p (value range)
a jar of lemon curd 22p (value range)
a pack of custard creams 30p (value range)

We headed home knowing we were going to have to go back again just before closing to see what end of day goodies we could pick up for next to nothing. Everyone is being very supportive of my choice to do this challenge although they also think I am a little bonkers lol. We stopped in at my friends art exhibition on the way home so Lee and the boys could view her exhibits. We also stopped at the park and let the boys have a play whilst Lee and I sat down and just talked and enjoyed each others company.

When we got home I made myself a toasted egg muffin 17p with ketchup 0p (I have a load of free sachets I have picked up on my travels). I also had 1/8 of the chocolate cake 5p. I was still hungry so I made a small bowl of frosted shreddies 0p (Lee gets boxes of the stuff free from work) the milk cost me 7p. I began to feel quite dizzy after lunch probably lack of sleep (its one of my big MD triggers) so I had a sleep and woke up a few hours later feeling better. At 6.15pm we headed off to the supermarket to see what I could pick up cheap and I managed to get the following
2 bags of apple slices 10p each (yellow sticker)
a large tub of creme freche 15p (yellow sticker)
a prawn and mayo sandwich 25p (yellow sticker)
1 large sausage roll 15p (yellow sticker)

When we got home I made myself a dinner of mashed potatoes and sausage roll 25p and another 1/8 of chocolate cake for pud 5p. Oh I forgot to mention the bag of apple slices I ate on the way home from the supermarket this evening 5p.

Here are my costs for today
FOOD
Cheese dipper 0p (given by a friend)
1 muffin 7p
1 egg 10p
ketchup 0p (free sachets I have saved up)
1/8 chocolate cake 5p
shreddies 0p (Lee gets them free from work)
1/4 pint milk 7p
bag of apple slices 5p
sausage roll 15p
half a bag of instant mash 10p
1/4 pint of milk 7p
1/8 chocolate cake 5p

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORTATION
My legs 0p

ENTERTAINMENT
Friends art exhibition 0p
The park 0p
2 Walks to and from the supermarket 0p

Total cost of today 71p

I will check the levels on my toiletries and cleaning products at the end of the week and then add those costs into my final calculations. Day one has gone well here's hoping the rest of the week is as successful.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx  

Sunday 26 May 2013

I Am Setting Myself A Challenge

I have been reading a lot about living on £1 a day for food and drink and the "Live below the line" challenge that takes place every year in April to highlight world poverty. I have been thinking about it for a few days now and have decided to set myself a challenge. Not only am I going to live on £1 a day for food and drink but I will also take it one step further and include toiletries, cleaning products, transport, and entertainment within that budget and instead of doing the usual 5 days I am going to attempt a full 7 day week. I will not be including the children in this experiment just myself. I shall wash my own clothes and dishes separately from the children. The only thing that will come from my budget that will benefit the children will be the house cleaning. I have come up with a list of toiletries and cleaning products I am going to need and these are as follows
11p will last at least 2 weeks and will be used for washing face and hands so 6p a week for soap


18p for 2 so 9p each and each toothbrush will last a month so 3p a week for my toothbrush 

25p and will last 2 weeks so 13p a week for toothpaste


40p and will last 2 weeks will be used for washing hair and body in the shower so 20p a week for shampoo


30p and will last 2 weeks so 15p a week for deodorant


67p and will last 2 weeks so 34p a week for toilet roll


£1 for 28 loads I will wash my clothes and bedding twice a week so 2 loads a week 7p


25p and will last 2 weeks will be used for all cleaning, polishing, toilet cleaning, floor cleaning etc so 13p a week for cleaning


33p and will last 3 weeks + so 11p a week


   For cleaning cloths I will use an old towel cut up in to rags you could get one for free by asking family friends or freecycle if they have any old towels they no longer need. So my total spend on toiletries and cleaning products for the week will be £1.21 leaving me £5.79 for food and drink for the week or 82p a day.

Transport will be in the form of the free tesco bus, my legs, and my trusty bicycle.

Entertainment will be the free internet at the library, books and dvd's from the library, the local park, walks, a bit of television, playing games with the children, any free local events, and visiting with friends. (I will only use the home dongle to write my blog post each day I want as authentic an experience as possible)

Drinks will be in the form of chilled water only (argh how will I cope without my odd glass of generic cola)

Food will be mostly end of day yellow sticker reductions (I can see lots of trips to the local supermarket coming up)

I will start my challenge tomorrow and will blog my daily progress for you all to see. Am I mad taking on this challenge ? well I am sure family and friends would say yes but I want to prove that although it may be difficult it is more than doable and yes you can be happy and live for less maybe not to the extremes I am about to but everyone can cut back and still be happy.

Wish me luck as I may just need it   :)

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx