Curb spending at Car Boot Sales!

I tallied up my spending at car boot boot sales lately & was quite shocked!. One week I spent £17.00 & last week I went to 3 different boot sales & in total spent £53.99!!. Its so hard though I do enjoy going to car boot sales.  Take for instance I bought my son some Addidas Gazelle trainers for £3.00. To say he was over the moon was an understatement.  To buy these they would have been anything from £45. - £55 . Which is probably why he was over the moon as I would not of bought them at the new price!.  Normally my son wears Vans for school.  Personally I do not buy in to names & makes. I am happy to pay for good quality .
Equally I understand my son wants to be like his friends & have things that he is happy to wear.  Also it is better value to me that he likes the things he wears.  One day when he gets to an age where he can earn his own pennies, thats his choice to what he wants to buy.  
He is happy to wear t- shirts, shorts regardless where they are from. I hope I have instilled frugal ways in him!. I know he loves a good car boot sale & has a look in charity shops to.   He knows money stretches further.

Equally though I need to watch how much I spend just because it is cheaper,at a car boot.  I have to ask myself "Do I really need it?".  So I really need to work on this area drastically.  Buying thrifted bits and bobs does save me money. But I guess if i was to carry on spending like that it  would not save money. Have you got any good ideas to make me stop spending at car boot sales?!

De-Cluttering

Today sees me doing a bit of decluttering & tidying. I have opened a decluttering tab! On my decluttering tab I am listing all the things that are on route to the charity shop. I did that big car boot sale which was good. I have saved some things for ebay. Some things are still good but not quite good enough for ebay.  I do find car boot sales a lot lot cheaper than charity shops. Some charity shops are on par with new shops & sometimes some of those Primarni (primark)tops are more expensive than they are in primark. I tend to drop my clothing of at the Red Cross shop as all there clothing is always £1.99 an item. I like the fact I am donating to a good cause.As well as the fact a lot of people will not be priced out of buying an item at a reasonable price. I know of other charity shops that mark there goods more reasonable too, and those are the ones that get my goods.  I think that goods should be priced reasonable. I have been shocked at the cost of certain items.
Round where I live about 3 - 4 charity door knockers a week. I have popped up a yellow sticker saying the residents of this property do not want cold callers. Does it stop them no.I must sound like a grinch. These door charity people knock at tea times , 8 or 9 in the evening. They are hoping you sign for a direct debit monthly. I am happy to donate,sponser friends, pop money in charity boxes but I find it a real invasion knocking on my front door. Also we have a lot of elderly in our street & I think sometimes the charity knockers do not let them draw breath to say "No thank you" . I would not want my mum opening her front door in the evening.  GGrrrr rant over!
On with my decluttering   

When buying an older car is a mistake.....

As you know hubby bought a car. Well that car has gone now. It turned out to be a bit of a lemon. In total it was in & out the garage 8 times in total.  We have lost money on it.
Anyway Mr No Spend was really cheesed of. So much so that he was talking about getting a new car(not a new new as in brand new).  I was relunctant as I knew what was coming next. We have had to get a loan over 4 years of £5000 (monthly pay back £150.00). This car has done 19,000 miles. As we did not want to borrow any more than £5,000 pounds. We used some of the savings as well as the car traded in. We lost about £1200 pounds on the car & more.  In this case it did not pay us trying to be frugal. Its nice having a car that is newer. But also we have that side that doesnt like to spend money, especially in the form of a loan. Also we do not like things that take us out of our comfort Zone.  This is one instance that I did think ooh it would be nice to win the lottery. To be able to buy one outright. 

Weight Loss   
Mr No Spend has lost something like 1 stone 7 lb
Master No Spend has lost 1 stone( he does not need to lose anymore as he is very trim now, I am amazed with his determination)
Mrs No Spend(moi!) I have lost 9lbs in total( I find it harder but literally I have done it by smaller portions, eating a lot lot less bread & no treats. I fix my sweet tooth with a yoghurt with a wee sprinkle of granola on top.
Mr No Spend has given up smoking & alchol completely. Over 6 weeks ago. It was part of his new fitness regime. Much needed to I might add.  I am very happy he is looking after himself better. I always do my best to look after him! but ultimaetely he has to want to, which he does. 

Finances
We are concentrating on getting the food bill down. Also now hubby is on board we are keeping a joint spending diary. I am popping things on ebay. Emergency fund is down to £1000.00. I need to raise the funds for Ds school holiday to Germany.I have had lots of ironing work!. This has been hard as have had a bad back have had  to lots of  ibroprofen & heat packs.
First goal is to raise the funds for German school trip for DS & then to get that Emergency fund up again. As well as factoring in some fun !    
        

Car booty

On sunday I went to a car boot sale. I picked up this lovely little lamp. I took a picture of it in the daylight & one in the evening. The light shines through the roses. You touch it and it switches on & off. I paid £5.00 for it was never used.

I popped my other car boot buys on top to show you!. The little dog toy was 50p it reminded me of cath kidstons stanley!.  I bought my sister a suduko book for christmas for 50p it has a velvet flock cover. The rose bracelets were 50p for 3.  The heart drink coasters were 99p.  I bought hubby some Hackett aftershave for 99p. A Homedics massager for £4.00. I bought 2 small flower fairy tins 50 p each which contain a puzzle. I bought these for my elderly neighbour who is in her eighties but loves puzzles,her birthday is soon. They make a lovely little gift. Three rubber stamps christmas ones for £1.00.  A lovely giant Somerset company soap in a tin for £1,00. Cucumber face masque for 25p!.  I bought hubby 2 pairs of shoes £1.50 a pair. He has worn them to work today like new.

A skirt for moi for £2.00. A top for Ds £1.00. A mens M&S lightweight jacket for hubby for £2.00.  Money goes a lot further at a car boot sale. I have a gift basket filled with small gifts that have been bought at car boot sales. 

As I have bought a few things at the boot sale. Ihave decluttered

1. 4 books
2. A box of pencils
3. Thrown a broken tape measure out.

More decluttering coming!

Car Boot sale

Today I did a car boot sale with hubby. A few days ago I started doing some sorting out.  In total we made £163.00. We went with a car full & came back with an Ikea bag full & a box full. I took some drinks with us, bananas & a few oranges as snacks. A regular car boot sale I go to charge £2.50 for a cup of tea!, there was no way I would pay that for one out of a plastic cup especially. On the way home we stopped at the orange shop & bought some rolls & sandwich fillers to take home as we were very hungry indeed. It was very warm but breezy.I took my huge sun hat to shield myself from the rays especially being in the same spot for hours. Todays takings will going to the emergency fund as this money will go towards my sons schools holiday to Germany which willcost just under £300.00. We have said no to a few of the school holidays but this one he is really keen to go on.
Emergency fund took a dent for the head gasket as we had to pay £300.00 towards it.
I find that doing a car boot sale is great for decluttering. I love going to car boot sales but I am getting to the stage where I do not want to buy things for the sake of it if they are not needed. I love the green aspect of car boots buying secondhand & at a fraction of the cost.  I enjoy visiting car boots to perhaps I have a car boot addiction.
Weight loss has stayed the same nothing gained & nothing lost! 
Watching the olympics at the moment & in awe of all these aamazing athletes from allround the world
x x  

Organizing...

One of the areas in my life that I really need to get better at is organization.  Aspects of my dis-organization pop up everyday!. I strive to get better at this area.  Things I want to implement in to my routine this week!

• How many times do I list this one & it goes out the window!.  Keep my spending diary from this point on.
• Keep a to do list notebook!
• Menu plan will start this the next time we foodshop. Since we have been eating uber healthy our food budget has been over £100.00 a week & more. We want to at least half this.   
• Start using up top drawer smellies!
• List a few items on ebay (done)

Life is a rollercoaster!

I Cannot believe how much time has lapsed since my last blogpost. Life has gone up & down. DD is not home.  I think she will be staying put for the time being.  
I have been doing ironing from home & things have really picked up which is good. So much so that I am doing everything properly and I am going to grow it as a little business & do everything correctly!. 
We have managed to grow the emergency fund to £1720.00!.  The car that we bought needs a new head gasket!. Luckily the garage will cover the majority of the cost as we have had it less than 2 months but we still need to pay at least £300.00.
I did acheive some weight loss I lost 7lbs. This was done with smaller portions & cutting out the cakes, biscuits & stodge   
Still I will add more to this post soon !. But hello everyone if anyone is left!
xx  

Well Nearly June!

I cannot beleive we are at the half way through the year mark already. Its a good time to review goals.
Our savings fund has gone down to £300.  Mr No Spend & I made a decision  to change our car.
We have a little Renault Clio which we have had since the children were very young about 11 years. Only one of the seats would work when you needed to pull it forward to let someone sit in the back. It needed brake pads doing & 4 new tyres.  Mr No Spend was offered £1250. for the Clio so we had to come up with £600.00 as the car we bought was £1850.  It is still a 2 door & it is a VW & most importantly it has more room in the back.  It is just a runaround & a car. I am glad Mr No Spend is good about cars as I do know some people whos cars would pay of our mortgage!  We had to pay extra to insure it for the year an extra £50.00 & the tax is a little extra. It was nice to be able to use the cash for the difference a bit like when we used cash for the bed.  Mr No Spend did want a different car & had been saying for the past year when I get a different car I might need to get a loan(I am secretly glad no loan!).

Junes Goals

• Emergency fund is at £300.00 again. My goal is going to be to make it to £500. by the end of June
• All Ironing money to go in to emergency fund
• Ebay earnings to be left in paypal to build up for a bit.
• My weight is at 11st & 9.5 lbs. I have stayed the same & to be honest I have not been trying so I will make it my goal to get to 11st 3lb. This means 7lbs in a month. I am hoping this salad eating weather I can use to my advantage!  
• To be more organized!. I always strive to do this & struggle
• As June is a new month & a half year marker to keep better track of finances

Hope you are all ok . I feel like the snail in blogland as I am slow getting round! x x

Car boot bargains & rather long post!

One of my favourite past times on a sunday is going to a carboot sale. I bought this top which was from Monsoon with a label still on which says £25.00 for a fantastic £2.00. I love the shade & my size 14

This top was from Next with a tag still on stating £25.00 bought for a fantastic £2.00 It really is very pretty with a lacy front

This cardigan is a M&S one with merino wool. Label on says £25.00 bought for £2.00 . I love the buttons on the sleeves

I also bought a most gorgeous dress which happened to be a Boden one! for £3,00 it a beautifull shade of lilac/purple. I have never bought anything new from Boden. This morning I managed to get a pair of Brand new never worn Cath Kidston shorts for bedtime for 50p!!.  I am always really pleased that i can get all my clothing at car boot sales.  I did buy a skirt the other week brand new from town which i fell in love with it was pleated with  bluebirds on.  If you have not been to a car boot sale I say go for it.  I love finding things from shops that I could not justify the prices of !but at a

Car boot sale you can

 

This tea bag selection I have bought for a friends birthday. I Paid £2.00 for them brand new & unopened. I know my friend will love them as she is in to her different teas. 

I met another friend for coffee this week we had not seen each other for a while.  At home I had a little french tin with lavender on which inside I store dried lavender. I have had it for a while & my friend is very creative & likes crafting.  I like to give little gifts usually things that I already have. I tied lace around the tin & attached a luggage tag gift tag. I did decorate the tag to.  I wrote the meaning of her name on the tag . My friend loved it & was so pleased.

Then another friend called me & invited me out her treat for her birthday. She is french & took me to a little patiserie( probably spelt wrong!). I picked a pastry tarte with pecans & yummy things on top& a pot of tea. My friend had pan au chocolat & hot chocolate.  I gave her a big box of choclates tied with a lace bow again!.  Hubby was given these chocolates at work & he is not really a chocolate person so I thought lets re- gift them.  My friend was delighted with her chocolates. I was delighted as I would have scoffed the lot otherwise!

Finance wise emergency fund is up to £900.00. I have been keeping a spending diary I have missed an odd day here & there filling it in
Ebay - I did not do any ebay the week before last but today

• sold a bag for £14.99 (profit of £6.99)
• Top £3.99                   (profit of £2.99)
• Top £7.50                   (profit of £5.50)
• I bought a mirror the other week second hand which was not right for where i bought it for it cost me £20.00. I just wanted to get my money back on this which I did it went for £29.99 local pick up

This week has been a quiet week only one ironing job as well as my regular cleaning job.Maybe a new ironing client to. I will do some more listing on ebay this evening.
The anxiety workshop was last week & I really enjoyed it .Lots of others with anxiety out there.
On the home front DD staying half a week & being quite pleasant if I do say so myself!.
Mother in Law staying with us next week. !!!. I will be on regular kettle duty
Bye for now xxxxxxxxxxx

More rain!

Been a funny old week last week. I think this weather grey & rainy is making me disorganized. I set out with good intentions to keep that spending diary to write things in it, did I?. I did not write anything inside it! & I did spend out on different things.
Financial
This week we have popped some spare money in to the emergency fund & some of the money I earnt from ironing as well.As well as £50.00 from the paypal money which comes from ebay sales. Emergency fund is sitting at £800.00. Dh brakes will need to be sorted out on the car & we want to purchase the car insurance up front for the year as it works out dearer when paying it by direct debit. So the fund will go down & up!. But hopefully we will get it up to £1000 at some point.
Ebay Sales

• Sold a vintage camera for £9.99
• 2 cast iron aga pots £50.00
• Blouse £2.99
• Jumper £9.99

I joined Sft side income challenge & have acheived earning £50.00 which went into the emergency fund.
I will see if I can sell some more on ebay this week. I was lucky that the pots I had were worth a few pounds!
Healthy eating?!. Need to try a lot lot harder. As otherwise I will not get in to those skirts I have wanted to get in to for a long long time.
Today I am meeting up with a few friends at one of there houses. It is one of there birthdays. There will be cake! I will post my ebay parcels on the way.  Looks like I will need rainmac & umbrella .
Yesterday hubby & I made 130 sandwiches!. These were made as he has a fundraising event for work. Each year we do this together. It makes you crazy by the end! 
   
My goals for this week

• Write in my new spending diary & keep it up
• Be more aware of portion size & think about what you are about to eat!. Make sure it is not un healthy
• Cut down internet time
• Make DS dentist appointment
• Make Ds asthma review appointment 
• Using a coloured pen update the home calender with appointments & dates!(been meaning to do that for ages!
• Start using my filofax that I have neglected
• Pop some thing on ebay on a 5 day listing to finish on sunday
• Go to the library

 I finished reading "The Help" at long last. It was really good cannot wait to see the film at some point.  My mum & sister have read this to.  It is my lovely mums birthday soon & I will get her this dvd & then that way we will watch it all together!  Here a few of my favourite bits from the book ! found on you tube

The suns out !!!

Yesterday I gave my kitchen dresser a once over with some paint.  Most of the colours I use around the home are white,grey,pale blue & linen/ hessian colours. Very calming & easy on the eye.  I like it because it is not fussy or cluttered. I do appreciate some people like a lot more in there house! & I have not always been so minamalist myself so I can totally relate!, to the over extreme.  It was that which led me to declutter.That familiar feeling of searching for a certain peice of paperwork or those wretched keys! .  So I started clearing the clutter & stuff. Did car boot sales, ebay & donated to charity shops. I do spend a lot less time tidying things then what I used to which is good. Also all the stuff with DD going on made me crave a simple home!

Healthy eating went well yesterday. I even resisted the temptation of some muffins that Mr No spend had been given. I dont think I should call him Mr No Spend really. As he is not as frugal as me, well he is & he isnt. Mind you I always have room for improvement in lots of ways

Emergency fund. The emergency fund is boosted upto £540.00 now which I am really pleased about.  This got boosted up as I rent my garage out for £80.00 a month(a bonus of having no clutter!)

Will be back later ....   

Do Your Bit & et A Freebie To Help The Bees

http://www.foe.co.uk/what_we_do/bee_cause_seeds_35043.html?ic_number=675459&m_sourcecode=LM1204052&product=CAMP&utm_source=lyris&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email&hq_em=thedrisback@hotmail.com&MID=1629689&hq_e=el&hq_m=1629689&hq_l=4&hq_v=88313735ec

Weekly Goals

Today we all went to my mum & dads for dinner. It was DH birthday yesterday. My son gave dh shower gel, deoderant & shaving foam. He loves that sort of present as it is pratical & useful.  DD got DH some lovely after shave which again he was most pleased with. DH & I do not get each other a present. We just figure that if we wanted or needed something we would get it as and when & not for the sake of it. My mum & dad give Dh money to treat himself & my sister gives Dh some money to.  Dh mum will take us out for a meal when she visits in May as she does not live in the UK anymore.  My sweet mum gave us a little food bag of soups , cereal, tuna & muffins. I also got lots of magazines to read. They will keep me quiet!. As well as the book "Water For Elephants" my mum found this one in the charity shop for 50p.  I am a slow reader & I am still reading "The Help!".

On the way back from my mum & dads I bought a large hard backed notebook in Tescos. I wanted a large one as my Ds has pinched one of my smaller ones! & also my spending diary got all soggy in the bottom of my bag when my water leaked. As it is all new & shiny it should encourage me to be good right!??.   

So leading on from that my Monday week goals!

• Every single penny that has to be spent if any is to be recorded in my book & I am determind to keep this up
• Everyweek I say it & everyweek I cave in.  But this week nothing sweet is going to pass my lips.  Just lots of fruit & good healthy smaller portions(feel free to join me!).  Control those cravings
• Keep a food diary for the week

The emergency fund is sitting at £450.00 .  It will be £500.00 when cheque clears. I also have £20.00 from garage rental to pay in. I have been paying in the money made from ironing & this has helped.  DH seems to be more on board with the idea of the emergency fund.  So next goal will be a £1000. pounds.

Bye for now xx 

Free Sample!

http://www.garnier.co.uk/_en/_gb/body-intensive/7-days-challenge/sample_form.aspx
I just filled in my details to get this. They did a 7 day face moisturizer last time. Thought you might like to to!

Brek - Muesli & semi skimmed milk

Snack - 3 x seeded flat bread crackers with houmous

Lunch - Homemade Chickpea & tomato soup
                   2 x flatbread crackers
                   Rhubarb yogurt
                   Almond slice

Dinner -      Green salad & pasta & pesto 
                    2 small almond biscuits
                    Granola yogurt

I need to cut out my sweet tooth everyday!

MMM??

Brek  -   2 weetabix with sliced banana

Snack -  1 apple

Lunch -  leftover mug of celery soup & a wholemeal garlic sausage & houmous roll

Snack -  Tiny peice of coconut cake (visited elderly neighbours for an hour & they will not take no for    an answer when they offer you cake!

Dinner - mashed potato, beans & 4 sausages(They shrank when cooking honest!)
               2 peanut tracker bars (100 calories per bar).They have seriously got smaller over the years

I should not have eaten 4 sausages & I should have just had that little bit of coconut cake. Not 2 trackers. Still will do better tommorow now no temptations luring me!

At the moment I have a nice face mask on. I bought it for 30p at the car  boot sale. It is one of those ones that goes on like a gel & it goes all tight. Then you peel it of, I love that bit!Its Avon lavender & Jasmine.  At the car boot sale I have bought a few different cosmetic unopened items.  I would be tempted to buy this from Avon if I see it . I usually have 2 face masks a week. My skin feels all lovely & soft after this one. I then use a toner & a moisturizer.  I do have times where I am to lazy to do this routine! As I had my hair done last week I have been making an effort to pamper myself 

 Do you have any budget brands that you love? Or any special beauty tips that you want to share ?

Must try harder!

Today I had to go to town as I needed to get some new jeans.  My jeans have gone Awol!. I have either donated them to charity by mistake or ironed them & they have gone in with one of the customers ironing!???.  I only had the one pair. Luckily I had a voucher for £12.00 for M&S, & found a pair of boot cut jeans for £12.50.  I did look in a few other shops for jeans. I really dislike shopping for jeans especially.  I got a size 14 and I did have to pull them in to do them up.  I decided then & there enough is enough. I must try harder to lose that stone.  I refuse to go up any further in weight & clothes size.

Day 1!
Brek -  Muesli & semi skimmed milk

Lunch - Wholemeal cheese & salad cream roll
              1 banana

Snack - A small bowl of celery & potato soup(made with wilting celery!, it was delicious)

Dinner- Mixed green salad & wholewheat pasta with tomato pesto & 2 x slices of garlic sausage

              Yoghurt

I weighed out 80grms of pasta which was a serving for one person!. On seeing it after it was cooked I can see where my portion size goes seriously wrong. Where I can with certain food I will weigh them out especially pasta.

Finance 
Managed to pop £100.00 in to the emergency fund last week. Emergency fund is now at £300.00.  Which I am pleased , after buying the bed.
I did  get alot of ironing work last week which was good. A few things sold on ebay but that will be going towards that water bill when it finally arrives.  Then I will set up a direct debit for the water bill.  Then anything made on ebay will go towards our £0.00 holiday fund ggrrhh! I have not got much left to sell on ebay anymore.    

De-Clutter

I slept very well last night. Thank you for all your goodnights!.  The good thing about getting the bed was that it helped me to de-clutter my room in preperation for its arrival.  Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a tv in my bedroom. But the good side of me thinks "no!", keep your room for just sleeping & relaxing. 
Anyway it has spured me on to start a de-clutter

Benefits Of De-Cluttering

Living lighter

Makes you feel calmer

Spend less time being disorganized & searching for things

Spend less money as you do not not want to add to the clutter

Spend more time with people & things that matter  

 

Anything I declutter will be donated to charity shop or popped on ebay.I will keep a de-clutter list in my side bar. feel free to join in!

In bed early!!!

I am in bed early tonight doing this blog post!.  Yesterday the new bed arrived. Our old bed was a white iron one. Every turn in the bed it squeaked. Every so often it needed tightening up. The mattres was awful you could feel the wires & every time you moved it went ping ping ping!. Our emergency fund got spent on this & it cost us £650.00 including delivery. I have never spent so much on a bed in my lifetime. I think the fact that it will last a very long time will help. Also I guess we spend a good proportion of our lives sleeping in a bed.  This time we went for a divan with drawers. We went for comfort. We picked a plain linen head board. I really like plain simplistic furnishing. I find it calming in my cluttered mind!

I even painted the wall behind my bed a french grey colour & the wardrobe which you cannot see swedish blue!. Our home has a beach feel to it & I like that. 

I have been squealing with delight since the bed arrived the comfort of it compared to the old bed. Shoes & bags do not compare!(not that I am a shoe or bag person really!) 

Even though the emergency fund is gone , it felt nice to pay for it in cash & not credit

Night x x x

ps hope you do not hear me snoring!

The day After

The morning after I did that brisk walk. I woke up and my muscles felt so achy & I felt generaly tired. To be honest I have felt pretty achy & tired since.  I do not work full time. I do my little cleaning job & a few ironing jobs each week.  I would like to work more hours & I am not making excuses.  In a month I spend so much of it feeling tired & washed out. Heavy periods do not help the matter I must admit. I have had blood tests as I have sometimes suffered with anemia.  In general I put my tiredness down to low mood/ depression. I swing from feeling ok to feeling weepy.  I wish I did not but as you know when you feel like that you just cannot help it.  I really could not handle working a block of hours.  I have been on prozac/ floroxitine for over 3 years it is a 20mg dosage. Sometimes I wonder if that has given me a general malaise.  I want to stop taking it one day but also feel terrified that lots of feelings of anxiety/panic will come flooding back. I do feel a degree of it anyway.  Sometimes it is all so wearing.  I can come across as pretty upbeat & sometimes I do feel pretty upbeat.  Its inside that we hold it.  DD has been staying all week (!) funny how I am worn out now?!.

So today to help myself I am going to eat more fruit & drink more water & only have 1 cup of tea. I drink far to much tea that coupled with anxiety can sometimes give me palpitations.  I think it is hormonal to as they can be on either side of a period to.
I have booked to have some low lights, cut & blow dry next week as well at a cost of £55.00 in total. I need a little treat & sometimes I look in the mirror and see these dark circles under my eyes.  So i thought a hair treat would be a good place to start. I need a little pampering!
I love this website I saved this article
 http://zenhabits.net/55-ways-to-get-more-energy/

How do you relax & do you get stages of feeling weepy/ weary?

Walkies!

I walked to the post office & back today to post my ebay parcels.  This is about a 20 - 30 minute each way. 

In the evening I put by black leggings & t-shirt on & popped my trainers on.  I went on a brisk walk which lasted somewhere between 45 -60 mins. I enjoy brisk walking. I would not feel fit enough to jog yet!.  I feel that brisk walking is something you can introduce in to your routine more easily. Its the keeping it up part that needs attention!  When I am walking along I love the feel of the breeze, the smell of the fresh air.  I love the fact that it does not cost anything this form of exercise.  Apart from that it is meant to be good for stress & your feel good factor.  My aim is to fit in 3 brisk walks a week the other walks are extra ones (ie that post office one!)

I do have a couple of exercise dvds a Claire Sweeny Perfect Fit one. I have had that one for years in my cupboard!. I did used to do it more regualar. I kept it as I do really like the dvd. You can fit in as little as 10 minutes  if you wish. I also have Pilates for dummies which is good to (not to difficult). 

Food wise today I was better than what I have been. Dinner portion size was sensible!. All the little decisions hopefully will add up eventually.

             

Mini Goals Ready For Monday!...

Since I have been awol from my blog I have lost focus in all areas. I lost focus on trying to lose the weight. Lost focus on trying to be good with money. I guess blogs are good!, for motivation & keeping you on the path you are trying to keep to!. 

Mini Goals For Week Beginning Monday 9th April 

Health Goals

• To eat really healthily this week.  Stick to breakfast , lunch & dinner with fruit as a snack. To really watch my portion size.
• To go for a power walk ( well brisk!) at least 3 times this week. Need to use willpower here
• I have 3 skirts that are to tight that I really love & want to get into again!

Finance Goals

• To keep a spending diary
• To really try hard this week & keep spending to only what is neccesary 
• Sort out whats going out & whats coming in

Personal Goals

• Try & be more organized
• Wake up & be more positive
• Take each day as a new day
• Take time to notice the smaller things each day, appreciate the smaller things that if you sometimes do not, you probably do not notice & can slip by easily
• Count your blessings each day
• Do not dwell on things. 
• Stop carrying so much hurt around inside & move forward   

  
"Willpower is nothing but the power of choice. When you begin to see the choices in each of the decisions that you make,and start to consciously choose what you decide on, you will develop a good amount of willpower".
I will work on these mini goals this week & work at willpower to! 

Yo yo!

Its a long time since I have posted. I did not mean for so much time to elapse between my blog posts.  I would love to say life has been peachy!.  Having DD is hard work.  I also guess having not being able to shake of my low mood is hard sometimes. As sometimes I feel ok, sometimes not & sometimes plain fed up.  I try not to give in to it.  I stopped seeing the counsellor & will have a Cbt workshop in May time. 

I have been planting tomato plants given to me by my nice neighbour. I have also planted some runner beans.  Spending time in the garden & sunshine is nice.  I have been doing lots of ironing!. I have even posted out some postcards locally advertising !. Nothing has come back yet. 

The holiday fund & emergency fund took a big hit as we needed to get a new bed.  All of a sudden it seemed that we could feel the springs & wires in our bed.  We decided on a Silentnight bed & spent quite a bit on it as well as a headboard.  We are waiting for it to be delivered.  We had a cream iron bed with brass finials on before & this time we decided on comfort opposed to what it looked like firstly!.  It was nice to be able to pay for it with cash upfront & we did feel gutted to that the holiday fund & emergency fund took a big dent.  Still hopefully we will get super sleeps! & be full of energy!

Since I have been away from my blog I feel like my money saving & frugalness has vanished. I think you bloggers make me more motivated with your frugalness.  I need to seriously get back on the money saving wagon & re jig the finances as it is all in array!. 

Will be back tmrow with a To Do List & Agenda! xx  

Let the Sunshine!

I did not intend having such a long blog break.  Not quite sure where to start!.  Been quite busy.  A few ups & a few downs.  Mr No Spend had a bit of worry at work with regard to job so that was a bit of an uncertain time.  He has been given a 6 %(temporary pay rise) which will come in handy.  He is doing 2 peoples work & this rise reflects all the extra he is having to do.  The manager position has been offered to him.  Mr No Spend has not said yes & he has not said No.  I am not sure he wants the managers position & the responsibility.  He does have most of the responsibility now. We are anything for an easy life!
I have been doing lots & lots of ironing.  I was able to buy Mr No Spends prescription glasses which were £50.00 ( for reading & on the computer).
Emergency Fund-This has £300.00 in the fund now
Holiday Fund-The holiday fund from ebay sales has £200.00 in the pot.
The next lot of ebay money will be going towards our April half yearly water bill.  I have £50.00 in the paypal & the water bill is usually £200. - £250.00 yikes!Need to get selling more.
Our garage tenant has a new lock up via work so we will be losing that £80.00 a month. My neighbour is going to rent half a garage of us for £10.00 a week.  Which means I will be able to store bits & bobs in there to.  My ebay corner in the conservatory does seem to grow so it will be a welcome space! 
I was a bit naughty earlier on in the month & bought 3 lovely tops. 
I have stopped my counseling,as my nhs cbt appointment is coming in May it is going to be 3 x 2 hour workshops on Anxiety management & all the trimmings! as well as a one to one at a later date.  
I need to get back on the wagon with regard to being more stringent with spending as it seems to have taken a back seat.
No weight lost!.  But i have made my self walk 3 evenings last week & the week before with my sons music in my ears!. Me brisk walking !.  I do like walking & I am finding it stress relief.  My son lets me use his ipod touch I have 3 songs on there!,one is St Elmos fire it makes me walk faster.
I will try & catch up with everyone this week. I am a bit slow at being organised sometimes. Thank you for dropping in & checking in on me x x x  

My Monday Mini Goals...

I went of to today to my appointment.  It is at 11 0 clock. I get a lift into town with Mr No Spend at 8.30 ggrrhhh!.  The post office was not going to open untill 9 o clock. I walked about & sat on a bench & ate my blueberries!. I got into the post office que & there was an older man he looked really unkempt & he was very pungent.  I felt sorry for him. He looked like he really needed looking after. He looked like he really needed a good clean, a good wash & a good meal.  I found it hard to just go on & go about my bits & peices. If someone was sitting down somewhere looking cold. I would probably go & buy them a hot drink & a hot pie. This man needed a lot more thaIn that.  Sometimes it makes me feel a bit helpless & sometimes it makes me sad that someone can walk about like that who obviously needs attention & tlc. I guess its the world we live in people go overlooked. Slip through the net.  He needed someone looking out for him. He needed more than what I could give.
My appointment went well.  We talk about lots. I guess it is a place where I can just say how I feel.
I got a call in the morning could I do some Ironing with a fast turnaround  the same day. Which I said yes!.  So I got a bit extra for doing that. This Ironing suits me just fine!. Its amazing when you get paid for it how much more you enjoy it!?. I always make sure I am avaliable & do it as best as I can.
My Goals This Week 

• Keep my spending written down
• Sort table top sale bits & peices out.
• Watch my portion size!   

         

Slack Blogger

I have been a slack blogger lately.  This cold snap of weather has made my healthy eating go a bit awol. No weight loss!.  I am managing to do my pilates dvd a couple of times a week. I can certainly feel it. Its amazing after not exercising how much I ache the day after. 
I have managed to put £200.00 into the emergency fund so far for this year.  That was made up of £160.00 for januarys & Februarys garage rental. We rent our garage out for £20.00 a week. I am so glad we decluttered well & our garge was empty to enable us to rent it out. I also popped £30.00 from my cleaning job money in & £10.00 from my little ironing number!. Its a start.  I like my little cleaning job & I am enjoying doing the odd ironing job. I would like to do some more ironing jobs & I will look into doing a few more
Ebay selling is going ok . All money from this is going to save up for a holiday break later on in the year.  Its nice seeing the money in paypal going up.
The SFT Sealed Pot Challenge - Mr No Spend & I are throwing our 20p peices in.  We do not actually seem to get that many!. Still what we do get in 20 pence peices is thrown in.  This will be uses towards our holiday break later on in the year.
Mr No Spend & I share the joint bank account & for the first time it is not overdrawn. We sill have to be carefull as the bills & food do make it dwindle down quickly. We need to build a buffer up.
Realistic - Looking back at my new years resolutions one of them was to save £3000 for an emergency fund(That is to bigger an aim).  I am going to aim for a Baby step of £500.00 first of all & then if we achieve that we will aim for £1000.00.  I think sometimes I think about trying to save a bigger amount & then it is not realistic upon our incomings coming in.   
I will continue going to see the counselor. Did not go this week because of half term. DD stayed a couple of times.  It seems to be working ok.  I accept it this way & she seems to accept things are this way at the moment. DD still gets up to things that I do not agree with. We do worry that one day that DD may have substance issues.  Maybe she will change. I will not dwell on the negatives. I cannot live her life for her. I try & guide her but it falls on closed ears
I will try & catch up with everyones blog.  xx         

Beans!

I bought this little blanket box at a car boot sale for £4.00 .  It was green & had a mouldy looking green cushion on top it was not nice. I painted it up bought a foam pad & my lovely neighbour gave me a big square of french fabric & armed with staple gun voila!. I have a home for a few toilet rolls & some towels!

This little cupboard is above my writing bureau. I bought it about a year ago at a car boot sale for £5.00 & painted & distressed it. I also put a natural hessian/calico fabric square on thee front & stuck a tiny starfish on the front.  I quite enjoy painting things sometimes & creating.

I bought 5 packs of Andrex (9 roll packs)45 toilet rolls in total for £10.00 of Amazon found the offer on hot deals!. Apparantly it was a misprint but they honoured it!

I also bought 24 cans of Branston baked beans of Amazon £7.60 including postage. I know sometimes you can catch an offer of 4 tins of beans for a pound in supermarkets. These were delivered. if you look on Amazon groceries you can buy some good offers.

I am still ebaying, & been quite busy as taken on a little ironing job for a lady who has a cleaning business. I did a couple of bags of ironing the other day & got paid £30.00.   There may be some more ironing coming my way. Fingers crossed

I will try & do another post & will try & catch up. x with everyone 

  

I went of to my appointment.  It was a case of me talking & opening up about the things that have led me to be at the appointment.  I know its my first appointment & the lady is very nice but it just felt strange. I know it is to early for me to judge & I am sure there is a plan of action to help & one session is only the beginning.  Sometimes I expect miracles! Or want things instantly.
I popped to the doctors yesterday to & asked about there cbt on the nhs. My appointment costs me £12.00 which is everyweek £48.00 a month.  On the nhs I will not need to pay. It would help not to have to pay. When I go to my appointment it is a £4.00 bus return to as it is far to far to walk.  I am just wondering how long the waiting list would be for the nhs. If it is going to months I would have to carefully consider.    


My Monday Week Mini Goals  

• Do my pilates dvd twice this week (failed last week)
• Keep spending to a minimum 
• Pop a few things on ebay

I sold a couple of things on ebay a mens top I bought for £1.00 sold it for £9.99 ( £8.99 profit). I also sold another mens shirt that I bought for £2.00 sold for £5.70 (profit of £3.70)
Total in ebay fund (which is our holiday fund) £44.24. I have listed what I have sold in the Ebay fund tab above. I am glad I can do ebay as it gives me the option to make a few pennies.  I have done this using things I already have & also when I have been at a car boot sale/jumble sale bought things for which I think I can make a profit on.  Sometimes the profit is a few pounds & sometimes it is more.  I would like to look for a few little cleaning jobs.  I am doing a small cleaning job at the moment it is only 3 hours but it pays £10.00 per  hour. The house is so clean & even cleaner now I am there !     


I have started a joint spending diary for Me & Mr No Spend.  Mr No Spends favourite tipple is vodka & cranberry & much to my dismay he smokes(only allowed in the garden where it is nice & cold!).  It is usually no more than 10 a week.  I have tried to get him to give up but I guess he has to be in that place himself.  I guess with darling DD he has needed a vice. I would say or his hair would drop out but it has( well not dropped out! but he is a smooth headed no hair!)DD would make anyones hair drop out. At the moment she has been excluded from school for misbehaving.  Which to be honest I am glad she is not home here at the moment ,as it was repeated stress layering that run me down to the ground.  Even though I know she is misbehaving it is not right under my nose.  I am getting me right.  I do think sometimes that I cannot live her life for her & even though in the past I have tried to protect her from all & sundry. At the end of the day she does what she wants regardless.  Like I say she was an angelic child & I never had one single problem with her all through primary school.  Shocked at what was waiting in the future for us yes.  If I had a crystal ball I would have never have thought all this.  It does go to show you can give someone a loving safe environment, & always be there. But they do change.  Some people will be lucky & maybe escape with a little rebellion & I hope for anyone & everyones sake you have an easier time. One day hopefully DD will grow in to a well ajusted human being. These last 3 years have gone in a blur. Sometimes I think i should write a book!. It will not have the answers though?!. You do what you can the best you can none of us are perfect but we love.


Gosh dont  I go on, I probably have sent you all to sleep ! x x           

Moving goal posts

Holiday
This year Mr No Spend & I have decided we would like a few days away.  We thought maybe going Dorset way & hire a cottage. To keep costs down we will see if my mum & sister want to come to.  Then that way we will have a base & can do all our meals at our base.  It will be lovely on the Jurasic coast & hopefully lots of walking will be done & beach combing & time spent on the beach.  We all need to decide on a date.  My sister will pay upfront & then we will pay our share.  Then its just a case of a some money for petrol & food. Before I know we are going I will search & find lots of free things to do.  Funding this little holiday will be my ebay sales so far £28.76 in the pot!. Need to get earning more!

Reflection Of Low Spend January
This month Hetty was purchased!. That was a big expenditure.  Over than that the biggest expenditure has been food.  Mr No Spend has done the food shopping & the food shop has been wonderfull. If anything the food budget was on the steep side.  We have bought blueberries & fruit in abundance & got through it all.  I would like less spent on food but then equally I love all the healthy stuff. Just do not mention the half peronni pizza I scoffed!.

Emergency Fund
The emergency fund is laying empty. The switch over to joint accounts has made everything up in the air & a few mix ups. Our joint account is overdrawn but then Mr No spends account was to start with.  I am going to use a Dave Ramsey baby step & aim for £500.00 in the emergency fund. It is a big bug bear of mine not to have a little emergency fund.  I guess as we have no savings either I would like a little to fall back on.  I know a lot of bloggers who probably earn more,but equally there a lot out there earning less who are very admired by me! with there thrifty ways etc. Bloggers who have turned things around out of debt.  
I would love to pay the mortgage of early. But once the cost of living is taken out it is not an option.    

Healthy Eating
Have really enjoyed all the healthy eating. Eating a lot fresher & healthier.  Need to fix those wanting something sweet cravings though! 

My Mind!
It was lovely to have the sun out a bit this week.  On Monday I will be going of for my appointment !. I will meet the person who I will be working with(poor person!). I spent some time with my neighbour  this week & we went to another town & she treated me to lunch out.  Did my little cleaning job to .
DD wound me up by prentending she had done something. I cannot tell the difference when my DD lies or tells the truth.  It was not funny & I told her that she was cruel to pretend that.
DD thought to tell me that she & 3 friends had stolen a car.  DD then thought to tell me she had drank & driven the car & been stopped by the police arrested, breathalised & then put in a cell overnight. Funny ? No I dont think so.  DD told the same to hubby who rang me from work & told me that he needed to go for a walk round the block after hearing the news.  Then DD texted me saying she was only joking. So not funny.  I then rang the foster mum & spoke to her who is a lovely lady( I feel a bit more at ease with her now I we have spoken more) Just to double check that DD was in her bed all night .  We had a long chat & she said that DD was a  walk in the park compared to some children she has looked after. It was lovely that she said DD was a real credit to us!.  After DD wind up it was hard to absorb that!. I did thank her for saying that. Slightly puzzled scratching my head thinking are we talking about the same girl!.  Still I guess sometimes they are always better for other people or other people just cope with things better

Anyway enough of my ramblings have a lovely weekend x x x

    

Hetty

I thought this picture was appropiate to me at the moment!.  I did not intend to be so sporadic in my blog posts.  My Januuary No Spend whet slightly pear shaped  due to a new addition to the family!. No not that, this!. This is Hetty she has been very naughty & gobbled up my hairband!.  Hetty cost £109.00(phew). I ummed & ummed. My previous cheaper hoovers both went to the hoover yard. I read reviews on Hetty and they were glowing. I must stay she does the job well & quietly to.  Then I went & bought a new bag from Asda as my bag was driving me insane ,where I could not find anything & bits were getting lost in the torn lining that I already repaired once!.  Food budget has be blown out the water!.  I must admit I am enjoying all the healthy stuff. Do not mention the Lindt Sea salt chocolate which is lovely, but not so that you eat a whole bar go to bed wake up in the night feeling really crook and then go and sit by the toilet with your head down it.  Serves me right really for being so darn greedy!.Apart from that I have been super good on eating healthy!.   

As you know Me & Mr No Spend have been switching over to a joint bank account.  We just thought it was a case my name would be put onto his bank account. Of course not!. They opened up a whole new bank account. We then had to switch all the direct debits over to the new account. They then said we could not have an overdraft. Not that we want one, but untill we sort ourselves out we need one.  We are still sorting bits out now!.  My emergency pot is empty. I think sometimes I get frustrated as I have such good intentions for us as a family.  Yet the cost of living is so high and sometimes it is hard to catch up with ourselves.  Apart from an odd carvery meal a couple of times a year. We are not a spendy family.  I would like to see my emergency fund start & perhaps grow!.I think that is the thing as a family we do not have loads to throw at savings etc and I get frustrated at the slowness. Or how I start a fund only for it to get used on something else that we need. I am doing a little cleaning job once a week for 3 hours which is good.  I do want to work more eventually but as you know need to sort myself out & feel better.  I went for the consultation at the Cbt place & will meet who I will be working with on the 30th of this month.  I always felt I should be able to sort things out myself. But no I am asking for help this time.  DD stayed the other night and was easy to be around. Sometimes if I think to hard it is a surreal situation not having my DD at home ,where she should be.  At the moment things are good even though we are living apart. Of course it does feel odd at times & if I am having a sad day I feel that she does not love her mum & dad. But I guess I am using the time to gather strength & make a start at healing my mind.           

I am still having a few problems leaving comments on blogs. I do not really understand why but I am sure it is something to do with settings.  Blessed Life blog I cant seem to leave a comment on your blog. But wanted you to know I am thinking of you x x.
Other blogs If I havent been on your blog & left a comment it is because I cant get on. Its a bit frustrating as I miss leaving comments.  I am there honestly!. It feels like stopping by without saying hello!. 

My Mini Goals Monday

• Make sure I keep my 5 a day fruit & veg up. 
• Keep my spending diary up(failed miserably)
• List a few things on ebay
• Read a few pages of my new book
• Do my pilates dvd twice this week
• Check on our online banking play, around with figures

Sold something on ebay for £9.99 which is what we paid for it anyway so got money back .
Also sold a mens shirt that I bought at a car boot sale for £2.00 that went for £18.76( was very surprised & pleased). I did buy the shirt for Mr No Spend but it was far to big for him.   


This is what I am reading(only just started) my mum bought it in the charity shop passed it on to my sister who has read it & now it is passed on to me. I really wanted to see this film at the cinema. I will read maybe 5 - 10 pages a day. It will take me a while to read!

Hey Bloggers

I have been trying on & off for a while to leave comments on peoples blogs. The page just keeps staying blank and the circle going round.  I have visited you all but cannot comment. I will keep trying even though I cannot leave a comments I am visiting.  I dont know why I cant. I know I always have to go through google chrome? who knows! I have not forgotton you x x x

In the name of health!

I ended up in the supermarket last night as Ds is making fruit salad today in food tech at school. I ended up spending quite a bit ggrrh. I will say I am trying to eat for optimal nutrition to help myself feel less tired & help myself feel good. I think going through this low mood phase in my life. I want to do everything I can to help myself. Even Mr No Spend & DS have been having granola & blueberries for breakfast with me this week!. We have got through a lot.
Anyway my shopping list went something like this

• orange juice 50p
• orange juice 50p
• pork chops £2.00
• sproutstalk £1.00
• jumbo porridge oats £1.28
• asparagus £1.00
• pak choi £1.00
• dried fruit £1.12
• baking paper £1.50
• lemon tea 60p
• cheese £1.00
• samphire £1.32(never eaten this before is some sort of coastal growing moss!)
• cucumber 80p
• dried fruit £1.12
• aubergine 75p
• green pepper 72p
• mackeral £1.00
• Sardines 84p
• skincare £1.80
• bathfoam 84p
• sardine paste 43p
• reduced carrots 10p
• soy sauce 58p
• linseed 90p
• almonds £1.41
• cous cous 68p
• kidney beans44p
• spring greens£1.00
• blueberries £2.00
• seeds 67p
• rhubarb rachels organic yogurt £1.20
• reduced rolls 20p
• spice jars£2.00
• glass kilner jar £1.45
• strawberries £1.00

In total I spent £37.41.!.  I bought some glass spice jars to decant my seeds into. Also I am making granola today!
Earlier on in the week I bought some granola from M&S it was lovely. I decided to make my own. I used this recipe but tweaked it a bit http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1590/goodforyou-granola. I was quite generous with the mixed fruit & seeds. I have a bowl in the morning with a handful of blueberries thrown on.  It is an initial outlay buying the seeds & fruit. I have loads of ingredients left to make more. I crushed a tiny dark chocolate bar into the mix as well.  I have to report it is much more delicious than M&S granola! Much more seedy & fruity!. It is also nice sprinkled on to yogurt .  I took my lovely neighbour a bag of it enough for a breakfast!. Luckily when I visited her she had not been up long at 11 0 clock!. So she had it for her breakfast & loved it.  We are going to have a granola making session soon !  
In an attempt to eat better & more healthily I have found I have really enjoyed my food more. I do not feel as bloated round my tummy either.

Lots of this is being eaten oatcakes,humous,celery.  Tomorrow I am going to try pak choi ( I have never eaten this before.  For my dinner tonight I had sardines,spring greens, carrots & new potatoes. Followed by DS beautiful fruit salad.

Most of my No Spend Challenge is going on food!.  
I did tai chi on wednesday morning.  I was having a bit of a low day & went with my mum to this once monthly craft group we go to. I did not want to go as I just felt unmotivated,tired & miserable!. When we got to craft group they happened to running a tai chi group in the other room.  I told the craft group I was defecting to Tai chi! as I wanted to try it out!.  Tai chi was very gentle a bit like a long warm up. If anything it loosened me up & made me feel a bit brighter.
I will catch up with bloggy reading soon. I am a bit behind with everything lately
take care x x