Goodnight Peeps

Just a quick one tonight I'm afraid as I am shattered. I'm not sure why as I have done nothing all day lol.I've watched lots of movies with the boys and done some knitting but that's about it. I thought I would share some of our Saturday night selfies instead tonight.

Don't forget to be in with a chance of winning this pretty homemade necklace pop on to yesterdays post Celebration Giveaway and leave a comment with your name so I know who you are and the winner will be announced on Tuesdays post.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Celebration Giveaway

Hello readers today I hit a milestone with my blog I had 115 views in 24 hours that is the most I have ever had. Sometime ago I decided I would write this blog for myself and my family as a way of looking back on how we lived our life over the years a journal if you will. If others took an interest in it that was great if not then at least as a family we would have something to look back on in later years. This sudden interest in my little blog has completely taken me by surprise and if im honest a little proud of myself. Im so glad that people are interested in what I have to say and if I can help one person save a few pounds and re-evaluate their spending habits I am very pleased.

To say thank you to you all for stopping by my blog I am going to giveaway one of my handmade necklace designs that I usually sell.

To be in with a chance of winning this pretty necklace simply become a follower if you have not already done so and leave me a comment (on this post) with your favourite frugal tip. This giveaway will run until 8pm on Monday 30th of June when someone will be picked at random. I will announce the winner on Tuesdays blog post. You can enter from anywhere in the world and I will also be covering the postage all I ask is that if you are from outside the UK and you win that you bear in mind it could take a few weeks to get to you.

So there you have it my first ever giveaway thank you and good luck

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

NOTE as some of my readers are unable to follow on blogger I have decided to change the rules slightly. You do NOT have to be a follower to enter the giveaway simply leave a comment including your name so I know who you are and you will be entered. Of course if you can become a follower then please do so it's always nice to know who drops by.

Expanding My Skills

Hello readers I have been wanting to learn some new skills and improve on some of my already acquired one's for some time. Whilst in town on Tuesday I popped into the craft shop that specializes in papercraft and bead work. I was thrilled to see they have started running some workshops. I had a good chat with the lovely lady in the shop and learned that they run a papercraft workshop every Wednesday from 10.30am-12.30pm for just £3·50 an hour. This is perfect for me as it fits in with the children's school hours (it's difficult to get affordable childcare when 2 of your 3 children are autistic). I can see myself making this a regular activity. Although it's something I enjoy and have  dabbled in there is so much more to this that I can learn. It will also come in handy for when I get married as I will be able to do things such as invitations, place cards, seating plans, menus etc myself and as it is a frugal affair making things myself will save me money which can only be a good thing.

The bead workshop is run around you. You let the lady know what day you would like and she works the hours to fit in with you. Again this works out fab for me and whilst I already do a little bead work I generally work with larger beads. She showed me some of her work and readers I was in awe of what I saw. The most beautiful intricate bead work. Next time I go I will take some pictures to show you exactly what I mean. The cost of this workshop varies depending on the materials used but I was told it usually works out between £15-£20 for the day. I am so looking forward to attending these workshops and expanding my skill set :)

My neighbours daughter E is due to have a baby in 17 weeks time and was looking to borrow a sewing machine for a few days so that she could make him a few bits and pieces. I had no idea E knew how to sew but it turns out she has just finished a 2 year college course in textiles. I have had my new sewing machine Sat on the dinning table for a year and a half now and it's never been used. I looked around for someone to give me sewing lessons but could never find anything affordable or some one who could teach me in my own home. E has very kindly offered to teach me to sew in return for borrowing my sewing machine for a week. Readers I can not begin to tell you how excited I am. I have wanted to learn for years now and now not only am I going to learn but it's going be free and in the comfort of my own home. Good things come to those who wait :)


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Bargains Galore

Hello readers sorry I've not been about the last few days Lee has been off of work so we have had a nice few days together. If you are a regular reader of mine you will know I am a huge fan of yellow sticker shopping. On Monday we popped to Morrison's in the evening and just at the right time they were doing their final reductions. I got £56.30 of food for just £6.09 and I am so pleased with my buys.

This is what I got and a price breakdown

6x snack bags of fruit supposed to be 50p each I paid 9p each
4 activia caramel yogurts supposed to be £2.39 I paid 19p
A pack of pork and stuffing slices supposed to be £1 I paid 9p
A pack of 6 sausage rolls supposed to be £1.75 I paid 15p
A pack of 6 cheese and onion rolls supposed to be £1.75 I paid 15p
6x 2 creme caramel desserts supposed to be £1.49 a pack I paid 9p a pack
3x 25 fresh meatballs supposed to be £4 a pack I paid 99p a pack
6 pork shoulder steaks supposed to be £4 I paid 99p
0.745kg of best beef braising steak supposed to be £6.89 I paid £1.33
4 cheese and bacon grill steaks supposed to be £1.99 I paid 35p
450g of beef steak mince supposed to be £4 I paid 25p
4 chicken breast fillets supposed to be £5 I paid 99p
3x boxes of breaded chicken pops supposed to be £2.19 a pack I paid 55p a pack

On top of the yellow sticker price I received a further £3.93 off of my total due to promotions that were on some of my items at full price. I was surprised but very pleased to see that the promotional savings came off my bill even though the goods were already heavily reduced :)

And here is the evidence (sorry it's upside down lol)

We went again last night and I got some more yellow sticker goodies. I don't have the original prices or a picture I'm afraid but I thought I would share what I got and what I paid with you.

2 baguettes 5p each
2 cinnamon swirls 9p
2 pecan plaits 9p
5x 5 giant ginger cookies 9p a bag
4x cheese and tomato flatbreads 9p each
2 cooked chicken quarters 45p
7 cooked chicken drumsticks 44p
A box of cooked stuffing 15p
2 boxes of cooked roast potatoes 30p
3 boxes of homemade skin on crisps 9p a box

So for tea we had roast chicken, stuffing, roast potatoes, veg and gravy. Total cost £1.69 (25p for a third of a bag of value frozen veg, and 10p for half a pack of value gravy granules) so worked out at approximately 34p each.


Today we popped into town and had a look in the charity shops where I picked up a few bargains. Here's what I got
A pair of shorts for Ben 50p
A t-shirt for Ben 50p
2 pairs of shorts for Brandon 50p each
2 pairs of jeans for Brandon 50p each
A pair of jeans for Brad £1
A lovely glittery wine glass with fabulous 40 written on it (it is brand new and in a box) for a friend's upcoming 40th birthday £2
A reversible dress (so 2 dresses in one) £3.99
A pair of lovely gold dolly shoes (to go with my dress) £3

How lovely are they and just £3

So as you can see I've managed to bag myself some really good bargains over the last few days and all things that were needed not wanted well except for the shoes but I won't tell if you don't lol.


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Another Busy Day

Well I have had another busy day here today. As well as my usual daily routine I have managed to dismantle the trampoline as the jumping bed and enclosure had completely ripped. I have kept the frame and springs and have looked for a new jumping bed to replace the old one and make the trampoline fully functional again. It is a 10ft trampoline and would cost around £150 to replace but with a bit of DIY and some internet searching it is going to cost me £25 to get it up and running again.
Everyone seems to be having BBQ's in this weather and we don't want to miss out. I have a very nice gas BBQ that I bought a few years ago. It has been left out in the elements since last summer and was absolutely filthy dirty and I was not sure it would even still work. I toyed with the idea of throwing it away and getting a new one but decided I would have a go at cleaning it up and seeing if it still worked. Well im glad I did 3 hours of my time, half a bottle of bleach 15p, and a pack of soap pads 15p and my BBQ is clean and working again. 30p in cleaning materials against £100 for a new BBQ is quite a saving and just goes to show that with a bit of hard work and the right materials things can often be saved and their life extended.
Im just waiting for the boys to get home so we can begin our Sunday evening ritual of dinner, baths, homework, school bags packed, and uniform laid out ready for the morning. I have an appointment in Bath tomorrow with my ENT so its going to be a long day for me so an early night tonight for me I think.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Sports Day And A Weekend Child Free

Hello readers wow yesterday was hot. I am burnt to a crisp and rather sore. It was Brandon's sports day yesterday. I was told it started at 9.30am so decided it was not worth coming home and then going back again so decided I would wait on the field for half an hour. I took the kindle with me so that I could read some more of my book while I waited. Well im glad I did as they told me the wrong time it was 10am that it started so I was sat waiting for an hour. The sports day itself lasted an hour and a half so I was sat out in the sun for two and a half hours. Ouch is the only word to describe how I felt last night lol. Brandon did well he got a 3rd for the flat race and a 3rd for the obstacle race. He came 1st in the egg and spoon race but was disqualified as he held the egg on the spoon the whole time. He was not a happy chap about this lol. As it was held on the junior school field the juniors that had siblings racing were allowed to come and watch so Ben met me there at 10am. I took some squash and cake and in spite of getting burnt we had a lovely morning cheering Brandon and the other children on.

This weekend the eldest two boys are at their dads and Brandon is at respite which means I have an entire weekend child free. This almost never happens and I intend to take full advantage of it. This morning I went for a lovely walk into town to pick up a few bits. I popped into my favourite charity shop (local air ambulance) as they were having a sale. I managed to get Brandon 2 lovely pairs of shorts for 50p each. He desperately needs shorts with this hot weather and he only has a few pairs from last year that still fit him. I also picked up a few of my favourite children's films on VHS. I got monsters inc, The jungle book, and finding Nemo for 10p each. I have been thinking of getting a workout DVD to do at home for a while now. That way if I have a dizzy while working out I can just take myself straight off to bed and take my medication. Also I am unable to use a gym as their insurance will not cover me due to my medical condition. I decided to wait till I saw one in a charity shop for a few pounds rather than paying anything from £10-£20 for a new one. I was delighted to see one today in the sale for just 20p and its a dancey one to which is what I was hoping for. I popped into Morrison's before heading home and picked myself up a few treats for my child free weekend. I got a bottle of cola 45p, a bag of toffees 20p, and a bar of dark chocolate 30p. I know I know last of the big spenders lol but a treat does not have to cost the earth and its nice to treat ourselves once in a while. Well that's my excuse and im sticking to it lol.

When I got home I set about my housework. I tidied up, hovered, saw to the animals, got all the washing done dried and put away, washed up, made a personalised bracelet for my friends birthday present next week, and weeded and turned the soil for my new flower bed. Its amazing what you can get done with no children in the house lol. In a minute im going to set about dismantling the broken parts of the trampoline and see if I can get a good deal on the replacement part I need I will let you know how I get on with that.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Dinners On Brad

Hello readers what a lovely day it has been again. I have had a wonderful day almost completely symptom free from my various illnesses it has been lovely. I've had minimal liver pain, no dizziness, no nausea, no exhaustion, no tremors, and no stomach pain. Days like today are very rare for me so I have thoroughly enjoyed my day symptom free. I gave the animals a good clean out and disinfected, I got some washing done and on the line, had a good tidy up, I even managed a spot of reading on my swing in the sunshine before the munchkins got home. I had a lovely surprise when Brad got home. Today was cooking day at school and he had made a yummy meaty pasta salad and some lovely cinnamon buns saving me having to do tea. He bought home 2 large tubs of the pasta which was more than enough for the four of us and four cinnamon buns enough for one each for pudding. I love free food I also love not having to cook on a warm summer's night but instead just dish it up and enjoy eating my tasty treat in the garden. Thank you son it was delicious and perfect for this weather.

I added a sprinkling of cheese that mum had left here after her last visit so this meal served the four of us and was completely free.

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx 

Wedding Preparations

Hello readers did you know the average wedding costs £18000 OMG. Incase you didn't know I am engaged to be married to my beloved Mr c. We are hoping to get the 21st April 2016. We have toyed with the idea of a semi flash wedding costing around £6000-£7000 but that just did not sit well with me plus in order to save that amount of money we would have to postpone the wedding for a year again not something we want to do. The intention is to clear all debts by April next year, for Lee to move in, live together for a year and then tie the knot. We have discussed it and have decided to go for a fancy but frugal affair not only that but I am going to start setting aside some money each month to start buying items when I see a good deal.

Today I saw the perfect wedding dress its nothing fancy just an off the peg dress from Tesco but I thought it was simple and elegant and would make a fab wedding dress. I also saw a lovely cashmere looking bolero style shrug/cardigan to match total cost for both items £33. I have looked on eBay and found a stunning tiara/head piece for just £2. I will be keeping my eyes open for a nice pair of white shoes to complement the outfit and will allow a total of £15 for my shoes a simple white court shoe with kitten heel should be perfect and not too expensive. To complete my wedding ensemble I will be wearing a mix of my white gold jewellery the Mr has bought me over the last 2years and some simple cheap dress jewellery that I already own. So in total my entire wedding outfit will cost me £50 compared to the average spend of £1098 quite a saving. I will get these items this month and store them away safely. There won't be any pictures I'm afraid as I can't risk the Mr seeing any of it.

The other item I priced up was a 2 tier wedding cake. If I went to a bakers the cost of a wedding cake would be anywhere from £300+ . Instead I will be buying 2 fruit cakes pre iced and decorating them myself which comes to a total of £28 and will serve 60 guests. I have hundreds of pink and white striped cake bags from when I was selling fashion jewellery a few years ago. I will be borrowing a 2 tier cake stand for the day free of charge.

So there you go in this post alone I have saved a total of £1320+ and will have my entire wedding ensemble including dress, shoes, head piece, and jewellery plus a 2 tier fruit wedding cake for the grand sum of £78. Obviously I won't be making the cake till the week of the wedding but I wanted to price up how much it would cost.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Tuesday Happenings

Hello readers hope all's well in blogland. Today has been a nice quiet day for me I managed to get 2 lots of washing on the line dried and put away (don't you just love the smell of washing dried naturally in the sun). I had a good tidy up and fed and cleaned out the animals. I was all done by 12.30pm so decided to put some items on the local selling pages I have been meaning to get rid of. By 3pm I had sold 2 rugs and a pair of curtains and my purse was £11 heavier (I will use this for my yellow sticker reductions this week). This evening we had pepperoni pizza and garlic bread for tea and it cost the grand sum of 59p and served 4 of us so 15p each beat that pizza hut and dominos.

15p per person and was a yummy treat

For pudding we had a slice of homemade banana and walnut loaf that I made at the weekend with homemade ice cream sorry no pic but we ate it before I could take one.

Tomorrow I will be getting the free bus to Tesco to pick up a few items ( all Tesco value of course). Then when I get home a spot of housework and if I have time before the munchkins get back possibly a spot of reading. I have 2 books on the go at the moment A 50`s childhood and the second book in the 50 shades trilogy both of which I have almost finished.

The liver is playing up again and I'm in quite a bit of pain so it's painkillers and an early night for me I'm afraid.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

How Do You Live So Cheaply ?

I was recently asked this question by a friend of mine and the answer was a long one that I thought would make a good post so here goes.

I think it started out of necessity my husband had left me I was on my own with a six year old autistic son and a new-born baby and was unable to work so had to go on benefits. It was hard going from a situation where we could have pretty much anything we wanted to literally counting pennies out to buy a loaf of bread. I drew on my experience as a child I was the eldest of six children to a single mother. We were poor and I mean poor we didn't have much but everything we did have was second hand. Mum would make cheap meals often using liver and other forms of offal as these were the cheapest forms of getting meat. She would make us cakes and sweets as treats saving trips to the shop for pricey chocolate bars it soon adds up when there are six of you. I watched and I learned and it never did me any harm and I never felt I went without.
How ironic that the woman who I picked up a lot of my frugal tips from is now one of the biggest shopaholics and food snobs I have ever known. I have asked mum about this and reminded her of how we used to live compared to the way she is now and her response is that back then she did not have a choice she had to make do with what she had but now she works full time and has a husband who works full time she can afford to buy what she likes when she likes. I can kind of see her logic however I think even if I was in a position to live the "what I want when I want it" lifestyle I would still choose frugalism a hundred times over.

So how do I live so cheaply ?
Well there are many factors to how I keep our living costs down. I will go through them individually and try and advise as best I can.

Energy
My house is all electric and is on a pay as you go meter. I realise a pay as you go meter is not the cheapest way to go but I prefer it as I can see exactly how much I am using and I am never faced with a huge electric bill at the end of each quarter. As soon as the boys go to school I go around the house and make sure all plug sockets are turned off aside from the fridge freezer of course. I do the same again once they have gone to bed at night. I do not watch TV during the day which also saves us a few pennies. I don't use the tumble dryer unless it is an absolute emergency instead I put my washing out on the line if the weather is nice or on the airing racks indoors if it is raining. I also wait until I have a full load before putting a wash on and put it on the timer so it washes during the night when the electric is on economy seven and much cheaper. We have quick showers using an electric shower so no need for hot water from the water tank. As a result I turn the water heater on only every other day and this heats up over night on economy seven and lasts us for two days before needing to reheat it. When using the oven I turn it off 5 minutes before cooking time has ended as the residual heat continues the cooking process saving me 5 minutes of electric. I also use my crockpot for a lot of meals as this uses less electric than the oven. We only charge electrical items for as long as is needed once they are fully charged we switch the charger off we also wait till the battery is completely dead before charging things up. I let my hair dry naturally instead of using a hair dryer. Heating during the winter months is kept to a minimum instead we wear extra clothes during the day as well as fluffy bed socks and slippers. At night we all wear fleecy pyjamas, bed socks and nightgowns as well as having an electric blanket on each of our beds and an extra duvet each. Very very occasionally I will put the electric fire on in the front room if it is extremely cold and we never ever use the electric storage heaters that are in the house. On average during the warmer months (spring, summer, autumn) we use between 10 and 15 pounds of electric. During the colder months (winter) between 25 and 30 pounds. I put 20 pounds a week of electric on regardless of how much we use so that the extra cost at winter is covered by my weekly over payments during the warmer months.

Phone, Broadband, and TV
I have a simple pay as you go mobile phone which I put 10 pounds a month on and get 100 free minutes of calls, 400 text messages, and 1GB of internet. I looked around for a good deal on my landline and broadband and managed to get 6 months free broadband and then 6 months at £6.50 a month. I paid for a years line rental up front at a discounted rate instead of paying £14.95 a month I paid just £9.95 a month. We also get free calls to landline numbers after 7pm and all weekend. I also got £40 cash back through quidco. I have a Freeview box which I was given for free and my dad installed it all for me free so I have no monthly bills for my TV package.

Entertainment
We occasionally go to the cinema as a family treat. Odeon cinema offer a special card for people with disabilities which get one person as a carer in for free both Brandon and Brad have these due to their autism. On a Saturday and Sunday they have the kids club where they will screen one of the kids new releases for just £2.50 a person. By going to the kids club and using our cards myself, lee, and the 3 boys get in for £7.50 and I take snacks and drinks from home.
We have a lovely park in the next town which has a boating lake, tennis courts, putting green, nature trail, skateboard park, outdoor paddling pool, and a large adventure playground. we take our bathers and towels, bread for the ducks, and a picnic making this a lovely day out free of charge.
The national trust occasionally have free entrance days. Take a picnic with you and again its a free day out.
The local library often have crafting or musical sessions free of charge. Not to mention free books and free dvds to borrow.
Have friends over on a nice sunny day and have a bbq (see how I save money on food in the next section), buckets of water for a water fight, and ask friends to bring a bottle if they wish to have a drink (we are tee total in this house).
We are lucky enough to have several local music festivals held throughout the year free of charge. Again take a picnic and its a nice free day out.

Food
During the week the children have a hot cooked meal at school so on these days we tend to have something simple and cheap like a toasty or something on toast or a simple sandwich. On the days the boys are not at school we have a hot cooked meal but it is done on a budget often using a lot of yellow sticker reductions. The boys have a choice of jam or peanut butter on toast or cornflakes for breakfast, a simple sandwich and fruit yogurt for lunch, and a budget hot cooked meal in the evening. For treats I buy reduced price fruit and cakes, value biscuits, value crisps, and value yogurts as well as baking cakes and biscuits at home. I make my own ice-cream using an ice-cream mix I bought from approved foods which will last us years and I make ice lollies using value lemonade and cola (15p a bottle and will make at least 25 lollies). I go yellow sticker shopping about 3 times a week and cater our evening meals around the items I am able to get. I never pay more than 9p for a loaf of bread and nine times out of ten its hovis. Just recently I have been getting lots of bread finger rolls for 5p a pack of six (ideal for hotdogs), and cheese flavoured muffins 5p for a pack of 4, I also managed to get 10 boxes of Mr Kipling's almond slice cakes for 9p a box. I always buy yellow sticker or value goods as the quality in my opinion is just as good as the brand name items. I spend no more than £50 a week on my shopping and that is for 5 of us 2 adults, 1 teenager, and 2 small people. It covers our food, drink, toiletries, cleaning materials, food and litter for the cat, and food and hay for the rabbit. It also includes pull ups and wipes for Brandon (his autism causes him toileting issues).

Clothes
I am fortunate enough that I have a friend who has two boys both one year older than my two boys every so often she has a good clear out of clothes and shoes and sells them on to me. The same friends mum has a foster son who is a year older than my eldest son and she does the same thing. I also buy from charity shops and sometimes get some real bargains. Just recently my local air ambulance shop was having a sale on children's clothing any two items for a pound and the same for women's clothing. I was able to get a lovely pair of jeans and a top for myself for £1. I also got a really nice coat and a Nike hoody that looked new to me for Ben for £1. When I have no choice but to buy new I look around to get the best possible price on an item. A lot of the supermarkets now do a value range in clothing and often have discount events.

Transportation
As Brad and Brandon are autistic they get a free bus pass plus a free pass for a carer so when we use the bus we only have to pay for Ben which saves a lot of money. We also have a family and friends rail card which gets us 1/3 off of adult fares and 60% off of children's fares. Usually in July there is an offer for a free 2 month railcard and at the end of the 2 months if you take out a years railcard they will give you £10 off costing you £20 instead of £30. I have done this the last two years and it has saved us a small fortune. We walk everywhere that is local and only use transport if we are going to one of the neighbouring towns or further afield.

I hope that some of this information helps someone somewhere to save some money. Anyway off to do a spot of yellow sticker shopping :)

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx