The cinema and a surprise visit

Hello readers how are we all this fine summer's day ? Now I don't want to tempt fate but for the last 3 days I have been getting around without my stick. I'm a little bit wobbly but I'm managing :)

We did not go to Frankie and Benny's (or as I like to call it Ben and Jerry's lol) in the end. I am a little bit short on funds this week what with having 2 camps to pay for. I explained to the boys and they were great about it. We will go in a few weeks when Brad gets back from camping as the 20% off voucher I have does not expire until the end of August.

Today we went to the cinema myself, Brad, Ben, Brandon, and Brads best friend T. How much would you expect to pay for transportation, cinema tickets, and food and drink for 3 adults and 2 children these days ? I did some calculations and this is what it should have cost.....

Transportation £19.80 in bus fairs
Cinema tickets £40.75
Food and drink £20
So a total of £80.55 omg no where near what I paid. Here's what I paid and how.....

Transportation £8.90 used the train with my friends and family travel card
Cinema tickets £10 T, Brad, and Brandon got in free due to there disabilities and Tuesday's is cheap day so £5 for Ben and £5 for me
Food and drink £0 I took food and drink from home
So a total of £18.90 for the 5 of us and a saving of £61.65

I got given a lovely box of chocolates from T and his mum for having him for the day which I thought was a lovely thing to do and I was very touched by the gesture.


Yesterday I had a surprise visit from my sister Leanne and her fiancee Carina (yes they are a gay couple and I couldn't care less I love them both infinitely). It was so good to see them both as well as being my sister she is my best friend and I hate being so far away from her (I live in Wiltshire and Leanne lives in London). We took the boys to the library to sign up for this year's summer reading challenge the mystical maze. They chose their books and a couple of DVDS and then we popped to Morrison's to get some ice creams to eat in the park on the way home. £1 for a box of 4 mint ice cream cones so 25p each. Brandon has already read his 3 books so we will be going back to the library on Thursday to get his first prize and get some new books.


Anyway better get on. I have to help Brad pack for his 10 day camping trip which he is going on tomorrow. It's sure going to be quiet around here without him.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

School Holidays and a 16th birthday

Hello readers as you can probably tell from my absence the last few days all 3 of my boys are now on summer holidays. As a result my blogging may be a little sporadic as I intend to spend every spare minute enjoying their company and doing as many frugal activities with them as possible.

Friday was Brads 16th birthday he had a smashing day and loved all of his presents.....

 

I used newspaper as wrapping paper and used a black and green ribbon to coordinate with the newspaper I think it looks pretty good.

 

 

The fun part is always the unwrapping

 

A kindle fire HD (on offer in Tesco at the moment for £99.99 plus you can double your club card points in the club card boost promotion and use theses towards the cost).

 

Lynx shower gel and deodorant XL packs and on offer in Tesco 2 for £6. He usually has the value brands so this is a real treat for him.

 

A kindle case reduced to £2.50 in Tesco

 

5 pairs of value socks £2.50, and a shirt reduced from £16 to £7 in the sale.

 

A huge box of maltesers £3.25

 

 

Opening his birthday cards

 

 

 

Brad spent half the day with me and Lee and the rest of the weekend with his dad and step mum. He is due home tomorrow when I will be taking him for a belated birthday meal to Frankie and Benny's (Brads choice). I have a 20% off voucher which will keep costs down. On Tuesday he will be going to the cinema with a few friends. Tuesdays is cheap day at £5 a ticket so I have said I will give him £20 for him and his 3 friends tickets, they all have free bus passes due to their autism, and Brad will be using some of his birthday money for snacks and drinks for him and his friends.

 

 

 

 

Today I went yellow sticker shopping (sorry no picture but the boys have their kindles with them so I am without a camera). Here's what I got.....

 

6 x Boxes of 2 chocolate éclairs 9p a box

2 x Melon duo snack packs 9p a box

Pack of 2 fresh cream doughnuts 9p

2 x Boxes of 6 mini buns 9p a box

3 x Chicken and bacon baguettes 39p each

3 x Apple snack packs 5p a bag

2 x Packs of quorn ham 9p a pack

3 x Prawn sandwiches 19p each

1 Tuna and cucumber sandwich 25p

2 x Small loafs of bakery bread 9p a loaf

 

In total I paid £2.64 for this little lot thanks to a saving of 85p in pre promotions on top of the yellow sticker reductions :)

 

 

How do you deal with birthdays on a budget ?

 

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx

 

 

 



 

A bang to the head and a trip to hospital

Hello readers sorry I have not been about the last few days. On Monday night I had a fall in the bathroom and cracked the back of my head on the side of the bath. I blacked out for a few seconds but came to when Brad came in calling "mum mum are you ok". I got up with Brads help and made it to my bed. I had a terrible migraine and felt a bit nauseous but fell asleep ok. When I woke up Tuesday morning I still had the migraine and felt nauseous and quite shaky but plodded on with the day. Come Tuesday evening my vision had gone funny it was like looking through a kaleidoscope in certain areas of my left eye. I decided to call the NHS helpline and get some advice. Whilst on the phone to them the left side of my face and my left hand and forearm went numb and tingling. The NHS worker was taking no chances and called for an ambulance. The ambulance arrived quickly and assessed me at home and decided it was best to take me in. So it was off to the RUH in Bath to get checked out. I had some tests done and a CT scan and all came back clear. The doctor said I had a mild concussion and a migraine due to the fall and that it had exacerbated my MD symptoms. I was sent home at 2am and told to take paracetamol and rest and to make an earlier appointment with my MD specialist (I usually see him every 3 months).

I was going to tell you all about my blackberry mid morning snack and our yummy dinner as well on Tuesdays post.....

Tuesday's mid morning snack from the bush at the end of the garden

Presents for the boys school teachers cost £1 per teacher for the milktray. I made the vase of flowers and used flowers from my garden

Tuesday's dinner of scotch pie and potato slices cost 24p a plate

Today I felt a lot better and a friend of mine told me about Aldi selling full school uniforms for £4. Well I wasn't about to let that offer pass me by and I knew at those prices it would fly out the door and I would end up missing out so it was straight off to Aldi`s. Sure enough when we got there there was a huge crowd round the school uniform. I managed to get the boys the following.....

Ben

3x Navy jumpers £1.25 each

3x 2pack of white polo shirts £ 1.25 each pack

3x Black school trousers £1·50 a pair

Pair of black school shoes £6·99

Pair of black daps £1·49

Pair of jogging bottoms £2·99 

Brandon

Exactly the same as Ben

Total cost for both boys £46·94 and all I have left to get is a school bag each, a pencil case and pencil set each which I will pick up from poundland next time I'm in town. I had budgeted £150 for school uniforms and school stuff but thanks to Aldi`s promotion I will have ended up paying a third of that.

If you need school uniforms I suggest you pay Aldi a visit quick smart before they sell out because at those prices it won't be around for long.

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx

Cooling off in the garden

Hello readers it's been another hot day here at Tilly Towers. I have spent most of the day in shorts and a bra lol (sorry if that's TMI). I've never been very good with the heat even as a child. I have felt quite unwell today nothing MD related just this heat affecting me. I am now sat on my patio on my garden swing enjoying the cool breeze as I write this post on the kindle. 

Brad has finished school till September so I have a few days on my own with him before the youngest 2 munchkins break up which is nice. He is 16 on Friday which is super scary. It only feels like yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital. I still have his cards and presents to get but know what I'm getting so will do it later in the week when the Mr is over and can distract Brad for me.

We had meatballs and spaghetti for tea tonight here's the costings and a pic.

25 Fresh meatballs 33p (yellow sticker and a pre yellow sticker promotion)
2 Jars of value pasta sauce 78p
Half a pack of value spaghetti 10p
50g Of cheese to top 50p

Total £1.71 and served 5 so 34p a plate

I think I'm going to do some more knitting whilst it's nice and cool out here. I have made 4 snoode style scarfs so far for Xmas this year and have started my fifth.

Have you started your Xmas preparations yet or am I just being super organised ?


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

This weeks meal plan and shopping list

Meal plan

Monday= Meatballs and spaghetti

Tuesday= Scotch pie and potato slices

Wednesday= Fish pie and vegetables

Thursday= Omelette

Friday= Hotdogs

Saturday= Egg, sausage, and potato slices

Sunday= Roast chicken, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, roast potatoes, vegetables, and gravy


This weeks shopping list
15 Yorkshire puddings
2x Tinned garden peas
2x Tinned carrots
Tin of sweet corn
Packet of instant mash
Cornflakes
4 Pints of milk
Chicken roll
6 Apple's
7 bananas
4x Fruit yogurts
3x Cookies
3x Chocolate digestive
6x toilet rolls
Mouthwash
Washing liquid
2x Wet wipes
Tin of cat food
Box of cat biscuits
2x Cat milk
Bag of frozen prawns
12x Fairy cakes
8x Mint ice cream cones
Jar of chocolate spread


Total was £21.47 I had a voucher for £1·50 off a £20 shop so I ended up paying £19·97 for this week's shop. I may do a few yellow sticker shops this week but we will see.


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Numbers And Meatloaf

Hello readers how are we all today ? How are you all coping with the thunder storms. They don't really bother me being almost completely deaf but I know a few of my friends are having trouble getting a good night's sleep at the moment.

Today I have been working on and updating my lists. I have the following lists which I go through and update occasionally.....

List of debts
Monthly list of outgoings (aka The Budget)
A financial to do list
A general to do list
A list of crafting ideas for my Xmas stall (and the fb selling page I hope to set up)
A list of daily chores

As you can see I'm obsessed with lists lol. They do seem to keep me focused and on track though. Here is my current list of debts.....

Catalogues £1145
Pawn shop £300
Overdraft £2700
Solicitor £410
Personal credit £1260

Total in debts £5815 now
Total in debts at the start of my debt free journey £10577


So a total of £4762 has been paid off not quite as much as I would have liked but at least the figure is going down and not still rising. I aim to post a debt list every 3 months here from now on to keep better track of how much is being paid and how quickly or slowly the balance is decreasing. I will post my monthly budget later in the week.


For tea tonight we had meatloaf, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, peas, carrots, and gravy. Here are the costings.....

2 meatloafs 38p (yellow sticker)
Half a bag of frozen roast potatoes 50p
8 Yorkshire puddings 27p
Stuffing 20p
Peas and carrots 9p (yellow sticker)
Gravy 10p

Total £1.54 and served 4 of us so 39p per plate

For dessert we had melon and grape snack packs which cost me nothing. I got them on yellow sticker at 5p a bag and there was a promotion on them of buy 4 get 20p off so they worked out cost negative. When I worked out I had got them for free I went back in the store and bought all they had and ended up with 24 bags of melon and grapes for free plus I got a box of coconut, a pineapple raspberry snack pack, and a box of watermelon for 14p due to another fruit promotion. The woman serving me nearly fell off her chair when she put through the 3 fruit boxes and 20 fruit bags and had to charge me just 14p lol :)

How has your weekend been ? Have you been up to anything nice ?


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Ten Ideas To Keep The Kids Entertained On A Wet Day

Hello readers how are all my UK readers getting on with this thunder, lightening, and rain. I am almost completely deaf so the thunder does not really bother me, I find the lightening fascinating and pretty to watch, and as for the rain dampening our spirits no chance of that happening at Tilly Towers. I thought I would share my top ten tips for keeping the kids entertained whilst being stuck in the house today.

1) Have a movie day. Make a bowl of homemade popcorn and chill out with the little people in your life. I am lucky enough to get free DVDS to borrow from the library but you can also pick up DVDS and VHS videos for as little as 20p in the charity shops. I got loads of old VHS videos for the kids from one of the free sites on Facebook.

2) Play board games together. The boys get a board game each for Xmas. Over the years we have built up quite a collection so there is always something for us to play that will please everyone. Also keep your eyes open for cheap games in charity shops and on the selling pages of Facebook. I also have an adults game compendium which has chess, cards, backgammon, bridge etc. It is a very good quality set made of wood and felt. It was brand new never been opened from a charity shop and I paid just £5 for it and it has given us hours of entertainment.

3) Family games on the Xbox. We have had the same Xbox 360 for about 3 years now we also have a ps2. You won't find any of the latest games consoles in this house lol. The Xbox 360 was a Xmas gift to Brad and Ben from their dad and the ps2 was bought for £20 second hand by my sister for the boys. The good thing about having an older games console is you can pick up second hand games for pennies. We have a few games where you can play 4 players so the whole family can get involved. Our favourite is who wants to be a millionaire and as well as it being fun it is also educational.

4) Build a den. Turn your sofas back to back or position the dinning chairs to create a square. Throw some large sheets over the chairs from your linen closet and you have a den. With a little imagination you can get hours of fun out of this. You can play castles, dungeons and dragons, pretend camping the list is endless.

5) Have a teddy bears picnic. Throw a blanket on the living room floor bring all your teddy bears down to join in. Have a picnic lunch in the living room with all your bear friends. If like Brandon your little one likes teddies they will love this idea.

6) Crafts. I have a cupboard full of crafting activities for the kids things such as mask painting, decorate your own egg, make a stain glass mobile. All of these were very cheap from shops such as b and m or poundland. I also have paper, paint, paint brushes, pens, pencils, and crayons.

7) Jigsaws. Again these can be picked up really cheap from charity shops and come in various abilities. Hours of family fun in a box.

8) Play hide and seek. Free fun for the whole family. There are lots of places to hide in the house and the kids will have great fun searching for everyone. My boys usually give themselves away by giggling when they hide lol.

9) Baking. Make some cakes together. Ingredients are cheap enough and you get to eat the end product. My kids love licking the cake batter from the bowl once the cakes have gone in the oven.

10) Loom banding. Our new favourite and hours of fun. You don't need an expensive set either I got my loom board, hook, catches, plus 100 bands for £1 from poundland and you can get bags of 300 bands for £1 making this a fun frugal activity that will give hours of entertainment.

Hope this gives some of you some ideas for this wet Saturday.

What do you do to keep the little ones entertained in bad weather ?


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx