Back on the budget waggon

It's been a while since I did much blogging. And much saving if I'm honest.

We put an offer on a house which was rejected and left me feeling a bit disheartened. Then it was the summer... and then, well you know how it is. Months roll by, good intentions fall by the wayside. But it's time to give myself a kick up the bottom and regain control!

Looking at my bank statement this morning was a bit of an eye opener. I have fallen into the trap of using my credit card towards the end of the month, then paying it off in full on payday, but then having that little bit less each month to spend. Meaning the credit comes out that little bit earlier, for that little bit more.

So, it's time to get back to more conscious spending, or not spending! It will take more than a month to readjust I think, especially with Christmas around the corner.

To kickstart, here are 5 things I'm doing today.

1. Write it all down. Looking at all regular income and outgoings is important to understanding how much is left over. I've started working more hours, so I have this sense that I've got plenty of disposable income. But in reality, outgoings have gone up too. Comparing this month with, say 2 years ago, I've actually less left over after the bills have been paid.

2. Review all my regular payments. Do I want to continue with that gym membership? Should I adjust the amount going into kids savings? There's probably something I can cancel, or at least reduce.

3. Look for better deals. I know that my energy tariff ran out this month so I'm back on the standard rate. I haven't reviewed my broadband since the cheap introductory offer ran out.

4. Check the fridge. Throwing away food equates to throwing away money. I want to make sure that anything which is nearing its use by date gets cooked in time. If veg is getting a bit ropey, I'll make some soup.

5. Have some free fun! Rather than spend money on half term activities, we'll get out, and get muddy I think.

All other ideas welcome! What are your best ways to avoid spending? What can we all do to help our money go a little further?

Doing Disney a little bit cheaper

So straight off the bat I'll say Eurodisney is NOT a cheap holiday, I'm not going to pretend that it is. But if you decide to spend your hard earned cash on a "once in a lifetime" kind of trip, there might be a few ways to make it a little bit cheaper.

We went to Eurodisney 5 years ago, the kids were 4 and 9, pretty perfect ages for it. And they loved it so much I promised we'd go back. So this year, we did!

Booking the holiday
The first thing I did when we decided to book was spend a good few hours looking at all the different options. Amazingly there can be a difference in price by traveling a day earlier or later, or taking a different train. I entered about a hundred (or at least it felt that many!) different combinations of length of stay, date of travel, hotel type etc and wrote down all the prices. In the end we paid just over £1000 for 4 days/3 nights including hotel, park tickets and train travel for 4 people.

I chose to take the children during school time. That is not going to be everyone's preferred option I know, but I decided that going in late September would give them a chance to settle into new classes without really disrupting any serious pieces of work they might do later in the year. The school, although they couldn't authorise the holiday, were very supportive and wished us a lovely break. It was a great time of year, the weather was mild and the park was relatively quiet.

Looking for deals
If you're not set on booking at a certain time it is worth looking out for deals. There are often "kids go free" or "one night free" offers. When we booked we received free half board food vouchers. That was incredibly useful. The vouchers gave us an all-you-can-eat meal plus an afternoon snack each day. Had we paid for all the food we ate, it would have been an extra £450 on top of our holiday!! And it was lovely not to have to worry about paying for food on top of everything else.

Pack for snacks
As with all resorts the food inside the parks is eyewateringly expensive. Having spent a small fortune on the holiday, you don't want to spend the same again on food and drinks while you're there. The website does say you can't take your own food or drinks into the parks but we never had any issues, and plenty of people were making sandwiches at breakfast to take with them!

We took cereal bars, biscuits, fruit, pot noodles, cupasoups and mug shots. And plenty of drinks. Having used our food vouchers at lunch time, the kids were getting hungry by the time we got back to the hotel so the pot noodles went down really well. Another thing to note is that there is a charge for mugs and tea/coffee in the rooms. We took tea, coffee, sugar with us, and some small milk cartons. But we didn't realise there wouldn't be mugs, so we reused pot noodle pots for hot drinks and snacks!

The journey
I made a packed lunch to take with us on the way down, and bought some cheap sweets as a treat. Again we packed loads of drinks and snacks so that we didn't have to pay service station prices.
To entertain the kids on the journey we have a journey book in which I write car game ideas and challenges, I also drew a map of the route with various towns we would pass marked on it. It helped them to see how far we had to go without asking "are we nearly there yet?!" every 5 minutes! We got some audio books from our local library which are free to loan and definitely help to pass the time.
As our train was at 7am we chose to stay over the night before in Ashford. There is some great accommodation on Air bnb, it's not just rooms in shared houses, there are bnbs or self catering flats too.

For parking we used a site called justpark.com. It allows people to rent out their drives, and we paid £18 for 5 days. The multi-storey at Ashford International is £11 a day so it's worth looking at alternatives.

Extras
Inevitably there are tonnes of ways to spend extra money while you're there. And we don't like to say "no" all the time, especially when we're on holiday. Personally, I think there is plenty to do without paying for any extra activities. We gave the kids some spending money, and any gifts for their friends, treats in the park or souvenirs to bring home came out of that. It's much easier to budget that way than spending €5 here and there which quickly adds up. And it's a good lesson for the children in making decisions and managing their own cash. Of course that depends on the age of the children. It might be easier to give a daily allowance than an overall budget.

One idea I had afterwards. Was that if you want to give the kids a souvenir to remember the trip, buy it before you go and wrap it up so they can open it on holiday. It will be a LOT cheaper than anything you buy in the shops there. Exchange rates make a big difference, but as an example pens were €6 (about £5).

We had a wonderful time, and now we're back the belt tightening will resume!

How else have you managed to reduce costs while you're away? What are your best holiday bargains?

Parkrun - Fun, friendly, free and fabulous :)

Today we attended our first Parkrun!

 

These are weekly, timed runs hosted throughout the country. The main runs are 5km but there are also junior runs which are 2km.

I've been trying to coax Miss P for a while and she finally relented and gave it a go today with the help of some friends to run alongside her.

The sun was shining, which definitely helped the horribly early start (8.30am on a SUNDAY!)

The first thing that happened when we got there was the organisers asked if it was anyone's first time, and everyone gave a round of applause. What a lovely way to welcome new runners!

There were awards for those who had participated in certain numbers of runs, then the kids all went off to warm up. (The photo is from https://www.parkrun.org.uk/news/2015/07/page/2/, I forgot to take any!)

And then they were off! The route was 2 laps of the park, so it wasn't long before the first ones came flying past us. The event was really well marshalled, and all the volunteers and parents clapped and cheered for all the kids who ran by. By the second lap there were a few that were flagging, but you could see that the encouragement they got really helped them to power through to the end.

My nephew bolted round and got a fantastic 11 minutes on his first ever run. Our girls all stuck together, from very-nearly-4 to almost 14, they brought up the rear, but it really didn't matter. The focus is not really on who you beat, but setting your own time, and then through persistence and practise, bettering that. However, you can go on-line and see how others did. Including whether they achieved a new personal best, and how often they've done the runs. The winning time this week was 7 minutes 50 seconds! Amazing!

I'd wholly recommend giving it a go. It's not often you find such well organised regular activities for free. And it felt like such an inclusive activity. I'm sure there is some competition, especially in the top ranks, but it's obviously designed to be something that anyone, regardless of ability, can join in with.

We'll see if we're still there when it's cold and raining though!

Do you have any other sporting activities to recommend? Or have you done the parkrun? How did you find it?

Veggie Stir fry for ALL the family!

This evening I cooked a veggie stir fry for the family. I think it's the first time in 9 months the boys have eaten my meat-free food! It was an exciting time :)

We've not had stir fry for ages, but whenever we do I always use instant noodles. I think they're tasty and moist, and so much cheaper than any of the other supermarket options at about 18p a packet.

For tonight's meal I used 3 packets of Aldi noodles, and it made 7/8 portions.

I did an optional Yellow Bean and Cashew Nut sauce which I got from Quality Save for 29p. That was served separately in case people didn't like it but to be honest it was delicious without.

The other accompaniment was cook-your-own prawn crackers. Bought from the Chinese supermarket for I think 99p (it was an age ago). They're a total bargain compared to ready to eat ones and so much more fun! They take about 10 seconds to fry.

So the stir fry itself included

1 onion
4 carrots
1/3 white cabbage
Pack chicken style pieces
Beansprouts
2 spoons of garlic ginger (amazing stuff. Available in Asian food shops but currently in Lidl for 99p!)
Slosh of soy sauce

I pretty much chucked it all in for about 20 minutes and served on the noodles.

I'd say a total cost of about £3, which works out about 40p a portion!

The boys weren't quite convinced by the "chicken" but ate it without complaint. And enjoyed the rest of the meal. There's enough left for 3 more meals. It would have been 4 but Master P had a big helping of seconds.

What are you favourite quick and easy meals? Do you have any cheap products you'd recommend instead of forking out for the proper ones?

Swishing - Refreshing your wardrobe for free!

I was quite excited about this blogpost. Because swishing is one of my favourite things. It is essentially clothes swapping. I've done it with just a couple of friends, a houseful, and even as a charity fundraiser in church or school halls.

I shared a picture of my wardrobe on a previous post, of the 35 dresses in there, 18 of them were swished!

 

It can be difficult for us to think that the things we have tired of, or bought and never worn, will be of interest to anyone else. But one girl's trash really is another girl's treasure. I, for instance, was more interested in fitted tops and jumpers this time. I have enough dresses, as you can see! So it's not all about bringing the fanciest or most expensive clothes.

 

This weekend I invited a few friends round. We had a glass of wine, some snacks, a natter; generally just a lovely evening together. Plus we all went home with some "new" clothes!

 

I had a serious clear out beforehand, resulting in 2 huge bags of clothes to swish. I find I am more ruthless when gathering clothes for swishing than if I'm just taking to the charity shop. Perhaps it's knowing that they will be replaced with other clothes, but either way it does make me more focussed on getting rid of what I don't need. I've been reading a book about tidying and have realised that half the clothes I wear are my "that'll do" clothes. I own lots of things I love, so the mediocre stuff had to go!

 

I should really have taken some pics last night but to be honest we were all too busy trying on each others clothes and talking. The way we work it is take a bag at a time and sort of show each item, if someone's interested they take it, try it, think about it, and if they don't want it either pass it along or put it in the 'no' pile. There is no shame in having your stuff in the no pile! We all have different styles, are different sizes. I guess you could feel a little exposed sharing your clothes with everyone but surely it's better to give those clothes a change at a new life than festering in the back of your wardrobe?! And if you didn't want to do it that way, you could always throw everything in a pile and just take out things which interested you. I think we just like to make sure we get a good nosy at everything!

This dress, for example, is divine. I need to work on my photography skills! It was my sisters, the pattern is lovely. But it wasn't right for any of us. Inspired by the sewing bee I MIGHT have a go at adjusting it for Little Miss Poppins.

 

I didn't take a whole lot last night, I'm trying really hard to cut down on clothes. But I did get a couple of jumpers, few tops, some shoes, and this totally gorgeous scarf which I just can't decide how to wear!

 

 

If you've never tried swishing, I'd really recommend it. You might be surprised at some of the things people get rid of. One of my favourites is this jacket (photo courtesy of Ebay). My friend had it in her wardrobe for ages, but the length wasn't quite right for her and she thought it was a bit fancy. I wear it on the school run regularly and it just makes me feel fab!

 

If you've tried swishing, I'd love to know how it went. Or if you've other ideas or ways of doing it, please share! What are your best swishes?

Finding Fun for Free!

Hey!

So our week at the seaside did not quite go to plan...

We had a wonderful time nonetheless. Having time together with the family was lovely; we got through a lot of wine, cheese, jigsaws and board games!

One of the things we did while we were there was join the RPSB. The great thing about this, as well as free entry to a bunch of sites around the UK, is that YOU CHOOSE what you pay! How good is that?! There's no fixed membership fee. And we got all this for free...

 

There is a quarterly magazine each for the kids, and one for me. A wildlife book, stationery, sticker book and a brilliant Nature Discovery pack which has heaps of things to do with activities from 10 minutes to all day, and sorted by season.

 

I think organisations like this are really important to support, but it's not always practical or possible to commit regular payments. Now we have, I want to make the most of our membership so we'll be visiting Old Moor at Dearne Valley regularly. I hope! They have some great activities on in the holidays, like pond dipping. If you have kids and they bring home the Raring 2 Go magazines, there's usually info in there. They also have free family tickets to Old Moor so if you don't want to or can't afford to become a member, you can still go for free!

 

http://raring2go.co.uk/vouchers--offers/free-family-entry-to-rspb--old-moor



 

One of the other things which happened this week is that my friend sent a link to this article - My year of Buying Nothing

 

This woman is mid way through spending no money for a whole year! Now that is just not on my radar as far as challenges go. However, the bit where she talks about finding free things to do is right up my street.

 

We are surrounded by places we can visit for free. There's something peculiar about human nature (or maybe just me!) that our local environment just doesn't seem that exciting, whatever it contains. I found this list of 50 things to do for free in Yorkshire and was surprised to find Locke Park on it. I grew up about 2 minutes from it, so I just don't see that actually it's a really cool park!

 

There were some places which are not on this list, so here's my own start at a Barnsley one. Although I would definitely like some contributions if I've missed anywhere good off!

 

Gallery @ Civic - All the exhibitions we've visited have been brilliant, really hands on for the kids.

Cannon Hall Park - The farm is expensive (although they have an after school price which is pretty cheap) but it's lovely to walk round, go to the fairy garden, play Frisbee, feed the ducks.

Cannon Hall Museum

Worsborough Mill

Experience Barnsley

Old Moor (with your free family pass!)

Locke Parke

Cooper Gallery - there is a relaunch on 11th June which I'm hoping to go to. I'm ashamed to say I've never been before!!

Libraries - We do not use ours often enough but there are often activities on, as well as obviously free use of books, DVDs and audio books.

 

That's not a bad little lot really. And if you are prepared to travel there are a whole lot of other free days out, both indoors and outdoors.

 

As well as places you can visit anytime, it's also worth keeping an eye out for free activities, festivals, theatre etc.

 

Creative Recovery are my favourite. They have events with music, art, fun for the kids, and the atmosphere is just so warm and friendly. Their next one is in Wombwell Woods on 30th and 31st July and there's a heap of different things going on - https://www.facebook.com/events/171340416601267/ 

 

The Handlebards are a theatre group who perform a bunch of "pay what you can afford" shows. And they are hilarious. They were Sophie's introduction to Shakespeare and she's hooked! We plan to see them at Sheffield Ampitheatre and possibly Recyclebikes in Sheffield too. For a closer-to-home performance they are also at Wentworth Castle Gardens but that one is ticketed.

 

There's Peace in the Park, a free Community Arts and Music festival on 11th June.

 

Live in Barnsley is on 18th June and tonnes of bands and musicians will be playing, for free, around Barnsley.

 

If you know of anything else coming up, let me know! I'm sure there are tonnes of events out there, we just don't always know about them.

 

So if we adjust our expectations a little, we need never pay for days out again!

 

Please get involved; let me know if you've visited any of these places and what you thought, as well as any other ways we can have a bunch of fun without breaking the bank :)

 

Happy Frugal Holiday!

Tomorrow we are off on a super frugal holiday; the accommodation is free! Big thanks to my mum's friend who is letting us stay in her house at Bempton near Bridlington.

So, how else do we make this a really cheap holiday without feeling like we're going without?

My sister was in charge of food, and came up with a menu and shopping list which works out at £11 each for a week. We're going to eat out one night, but otherwise we'll take it in turns to cook. Jacket potatoes, bolognaise, fajitas. Nothing extravagant but nice homely meals. And plenty of cheese for the evenings! We'll take picnics if we're out at lunchtime I think. Lunch out, even if just sandwiches, can end up costing a fortune.

Activity wise, well if the weather is nice we're not far from the beach.

Last time we went, we visited a place called Dane's Dyke. There's a woodland walk to a small secluded beach. The great thing about that is there are no rides, or amusements for the kids to want to spend money on. And no temptation to buy tat which will probably not even make it home. We have loads of buckets and spades etc from previous holidays, so just need to be organised and find everything before we go!

 

There's an RSPB place just around the corner from the house. Although there is an entry charge; £8.50 per family, it's really reasonable and going to support the work of the charity. I've had a look on their website and there's a free puffin trail which might be nice for the kids to do. Both Flamborough Lighthouse and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Living Seas Centre are not far away and free to visit. I am a bit of an organiser so need to hold back from dictating a schedule but I do have a few possibilities on the 'to do' list!

I love holidays in the UK. There are so many beautiful places whether it's beach, woodland, moorland, or mountains you're looking for. The only problem is the unpredictability of the weather!

The house itself is full of books and board games, and we might take a few of our own for rainy days. And the kids have their bikes in case it's dry. If you have any ways of keeping kids (5 - 14) entertained either indoors or out, please do share!

So I guess I should stop blogging and start packing!

Hope you all have a lovely bank holiday weekend and fingers crossed for good weather for all of us!

What's in the cupboards?

We are in desperate need of some shopping. For breakfast this morning Little Miss Poppins had vegan hot dogs and ketchup. Which is not the end of the world but not exactly the preferred start to a Monday!

So, in the spirit of spending less, I decided to go back to basics and do a food inventory. If you've never done this before it can be quite an eye opener!

Go through the cupboards, fridge, freezer, and see what you already have. If you're anything like me there will be stuff lurking in there you forgot you had. I found a tin of pease pudding (really!) which went out of date 3 years ago! I think that one might just be beyond saving.
But isn't it crazy how much food we buy then try to cram into already full fridges and cupboards!?

Here's what I found we already have...

 

I hope you can read that ok! It's probably fairly standard, with a few random things which I bought thinking I'd use then never got around to.

 

Next step is making a meal plan.

 

Using Google, recipe books, or just inspiration from your list of potential ingredients, come up with a list of meals. There may be things you want which you don't have in, so you can add those to the shopping list, but using what we have as a base has got to result in a lower bill.

 

So, from the stuff I have in, here are my options for the week -

 

Pork chops and mash

Gammon and chips

Jacket, cheese and beans

Lasagne

Chilli and rice

Iroog (Iraqi mince patties)

Cheese and spinach omelette with chips

Egg fried rice

Gammon and pea risotto

Minced beef and dumplings

Pork chop fajitas

Cottage pie

 

That is a ton of meals we could make without buying a single thing!

 

The pork fajitas was an online recipe I found, wouldn't have thought to use anything but chicken usually. Do you have any other ideas we could try? I'd love to get your recipe ideas, especially if it's something quick to make!

 

Car booty

This morning we decided to go to a car boot sale. Now I am a totally sucker for a bargain, regardless of whether I actually want or need it sometimes. So I decided to do a quick clothes inventory before we went. The idea being I wouldn't buy anything we didn't need.

I was a bit horrified to discover that I have 30 dresses hanging in my wardrobe. Plus the one I was wearing. Plus another 4 in the washing cycle.

 

However, when I looked at them more closely, I only paid money for 12 of the 35. And only 4 of THOSE were bought new. It really doesn't help me to declutter my life but if things haven't cost anything, or very little, then really where's the harm?!

 

Almost my entire wardrobe comes from swishing. Or clothes swapping. Sometimes done between friends, or sometimes bigger events for charity. It's such a fun, environmentally friendly way to "shop"!

 

Anyway, back to the car boot. I was very restrained. I only bought 3 things!!! And thanks to my reality check, none of those were dresses.

 

First up was a board game. We're going away next week with my whole family to a cottage with no TV and no Wi-Fi! So I thought this would be a good game for us to play in the evenings over a glass of wine. This game is currently £29.99 in W H Smiths! So for £1 I figured we can't go wrong. The box is a little worn but the contents are immaculate. We have a LOT of board games, almost all were bought for a couple of quid from charity shops, and are just as good as buying new.

 

 

Next were these Laura Ashley shoes. Now I don't need shoes it has to be said. But, shoes wear out. And I think it does make sense to buy things when you see them if you are going to need them in the future. And these really were a bargain. They are pretty much brand new and were £5. It has got to be at least 5 years since I put new shoes on. So bedding them in is proving a little uncomfortable. Pretty though!

 

The last thing I bought was a little gift for my friend who's starting her own toddler group. So I better not show it in case she's reading ;)

 

Sophie had £2 spending money and came back with a  sleepover kit, a notebook, some glittery makeup, a glitter filled ball, and change!

 

All in all not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning. 

 

While we were at the car boot I bumped into a friend, Lucy, who had a stall there. She had made £110 in just over an hour! And it didn't even seem that busy. So I am inspired now to gather our clobber and have a go at one ourselves. I don't know why we've never done it before, it's a bit daunting. But I think we might arrange to go with Lucy, who is obviously a bit of a pro! And she can show us the ropes.

 

So not only have we got some great bargains, we have a new money making avenue for our house fund :)

 

Introducing Curly Poppins!

Hey!

Welcome to Curly Poppins.

This is my blog about frugal living; about making the most of what we have, which will then allow us to save our pennies for the things we really want!

I'm a mum of two, one teen, and one who thinks she's a teen. I work, I volunteer, and generally I'm busy. Super busy. So this blog is not going to be full of homemade bread and sock darning. But, with a bit of organisation (not my strong point!) and determination we can make small but worthwhile changes to our behaviour. Thoughtfulness in our spending is vital. I regularly see things on my bank statement and think "I'm sure I didn't shop there". Or I pop into the co-op for a loaf of bread and come out £20 lighter. So step one is be more aware. The envelope method is a great way of keeping track. I'll do a blog post specifically about that later but feel free to google it in the meantime!

I wanted to do this blog in part because I love writing, and maybe I could share some ideas which might help others. But also, to keep myself accountable. The next thing on my wishlist is to buy a house. Which costs ALOT! And the 2nd thing on my list is 3 years at Uni. So, I am challenging myself to get thrifty, I can do it. I just don't always have the willpower! I have been a single mum relying on benefits and a part time bar job. And we were fine. So I know it's possible. But it's not easy. And spending money, even if it's not ours to spend, (credit cards, overdraft...) is very easy! Hopefully sharing ideas here will help to keep me on the straight and narrow. The other huge advantage of blogging is that readers can share their thrifty tips too! So please, please do. I definitely don't have it right all the time, and I'm sure there are loads of people making their money go further than I know how to. So get involved!

Thanks for reading! I will be posting at least weekly, maybe more frequently if I have something worth sharing :)