Tuesday

I am trying to address my spending, I have made a spreadsheet that I plan on filling in each time I spend something. That way I can account for every penny that comes out of my bank in the next month. I am doing this so that I can see where money goes and then work out where I can cut back.
You can see where I have scrawled today's car park fee (dental appointment) and I have ordered our farm veg delivery for this week.

How do you track you spending, if you do?


Also this evening I have been exploring this;

 

I won this book in a giveaway over on Hannah's blog. I can't decide which recipe to try first, the recipe Hannah blogged about which made me enter the giveaway- homemade white chocolate spread or one of these 2;

 

 

Both desserts- my sweet tooth is really showing! I am also loving these as I am planning on giving up chocolate for lent again I will definitely need to find something else to support my sweet tooth!

 

I am loving this book, not only does it have gorgeous looking recipes it also tells you about the history of how vanilla came to be in so many everyday recipes, the processes that different forms of vanilla go through. I love to learn facts such as these so I am sure this book is going to occupy me for many hours!!

I am going to go and enjoy a few more pages while I continue with this;

 

 

 

End of January round up

I'm plodding through my aims for 2013. I am beginning to see the benefits. I am quite excited as to how the year will pan out as I progress and my home comes together more.

to finish decorating/ making our home our own I have almost finished decluttering the kitchen- just the shelves to go before I can start painting. I am hoping to get the ceiling painted next weekend.

to save for the future I have continued to send money across each week into my savings for a treat I am trying to save for. I am also adding weekly to my sealed pot, which is filling up nicely even if it is still not sealed. My purse is emptied into the pot each weekend.

to enjoy more family fitness
this weekend Stephanie has had her swimming lesson before going to her Dad's, on Saturday Dylan and I went to the gym where I ran/walked 5k and cycled 5k and today Dylan and I went swimming together where we both swam 1k. 

frugal- I want to make what we have go further I did our first approved food shop this week, and then have popped to Asda and Morrisons to get the tin tomatoes, beans, pasta etc I needed to stock up the store cupboard ready for the months dinners etc.

to fix things- I have lots of things around the house that need mending/ altering that I haven't got around to doing. I have fixed a dress I put on to go to work in as when I put it on I discovered that a seam had come undone a little.

to finish things, I have several craft projects started 2013 is the year to finish things off. I haven't done very much on the cross stitch this week, I have knitted a couple of scarves and I have began crocheting the blanket Stephanie first asked me for last year (doesn't count as a new project if it was requested last year does it?) thank you to Mum and compost woman for your help the other day I have managed o get the square going now- I'm on my 4th time around.

How are any aims you set for the year coming along?

To inifinity and beyond!!

Tonight I went to a stargazing event that was held at a leisure centre locally. I was supposed to be going with Stephanie, by sister and niece. However when I picked up Stephanie after school last night she asked if she could go to her Dad's this weekend. So a quick phone call to check if he had plans or she could go meant it was just me, my sister and niece that went.
It was a very interesting evening, looking at the constellations in the planetarium and talking to the man in there has led me to believe that the 'star' Stephanie and I have spotted recently, which Stephanie calls 'the Nanny star' as it's the brightest in the sky is actually a planet! Jupiter to be exact. LOL. I must confess that I am glad Stephanie didn't hear that as she may be a little upset that it may not be her nannies watching her. i may see if we can spot it again another day and try our little telescope to look at it.
It's a shame it was so rainy tonight as there were people there with BIG telescopes they were letting us look through but as it was so cloudy we didn't see anything- typical!
Still we spoke to some very knowledgeable people and I have a handy little star guide booklet which I can keep handy for our next opportunity to go gazing.

I'll leave you with some of the pictures my niece took on my phone;

Wow!

I have read about approved food on many blogs recently, recommending them as being good value for food. So thought I would have a try I just have to say Wow!!
I placed an order for £22.24 and paid £7.10 for delivery so £29.34 in total, the invoice says the rrp for the food I bought was £90.59 so I saved a whopping £68.35!

I bought;
2x washing up liquid
5x herby dumpling mix
4x nice jars of cake decorations
1 x shower gel
1 x curtain hooks and eyes for  a craft project I am planning
2kg basmati rice
4x jars of salsa
2x fajita sauce
2x pataks curry paste
6 x tins tuna
12x2 pack of plain naans
12x2 pack of garlic and coriander naan
4 litres apple juice
case of noodles

here is Dylan with our shopping

 

I had expected the noodles to come in the small packets you get in the supermarket, not the huge box they are in! I was very surprised when I opened the big box and it was full to the top of noodles.

 

I have to say I am very impressed with my order and I am still shocked at how little it has cost me. I will definitely use them again.

 

I still have enough meats in the freezer not to buy any more for February. I need to write February's menu plan and then I will pop to Asda for the few odd bits I haven't been able to get through approved foods- tin tomatoes etc that form the basis of many of our meals.

 

I am very impressed that I managed my challenge not to shop in January  except for buying perishables such as fruit/veg/milk.(pay day today so as pay goes it is now the end of January today as I shop from pay day to pay day).

I am planning on continuing this challenge through February, to see how far I can stretch the food we have in the house.

 

I have 12 items on my grocery shopping list this month, and 7 of those are perishable items so included in my usual weekly shop.

A new scarf

I felt like a quick make last night after my failure at beginning a crochet blanket. So I made  a scarf using Elaine's pattern. It is the first item completed on my ideas I am loving list.

I did make some changes to make the scarf how I wanted, instead of the 24 rows to make the plaited detail I knitted 40. I am so pleased with how it has turned out. Thank you Elaine for sharing you great pattern.

Frustration!!

Stephanie has asked me to crochet her a blanket like the one on my bed. I have never started a crochet off before and I am struggling!!

I can't work out what I am doing wrong, but I keep making the same mistake. Any crocheters out there able to help and put it in laymens terms please?

Change the world Wednesday.

I was very surprised to have featured on Reduce footprints Honor society as I have been posting about reducing our clutter in the house as I go about organising my kitchen.

 It is still very much a work in progress but I have made a massive dent in reducing things we no longer use. Here is a little peek at what I have done in there recently.
These 3 cupboards desperately needed organising;

 

So I set aside an hour of my time to do this. I decluttered and took an inventory of what food I have in there to make this;

 

 

Wow look at the difference! This is what I removed from the cupboard;

 

This crate contains our camping plates etc as well as old lunch bags we have not used since this school year began. Below are my Christmas serving plates I use every year to put out buffets etc on.

 

The camping gear and Christmassy bits get a lot of use, but it is seasonal. So instead of cluttering my kitchen cupboards with them I have decided to put them into the attic. There they are easily fetchable when required but I can use my cupboards in the kitchen better.

The lunchbags have nothing wrong with them, the children have just outgrown them, so they have been placed on the bootfair pile. As I have organised things I have been building up the pile to go and do a bootfair money raised will be used to fund our summer camping trip.

All that is left to organise in the kitchen is the clutter on the sides, the window ledge which I want to turn into  a herb growing area and the shelf. Once complete I will be happy to finally decorate in there. I have the paint, I was gifted the curtains just got to get it done :-)


This is turning into a very long post- sorry! Wasn't intended to be.



This Week's Challenge: (from reduce footprints)

Ready for something new? Here you go ...

This week start an "Action" journal. List the Eco-tasks you'd like to accomplish this year. This can be done in an actual journal, a blog ... or even on a piece of paper. Get the whole family involved since we're often more inclined to follow through on a task if it was our idea in the first place. Put the list of actions somewhere accessible so that it can be referenced often. As actions are completed, mark them off (ah the sense of accomplishment).

I like the idea of this, give me some time to think I will have a list very soon (I do LOVE a list!)