Hectic week

Wow what a hectic week I have had here is what I have been upto:

Tuesday
My best friend works for the local council where there are literaly thousands of employees so she suggested I set up a station show caseing some of my items with a catelogue and order form to bring in some extra money for xmas. My friend will be over seeing this bringing me the order forms and delivering the orders to her work collegues etc. So I spent tuesday putting together some samples of the products I have in my shop, making xmas chocolates for the parcels I am selling, designing and printing up order forms and a catelogue, and bagging it all up ready for her to collect. This took me all day and some of the night but I eventually got it all done so im looking forward to seeing if this idea brings in any much needed funds. Because I had been working so hard all day I was in no mood to cook so I treated the boys to tea out in a local cafe we walked there and back to keep costs down the children had a kids meal each costing £7.50 and I just had a drink as I was not really that hungry.

Wednesday
Where I have been helping Kel I had let my house go a little. Kel had an art class wed morning so I decided to concentrate on getting my house back in order. I did washing, tidying, hoovering, washed up, emptied and washed out the bins, changed and washed all the bedding and put fresh sheets on, and I even managed to squezze in a soak in the tub before meeting Kel in town at 1pm after her art class. We hit the charity shops and as always I was like a kid in a candy shop. I got some great bargains this is what I got:
3x jeans for Brad £8.50
A shirt for me £2.50
A pink fleece jacket for me £3.99
3x play station games for the boys £7
2x harry potter books for Ben £1.98
A who wants to be a millionaire board game for Brad £3.99
A huge brand new Barney the dinosaur teddy for Brandon £5

We also went into the cheap shop as I call it. Its where they sell a little bit of every thing all at rock bottom prices. They had this huge canvas painting of the tardis and a darlik for £12.99. Well all 3 of my boys love Dr Who so I brought it as a joint xmas present for all 3 of them they will love it I can't wait to see their little faces. We then stoped off in the cafe for a cup of tea before going back to mine. Kel stayed for a few hours and I have to say it was so nice to have another adult to talk to for a change and the boys really liked her to. I think Kel and I are going to be great friends.  After Kel had left I sat and watched a documentry film called Earthlings its all about where our meat comes from, how its treated, and how its slaughtered. Im not ashamed to say I cried like a baby watching this film and made a decision there and then never to eat meat or fish again. It has been 3 days now and I have to say I do not miss it one bit. If you are brave enough to watch it this is the link to the film I watched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHA4HNbmDLg

Anyway I brought myself a few specialist items to help me stick to my new found vegetarianism.

I have to say I was suprised at how good some of these items tasted with food like this avaliable to me I have no doubt I will be able to remain a vegetarian for the rest of my life.

Thursday
Today I spent the day at home with Brandon just enjoying our time together. We did a few arts and crafts and we made some xmas choclates for ourselves. I also pottered around the house doing odd jobs. I also filled in the forms needed for me to work with Alabare include. A pretty relaxed day in comparison to the rest of my week lol.

Friday
I went over to Kels to do some more house organising. We managed to get the front room finished before Kel became rather ill so I told her to get some rest and I would have a potter about for her. I had to take Brad to the doctors at 5pm as his eczema seems to be getting worse. He has been given a new cream and some tablets to stop the itching fingers crossed this does the trick for him. My best friend popped round in the evening to help me move my old sofa out ready for my 2 new ones coming in over the weekend. I got them on ebay for a bargain £90 the pair and they are delivering for an additional £10.

I also put together Brads new bed my friends brother works in a bed factory and was asked to get rid of a load of brand new beds so I was lucky enough to get one for just £10.

Also her dad works in a chesse factory and I was given lots of chesse for free which im really gratefull for as im eating a lot of it now ive turned veggie. As well as whats in the picture below there was also another 6 boxes of chesse dippers, and 8 packets of french roulde garlic and parsley chesse.

Anyway im absolutely shattered so I will have to do todays post in the morning as I can hear my bed calling me.
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Just for the love of it

Today I joined a website called just for the love of it. Its a great site where you build a profile for yourself with a list of your skills. When you are in need of a service or skill that you do not have you have a look and find someone who lives close by that has that skill and approach them. It is completely free even the service you are provided with. It works on the basis of pay it forward someone helps you with thier skills and in return you help others with your skills. I created my profile and listed my skills I then put out a group post for a hairdresser to cut my 3 little boys hair and for a man with a van to help me get rid of some garden waste and collect a sofa and bed im hoping to get on freecycle. Well within 30 minutes I had a lady offering to do the boys hair and a nice chap offering to remove my rubbish. How kind these people truely are. It has really restored my faith that their are nice kind people out their after all. In return I will give them a little money for petrol and my personalised items skill. I have also put a post on freecycle for a single bed frame as Brads is broken and he is sleeping in my bed untill it gets replaced. Also a sofa as mine is on its last legs. I was going to buy these items but thought better of it when joining these online communities. Its also a great way of making new like minded friends.  Dinner tonight was a very frugal one tomatoe pasta and sauce it cost just 8p per serving and was yum we served it with homemade bread. I gave a friend of mine some personalised xmas choclates beutifully wrapped for her little boys ideal as stocking fillers. She said that they were really yummy and looked so good that I should sell them. So thats what im doing I took some pictures printed up some posters and I have one in my frontroom window, one in my sons nursery, and one in my local shop. I have already had 2 orders for these so im really pleased. I also really enjoyed making them which is always a bonus lol. Anyway im off to do my shoping now as its cheaper for me to do it online and get it delivered than it is to go into the nearest town by bus.
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Bad few days

We have had a bad few days here with a tummy bug doing the rounds. First my youngest Brandon had it then my middle son Ben had it and today im just getting over it the only one who seems to have avoided it is my eldest son Brad but then he very rarely gets ill but when he does it is usally pretty bad. It was a really nasty bug that zapped us of all energy as well as other symptoms which I wont go into as they are pretty yuck. So there is not much to report really I did my shoping and saved an amazing £80 on what I usally spend so was very happy about that. I also had that clear out and found some items to sell and made a great £120 which was enough to buy all 3 boys new shoes, coats, gloves, school uniform, a set of books Ben wanted and I still had a little left over so I was very pleased. I still have a few items to put on ebay which I will sort out in the next few days. Other than that there is nothing to report hopefully now we are on the mend things can start getting back to normal here then I will have more to blog about.
Much Love
Claire
xx xx xx

3rd Nov 2011

Today I have been looking at ways I can make some extra cash. Its been ages since ive had a good clear out so decided to have a look round and find what we no longer use or need and sell it on ebay. I was suprised to see how much stuff we dont use anymore or in some cases have never used at all. So over the next few days I will be putting these items up on ebay to make a few extra pounds. I have also had the idea of making personalised calenders, bookmarks, name meaning certificates, and clocks to sell on etsy with xmas coming up I think these could sell pretty well. I have also been looking at ways I can save money. First I looked at all my outgoings and got rid of all my subscriptions. Second I looked for better deals on my electric, phone, internet, t.v, pet insurance and managed to cut these outgoings by half. Third I have looked at reducing my shoping costs by buying value own brand alternatives. Fourth I have switched from cigarettes to roll ups. I have also joined free cycle its a great place where people put up their unwanted items for others to have free of charge you can also post wanted ads if there is something you need you can check them out here www.freecycle.org . At the minute I dont have 2 pennies to rub together and Brad needs new school uniform his trousers have lost their clasps and so they keep falling down. Well you have heard the saying "make do and mend" that is exactly what I have done today I took an old black bra of mine that I no longer wear and cut off the clasps and sewed them onto his trousers and hey presto they are fixed. He also needs new school shoes so I had a good look around on ebay and managed to pick him up a brand new pair for just £7.50 and free p&p bargain. I also needed a few items for Ben but am lucky enough that a friend of mine has a son 6 months older than Ben and he goes to the same school so she has just given me some shirts and a pair of school shoes that no longer fit her little boy result. When I was searching for items we no longer use I was lucky enough to find 3 pairs of trainers in very good condition 1 of which will do for Ben when his feet get a bit bigger and the other 2 for Brandon so they have been put away ready for use in a few months time. I also made a very frugal dinner tonight it was pork bolognaise this is the recipie and priceing for this meal.

Pork bolognaise     Serves 4
500g Pork chunks
250g Dried pasta
1 Jar of bolognaise sauce
Dried mixed herbs
Olive oil
1= I fried the pork chunks in a little olive oil and mixed herbs untill the meat was cooked through.
2= I then added the jar of bolognaise sauce and left to simmer while the pasta was boiling
3= Once the pasta was cooked I added this to the frying pan with the meat mixture gave it all a good stir and left to simmer for a few more minutes.
4= I dished it up and served with bread and butter
costing
500g Pork chunks £0.00 (I bartered some of my personalised products in return for 1 1/2kg of pork chunks)
250g Dried pasta £0.09 (I brought 500g of value dried pasta at asda for 18p)
1 Jar of bolognaise sauce £0.21 (value bolognaise sauce at asda)
Dried mixed herbs £0.00 (I had them in my store cupboard)
Olive oil £0.00 (I had this in my store cupboard also) 

Total cost 30p                 Cost per serving 7.5p

Thats it for me today but I will be back tomorrow to share more of my journey of frugal living.
Much Love
Claire
xx xx xx
p.s if you have any tips on living a frugal life please let me know about them I would be very gratefull thank you.

Introduction

Hi my names Claire and I will be your blogger for the day lol. Let me tell you a little about my life I live in a beautiful area of englands countryside and I love living here. I have 3 stunning little boys who I love dearly and they are my world. I suffer from a condition called menieres disease and 2 of my little boys are autistic. I have always had an intrest in frugal living and crafts. This blog is a way of me keeping a log of ways to cut my spending, and ways of making a bit of extra money using my skills. I do hope you will join me on my journey of frugal living.
Much Love
Claire
xx xx xx