Nursing A Broken Heart

Hello Readers

Sorry for my absence over the last few days but Eldest son moved out on Friday night and I have been nursing a broken heart ever since. He has gone to live with his Dad (a 2 hour drive away) until his supported living accommodation is sorted out for him. Although he is almost 19 and I know this is the right decision for him as well as my younger 2 boys I can't help but feel sad that he is no longer here with me. I have been a single mother for 13 years now and raised him single handed (he would only see his Dad 1 night every 6 weeks and had very little other contact with him). I have also been his sole carer for 18 and 1/2 years (he is autistic). The fact that he is so far away does not sit well with me either as it's not like I can just jump on a bus and go see him and I don't drive. I have a lot of anger right now as to how our situation has been handled by so called professionals. Eldest son would have been in his own home locally had certain people done their job correctly and within the specified time frame and then he would not be so far away and I could see him several times a week. As it is a family has been torn apart and put under considerable stress due to one man's incompetence. Both eldest son's father and I will be putting in a strong complaint once he is in his supported living but feel to do so now would just delay the process of getting him into his supported living home. I am angry readers and my heart aches for my son who I have never spent more than a few days away from. Things are going to be so strange here without him. It also means another drop in money (quite a big one) as I will no longer be receiving his contribution towards the household bills, food, and keep etc. Right now though I am more concerned about the pain I am feeling now he is not here, than any lack of money this situation has caused. We will get by we always do, it just means tightening those purse strings even further. So if I am a little quiet over the next few days you know why, but I promise I will be back to blogging daily before you know it and with the tightening of these purse strings I will have a lot more frugal posts to write lol.

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

A Sterling Report And Preparing For Xmas

Hello Readers

How are we all diddling ? I will be doing a post at some point over the weekend sharing all my tips and tricks on how I do Xmas on a budget. I have lost a lot of income this past year, and whilst I have always been pretty frugal at Xmas anyway, I have really had to scale back this year.

Anyway on to today :)

Usual morning routine. Boys up, ready, and off to school. A bit of housework before picking youngest son up from school. The head teacher was taking youngest son's class today and he took a few minutes to come out and tell me that it was a pleasure teaching him today. He was extremely well behaved and did everything asked of him. He praised youngest son directly and gave him a big thumbs up which made youngest son really happy. After collecting little man I went to work for a few hours. My friend lets me take youngest son with me when I clean for her. He sits and plays on his tablet quietly while I get on with my work. Its only 2 hours but its an extra £14 added to this weeks budget and it all helps. After I finished work I had to attend a progress meeting at middle sons school. He is excelling at English, maths, and geography, got the highest grade in his class on his p.e exam, is on target in most of his lessons, but needs to improve in food, dance. and drama (his least favorite subjects lol). I left there a very proud mummy and he was treated to a chocolate bar when we got home :)

This evening I have tidied up, done some washing, seen to the animals, done dinner, done the washing up, and got everyone bathed and ready for bed. I also managed to finish off my Xmas cards and the ones that need sending have been addressed and stamped ready to post on the 7th December. I also managed to finish decluttering downstairs. The house is now completely free from clutter and reorganized and it has made a huge difference. I have one lot of items to take to the charity shop and have sold another craft bundle for £8 so I made £28 in total from my house declutter which will go in the Xmas savings envelope. I have a quiet weekend coming up as eldest and middle son will be at their dad's and youngest son will be at respite. I will be using this time to do a bit of Xmas shopping, wrap some presents, and have a major sort out of all our clothes. Any brand name clothing will be sold, any non brand name clothing that is in good condition will be taken to the charity shop, any clothes I would like to keep but are broken will go on the mending pile, and any clothes that are beyond repair will be turned into rags and put in my work bag. You might remember I set myself 3 manageable goals to complete.....

Week 1 Declutter upstairs
Week 2 Declutter downstairs
Week 3 Sort through clothing

I will have completed all of these a week ahead of schedule which is fab and I am very pleased with myself. My next goal will be to get the mending pile sorted next week and keep on top of present wrapping. I am on schedule to have Xmas all done and dusted by mid December which is not bad when you have 31 people to buy for lol.

Anyway Readers I am off to my bed for a well earned sleep. Are you all ready for Xmas ?

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Coupons And Freebies

Picture credit: Holly at Extreme couponing check out her Vlog here 

Hello Readers

Amanda from  Parenting a child with Autism (check out her blog it's fab) asked me yesterday where I get my coupons from. I felt that I couldn't answer this in a simple comment and that it warranted a post dedicated to how I get my coupons and freebies so here it is.....

Let me start by saying I am not an extreme couponer, I don't have the time, but I do sit down a couple of times a week and see what is about. My first suggestion would be to open a free email address specifically for your coupons and freebies. You don't have to but I find it makes couponing that little bit easier. If you wanted to you could open a few extra email addresses so that you get more coupons and freebies. I just have the one and eldest son has one also.

The next thing I would suggest is if you haven't done so already sign up for loyalty cards and register on store websites. The loyalty cards I currently have are.....

Tesco
Morrison's
Nectar
Game
Bon Marche
Co Op
Boots
Hairdresser's (My local one)
Perfume shop (Superdrug)

Any store that I shop in no matter how often, if they have a loyalty card scheme then i'm on it lol. Not only do you collect points or stamps that can be redeemed for money off coupons or items, but once you are registered with them they will occasionally send you out coupons to use in their stores. They will also let you know about sales and deals that they have going on at that time.

The other thing I do is I have a list of coupon/freebie sites I check a couple of times a week. If I see a coupon or a freebie I can make use of I go ahead and print it off or fill in the form (for freebies). A lot of times the site itself will tell you where the item is selling the cheapest so that you get the best deal or even get the item for free. If it doesn't it is really easy to find this out for yourself using an app like My Supermarket. I also print all my coupons in black and white to save money on ink costs (check out my post Saving Money On Printer Ink ). If you sign up to the sites newsletter coupons and freebies will be emailed to you automatically. I also follow a couple of coupon/freebie sites on Facebook. Here is a list of the sites I use.....

Extreme Couponing
Money Saving Expert
Latest Free Stuff
Coupon Mama UK
Super Savvy Me
Ashleigh Money Saver
Coupon Mama UK Facebook page
Extreme Couponing Facebook Page


My next tip is to register with Check Out Smart
It is a cashback site that has lots of products you can get part or full cashback on. It's really easy all you do is register an account with them, see which cashback offers tickle your fancy, buy them from the specified retailer, send a photo of your receipt, and they will credit your account with the cashback. The only drawback is you need a separate receipt for each item you want to claim cashback on and you can only make 3 claims a day. The way I see it is if I am getting something for free then I am happy to take a bit of extra time paying for items individually and scanning in the receipts over the course of a few days. You have to have £5 in your check out smart account before you cash it out but my advice would be to wait until you hit the £20 or more mark as that way you will avoid paying any fees for the transfer of funds. Check them out they have a lot of good freebies on there at the moment.

Another way of getting coupons is to choose a few of your favorite products or retailers and write to the company telling them how much, and why you enjoy their products. Very often as a thank you for your feedback they will send you a letter thanking you and include some coupons for their products. I have yet to try this one out for myself but I have heard of lots of people getting good results by doing this.

So Amanda I hope I have answered your question and armed you with lots of tips for getting coupons and freebies. Let me know how you get on.

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Torrential Rain And A Coupon Shop

Hello Readers

Yesterday started with me getting up and getting everyone off to school and then cracking on with the housework. I only have an hour and a half to get things done in the morning before I have to collect youngest son from school as he finishes at 10.45am. We then popped home quickly so I could quickly finish the housework in the half an hour before my dentist appointment. I dropped youngest son at Bestie's on the way to the dentist. I had to have a tooth removed and I am a very nervous patient in fact nervous is an understatement I am terrified of the dentist. When I entered the room I realized it was a different dentist to the one I had seen last time which did nothing to calm my nerves. I needn't have worried she was lovely and knew I have a fear of dentists as it is logged on the system. She took her time, explained everything before she did it, stopped whenever I asked her to, and was generally very kind, caring, and compassionate. It was definitely the least traumatic visit I have had to the dentist to date.

After the dentist I popped to Morrison's  (as its just across the road) to do a coupon shop. I had coupons for the following.....

4x £1 off a carton of Covent garden soup
1x 35p off any 2 liter bottle of soft drink
1x 35p off any yogurts
1x 45p off any pre cooked meat

This little lot cost me just 57p after coupons and 5p of that was for a bag (must stop forgetting to take my own bags).

On the way home I picked up little man from my Bestie, but by the time I got home I resembled a drowned rat (the rain here has been torrential). I put our coats, hats, and gloves on one of the airing racks to dry off as they were wet through. We both got changed into onsie's, snuggled under the duvet and did some work on vikings as that is what he is working on at school at the moment.


Today started how it usually does getting the boys up, ready, and off to school. A bit of housework before picking youngest son up from school and popping to the Bestie's for a bit. I then popped to the charity shops in my tiny little town as I was on the look out for a couple of warm jumpers. I managed to get 2 that fitted the bill one cost £1 and the other cost £2.50 and they will keep me nice and warm. Youngest son bought himself a Pudsy teddy £1.25, and another teddy 30p out of the £10 Granddad gave him at the weekend. He has seen a Tetris game that he also wants to buy but we didn't have enough on us to get that so we will go back for that tomorrow after school. Again by the time we got home we looked like drowned rats lol. We got into our onsie's and did some English and maths. Although youngest son is back in school (went back in June after 2 years home educating) he is on a very restricted timetable 9am - 10.45am. As a result he cant be learning very much so I am asking the school for work I can do with him at home and topping up his education that way so that he is not missing out on as much. For tea we had homemade mini pizza's, homemade chips, and garlic tear and share. Here are the costings.....

Warburtons thins (yellow sticker) 5p
Ketchup (value) 10p
Cheese (savers) 30p
Potatoes (£3 for 12.5kg sack Morrison's) 30p
Tear and share (yellow sticker) 9p

Total cost 84p so 21p each


Anyone else having torrential rain at the moment ? What do you do when you get home looking like a drowned rat lol ?

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Sunday 20th November

Hello Readers

Wow last week was such a busy week for me I was fully expecting a vertigo attack but touch wood so far so good. I had a meeting at youngest son's school on Friday morning and it has been agreed that as he is doing so well (other than the blip he had recently) we can slowly start to increase his school day. I have requested that this be done very slowly so that it does not become overwhelming and result in another meltdown. We are going to start by letting him stay for playtime one day a week (a Friday) and slowly increase this. He stayed on Friday and Readers he did amazingly well. We was all ready for a meltdown and I was on the premises ready just in case as it was children in need day and there was almost 300 children in the hall, lots of stalls, and lots of noise. His head teacher popped out at one point to tell me he was being really good and he was very impressed with his behavior. I also inquired about his My Plan and was told that the request has now been submitted and the council has 6 weeks to decide whether or not they will go ahead and start putting one in place for him but his SENCO is optimistic that the draft she has put together is good enough that they will agree so fingers crossed.

I had a meeting with eldest and youngest son's disability worker shortly after the meeting at school and things are progressing with eldest son's move into supported living with 2 of his friends, and we are now just waiting for a suitable house to become available for them. After the blip we had recently with youngest son at school I was really starting to feel a bit low but it appears things are slowly starting to go in the right direction and I am feeling a lot happier about things now.

Friday evening my Dad came to visit for the weekend which we was all really happy about. I needed some cheering up after the week I have had and Dad always knows how to make me laugh. Saturday morning we was treated to one of Dad's legendary fry up's for breakfast. The plan was to take the boys out for the day but middle son went to center parcs for the day to celebrate his best friends birthday, eldest son wasn't that bothered, and youngest son asked granddad if he could stay at home as he wanted to carry on watching his Dr Who DVD's. In the end no one went anywhere and we just had a relaxing day at home lol. Dad put some money on the electric key for me which will save me paying out for electric this week and he gave the boy's £10 each (he always spoils us when he comes down as we only get to see him once every few months). Early evening we went over to my best friends for a roast dinner. Bestie and my Dad get on really well so we always have a roast there when his down. By the time we got home we were all shattered and just went straight to bed lol.

This morning I woke up at 6.30am with a raging headache so got up to take some pain killers and was able to see my Dad off at 7am (his coach was at 7.30am from the next town). Once Dad had gone I decided to go back to bed as all the children were still asleep in the hopes I could sleep off my headache. It didn't work and I have had the damn thing all day :(

Despite having a headache I have managed to push through and get things done in the house. The decluttering is coming along nicely and I only have the kitchen left to do. I have made £20 so far selling off little bits here and there, 3 bin bags of rubbish, and 2 trips to drop bits off to the charity shop on my shopping trolley and the house is looking a lot better and is a lot more organized. This afternoon I went to Morrison's to do my usual yellow sticker shop. Because of this damn headache I was running late and we didn't get there until 3.15pm instead of the usual 3pm and everything had gone. This is almost unheard of, for me to come back on a Sunday without a single yellow sticker item. I certainly don't feel like the yellow sticker queen today lol. I picked up a few bits and pieces that we needed for the week and some pet food and came back home.

This evening we have been over to Besties for tea again, I really have been spoiled this weekend and have not had to cook at all. We had spaghetti bolognaise which was yummy. We are now back home and youngest son is in the bath (he has a fear of showers). Once he has had a good old scrub ready for school in the morning the eldest 2 boys will have a shower each and then it will be early nights for everyone as my head is still raging :(

How has everyone else's weekend been ? Anyone managed to get any good yellow stickers ?

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

How Note Books And Lists Keep Me Organized

Hello Readers

If you are anything like me you have lists for everything. I have a terrible memory since I developed Menieres Disease almost 10 years ago. I forget everything and I mean everything although you would never have guessed it. I have a lot of list's that keep me organized and on track and notebooks are my best friend. I keep list's for the following.....

Budget
Stockpile List
Meal Planner
Items Needed List
Coupons To Print List
Coupon And Freebie Websites List
Weekly To Do List
Daily To Do List
Repairs List

I use a family planner to keep track of all appointments and meetings and this is hung up in the kitchen. I also carry a pocket diary in my handbag and a pen at all times because you can guarantee if I make an appointment when I am out I will forget to put it on the family planner when I get home. Every Sunday I go through my pocket diary and family planner and make sure they correspond with each other and any missing appointments are written in. Since I have started doing this I have not missed a single appointment or meeting so it is working well for me. I also have a little plastic wallet I keep all my coupons in. They are all filed like with like, so all Tesco coupons go together, all Asda coupons go together, all Morrison's coupons go together you get the picture. I keep my coupon folder in my handbag at all times so that when I am out if I buy something or I see something I have a coupon for I can easily grab it out of my bag meaning I never miss out on a chance to save money.

Every Sunday I sit down and go through all my paperwork, update anything that needs updating, and get myself organized for the week ahead.

I write a daily to do list each night for the following day which usually looks something like this.....

Tidy up
Wash up
Hoover
Washing
Animals
Dinner
Baths

I will then go through my weekly to do list and tack on any additional jobs that need doing depending on if I have any appointments that day. If I don't get everything on the list done that day, I don't beat myself up about it, I simply tack it on to the following day's to do list and almost always that weeks to do list is completed by the end of the week even if it has not been done on it's assigned day.

So my lovely Readers how do you keep yourself organized and on track ? Are you as obsessed with lists and notebooks as I am ?

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Appointments And Yellow Stickers

Hello Readers

Its been a long few days here. I have had appointments coming out of my ears. Optitions, Doctors, Work, Workmen, and Hospital. Tomorrow I have a meeting at the school and then a meeting at home with the disability team. In among these appointments I have been trying to keep the house clean and tidy, see to the animals, look after the kids, sort the washing, declutter upstairs, and finish my Xmas cards. It has been manic and I am completely shattered. I have not had a vertigo attack since last week but with the stress of this week I would not be surprised if I go down with one some time in the next few days. Why is it in the run up to Xmas anyone and everyone decides to give you an appointment ?

Youngest son had his eye test on Tuesday and it appears he is extremely long sighted. He needs to go back on the 2nd of December and have some drops put in to switch off his ability to focus temporarily. His eyes will then be tested again so that they can work out the correct strength of the glasses that he will need to wear all the time. He is also being referred for vision training at the hospital.

Today youngest son had a hospital appointment in the town 3 towns over from us. It is quite a distance and I do not drive due to my Menieres Disease. To go by bus it would have taken 2hrs, 2 buses, and cost £13 (even with little mans disabled bus pass). Also the second bus only runs every 2 hours. I decided to look at trains. I knew there was not very many trains that went there each day so wanted to check the timings. To go by train it meant getting there 2hrs early and having 1 and 1/2 hours after youngest sons appointment. The train would take 15mins and cost just £3.45 (with my friends and family railcard). So I decided to take the train option and find a way to kill the time before and after the appointment. I was supposed to go Xmas shopping tomorrow in the next town but decided to do that today in the 2 hrs before his appointment. It killed the time and now I don't have to go out tomorrow afternoon. I took drinks, food, books, and youngest sons tablet and after our appointment we went for a short walk along the canal till we found a bench to sit on and eat. We sat there for an hour eating and reading before making our way back to the train station and waiting a short while for the train home.

I popped to Morrison's this evening and was able to get the following yellow stickers.....

1 Macaroni cheese ready meal 5p
2 Tagliatelle ready meals 10p
3 Family steak and ale pies 15p
2 Packs of welsh cakes 10p
3 Packs of English muffins 15p
1 Pack of Warburtons thins 5p
2 Loaves of bread 10p

Total yellow stickers 70p

We also bought 2 tins of tuna and 2 tins of chopped tomatoes for the #30DayFestiveFoodBank challenge which brought our total up to £2.56.

My Dad is coming up tomorrow evening for the weekend and the boys are really excited. They always get spoilt when granddad visits lol but then again so do I :)

Right I am off to put my feet up and try not to nod off till the boys go to bed at 9pm although I cant promise I wont lol.

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Saving Money On Printer Ink

Hello Readers

Today I thought I would share with you how I save a small fortune on printer ink for our computer. To buy a legitimate Canon  black cartridge it would cost me £11 and I know that some ink cartridges can cost as much as £20. I buy one of these.....

£4.47 And the cheapest refill kit I have found

You get 3 bottles of black ink and each bottle has 30ml of ink, so is the equivalent of 10 ink cartridges (this will vary depending on your make of printer). So I pay just £4.47 instead of the £110 it would cost to buy the actual cartridges and one of these refill kits lasts us ages. All I did was educate myself a little using YouTube. Simply put in "How to refill a (insert make) ink cartridge" and you should come up with a list of instructional videos. I then looked around for the cheapest Ink Refill Kit I could find. It really was as simple as that. Here is the video I use to fill my own cartridges.....

I had to pop to Morrison's to pick up a £10 Xbox gift card for middle son's friend (it is his birthday on Saturday and middle son has been invited to go to Center Parcs for the day to celebrate). Whilst there I had a quick look at the yellow stickers but we were a bit to early for that although I did manage to get these 2 items.....

3 Persimmon fruits 20p

7 Pears 25p

It's not very often I get fresh fruit and veg on yellow sticker, I always seem to miss it so I was pleased to get these today. I have never tasted Persimmon fruit before but google say's they are sweet so I am looking forward to having one with my lunch tomorrow. For dinner tonight we had meatballs and spaghetti in pasta sauce.....

2 Packs of meatballs (yellow sticker) 18p

1/2 A pack of Morrison's saver dry spaghetti 10p

A jar of Morrison's saver pasta sauce 42p

Served 4 

Total cost 70p so 17.5p each :)

Anyway Readers I am off to wrap some Xmas presents and write out my Xmas cards. I am determined to have everything done, dusted, and ready for Xmas by mid December. Do you save money by filling your own ink cartridges ?

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Decluttering And Yellow Stickers

Hello Readers

How's everyone's Sunday been ? I had a nice lay in this morning and a lazy start to the day watching youngest and middle son playing games and chatting with them. Eventually I decided the house wouldn't clean itself as much as I willed it to lol. I tidied up, got the washing up done, ran the hoover round, cleaned the animals, sorted some washing, and started to declutter and reorganize upstairs (I will get the rest done some time this week). I have decided to set myself some small achievable goals to get the house sorted in the run up to Xmas.....

This week = Declutter and reorganize upstairs
Next week = Declutter and reorganize downstairs
The week after = Sort through all the boys clothing

This will free up some storage space and make my home a lot tidier. I try to do this once every 4 months or so.

Once I finished the housework it was time to go yellow sticker hunting. I think I got there a little late today as there was a lot of people with yellow stickers in their baskets and trolleys by the time we got there. Nonetheless I didn't do to badly.....

I got this beautiful Best Luxury Bouquet reduced from £10 to 75p

1 Loaf of wholemeal bread 9p 

1 Hogs pudding turnover 9p

2 Just cheese sandwiches 10p

4 Tubs of clotted cream 20p

1 Chicken and bacon pasta salad 9p

1 Pepperoni wrap 9p

5 Packs of turkey rashers 25p

1 Mega chicken and bacon pie 35p

3 Extra pepperoni pizzas £1.35

2 Gingerbread muffins 9p

Total cost £3.45

 Not to shabby for a Sunday afternoons hunting :) 3 tubs of clotted cream, 3 packs of bacon rashers, and 2 pepperoni pizzas have gone in the freezer for a later date and we have food for the next few days covered :)

After I came home, put the shopping away, and sorted some more washing it was time to go to the bestie's for tea. We had mash,burgers, and beans all cooked for us and no washing up to do it made a nice break for me. We stayed for a few hours and youngest son played with his bestie whilst I had a good old chinwag and giggle with mine. Eldest son fell asleep on the sofa (lol) and middle son stayed at home and bestie sent a plated dinner back with me for him to reheat.

All in all it has been a good day :)

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

A Spending Spree

Hello Readers

I am feeling a lot better today. Still a bit wobbly on the old pins but as long as I have someone or something to keep my upright I am pushing through. I have been cooped up in the house for the last 2 days so I decided I was going out today come hell or high water lol. We popped to the library to return some books and DVD's and take out some new ones. I also got my library pin number so that I can now download and read books on my devices at home free of charge. On the way home I popped in to see my friend and borrow her printer to print off a few coupons. I decided to kidnap her youngest son for a few hours and take him into the nearest big town to make use of my coupons and get some Xmas shopping. Bestie's youngest son is the cutest little man you have ever seen. He is 18 months old and always makes me smile :)

What about the No Spend Week ? Well technically I didn't spend any out of pocket money other than £1.41 as I either used coupons or it came out of the Xmas savings envelope, and eldest son came with me and got me on the bus free using his disabled bus pass. So what have I bought today (I have had to use stock photos from the internet as my phone is dead as a doo doo apologies).....

Myself and eldest son each had a coupon for 50p off  a Knorr Naturally Tasty sauce mix. These are currently on offer in Asda for 60p each. After the coupon is applied it drops to 10p each. I got 2 of these for 20p

Myself and eldest son each had a coupon for £2 off a pack of Huggies pull ups. They are currently on offer in Asda for £2 a pack which after the coupon was applied drops to £0.  I got 2 packs of pull ups for free

These are currently free on CheckoutSmart.com 

Both eldest son and I have an account with them both of which are linked to my pay pal address. Its really simple you buy the product, scan a picture of the receipt to them, and they credit your account with the advertised amount of money. These cost £1 in Asda so once I scan in my receipt CheckoutSmart will credit my account with £1 making them free. The only thing annoying about this app is that you have to have a separate receipt for each item you claim the cashback on, and you can only scan in 3 offers per day. The way I see it is if I am getting something for free then I am happy to put a little extra time in by paying for items separately and scanning things in over the course of a few days. Eldest son did the same as me so I got 2 packs of these for free.

I bought 4 of these from PoundLand for the goodie bags I am making up as Xmas presents. £4 out of the Xmas savings envelope.

I bought 1 of these to go in the cupboard towards our Xmas sweets and treats stash. £1 out of the Xmas savings envelope.

I bought 3 of these from PoundLand for the goodie bags I am making up as Xmas presents. £3 out of the Xmas savings envelope.

I bought 3 of these from PoundLand for the goodie bags I am making up as Xmas presents. £3 out of the Xmas savings envelope.

I bought 1 of these to go in the cupboard towards our Xmas sweets and treats stash. £1 out of the Xmas savings envelope.

These retail at £10.69 in Pets At Home. If you joined the VIP club today you received 10% off your 1st purchase and a copy of the VIP magazine which had a £5 Hills voucher that could be used alongside any other vouchers, so I did. I also had a £5 Hills voucher from the manufacturer for registering at their website. 

£10.69 - 10% = £9.63

£9.63 - £5 magazine coupon = £4.63

£4.63 - £5 manufacturer coupon = -£0.37

They could not give me change as I paid with coupons which is fine with me. I got a 1.5kg bag of premium dog food for my little old lady for free :) 

These retail at £2.49 a tin in Pets At Home. They are also on offer at 3 for 2. Eldest son joined the VIP club as well as me today and did the same thing as I did above. We got 7 tins.

7 x £2.49 = £17.43

£17.43 - £4.98 3 for 2 offer = £12.45

£12.45 - 10% = £11.21

£11.21 - £5 magazine coupon = £6.21

£6.21 - £5 manufacturer coupon = £1.21

So I got 7 tins of premium quality pet food for just £1.21  :)

So I got all this stuff for £1.41 out of my purse and £12 out of my Xmas savings envelope. I am a very happy bunny and feel very pleased with myself. I got my little spending spree and only £1.41 left my purse.

Anyway I am off to snuggle up in bed and watch Insurgent (free from the library) whilst eating clotted cream on scones (5p yellow sticker). Have a lovely evening Readers.

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Recovery Mode

Hello Readers

Sorry I've not been about but I have been very poorly the last 2 days. After an almost 3 year remission from my Menieres disease it is back :( On Wednesday night I was up all night being sick and then yesterday morning it hit me. The thing I have been dreading and my body has felt coming for the last few weeks. A full on vertigo attack that has left me reeling. My balance is shot to pieces, my tinnitus is raging so loudly I can not hear anything, and I have the shakes and tremors. I hate this damn disease. I thought I was finally in the burn out phase and would never have to endure another vertigo attack again. How wrong was I ? So yesterday and today I have done nothing but rest. The boys and my best friend have been fantastic. The boys have helped in the house and my bestie is on stand by in case I need her help at all.The no spend week is going well. Not being able to get out and about has definitely helped with that lol.

Anyway I am having trouble focusing on my words here but just wanted to let you all know I have not disappeared and I am still here all be it in recovery mode at the moment. I'm off to watch reruns of The Darling Buds Of May whilst snuggled up in bed with a hot water bottle.

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Not Much To Report

Hello Readers

I was lucky enough to have 2 hours cleaning work today. I took youngest son along with me and he sat nicely and played on his tablet whilst I got on with my work. That's £16 earned towards Xmas presents this week. Although as I am having a no spend week it will get added to my Xmas savings envelope. When we got home I warmed up a cheese and onion roll each for myself and youngest son which was yellow sticker and 25p for them both. I then set about a list of phone calls that needed making and got on with some housework. I have one of my little peeps overnight tonight. She is only 3 and is an absolute little poppet. She is Autistic and barely sleeps and her mummy really needed a night off and to catch up on some Zzzzzz's so I offered to have her. She will be picked up in the morning just before I go to my meeting at the school. Tbh Readers there's not a lot to report from today as I have not been out other than to work. I have not spent any money today so the no spend week has got off to a good start and that is how I intend to keep it. I have £4 in my purse to get a hat and 2 pairs of gloves (I found another 3 scarfs so we are all good for scarfs now) if I see them when I am out and about but that is the only spending I will allow myself to do this week.

Anyway I am off to watch some Dora The Explorer with my little poppet now. Have a good evening everyone.

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

One Of Those Day's

Hello Readers

Sorry for my little rant early today but I feel so much better now for having a good old moan lol. Shortly after I wrote that post I had a message telling me my mum had been rushed to hospital but no other details. A few frantic phone calls and still I was none the wiser and couldn't get hold of my mum. It was a tense few hours of worrying about mum until I got a text from my sister informing me mum was on her way home and she is OK but has an infection which they have given her antibiotics for and told her to rest phew.

As I knew mum was OK and I could stop worrying I went to Morrison's to get the few bits I needed.....
Toilet roll
Pet food
#30DayFestiveFoodBank items for the week

I also popped to my local little Tesco as they had an item I often buy on offer at 2 for £5 instead of £5.51 for 1. I popped 2 on the counter and they rung up at £11.02. "Well that cant be right" I said. "They are 2 for £5 on your website". The chap behind the till told me "maybe the offer is only valid in the bigger Tesco stores". Huh Tesco's is Tesco's is it not ? Surely their prices should be the same in all of their stores regardless of the size. I will be writing them an email tonight as this is ridiculous if you advertise something for a price then that price should be honored regardless of the size of your store. I will let you all know how I get on.

I picked up some more items for the #30DayFestiveFoodBank today here's what we have so far.....

Please excuse the fur babies bowls and the rock collection lol. We have.....

2 Bags of rice
2 Bags of pasta
3 Packs of noodles
2 Jars of curry sauce
2 Jars of pasta sauce
2 Cartons of orange juice
3 Tins of spaghetti bolognaise
2 Packs of soap (3 bars in a pack)
3 Roll on deodorants
4 Bars of chocolate
3 Tubes of toothpaste

It's not to late to join in the challenge. All you have to do is buy one item for each of the days in November (30 but you can buy more or less as your budget allows all donations are very welcomed). At the end of November pop the items in to your local food bank to be distributed in time for Xmas.

There's a definite chill in the air here tonight so I am off to snuggle up with youngest son under the duvet and watch some old episodes of Doctor Who. Keep warm everyone.

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Sometimes Life Sucks

Hello Readers

Completely not frugal related so feel free to pass over this post but I need a good rant and maybe there's some of you out there who can sympathize with what I am going through. If you have ever had any dealings with Autism and ADHD then I am sure you will be able to relate.

Here's the back story.....
I removed youngest son from school when he was not getting the help and support he needed (in fact they completely refused to acknowledge the fact he has Autism and ADHD) and home educated him for 2 years. At the beginning of this year I decided I had taken him as far as I could and that he needed to be in a more specialist educational setting. I set about getting him into a specialist school or at least a mainstream school with a specialist setting. The local education authority however had other ideas. Youngest son was put into a mainstream school with no special needs provision in June of this year and it has been a struggle ever since. It all started OK and he was doing full days for the first 5 weeks until he had a meltdown. He was excluded and when he was allowed to return they reduced his school day to 12pm. This worked for a little while until 6 weeks ago he had another meltdown and was excluded a second time. He was allowed to return but only doing 9am-10.45am and was told if there were any further incidents he would be excluded permanently. Since he started school in June I have been screaming and shouting to anyone that will listen that this is not the right setting for him and that he needs to be in a school where they know and are trained to deal with his very specific complex needs. He has been repeatedly restrained in spite of the fact no one has been taught to do this correctly or safely and as a result he is often left with bruises. Finally the education authority decided to do something but only after the school spoke up and said they can not cope with him or his needs (it appears a parents opinion is worth nothing). A my plan has been started which will outline all his needs, the type of provision he needs, and name a special needs setting if that's what they deem necessary. However a my plan takes 6 months to put together and in the meantime he has to stay at the mainstream school he is at and just get on with it.

Fast forward to this morning.....
I arrived at the school at 10.45am to collect youngest son to find him pinned down by 3 adults. He was crying, kicking out, and very frightened (wouldn't you be with 3 adults pinning you down so you cant move). When I entered the room he tried to come to me but they would not let him go so I just snatched him away from them, sat on the floor with him, and soothed him until he had calmed down enough that I could talk to the teacher and find out what had happened. It appears that there were several changes to his morning timetable that caused him to go into meltdown (anyone who knows about Autism knows they do not do well with change). He has been excluded for a 3rd time and I have to go in with him Wednesday morning where I fully expect to be told he is permanently excluded as he was on his last warning. Youngest son is devastated as am I. He enjoys school and has really been making some progress since his medication was changed 6 weeks ago. My heart aches for him and I just want to make everything OK for him. I told them this would happen, that he needed a specialist setting but they would not listen to me. As a result of budgeting and trying to save money wherever they can they have put my son and the staff of this school (which is a very nice school just not equipped to deal with special needs) through hell and now it looks like we will be back where we started with him being at home all day with me until they get there thumb out of their arse and put him in a suitable setting which could take months.

OK so rant over. Have any of you lovely readers gone through similar or do you have any advice for me ? I would love to hear from you.


Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Finances And Chocolate

Hello Readers

Well my jaw has unlocked thankfully. Its still a little sore but I can talk and eat again yey lol. On the 2nd of September I had a water meter installed. I was fed up paying £69 a month fixed water rates and was sure that even as a family of 4 we could get that monthly payment down. From the 2nd of September till the 14th of September we used 10 units. I realized that this was way to much and there must be a leak somewhere. I rang the landlord and had someone come out and investigate where the leak was. It turned out the toilet cistern was constantly emptying and refilling itself and that's where the excess water was going. 1 plumber and 10 minutes later the problem was sorted and between the 14th September and today, 6th November we have used 9 units of water. I am looking forward to getting my first bill in December so I can work out roughly how much money we will save a year being on the meter instead of the fixed tariff.

Current water meter reading 19.253

I sat down and checked how we did on last months budget. As soon as I get payed I pay the rent and council tax for the month and all my household bills for the month. I then put the following into envelopes to last the month.....

Food £160
Entertainment £20
Xmas savings £30
Gifts £10
Clothing £10

As I don't have to buy Gifts or clothing every month a nice little surplus builds up in those envelopes for when a birthday or a needed item of clothing does crop up. Here's how I did this month.....

Food £124 (the £36 saved this month has gone into my long term savings account)

Entertainment £17 (the £3 saved this month will remain in the envelope. I have £33 left in this envelope)

Xmas savings £0 (I haven't bought any Xmas gifts this month. I have £270 left in this envelope)

Gifts £28 (I used the £10 budgeted this month plus £18 from my gifts envelope to cover little ladies birthday. I have £22 left in this envelope)

Clothing £10 (I have £40 left in this envelope)

So as you can see the only thing I came in over on was Gifts this month and that came out of the surplus money in my Gifts envelope. I anticipate Novembers food budget to be much lower this month as I did a big Tesco freezer shop and an approved food shop in October and thanks to all the yellow sticker bargains we have had through October we have barely touched any of it.



I made brownies today Readers I had a real hankering for some chocolaty gooey goodness and these certainly hit the spot.

The No Spend Weekend has gone very well and not a penny has been spent. Tomorrow I will pay all the bills, put money in envelopes, buy pet food/festivefoodbank items/and toilet roll, put £4 to one side for the hat/scarf/and 2 pairs of gloves we need. Once all that has been done it will be a No Spend Week for the rest of the week.


Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria

Treating Ailments At Home

Hello Readers

I woke up this morning with one side of my jaw locked in place. Its bloody agony. There is a centimeter gap between my top set of teeth and bottom set of teeth and I can not open it any wider or close it firmly shut. I cant talk, eat, and can only just drink, all be it very painfully. I have lived on banana milk and chicken soup through a straw all day. I have never had this before. I have had stiffness of the jaw but it has never completely locked on me and I really don't like it. A lot of people would have been straight up the doctors but I don't do doctors. Don't get me wrong I don't have a fear of them or anything like that. I just think if its something I can take care of myself at home then why take a doctors appointment up that someone else may really need. We rarely go to the doctors instead I have a well stocked medicine cabinet capable of taking care of most minor ailments. For coughs, colds, tummy bugs, and headaches doctor Maria prescribes paracetamol, ibuprofen, bed rest, and a healthy dose of TLC. Most ailments I will attempt to deal with at home myself before heading straight to the doctors. That said I do have a rule that if any of us are obviously in unbearable pain or if the problem has not alleviated within 3 days then we give in and pay the GP a visit. 99% of the time though it does not come to this and the problem is easily cured at home. I have been taking painkillers all day so am hoping by the morning it will have loosened off a bit and I can talk and eat solids again.

Despite being in pain I have pushed through and got on with my plan for the weekend. The house has been cleaned, the animals have been cleaned, I have seen to the paperwork, done a stock take and meal plan for next week, and I have done 3 loads of washing all drying on the airing racks as we speak.

All I need to buy for next week is pet food and toilet roll as I have everything else I need and no appointments to attend and the diary is empty so next week has been declared a no spend week. I have pulled all scarfs, gloves, hats, fluffy socks, thermals, and nightgowns out of storage and all we seem to be missing is 1 pair of gloves, 1 scarf, and one hat. Also 1 pair of gloves needs replacing as one of the pair has a big tear in it. I will keep my eyes open for replacements in the charity shops  and Poundland. The electric blankets and extra duvets have stayed in storage as although it is chilly we are not quite at that stage yet.

Tomorrow I will get the clean washing put away and another few loads done and hung on the airers, check how I came in on Octobers budget and move money around accordingly, Check my water meter reading, make some chocolate brownies, and get everything ready for back to school/course on Monday.

I am off to watch old episodes of Doctor Who snuggled up in bed with youngest and middle son.

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Daily Savings With A Good Measure Of Fun Thrown In

Hello Readers

A lot to share with you this evening so please bare with me while I have a good old ramble lol.

I took little lady out for her birthday treat today. As well as being known as the yellow sticker queen I am also known as mother earth, a title my best friend gave me almost 16 years ago. I love children they bring me so much joy. I have a natural knack with them. I love them and they love me. I am blessed enough to have 14 little peeps in my life who I would gladly jump in front of a bus for if it meant saving them. I have my 3 biological children, my best friends 7 children, my other best friends 2 children. my goddaughter, and my nephew. I love them all dearly and as honorary Auntie it is my right to spoil them on their birthdays lol. Little lady had a lovely day and we stuck to my budget that I shared with you yesterday aside from a hot chocolate and a pizza slice that cost £2.50 and we gave to a very cold very wet homeless chap.


Here is the 53p Birthday cake I made for little lady.....

Sponge mix 22p (Tesco value)
Egg 1p (Yellow sticker)
Clotted cream 5p (Yellow sticker)
Yellow ready to roll icing 0p (Little ladies mum had some in her baking cupboard)
Pink icing pen 0p (Already had in my baking cupboard)
Haribo sweets 25p (I used half of a bag I picked up for 50p)

I almost forgot, meet Twinkle little ladies newest addition whom she loves and adores and has informed me that she is going to keep forever because its from auntie Maria lol. Little lady loved her day out and her cake and Twinkle so my work here is done till next year lol.


This evening I had to pop to Morrison's for my #30DayFestiveFoodBank item. I decided on a pack of curry flavored noodles today. However as I have had 2 days this week where I have spent a lot (to me) of money I have declared Saturday and Sunday no spend days. As a result of it being a no spend weekend I grabbed 3 packs of curry flavored noodles instead of 1 so I don't have to spend anything but still have my daily food bank item covered.

 I had a look at the yellow stickers whilst I was there (well it would have been rude not to wouldn't it ? lol). Yet again I did very well. We have eaten 90% yellow sticker food this week and with today's finds it has cost me just £8.40. Here's what I got today.....

4 Large bottles of banana flavored milk (2 have gone in the freezer)
3 Packs of pizza pockets (2 have gone in the freezer)
3 Packs of flame grilled ready to eat mini chicken fillets (2 have gone in the freezer)
1 Box of 2 scotch eggs
1 Pack of 2 cheese and ham chicken kievs
1 Large box of mixed ham
2 Packs of munch bunch yogurts
3 Chicken and bacon sandwiches
2 Best Ham and egg stack sandwiches
2 Just ham sandwiches
2 Brunch triple sandwiches
2 Cheese and onion slices
3 Steak and ale pies
2 Chicken and bacon pies
24 Hovis crumpets (12 have gone in the freezer)
2 LED tealights (Halloween ones)
1 Large tube of chocolate writing icing

Total cost £5.04

How do you do fireworks night on a budget Readers ? Here's how I do mine.....

Youngest son can not cope at a display there are way to many people, way to much noise, and strobe lighting (not good when he is autistic, ADHD, and has suspected epilepsy). He has always gone into major meltdown at these events which is not fair on him, me, or his 2 brothers. This year especially with the increase in his absence seizures I put my foot down and said we were not going to the local display. That said we have not missed out. The venue where the fireworks display is held is our local primary school which also just so happens to be right in front of our house lol. As soon as we heard the fireworks start we ran up to my room turned of all the lights and watched the display from my bedroom window. We had a front row view of the display, were nice and warm, and we didn't have to pay the £24 entrance fee that it would have cost for the 4 of us. I have spent £4 on fireworks from Poundland that we will let off in the garden tomorrow evening, 2 colorful fountains and 2 packets of sparklers. We have not missed out on anything and the total cost of our fireworks night has cost me just £4.

I am off for a spot of reading now and to put my feet up after a busy day. If you are having fireworks please be safe always remember your gloves when handling sparklers, observe boundaries at displays, and if you are having a bonfire ALWAYS check that no animals have crawled in for warmth before you light that fire, but above all have lots of fun.

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Food Banks And A Birthday

Hello Readers

Sorry no post last night. I helped the boys with their paper round as its a new route they have taken on and I wanted to make sure they knew exactly where they were going and ensure every house on the list got their paper. It was cold in fact scrap that it was bloody freezing. By the time we got in youngest son was crying where he was so cold and I could no longer feel my toes. All we wanted to do last night was curl up in bed with a hot chocolate and have an early night. I even resorted to putting the little electric fireplace on in my room for an hour. It must have been cold as I ended up with all 3 boys and all 3 fur babies snuggled up in bed trying to get warm with the heat from the fireplace.

This morning the cold has not left me. I don't usually feel the cold living in the house that we do but 1 and a half hours out in the cold last night has left me feeling it. It has got right down into my bones and is refusing to shift. I babysat for my friend for a few hours this afternoon and despite her having the central heating on and the electric fire place (specifically for me) I still had to keep my coat on and was still cold. This is so unlike me. I hope I warm up soon and get back to my normal self.

After I finished babysitting we popped to Morrison's for our #30DayFestiveFoodBank item plus I needed dog food and a birthday card. I spent £3.07 all needs no wants. So far for the food bank we have

Youngest son was asking lots of questions about the food bank challenge, what they do, who they help etc. We had a thoroughly good chat about it and he has decided that 1 item a day is not enough lol. As a result of our conversation he has decided that he wants to use half of his chore money each week through November and buy some donations himself. His 9 years old Readers , he is autistic, he has ADHD, and suffers from absence seizures yet despite the crap lot life has given him he is one of the kindest, sweetest, caring boys I have ever met in my life and I have the privilege of calling him my son. I explained that it would mean he had no money for comics and stickers for the month and his response was "Mum its more important for someone to eat than me to have comics". When we got to the till he proudly told the checkout lady what items were for the food bank challenge and all about the challenge itself. Hopefully hearing this little boy talk so passionately about helping others has inspired her to grab a few extra items next time she goes shopping and drop them into the local food bank.

By the time we got home I had a raging migraine and had to take some medication and lay down in a dark room. 3 hours later the pain had subsided and I was able to get up, see to the animals, get the uniforms laundered for tomorrow, tidy the house, get dinner done, and make a birthday cake for one of my little peeps whose birthday it is tomorrow. For tea we had thick cheesy omelettes served with a side of coleslaw.....

Costing
2 pots of coleslaw (Tesco value) 50p
12 Free range eggs (Yellow sticker) 5p
250g Grated cheese (Yellow sticker) 5p

Total cost to feed my family of 4 tonight was 60p or 15p per person


I will be spending some money tomorrow as its a certain special little ladies birthday and I am taking her out for the day. We will be going to the build a bear workshop in Bath and I have budgeted £20 for her to build her own bear as her birthday gift (it may come to less but I will make sure it does not come to more lol). I have looked online to try and find a coupon for build a bear but was only able to find one for their online store not the actual workshop :(

Once we have finished building her present I will be taking her to see the pigeon man and the street acts that go on on the streets of Bath all free of charge (I usually throw in some loose change). We will then be going to Mcdonalds for lunch where little lady will have a Happy meal £2.49 and I will have a burger and fries £1.99 (coupon on the back of an old bus ticket) I will take my own drink with me. As eldest son does not have his course on a Friday he has kindly offered to come with us so that I don't have to pay bus fare for myself meaning transport will cost just £3.30 for little lady. So in total transport, food, entertainment, and a present for one of my special little peeps will come to £28.30 not bad at all if you ask me.

Anyway I am off to put the finishing touches to little ladies cake.

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

How Do You Keep Warm

Hello Readers

Have you noticed how cold it has gotten recently ? Most people will have put their heating on by now but not me. As I mentioned in an earlier post we are an all electric house. This means we have no central heating and our heating system is storage heaters in every room. Storage heaters are like vampires. Whereas vampires suck your blood storage heaters suck up electric and therefore money out of your purse. I hate them always have since moving to this house. When I first moved in here I didn't know much about storage heaters and just how awful they are. I soon learnt on our first winter here. On the first chilly night we had here I put them on over night on economy seven in every room. When I got up the next morning I was gobsmacked to see they had cost me £16 in one night. I didn't realize that the first time you use them after not having them on for a long period they use more than they usually cost to run. Later that afternoon the weather was a lot milder and my house was like a sauna but I couldn't turn them off as they are storage heaters they retain the heat. I ended up opening the windows so that we could all cool down and was literally watching my money go out the window. The following night it was cold again and despite my apprehensions after the night before I decided to put them on again. When you have lived in a house with central heating where you are able to turn it on and off as required and adjust the thermostat to suit the temperature you require you kind of get used to not having to go cold. The next morning I checked and this time it had used £8 if you work that out a month that is £240 a month just to keep warm. There was no way I was going to pay that so I refused to put them on again. That was 6 years ago and true to my word I have not put them on since. My mum thinks I am mad and often asks me how we stay warm when we do not use a heating system. So my lovely Readers here are my tips for keeping warm without resorting to a heating system.....

Start off by layering up and dressing appropriately. If its chilly outside don't walk round the house in a vest. I start by wearing a t shirt under a sweater and leggings under my jeans. Once it gets a little colder I then get out my thermal long sleeved vest and long johns and put these underneath the leggings and t shirt. I wear fluffy thermal bed socks and slippers and we use blankets and duvets. Once the bad weather really hits and you can see your own breath its on to phase 2 of operation keep warm. I put our electric blankets on the beds and and extra duvet on each bed. We sleep in our thermal long-johns and vests with a nightgown on and a pair of fluffy thermal bed socks. I put the electric blankets on for half an hour before going to bed and by the time we go to bed its lovely and warm. During the day if its really cold I will put my little electric fire on. I will only ever heat one room with it. I will pull the curtains and put a draft excluder up against the door to keep the heat in. I put the fire on for an hour till the room is nice and warm and then turn it off. I wont put the fire back on again until its cold in the room again. On average the fire goes on 3 times a day for an hour during the very cold months. I got my electric fire from a second hand Facebook selling page for £2. It was old stock they were trying to get rid of and they could not guarantee that it worked and it was extremely dirty. I decided that for £2 I would take a chance on it. I got it home cleaned it up, put a new fuse in the plug and it works a dream it has been keeping us warm for the last 3 years. I usually spend £70 a month on our electric and £90 a month during the 2 coldest months of the year meaning our entire yearly fuel bill comes in at £880. considering a lot of people pay around £300 or more for their gas and electric every quarter I don't think Iam doing to badly do you ?  


Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx

Today's Savings

Hello Readers

So today I have spent some money (gasps in shock horror) lol. Have you ever heard the saying you have to speculate to accumulate lol. The majority of these items were needs not wants. I was just lucky enough to find it all so cheap today :)

My local co-op has just been bought by Lidl and will be closing down shortly. As a result they are selling off a lot of stock cheaply. I decided to pop in as I was close by and have a look. This 24cm saucepan should have been £6 I paid £3.

My boys like things hot and spicy so when I saw this Heinz peri peri hot and zingy sauce reduced from £1.79 to 61p I grabbed 2 bottles.

This family sized classic Pyrex dish was reduced from £9.99 to £3.25. Perfect for homemade lasagna or pasta bake. The best bit it has a 10 year guarantee on it.

After co-op I popped to Morrison's as I wanted to pick up my #30DayFestiveFoodBank item and I had a couple of coupons I wanted to use. This will go in the box to be donated to the local food bank at the end of November. Cost 30p

I had a couple of coupons through from Morrison's in the post one was for 50p off ANY cat food. I usually pay £2.15 for this but with my coupon it cost me just £1.65.

I also had a coupon for 55p off ANY bag of sweets (excluding chocolate). These are currently on offer in Morrison's for £1 instead of £1.54 and it is a very big bag. I paid 45p for these instead of the usual £1.54 and they will be put away for our next cinema trip.

I always like to have a look on the Facebook selling sites. You never know what bargains you might find or how cheap you might find something. I got youngest son this Xmas jumper to put away as an extra Xmas present. Cost £2

Now that the colder weather is setting in youngest son really needed a few more jumpers. These are one size to big so will do him both this winter and next winter.

Cost £1 

Cost £1

Cost £1

During the warmer months the boys sleep in shorts and t shirts or if its very hot just their pants. Youngest son really did need some warmer pj's so when I saw a few pairs for sale I snapped them up. Cost £1

Perfect for that inevitable Xmas jumper competition they will have at school and from Next. 

Cost £1

More pj's £1

Youngest son loves star wars so for 50p this was a bargain

Who doesn't like Yoda lol 

Cost 50p

And one more pair of pj's

Cost £1

I had to pop out this evening to collect the clothing items I had bought from the selling pages so I decided to pop in to Morrison's as it was just around the corner and see if they had any yellow stickers going. It was 6pm and the store wasn't very busy at all and I did rather well again I got the following .....

3 Bottles of Best apple juice
5 Lots of Yeo Valley Yogurts (4 packs have gone in the freezer)
1 Kids cheese and tomato pasta meal
1 Best steak stroganoff meal
1 Rogan josh and rice meal
1 King prawn and rice meal
1 Chicken in black bean sauce meal
1 Biryani and rice meal
1 Box of Kipling Victoria slices
2 Boxes of Kipling Almond slices
2 Boxes of Kipling chocolate and coconut slices
2 Packs of bite sized pork pies (1 pack has gone in the freezer)
3 Packs of all butter croissants (2 packs have gone in the freezer)
24 Free range eggs

Total cost £1.35  :)

So as I say I have spent some money today but when you consider the amount of items I have got I don't think I have done to badly at all.

Today's Total Spend £21.22

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx