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Friday 26 December 2014

Merry Christmas

Hello readers I hope you have all had a wonderful day with your loved ones. Yesterday we didn't do much here at Tilly Towers to be honest. We spent the day watching Xmas movies and doing Xmas crafts. Normally on Xmas eve I can be found running round like a headless chicken getting all those last minute things taken care of. This year however I was super organised and had everything sorted well in time for Xmas. It has allowed me to have a lovely relaxed few days with my little family.


The boys woke us up at 6.30am very excited that Santa had been and wanted myself and Lee to get up so they could open their presents. It was lovely watching their little faces light up when they realised they had got something they really wanted. I have pictures but they are on Lee's phone and he went back home tonight as he is back to work tomorrow so I will have to do a post and share them with you next time he is over.


Lee's mum arrived at 11am it was so nice to share our special day with her. I won't go too much into detail as it is a private family matter but as mentioned before Lee's mum has dementia and since I last saw her a few months ago she has really gone down hill which was very sad to see. Nonetheless it was lovely to have her here for the day and my boys think a lot of her too so they were happy to have her here to.


We had our Xmas dinner around 2pm with our crackers and a glass of non alcoholic wine each and was stuffed. I cooked enough to feed a small army and we had to wait a good 2 hours before any of us was ready for pudding lol.


Lee and his mum went home about 6pm and the boys and I watched the Dr who Xmas special (my house is overrun with whovanians lol). I then had a nana nap on the sofa while the boys played with their new toys and watched Xmas television.


When I woke up I got the boys ready and off to bed everyone was pretty tired after a busy day. I have tidied up, hovered, put some washing on, and done the washing up. We are now all ready for our Xmas day number 2 tomorrow.


My mum, step dad, and Nan are coming down for the day where we will exchange gifts and have a nice buffet lunch. When I finish this post I will be getting myself off to bed ready to start all over again in the morning.


Here are the only couple of pictures I got on the kindle this morning.....




I hope you have all had as wonderful a day as we have surrounded by those you love. Enjoy the rest of your Xmas everyone.

Much Love
All of us here at Tilly Towers xx xx xx


Sunday 21 December 2014

Frugal Xmas Dinner For 6 Under £15 Total

Hello readers I have been having a nose around on the internet at frugal Xmas dinners and was shocked to learn that a 3 course Xmas Dinner for £40 for a family of four is considered frugal so decided to share our Xmas menu with you all and the pricing.

Starter
Cream cheese and Brussels pate served with salad and French toast

Cream cheese (Morrison's savers) 49p
Brussels pate £1
Bag of mixed salad (Tesco everyday value) 80p
Few slices of brown bread made into French toast (yellow sticker) 5p

Total £2.34


Main course
Roast turkey with all the trimmings

Large ready stuffed turkey (it serves 12 so half will be used Xmas day and the other half will be served boxing day when my family come to visit cost £10 for the whole joint) £5
Bag of roast potatoes (Tesco everyday value) 75p
Bag of Yorkshire puddings (Tesco everyday value) 49p
Brussel sprouts (Tesco) 49p
Pigs in blankets (I got these on a 3 for 2 offer when buying some party food for boxing day from Tesco) 0p
Bag of mixed veg including peas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower (Tesco everyday value) £1
Gravy (Morrison's savers) 15p

Total £7.88


Dessert
Double chocolate gateux with home made ice cream

Double chocolate gateux (Tesco) £2
Birds ice cream powder (approved foods) 10p
1 litre of full fat milk (Tesco)  44p

Total £2.54

And to top it all off a box of 8 crackers (poundland) £1

Total spent £13.76

Did I mention that's for a family of 6. 4 Adults and 2 children (we are having Lee's mum over for Xmas day). I realize that a lot of it is ready made or frozen but in my eyes that works better in a few ways 1. less time cooking more time to spend with my family 2. more pennies in my pocket.


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Saturday 20 December 2014

Holidays And Clever Boys

Hello readers what an expensive few weeks it's been for me here at Tilly Tower's. Not only have I had Xmas to pay out for I've also had a holiday to pay off. We are going to Cyprus in February for 2 weeks that's not very frugal I hear you say but let me state my case. We are not a family who goes on holiday every year in fact it's been a good 3 or 4 years since we went on holiday and that was a 4 night uk caravan holiday that cost us £50 thanks to the sun newspaper. We have had sooooo much to deal with this year what with my health problems, Brandons school problems, Lee's work problems, Lee's mum's health (she has dementia), and Lee being dupped out of a rather large amount of money thanks to one of those PPI scams that I figured to hell with it as a family we deserve a bloody good holiday somewhere warm this year. Of course being the frugalista I am I wanted to do this in the cheapest way possible and when I saw an ad on one of the fb pages for a holiday apartment in Cyprus being let by a local lady I decided to do some research. I had a look at the ad and worked out the cheapest time to go was February and the 2 weeks we wanted would come to a total of £405. I then sent the person who originally posted the ad on fb a message asking if we booked through her privately whether she could give us a reduction as she would not have any website fees to pay by booking with her directly and was pleasantly surprised when I got a message back saying that we could have the 2 weeks we wanted for £325 and that included the cost of changing the towels and bedding before our arrival. I was delighted with this but decided to try my luck a little further and asked if I could wash the towels and bedding myself on our arrival (there is a washing machine in the apartment) instead of paying the £55 it costs to have this done for you. I was doing a little happy dance when she got back to me saying that was fine with her and if I wanted those 2 weeks it would cost me £270 with no towels and bedding being changed. Myself and Lee went halves on this so it cost me personally £135 for our accommodation.

Before securing the accommodation I had a look at flights as I know during school holidays the cost is often double or even more and I was right. For the 5 of us it would cost £1600 for flights (not a chance). I dabbled with the dates a little and found that if we left the uk 3 days before the start of the school holidays and returned 3 days after the school holidays it would cost us £750 a saving of over 50%. I had a word with brad and ben's schools to see if they would ok the extra 6 days off school and was told as they have a good attendance rate and are both doing exceptionally well in school and neither one of them has any exams due anytime soon that it would be perfectly ok. This is why we decided on 2 weeks instead of one as it worked out substantially cheaper to have the extra week (go figure). I should mention I have not yet booked the flights as we are hoping to get them even cheaper by booking them just a few weeks in advance as I have heard airlines often sell off the last few seats cheaply just to fill the plane. I will be booking the flights in a few weeks and will let you know how we get on with this and what we end up paying but for now I will work with the figure I have of £750. With Lee paying for his own flight fare I personally will be paying £550 for myself and the 3 boys flights.

As yet I have not taken out any travel insurance I will be looking into this over the next few weeks to try and secure the best deal. I have to be honest readers this is the part I am dreading the most. With all my health issues I am concerned the cost will go through the roof that's if I can even find someone willing to insure me arghhhh. Will let you know how I get on with this.

So far total cost for 2 adults and 2 children (brad is now classed as an adult) to spend 2 weeks in the sun £685 minus travel insurance not to bad if you ask me :)

Earlier I mentioned that both Brad and Ben are doing incredibly well at school well look what they bought home from school with them on Friday....


Brads achievement award for all his hard work


Ben's school report (if you click on the image you will be able to see it better)


I am soooooo incredibly proud of all 3 of my boys. They have so much to deal with in their lives and yet they can still achieve results like this.


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Thursday 18 December 2014

Xmas Time

Hello readers I'm back lol. Lee has had the past month off work that plus the usual health problems have kept me busy and away from blogging but I'm back now. I'm glad to say my health is slowly improving for the time being at least. I have been referred to a liver specialist and will have an appointment sometime in the next 14 weeks. I have some lovely pictures to share with you all of a trip out we had with the bestie and God daughter but I need to upload them all from my phone first. It was a real christmassy day and Brandon got to see Santa. Yesterday I went to watch an awards ceremony at my God daughters school. She won 3 awards since starting in September I am so incredibly proud of her.

Is everyone ready for Xmas next week ? We are all done now. The house has been decorated, all the presents have been bought and wrapped, all the cards have been written and sent, and all the food has been bought. I have dug out all the Xmas films, books, and CDs and we are now just enjoying ourselves before the big day arrives. This is the first year I have been this organised usually I can be found wrapping Xmas presents at midnight on Xmas eve lol.

How are you all getting on are you all ready for the big day ?

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Thursday 27 November 2014

Health Issues

Hello readers how are you all ? I have been very unwell with my stomach/liver problems. I have made several trips to the doctors over the past few weeks with the most horrific abdominal pain. I have been bed ridden for the last week or two and had to hand over the running of the house and children to Lee who thankfully had some holiday owing that needed to be used up. Today is the first day I have been up and about and feeling more like myself and my ocd kicked in getting the house just how I like it. There really wasn't that much to do as Lee had done an amazing job keeping things ticking over in my absence. I really am very lucky to have him. He didn't have to help like he did after all he doesn't live here and he is not the boys biological father yet he did and what an amazing job he did. If you are reading this my love I am very thankful to have you in my life. So what is the verdict ? Well as it stands I have been put on 4 new medications for my liver. That's on top of my usual MD medications. I'm surprised I don't rattle when I walk lol. I have also been referred to a gastroenterologist as an emergency who will hopefully be able to give me some proper answers as to what on earth is going on in there. It has been a week since the referral was made and I still have not heard anything so I am going to wait till Monday and call the doctors to find out what is happening. Until Monday it's very much a case of wait and see. Anyway better get off sausage hotpot for tea tonight with chocolate Swiss roll and custard for pud yum yum yum.


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Saturday 15 November 2014

Pain

Hello readers I'm still in pain here at Tilly Towers so the children in need plan has not gone ahead today either. I won't beat myself up to much as both boys made good donations at school and Brandon and I made a good donation whilst watching it on tv last night. Here is my little pudsey dressed for the occasion.


We got this pudsey onesie from a children's hospice charity shop for just under £5. 


This has been my set up for today. The kindle to read and watch films, my phones so brad could keep in contact on his day out, medications to try and take the edge off the pain, and my beautiful baby who never leaves my side when I am ill.


So what does one get up to when confined to her bed ? I have made 3 of these cute little pandora style charm bracelets to give as Xmas presents.


I finished my granddads scarf and have now moved on to my dad's. I have another 6 to make after this one.

I am thinking of having a stall at Bens school Xmas fete where I will sell my handmade scarves, teacup candles, and Pandora style bracelets. What do you think would be a fair price to ask for each of my products ? I'm a bit rubbish when it comes to pricing I'm often told I don't charge enough. I was thinking £5.99 for the scarves, £4.99 for the teacup candles, and £5.99 for the Pandora style bracelets. What do you think ?

Ok well I have managed to wobble down the stairs to watch a film with Lee whilst doing some more knitting so will bid you all goodnight.


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Money, Money, Money


Hello readers I've had an eventful few days here at Tilly Towers. On Monday I was able to make final payment on another one of my debts and make over payments on another two of my debts.
On Tuesday I had a very pleasant surprise when I checked my bank account and there had been a payment of £402 into my account. The company was unknown to me so I did some digging to check it had not been some sort of mistake. After googling the company I learned it was the legal department of a pay day loan company I had used in the past. After ringing the company it transpires that due to a recent court ruling against the payday company I was due some of the interest I had paid back and this is what the £402 pounds was.

NOTE if you are considering taking out a payday loan please reconsider it has taken me a long time and many payments to clear this debt. I realize it seems like a quick fix at the time but long term it can have a real negative effect on your finances. The interest they charge is astronomical and it is the main reason it has taken me so long to clear this debt.

Anyway that cleared up I was £402 better off than I thought I was :)
I treated myself, Lee, and Brandon to lunch out. I picked up a new winter coat for Ben reduced from £45 to £20. I also picked up a few Xmas presents to put away. We made a donation to children in need and the remaining money will be used as over payments towards debt.

On Wednesday we had home education group. Our current topic is animals and this week we were lucky enough to be given a talk on dog safety which both Brandon and I both found very interesting and asked lots of questions. We also did some animal collage pictures.


This is how we do home ed here at Tilly Towers lol. This is Lee working on the 6 times table with Brandon before getting ready for home ed group.


This is Brandons animal collage he did at home ed on Wednesday. The art easel was bought from Lee's cousin for just £5 and has a chalk board on one side and a white board with clips for doing painting on the other. It also has a little shelf in the middle for storing materials. I managed to pick up a set of dry marker pens, and some chalk with a board rubber for just £2 in poundland so just £7 for the entire set up and it will come in real handy for homeschool.


For the past few days my liver has been playing up again and last night and today I have barely been able to walk with the pain so I gave in and agreed to go to the doctors again. I saw a very nice female doctor who could see I was in a LOT of pain (I think the screaming from outside her door and the fact I almost collapsed with the pain kind of gave it away lol). She has given me two new medications for the pain and I have to go back on Tuesday for more blood tests. I then have to see my own gp on the 2nd December to get the results and be referred for the camera down the throat. The current belief is I may have stones in my liver something I've never heard of until today. Today was supposed to be a fun day with Brandon dressed as pudsey and making pudsey cakes to sell to raise money for children in need. The hope is that these tablets will bring enough relief that we can fulfil today's activities tomorrow instead. Anyway off to bed for some much needed sleep.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Remember

They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them nor the years condem
At the going down of the Sun and in the morning
We will remember them



Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Monday 10 November 2014

Weekend Happenings

Hello readers sorry I've not been about for a few days but lee had a few days off and then my blooming internet stopped working. We have been internet free for a few days and I thought it would be nice and give us a chance to spend some family time together. Blooming heck how wrong was I ? It's been a war zone constant arguments between the boys and all because they are "bored". I did a little happy dance this morning when I realized we were back online hopefully now they will be less "bored" and stop trying to kill each other lol.

Over the last few days I have managed to get some work done on a few unfinished projects. I finished another snoode style scarf, got some more of Brandons sock monkey done, and have started a Xmas scarf for my granddad. My candle making wax and wicks have arrived so I hope to get on with my teacup candles some time this week.

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to whilst we have been away.....



Brandon bought this teddy out of his homeschool earnings from a charity shop for £2 and has asked if you would all kindly make suggestions on what to name him. He has that many teddies I think he has run out of names lol.


The fun fair at the fireworks display on Friday evening.


They each had £3 which got them 2 rides each.


I bought a family ticket which let 2 adults and 2 children in for £12 and a single adult ticket for Lee for £4. Lee bought food for everyone from the bbq that was there.


It was a stunning display and well worth the price we paid which I felt was very reasonable.






On Friday night I had my God daughter for a girly sleep over. We made yummy cupcakes.


I gave her a manicure complete with flowery nail art.


Put her hair in mini plaits to sleep in.


This is the back. It took ages but was sooooo worth it in the morning.


How pretty did her hair turn out ?


And because he didn't want to feel left out Brandon had his nails done to lol.


All in all we had a very nice weekend :)
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Wednesday 5 November 2014

The Frugalista Hits The Shops

Hello readers how are we all today ? Good I hope I have a confession to make ..... I have had a bit of a shopping spree today or at least that's how it feels lol. Don't worry I've not spent hundreds of pounds or anything close but for what I got you would think I had spent a hell of a lot more than I have. Here is what we have been up to today.....




We had lunch out as a treat


Brandon had tea and toast £2.20


I had a mini breakfast (mini by gum I couldn't finish it all) and a can of Pepsi £4.30


We did some art rubbings on our way to the post office


We had to post the custom made scarf I had been working on


A trip to the park to play in the leaves


Now I know I'm biased but is he not the cutest


He loves the sounds they make under his wellies


Kicking piles of leaves is such fun


Woo Hoo look at me mum


We had a look in my favourite charity shop and got a few goodies in their sale. This awesome onesie for my awesome Ben was just 50p.


This lovely warm fleece 50p


Check out the brand


This lovely gillett for Brandon 50p


And a nice warm winter coat 50p. I also got a next t-shirt for Ben and a pair of school trousers again 50p each.


As I was to ill to take the boys trick or treating this year I promised them a little Halloween party this week to make up for it. All these items were reduced the cake toppers were 50p, the haribo cakes 25p, and the kiplings cakes 25p per pack.


I found this lovely crafting material for £1.99 a meter. The plan is to make notebook covers and give some pretty covered notebooks as Xmas gifts. The good quality notebook was £2 and one meter of fabric should do 2 notebooks so it will work out £3 a gift.


As part of Brandons art work and to tie in with Xmas Brandon wants to make some funky pens to give as Xmas gifts. We picked up some pens, feathers, pom poms, and I already had the goggly eyes so total spent £3.75 and will make 5 funky pen gifts so works out 75p a gift.


I got this lovely Teddy cross stitch set that I'm going to make for my God daughter as a Xmas gift. I'm going to add her name and frame it so she can hang it in her room. Cost £1 and I will pick up a frame from poundland.


So as you can see we have had a busy day but how much did we spend.....
Transport £0 we used our legs
Lunch £6.50 for the 2 of us
Clothes £3 charity shop sale
Park and art £0
Halloween supplies £1.25
Notebook making supplies £5.98
Funky pen materials £3.75
Teddy cross stitch £1

Total cost £21.48 Not bad for a major shopping splurge and lunch out for 2 hey ?


Lee is over for a few days tonight so there may or may not be a post tomorrow as I want to spend some quality time with him. On Friday we are all going to a fireworks display at Ben's school and we have invited my best friend and God daughter to come along with us. After the display my God daughter will be coming home with us for a girly night with her second mummy :)

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

P.s thank you to the lovely Kate for sharing my post about my God daughter collecting the free McDonald's coffee cards to give out to the homeless which can be found here .....
you are very kind xxx





















Tuesday 4 November 2014

Fellow Bloggers I Need Your Help


Hello readers this is my beautiful God daughter whom I love as if she was my own. She came to me today to ask for my help. She is collecting the McDonald's free coffee cards to give out to the homeless so that they can have a hot drink in this horrible cold weather. I think this is a lovely selfless act by a wonderful little girl and I want to help her in any way I can. The way it works is every time you buy a coffee from McDonald's you get a stamp on the card when you have enough stamps you trade the card in for a coffee. Now I'm not asking you all to rush out to McDonald's and buy coffee that would be absurd. What I am asking is if you happen to buy coffee from McDonald's and have a fully stamped card if you would consider sending it to me for my God daughter to give to someone less fortunate than ourselves. For the cost of a second class stamp you can help this little girl to help others. I would also ask my fellow bloggers if they would mind sharing this post on their own blogs so that we can spread the word a little further and really help this little girl with her worthy cause. Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to read this post I really hope it helps her achieve her goal.


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

When Its Cold Outside

Hello readers brrrrrr its cold here at Tilly Towers but we still have not given in and put the heating on yet. Instead we wrap up well with snuggly nightgowns and thick bed socks with slippers. The electric blankets are back on the beds and our extra duvets are at the ready should we need them. I have a policy in my house no heating on unless there is ice outside lol. If it is really really cold we close the curtains, shut the living room door, put the draught excluder down, and put the little electric fire on for an hour. An hour is all it takes to heat up our front room and providing the door is kept shut the heat lasts us the rest of the evening.

It was back to school today and as suspected Brandon did not take to well to the change. They have been on holiday for almost 2 weeks now and he had settled in to his get up late do as I please routine. The mummy waking you up at 8am and no tv or kindle till after school work is done routine was not greatly appreciated today lol. I anticipated this however and am easing him back into it slowly. I think by the end of the week he will be back in the swing of things. Tomorrow we are visiting with a friend of mine who is an extremely talented artist and photographer. She also has chickens, an albino iguana, and 3 Bengal cats. Kelly will be doing some art work with Brandon on his current topic of animals. He will also get to tend to the animals and collect eggs from the chickens for our lunch. In return I am giving her a newspaper that she needs as she is in the paper and her mum would like a copy and one of my knitted snoode scarfs to keep her nice and snug.

So my tips for when it's cold outside.....


Pop on some fluffy bed socks and slippers


Break out a board game


Grab yourself a homemade malteser cupcake


And enjoy a steaming cup of hot chocolate complete with cream and marshmallows


What do you do when it's cold outside to beat those winter blues ?

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx