To Buy Or Not To Buy?

Is it still a money saving exercise to buy a coat for £20 when it is reduced from £45? The dangers of window shopping when you know you are going to be paid soon.
To think sensibly my mum would say it's not practical (no collar) and my dad would probably say I already own a coat (true, but I did see a granny wearing one the same which damaged it's style rating!) So really I only want to hear from you if you are going to encourage me to buy it!
If you are remotely interested this it it but in blue, the rules of shopping used to state I had to wait four days before buying something so I guess now I'm on super save I should at least double it! Meanwhile I'll hide all the coats in my size around the shop to waylay anyone else from buying them!

Here's A Cup Cozie In Action

I am most proud that they actually work!

I think maybe I should lurk outside starbucks for a Saturday, maybe I'd make some super sales.

Thanks for the pic Beccy.

Green Fair Roundup

I earned £2.83 per hour, I stood up all day, I spent till 12.30 the night before crafting.
It was worthwhile though, the stall looked fab,
I got to spend the day chit chatting with my friend Evelyn, I did sell some of my wares (all though the lovely Beccy and my Mum in Law did buy some of my wares so sympathy buys don't count!) and lots of people said our stuff was lovely.

Now we have masses of stuff we think we may do another, if nothing else to shift our remaining stock and as my mum said "think of it as being paid £17 to get a day of rest from your daughter".

Ten Pence Per Minute

Some people earn this. Others may pay it for their mobile phone calls. For me however it was the cost of relaxation.
I paid it willingly and along with aching thighs, crippled wrists, and a distinct lack of flexibility it was worth every penny.
I have been stressed lately, the sort of can't sleep I think I'm going to implode sort of stress. So I decided to blow a few quid on getting some 'me' time to see what effect it had and oh it was glorious. I felt so peculiar driving home that I think it was shire luck I didn't drive off the road and that was even knowing I had to chase home to fetch my daughter and take her to the doctors. Nothing was going to beat my hour spent focusing on breathing in and out, checking my feet were in line with my hips while twisting my body into some impossible position.
So will I be spending six precious pounds next week? We'll wait and see how much I ache tomorrow before I decide.

And Some More

My favorites, Cute baby bibs and even little tags to decorate our creations.

No Room For Writing

Today it is just photos. Of all the lovely things I have crafted.
What a busy bee I am.

Seven Days And Couting

It's exactly seven days till crafting deadline. We are booked in to do the Green Fair at 8am next Saturday and panic has hit.
Back in the heady days of the summer holidays I was full of enthusiasm for a stall packed to the rafters with Eco jewllery, up cycled home-wares and vintage trinkets galore. Today I spread my haul out over the dining table (much to Max's dismay, he is not a big fan of crafting) to discover a grand total of about twenty items, four of which were made by my mum! I think I will do well to make enough profit to treat myself to a cup of tea at the end of it all.
The trouble is time, or lack of it. On my days off from work my only free time is nap time (I can tell you attempting to make crafts with Martha's assitance is not easy) and during nap time I feel I should tend to my 'housewifley' duties of floor mopping and cleaning the bathroom and if you saw the state of our house you'd agree. So that only leaves evenings and weekends and there is certainly no more time or energy there. Combine it all with trying to cram five days worth of work into a three day week, cooking the odd nutricious meal here and there and getting a bit of down time and it's easy to see why I haven't managed to make much stuff!
Today I worked like a Trojan thanks to Martha's fantastic fairy godmother taking her out to be 'ladies that lunch' and tomorrow is another day and I plan to spend it all in front of my sewing machine or armed with a glue gun. Watch this space as tomorrow it will be so crammed full with cup cosys, peg holders, felted jewellery, baby bibs, coasters and clutch bags there won't be room for any text.

Today I want, Wait, I Need

I am feeling materialistic, will power is waning. Today, if I had the 'readdies' I certainly would have spent them.
My lust list encompasses everything from new socks and trousers, film for my plethora of cameras, new roasting and muffin trays, Croc boots for Martha, a nice dress from Matalan, a new DVD and a cleaner, or even better a butler crossed with a PA!
I think sometimes a lack of cash can make you want things even more, especially if you had a challenging day with your daughter which you only made it through with the bribe of some Disney princess knickers! (I know totally corporate and £6!!!!! but she's two and a half, a girl and they were mostly pink with sparkles and hearts on. They worked their magic and were worth every penny)
Maybe I should throw a swap shop party and offer out my decrepit wardrobe and possessions in the hope that someone decked in Zara clothes and with a wheelie trolley full of habitat belongings is looking for a trade!
In reality I'm hoping a trip to my local charity shop and a project from the Junk for Joy book with have the desired affect.

Fen Potatoes

This post is irrelevant unless you live in Cambridgeshire. If you do however, get yourself out into the fens in search of a sack of potatoes. If like us you are a potatoes lover (mashed, jackets, boiled, roast, saute, dauphinous, you name it I am addicted to them all) then you can save yourself a small fortune.
Sainsburys potatoes 2kg = approx £2.00
Fen Potatoes so heavy I can't lift the sack kg= £5.00

I always like an edible money saving tip.

A Month In Recession Re-hab

Apologies followers for the distinct lack of activity. It certainly isn't from a lack of money saving, it's more from a glut of money depression. Several days after my last post I had the embarrassment of 'transaction decline' in the supermarket and my weeks shopping had to be paid for from the savings account. I dared myself to check my online banking only to discover I was in the red. What's worse is it came just a fortnight after being paid, so the following two weeks was spent scrapping my petrol money together from the coppers pot, nicking change out of Max's trouser pockets and eating a mainly vegetarian and lentil based diet!
Grabbing my deerstalker and magnifying glass I scrutinised my spending to see what had happened and after the initial certainty that my account had been hacked and someone had spent all my money in Sainsburys, Clarks and the garage I realised that the cause of the cash flow crisis was actually a rather steep car repair (£110), some new shoes for Martha (£35) a night out with my new work colleagues (£30) and some generally rubbish account keeping. What it did force me to do was actually look at my spending and really account for what goes in and out. I noticed the fact I am still paying payment protection on a cooker for a house I don't even live in any more so that was swiftly canceled making me a whopping £1.20 richer each month.
My new job leaves me financially worse off than my old but I am definitley much happier with my work/stress/life balance so that's acceptable but it does mean for a while at least I am on a very tight rein so that new yoga class I was itching to start will have to wait and that mythical £30 a day we are meant to be saving may be a challenge!
As for general money saving we are doing well, rather than find us in Waterstones on a weekend we are more likely to be found stomping through the countryside with a thermos and some homemade cupcakes for sustenance. I am in the proccess of listing some items on ebay in order to make the money to buy the new camera I want and I have even resisted the jewelery making kit that I tried to convince myself myself I needed for the Green Fair 'craftathon'. I still have moments of weakness when I can be found making an online shopping basket at ASOS (only for pretend buying though) but on the whole perhaps I am a little less materialistic? Though I dread to think the sight that would behold if I got to do a trolley dash round Primark!
What I have been so warmed by is my lovely family who have come to the rescue and cheered us up no end. The Jone's and Blick's came en mass for a visit with a full on lunch (Including jacket potatoes and a pie traveled up from London in tinfoil) and Olivia took me and Marty to the seaside for a day out and even insisted on driving us so it wouldn't cost me the petrol.
Max and I even did a date night for a cheap break from the daily grind, Martha tucked up in bed early, a nice home cooked meal, a bottle of bargain wine and an evening playing cards was a right chuckle and next week it's his turn I shall enjoy kicking back and relaxing while he uses every utensil in the kitchen to make a pasta creation and then challenges me to a match of Scrabble or Cluedo!
So for the moment it's a bit of a wait and see with how the finances go. We are still toying with the idea of downsizing the house to save some money and Martha may get a few more home made Chrimbo presents this year but we are all happy and healthy and that the main thing.