£1 A Day Challenge Day 5

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

Anyway on to today's costings

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

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORT
My legs 0p

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

Total cost of day 5 £1.31

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Personal Hygiene On A Budget

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

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

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

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

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

My Big Weekly Clean On Just 9p

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

Upstairs

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

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

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

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

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

Downstairs

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

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

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

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

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

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx

£1 A Day Challenge Day 4

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

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORT
My legs 0p

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

Total cost of day 4 = 76p

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

£1 A Day Challenge Days 2 And 3

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

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORT
None 0p

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

Total cost of day 2 was £1.02



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

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORT
My legs 0p

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

Total cost of day 3 79p

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

£1 A Day Challenge Day One

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

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

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

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

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

DRINK
Water 0p

TRANSPORTATION
My legs 0p

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

Total cost of today 71p

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

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx  

I Am Setting Myself A Challenge

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

11p will last at least 2 weeks and will be used for washing face and hands so 6p a week for soap

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wish me luck as I may just need it   :)

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Tired But Oh So Happy

I had a wonderful evening last night at my friends art exhibition and have had a wonderful day today with my mum, step dad, little sister, and Nan who came down from London for the day. All this excitement has left me shattered so no post tonight and I will fill you all in on what I have been up to tomorrow instead.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Froog's Giveaway And A Win

Just a quick one tonight I have been very unwell with my MD today 3 attacks in one day. Needless to say I am completely whipped out and looking forward to a very early night just as soon as the boys are in bed. I have mentioned Frugal Queens blog here a few times and wanted to share with you a giveaway she is having. Her blog is a great read and I follow daily she has been given a lovely wooden Noah's ark to review and will be giving it away to one lucky reader so head on over and check it out.

This is what you could win and here is the link to Froog's giveaway 

Noah's Ark Giveaway

Also I am very pleased to say I won a handmade shopping bag last night made by the lovely Ilona over at her Meanqueen blog in a giveaway she was having herself. It was a total surprise as all the prizes had been allocated but the lovely Ilona found time to make another one for a lucky reader (that would be me :) )

Meanqueen Blog

Another one of my favorite blogs even more so now I have won this lovely pink shopping bag thank you so much Ilona xxx

Anyway off for that early night now hope you all have time to check out 2 of my favorite blogs and enter froog's giveaway. And don't forget as soon as I have 10 followers I will be having a little giveaway myself.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

A Crisis, A Birthday, And An Operation

There was a bit of a crisis here at the weekend. I wont go into details as it is a private family matter but it did really upset me and hence no blog for the last few days. I am pleased to say it has all been sorted out and everything is now back to normal. It was Lee's 35th birthday yesterday we had originally planned to go to the cinema and have something to eat out. Our plans were changed by the announcement that Lee's dad had arranged a family meal instead. We went to a nice little country pub that served food. The food was OK but I wouldn't rave about it and the prices were more than I would normally pay for a meal out. I offered to pay for the meal as it was Lee's birthday but Lee's dad insisted that it was his treat which was nice of him. I do hope I didn't offend him with my offer to pay. Talk turned to what people were willing to pay for a pair of jeans and I kid you not readers my ears nearly bleed when I heard that Lee's dad had paid £100 for a pair of jeans. Lee's brother regularly pays around £60 for a pair of jeans. Lee's dad also mentioned that a female friend of his had just paid £200 for a pair of jeans in NewYork. Here I sat in my £7.99 dress from age UK in a pair of boots I have owned for about 5 years. I think I was visibly shocked when my jaw hit the floor and I nearly turned round and said give me my £5 charity shop jeans any day of the week but did not want to come across as rude. Lee's family are a lovely group of people but it did make me feel that I am in fact not normal when it comes to my frugal ways. That so many people out there are happy to spend serious amounts of cash in the name of fashion. Of course if you can afford to do so and you are not getting yourself into debt to keep up with the Jones then by all means exercise your right to spend a small fortune on an item of clothing if you wish to do so. Personally I can think of much better ways to spend that sort of money. Anyway it is my birthday in 2 weeks time so we shall go to the cinema and eat out then to make up for our scuppered plans. And lastly the operation.....today I had to take Baby to the vets to be spaded and chipped. I felt awful leaving her but as Lee kept reminding me it was for her benefit. When I picked her up this afternoon she had a big lampshade collar on and has a large bald patch on her back leg and a small bald patch on her front leg. She has visible soluble stitches hence the need for the collar so she can not lick her stitches. She has managed to pull the collar off once already and I had to put it back on her which really annoyed her as she hates it. I got a few scratches to let me know she was not amused. She is unable to get into her food bowls because of this big collar she has on so in the end I resorted to spoon feeding her her dinner like a little baby which was quite cute. I have to take her back on Saturday to be checked over but we are looking at 2 weeks before the collar can come off. Anyway off to get the troops to bed now.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx    

Kids TV Today

When I was a little girl I used to watch programmes such as the sooty show, Bill and Ben, and my little pony. I am extremely disturbed by the kids programme I have just seen called The Slammer on CBBC. Prison is supposed to be a deterrent from committing crime this programme makes it look like a holiday camp. How are we supposed to teach our children right from wrong with programmes like this making a mockery of the prison system. Now I realise that it is just a programme but at this age our children are very impressionable and a programme that makes prison look fun and not a punishment is not sending out the correct message to our children (that if you commit a crime and do something wrong you will be punished). Here is the link to the programme tell me what you think am I over reacting here ?

The Slammer CBBC

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Make And Bake With Peppa Pig

Brandon bought a Peppa pig make and bake magazine out of his pocket money last week and has been on at me for days that he wanted to make the cupcakes in the magazine so today we did just that.

Brandon getting ready to bake

Give me a kiss big bro

Mixing his cake mix

Big brother helping

Laying out the cake cases

Spooning in the cake mix

And the finished result

These were quite expensive to make I used 2 boxes of cake mix from approved food 66p, 2 eggs 22p, 100g butter 18p, ready to roll coloured icing half a pack £1.40 so total for 9 cakes was £2.46 so 28p per cake. I made the star flowers for the cakes as this was a little beyond Brandon's abilities but he watched and instructed me along the way :)

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Cheap And Easy Macaroni Cheese

You can buy ready made macaroni cheese frozen or in packets starting at 85p and they usually only serve one person. I like to make my own for the boys and it is so much cheaper. I buy a pot of cheese sauce granules for around 80p a tub and a bag of pasta twists for 30p.

Boil half the bag of pasta twists for around 10 minutes. Whilst the pasta is boiling make up your cheese sauce I use half the tub of sauce and add boiling water until I have the desired consistency. There are instructions on the pack but I just do it blind. You can also use boiling milk instead of water if you prefer a creamier consistency. Once the pasta has boiled drain and mix well with your cheese sauce and there you have it quick, easy, and cheap macaroni cheese.

I served with 2 mini rustic rolls each

And I had 2 portions left over to go in the freezer for another day

Costing for this meal was 15p half a bag of pasta twists, 40p half a tub of cheese sauce granules, 15p 6 mini rustic rolls (yellow sticker reduction) total cost 70p and served the 3 boys so approx 23p per portion and I have 2 portions in the freezer.

I have made some more jewellery today to go in the etsy shop. I am hoping to get it all photographed and in the shop some time next week.

3 Bracelets I made and will be in the shop for £2.99 each

The 2 necklaces will be in the shop for £4.99 each and the bag charm is a end of year gift for one of the boys teachers thank you for the idea Dawn. Dawn rose makes some lovely jewellery and is currently making some beautiful bag charms as end of year gifts for teachers. You can view her gorgeous homemade items HERE

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx

NOTE= If you click on any of the pictures it should enlarge them so you can view them in more detail.

Frugal Tips For The Day

Morning all I have a couple of frugal tips I wish to share with you today.
Frugal tip one

Approved foods are offering 2 discount codes up until the 19th of May. Spend £25 and receive free shipping up to £5.25 the code for this is FREESHIP5JMDA3
They also have another code for £5 off a £25 shop the code for this is SAVE5JMDA3

The 2 codes can not be used in the same transaction I tried so you will have to work out which one will save you the most. For example if your shipping costs come to £5.25 or more you will be better of using the shipping code where as if your shipping costs come to less than £5 you will be better off using the save £5 code.

Approved foods is a wonderful site that sells food that is outside of its best before date or just about to go outside of it. I have used them a number of times now and the food is always of good quality and has never made us ill. Here is what approved foods have to say

"Approved Food is one of a small number of online retailers selling short-dated or out-of-date best before produce. Some of the goods sold might be past their best-before date.

We do not sell products that have use by dates. Consuming a product that has past the use by date can carry serious health risks. Best before is an estimate of how long a product will remain at optimal quality. There is no health problem buying and consuming beyond that date.

Half of consumers do not understand what best before labels actually mean. A third of people believe products past best before dates should not be eaten. They are wrong".

Frugal tip two

This tip was bought to my attention by Cass over at The diary of a frugal family thank you Cass.

The Daily Mail are offering a free family and friends rail card for 2 months from 31st May to 31st July. At the end of the free 2 months you will be offered the option of buying a full years railcard at a reduced rate of £20 instead of £30 so a saving of £10. The rail card offers discounted train travel with 60% off of children's fares and 1/3 off of adults fares. Other benefits include discounts on hotels, restaurants, days out, even holidays at haven. I have a railcard and it has more than paid for itself over the course of the year so I will definitely be taking part in this offer. Here is the link if you wish to take advantage of this great offer but hurry they are expecting high demand on this one.

Note= This is NOT a sponsored post I have shared this information because I believe in the offers and have used them myself. I have received nothing in return for this post and have not been approached by the companies to promote them.

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx 

A Tired But Good Day

Well today has been another smashing day here at Tilly towers. I woke up early ready to face the day with lots of energy despite not sleeping to well. I tidied up, ran the hoover round, saw to the animals, and put the washing away and by 11am all my jobs were done. I set about making some more jewellery and made 3 bracelets for my etsy shop using left over beads from other past projects. I want to use up all my supplies and get them in the shop before moving on to some new ideas I have been brewing. Ben has been off school again today and has been great company but he will be back to school tomorrow as it has now been 48 hours since he was last ill. By the time I finished the bracelets I was shattered. I think it all just caught up with me the 2 vertigo attacks I had yesterday (I had another one when I was trying to get to sleep) and the fact I was up and down in the night so I had a little nana nap. I woke up 2 hours later to the shopping being delivered which was good as we was running low on toilet roll and I cant leave the house when I am on my own in case of a vertigo attack (the Mr is at work till Saturday). I got a voucher for 10p off per liter of petrol at Tesco so I gave this to my friend who helps me with the school run. She was very happy with it saying it would save her quite a bit on fuel. This afternoon I have been catching up on the blogs I follow and doing a bit of knitting. I also had a look on the net for some ideas for homemade presents for men I have lots of ideas for the women and children in my life but am always stumped when it comes to the men. I found a few interesting things that I might have a go at but if any of you have any ideas of your own that you care to share please feel free all help is welcome. For dinner and continuing my theme of using up every thing I have in the house before doing my next big food shop we had cottage pie and mixed veg. The cottage pie was a yellow sticker reduction and cost £1.25, a third of a bag of frozen mixed veg was 25p so £1.50 and served 4 38p per serving and it was yummy and very filling.

Anyway I am off to do a little reading before having an early night

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Jewellery Making And A Bit Of Gardening

Today has been a very good day in spite of a rather nasty vertigo attack I had this afternoon. I have not had any attacks for a few days now which has been lovely but this one really knocked me off my feet. The morning got off to a good start with me waking well rested and full of energy. Ben informed me that he was feeling unwell so he had the day off school and will be off again tomorrow as his school has a 48 hour policy where illness is concerned. I got the other 2 boys off to school and made a start on my housework by 10.30am everything was done so I was able to get on with some of the jobs on my to do list. I checked on my mushrooms and the white film is starting to appear so I am hoping I will be able to take them out of the box by Thursday.

Here is my little mushroom growing kit in my towl cupboard

If you look carefully you can see the white film appearing

I also got 3 of my 6 maris piper tubers in to an egg box and on to the window sill ready to start sprouting so that I can get them planted. The other 3 tubers will be kept to plant when I have harvested the first crop.

My tubers in the egg box 

On the window sill in the sunshine ready for sprouting

I also planted 3 different types of tomato a sweetie, a yellow pear, and a tom thumb

I also made a cloche for when they start to pop their heads through I will need to make another 2 but they are so easy to make and best of all are free.

Take an old drink bottle and give it a good wash out

Take a pair of scissors and cut round about 2 thirds of the way down the bottle and you have a homemade cloche

I finally got around to spending a few hours jewellery making. I have been meaning to make some new stock for my etsy shop for some time but just have not got around to it today was the day. I made 2 pairs of earrings, 2 bracelets, and 2 necklaces and I hope to get a lot more done this week and get them in the shop soon.

They will be in the shop just as soon as my friend has done the professional looking photographs for me and prices start at just £1.99

Here is Kindy checking out the new rug I wonder how long it will be before this has a bald patch lol

And here is a beautiful pot plant the Mr bought for me today I am such a lucky girl :)

 Anyway this busy day has left me shattered that and the attack I had this afternoon so I am going to head to bed for a good nights sleep and hopefully tomorrow will be as good as today has been.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

A Welcome And A Giveaway

A quick welcome to my two new followers Sarah and Scarlet thank you both for joining me on my frugal journey. Also don't forget as soon as I have 10 followers I will be having a little giveaway as a small thank you for joining me on my frugal journey. All you have to do to become a follower is click on the link in the right hand side bar and follow the instructions it is very easy and only takes a minute or two.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

A Wonderful Weekend

Well we had a wonderful weekend on Saturday I got some housework done before heading over to Lee's for the night. We all went in to town together as I needed to pick up a few bits and bobs and then on the way back we took Brandon to play in the park for a little while. Lee and I watched a film whilst Brandon played on cbeebies on the computer and then we went to bed. Today has been another lovely day we decided to take a walk down to the pet shop so Brandon could see all the lovely animals plus I needed to get some cat food for baby. I got 2 x 12 pouches for £4 so saving me £1.20 on what I usually pay. Here are some pictures of our walk and the animals

Brandon modelling a postbox lol

Two of my favorite men

Brandon taking a rest by a patch of forget me knots

The cute bunny rabbits 

This giant rabbit was £75

Pretty fish

They are so relaxing to watch

Degu

Degu taking a rest from his exercise 

Hamster fast asleep

Bearded dragon

Ok stop taking my picture now lol

 We also popped in to Mcdonalds for lunch as a little treat for Brandon. He has not been there for many months now so he was really happy that we took him today. We also got a voucher with his happy meal to buy him an epic book from WHsmith for £1 so the next time we are in town we will go pick one up for him it is supposed to cost £4.99 so a saving of £3.99 not bad. I have a bald spot on my carpet where Kindy the rabbit chewed it and have been meaning to get a rug to cover it but me being frugal (or tight as some of my family would call me lol) did not really want to pay the prices most rugs are charged at so I waited till I found a good deal which was today. They had a lovely rug in B&M which matches my decor perfectly it was priced at £29.99 but there was a label on the shelf saying £9.99 so I asked an assistant to price check it for me and it was in fact £9.99 so I grabbed it.

Bald patch nibbled by our rabbit Kindy

Bald patch hidden thanks to my nice new bargain rug

I picked up this lovely vintage knitting bag for £3.99 from a charity shop the other week but kept forgetting to post a picture of it. I have wanted a proper knitting bag for some time but again was not willing to pay the prices charged so when I saw this I snapped it up and the colours are stunning.

And this is what we arrived home to its a hard life being a cat lol

Hope you all had a good weekend to.
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx