The law of sod and research!

Well it had to happen - a pine headboard on freecycle - I have emailed for it just to see what happens.... I had to-  I need to test my theory regarding the law of sod. I drove an 80 mile round trip for the headboard I purchased from Ebay. I live in the sticks so I am not adverse to travelling to save money - taking overall costs into account of course. Two days later up pops the precise item I have been trying to snafffle on freecycle for ages always being beaten to the post- also beaten on the divan or bed frame post too. and in a village only a few miles down the road!!! I do need a bed and hope the new divan base comes soon - one day my frame will give out while I am sleeping or Roo is bouncing on it and we will prob go through the ceiling!!!

Have emailed other institutions regarding PGCE's for next year - School centred training. Good to find out. I really cannot afford to get into more debt before I have sold the house.  And what is wrong with 40 for a career change!!!! 40 years young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Gammon, pineapple , baked potato, peas and sweetcorn for tea - cheap gammon. I need to remember to split the pack before freezing . There are only two rounds (for a pound) in the pack and one is enough for Weeny Roo girl and I.  Oh with mayo dollop and mustard dollop- mustard kept away from pineapple which was left over from the sweet and sour pork on Tuesday. We will eat the rest at pudding tomorrow.

At work today I introduced a client to the benefits of free cycle and other frugaling sites. He mentioned that he found it hard to feed himself on benefits and we discussed food- I said what about soup but he refuses to eat vegetables preferring to go for the cheap and nasty burgers and sausages and other frozen food (despite not having a freezer hence free cycle) from Heron and Farm foods for approx 50p a pack. He even went as far as to say that for two days a fortnight he has been unable to buy food. He had best make chums with the cheap veg then!
My meal tonight if I don't count stupidly defrosting the extra gammon round was probably around  £1 - 1.20 - one largish potato, one portion of peas and sweetcorn from large cheap frozen bag of peas and of sweetcorn, one slice of pineapple ( this was by no means essential and was a left over and could be left out easily) one gammon steak at 50p and a few dollops of condiments! (you could even pinch sachets- as I used to  when on the dole may moons ago -from the condiment boxes in restaurants-  tuts at self and shakes head)

Nothing on a Sunday!

Well I achieved very little today.. best laid plans of mice and men eh Slept in till 11am!!! I couldn't believe the time when I got up!!!! Biggles was already on his way home. Managed all but a quick tidy, breakfast, and food prep and long conversaqtion with my sister re future mum plans before he turned up around 2;30ish Hadn't even managed a shower!!! 

I have made a timetable re how to get the copious amounts of stuff I have to do this week done!

Roo returned at 5pm - hadn't been anywhere despite being late. She was OK a little subdued as ever. I would feel happier if I knew she was the focus of his weekend - or rather the kids were the focus of the adults weekend and not just additions to be sent to the garden to play while the smoking of fags and watching of telly takes place. This may change as I will have a lot of running around to do in the future and Roo has other family to see who may be living in Clackmannanshire which is not that far away from the northern reaches and also a grandmother in a care home in Ayr.

Cheapie chicken pasta bake was rather nice and will feed me again tomorrow.
cheap passata, pasta, chicken breasts, array of veg to hand,onions, garlic, mozzarella and cheese to top seasonings of choice - rather yummy and Biggles who is just a little fussy about anything with tomato in it  enjoyed it and looks forward to the next batch.

Interview tomorrow - job sounds grand but the pay is absolutely rubbish.   Have another application to complete for the 28th and the uni interview to prepare for. Ahhhhh I am juggling so many balls that related to plan b,c and d as well as trying to sell up. Plan A is a bit personal and rather a long shot so am keeping mum on that one.  

It would be nice to have just one goal to achieve at a time  (and I mean goal outside of the really important parenting stuff.)

Back to the grind - I will get my camera at some point!

Netto - I have no control!!!

OK I resisted any Charity Shopping and had access to areas I hardly ever venture into!  However when killing time I popped into Netto ans have spent the princely sum of £10 ish on 8 pork steaks £3.50, two tins of pineapple juice ( 98p) Brown sugar 75p  bumper pack crisps 1.00 and large jar 200g of Dow Egbert's coffee 3.89 I think. Was there anything else....... Ok the Coffee aint my favoured gold blend but I am open to alternatives as the cheapest 200g jar is £4.50! I would have opted for GB for £4.00 but a 61p difference..... Think not!!!

The pork steaks were reduced by 50p - Each steak should have been 50p however with  the 50p off  43.7p per steak which I feel is quite acceptable!  I see sweet and sour pork on  the horizon this week at some point most def - sweet and sour  pork or pork in oyster sauce.


Easy tea - pizza, left over salad from Friday - waste not want not - last tiddly bits in a sandwich for lunch tomorrow - keep up the veg intake for health!!!

Eyes really sore so am off to give them a rest - have enjoyed catching up on all of your blogs and drooling over your finds!!!!!!!!! Keep up the good bargain hunting work!!!!!

Sunday sunday..........

I wish everyday was like Sunday, time to enjoy and just be. The weather has been bloody awful and I have much organising and such to do - so much going on at the moment thank goodness for the anti deps otherwise I would be standing in a corner facing the wall saying wibble. I am trying  to deal with my debt and make arrangements, I have interviews to prepare for- work to be getting on with for the place of no integrity, and also trying to find my mother a care home in Scotland - she is returning from overseas, we have her name down for a lovely one in Ayr which I really want but need to find an interim one in the mean time as of April 22nd. So all this and parenting which is pretty important after all.

So what do  I do......today ..........   we made very chocolately rice crispy cakes! Using up some rice crackles cereal that Gorgeous one is no longer fond of preferring bran flakes, 30p bar of chocolate, some baking butter, syrup, sugar, cocoa powder and raisins with purple sprinkles that I have had in the cupboard! Very yummy and the process was enjoyed by all! Wee one and I had a long bath and we went for a walk and play in the park. We prepared dinner and I checked work emails. So life 95% work stuff 5%. Thats even too much for a weekend really but I still have a presentation to organise on  a dull as fish subject and do some inputting on he work database at some point ( The hassle of part time work - actually work  a fair wack in three days as compared and in relation to five.)

Will eat dinner, get into pyjamas and then do some proper  work stuff. No problem doing the other stuff just this work crap. I do not get paid enough to work outside of work time. I gernerally when it comes to work/emp;oymnet I prefer to stay late and complete tasks if needed rather then bring my work home. When working in a school  for eg I have always treated it as a 9-5 job and not  taken work home or snuck off early...... mostly lol. And if i am lucky enough to get onto the PGCE I shall treat it similarly - a proper working day each day and holidays treated the same.

Sunday sunday.............. da da da da da da

Friday yet again........ tragic

Happenings in Japan are awful. I  feel for those who have lost family, friends, homes, lives, livelihoods. Puts things into perspective when you see what can be taken away in  an instant and so dramatically.

On a different note I have an interview date for uni earlier than was indicated  so not excellent but I will manage. Quite annoyed as they told me April and have brought it forward. I had made plans around April and arranged to  visit and talk to people who could help me with the course/interview. Also means no trip to the Land of Whippets as I will need to stay at home and take advantage of the peace while gorgeous one is visiting her other family.

May be busy and unable to blog for a while as now have a list of things to do including job applications, work-  horrible stuff and better more interesting interview stuff - loads of it to read. Boooo Dull as shite.


Baked spuds, salad and Tuna for 2.3 again. Fajitas tomorrow - its Saturday! And Roast on Sunday. Lunch is typically a late bigger breakfast  or rather second breakfast for gorgeous one with later snacks, or beans on toast or toasties or soup. Breakfast is toast or toast or cereal or special days bacon sandwiches - normally when bacon is on special offer. Bacon sarnies mean not a lot of lunch - pass direct to supper, do not pass teatime and do not collect further food! Ok fruit is allowed!  I always have a stash of fruit, yoghurt and ice cream and cheapie digestive biscuits in for the for the gorgeous one. I find cooking therapeutic and enjoyable.Not as much as bargain hunting but not bad.  When I get the time I will budget each meal that I cook on a regular basis.

Enjoy the weekend !!!


Love Eeek
xxx

Rugby!!!! Biggles is bringing beer!  Bless him!!!

Ok I forgot....

Ha Forgot was filling the car up today! Was in the smoke - not the big smoke but a smoke with an ASDA and as such cheaper fuel - filled up and spent £43!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will see how long it lasts. Grrrrr Tea was grand - fish in batter from freezer with real chips and peas. Bought four portions on special offer for 1.99 we used three of them and three fishfingers - for 2.3 people of course!

I love the game of being frugal and saving money! Its a challenge and while I prefered it to be choice I can cope with circumstance.

NO spend Wednesday!!! Useless CAB

Not a penny did I spend today! The Roo and I have walked to the beach and back searching for snow drops. The Roo is also the  weeny girl, the beautiful one called Roo since a baby as she was so tiny she could fit in a pouch!  Glorious spring day - fresh, sunshiney and very mild despite the frost last night.  'OOOO Lovely drops' was all I could hear as we strolled back . I am very lucky to live in the country and have lovely walks on my door step. Few shots of our local beach found on the internert. Low Stead Links part of the heritage coastline, an area of outstanding natural beauty and looked after by the National Trust.

We had homemade soup and buffet bits ( bits of fruit, some ham,) bread for the weeny girl )for lunch. bread - home made of course- all very cheap and cheerful and tasty - Spicy lentil soup Mmmmm.  I am the soup dragon! I have inherited  skills at making a decent 'pot o' or 'pan o' soup from my mater who heralded from the Scotlandshire!  Many a night we would be fed a 'plate o soup'. Food that would stick to your ribs and keep the cold out. Pretty much any veg can become soup and taste bloody good. All left over veg, veg about to go off, past its best.. I stockpile it in the freezer till I have enough and then it  becomes soup.(Not keen on gazpacho however and salad never lasts in my house)

Am feeding  Biggles the Owl lover as well this week. he is on leave from work- its about the only thing I can do in return these days apart from the odd football fridge magnet or silly football badge (All coming in under the £2.00 rule - I don't like paying over this amount for anything £3 at a push for select items) He likes the silly football stuff depicting his team as supreme to a rival so it makes him do a smile. Ah bless.  So  its tuna and cheese baked potatoes with salad this evening - salad will be used up for fajitas on Thursday or Friday. We are away at the weekend to the land of whippets and flat caps and steel. Only for the night to see Mother Biggles but this means food - great food and a good natter while Biggles watches his beloved football team.  Roo is also off to visit her other family so we get a rest from each other.

Contacted the CAB today to find out about debt management options - They were useless. Offered  me a telephone interview/chat with debt adviser ( have already done this) or a Video link interview!!!!
IE Webcam. Said I would prefer to speak to someone in person and was told this was not possible. Person on the phone was ok - didn't really know alot about benefits and how they were awarded IE Working tax Credit and I had to explain it to her. She had no direct experience of it herself.... you could tell. It is a complete pain in the backside to apply for and goes off last tax years earnings not what you currently earn. So many people who do not get Working tax credit seem to think its a cure all for everything and that the government are paying out thousands each month  to individuals to enable them to ride around in flash cars, buy flat screen TV's etc Errrrr Not in this case.

In the end I have made an appointment with CAP not to be confused with CAB. CAP Christians against Poverty area reputable charity who help you to contact your creditors etc and intervene on your behalf so that you are not bullied into paying more than you can reasonably afford. They will visit you at home  to discuss your needs and situation which is very civilised better than a web cam.

Also got the spring/summer clothes out of storage today - floral and colour are back brightening up my wardrobe once again!  I still need to work on the sweeping -I find some domestics incredibly mind numbingly dull.

I have an interview for a PGCE   (Secondary Citizenship and Social sciences)sometime in April. Would be fabulous to get a place and  achieve QTS however that will open up a financial mine field! Thought I may have sold the sodding house by now post redundancy six months ago and house on market for 7 months.
But one step at a time - have arranged to  go into a school for a week and then see if I get accepted before I start to worry  or work on alternative plans!

Ahhhhhhhhhh Sundays!!!

Lazy Sundays never are in a frugal household - there is always penny pinching to be done! I hoover less and sweep more these days  as its better for you, better for the environment as no use of power and no use of electricity so no cost all round!. I still do hoover but much less! Suits me fine - Not a house work type person anyway - My house is hygienic and nothing will make you ill but I certainly do not keep up with the Jones'. Having had an OCD mother so totally focused on her mantra of  ''a place for everything and everything in its place'' and on a one woman mission to rid the world of crumbs I have rebelled. I am very chill about houses and prefer them to be 'homes' brimming with signs of use, activity, life not bland show homes where you feel too creased to be part of the perfect picture. ( Please don't get me started on show homes) I feel very little cannot be cleaned with some bicarb, disinfectant and washing up liquid. The cheapest eco stuff abounds and is sufficient for my needs. I only do full loads of washing and wash whats' necessary - It was OK in the 70s to  do this and we have survived. 30 degrees,  half the amount of soap powder will normally do. Soap powder - non bio- bought on special offer in triplicate or at least duplicate. My bargain was two boxes of 25 wash fairy non bio for 3.99 each. In my world that's more like 70 washes at least all in.
(OK OK I admit to cheap toilet cleaner too)


So Sunday frugal housework then frugal cooking of cheap chicken breast still on the bone with skin, pots, carrots, peas, some onion, home made gravy and white sauce. I fail when it comes to Yorkshire puddings - I am unable to bake a decent light Yorkshire that has risen. I cheat and buy cheap. I must do something about this and make ones own. I just need an idiot proof recipe with detailed instructions written for a Yorkshire making biff! Will also prepare carrots  and fruit for the freezer. Everything in my book can be frozen pretty much and made into soups, pies, cakes, curry's, sorbet, jus, smoothies.....And a full freezer works less and as such saves money - same principle with the fridge. Keep it full and it will keep cooler easier - less space to cool down and things hold temperatures   - or so I am told . Please feel free to correct me with you frugal tips.
All in I would estimate around two pounds per person - not bad at all for Sundays Dinner. Lidl is a dream super market!!!

The rest of Saturday

I managed to spend exactly nothing today! I am chuffed. Free afternoon at Boulmer beach and village looking for signs of spring - one crocus starting to boom and a few snow drops - not long now. Jess collected shells and ate a yoghurt on a rock so was chuffed. The park at the end of the street has been revamped with some quite funky play things so that was another hour whiled away. Lots of cookings - school chicken curry with peas and rice and naan bread followed by cupcakes which will do for tomorrows sweet treat as its Sunday.

I feed Biggles the owl lover at weekends - Five sausages, two chicken breasts for a saturdays isn't much really- He brought the box of wine so fairs fair. Roast chick breasts tomorrow with the ususal trimmings for a sunday and fairy cakes.

So apart from being stuffed for thrity quid due to an errant standing order have spent bugger all and won't spend till Monday.

Gotta love curry sauce and bargain frozen chook bits!