My diary, my colours, my rules!

I'm a stationery addict as I have said many times before, and I think anyone who loves crafts or stationery, probably enjoys having notebooks and/or a diary and the coloured pens etc that go with it.

For me, a Fliofax was ok but just too expensive to maintain, so I wanted to have my own diary that I could custom make to fit how I like to make notes. For example, I might not want to write notes on the same section as today's date, personally I like to keep just my schedule on the date/day of the week. So I bought a pocket sized Moleskine, because I loved how durable they are, and I created a week to a page diary. On the right is the actual days of the week, then on the left is for notes, to do items etc. At the beginning of each month I have a month on 2 pages view. So that way, I can outline what is happening that month, note what days I am working, note any birthdays coming up etc. I also then mark that information on the actual day of the diary.

I can get creative decorating the outside of the notebook, using different colours, materials, quotes etc, and I have a little collection of them now, which has grown over the years. I can go back and check anything I need to, and it just doesn't feel the same when you do that with Google Calendar. I guess I am more of a visual person, so out of sight out of mind, which is why leafing through the diary daily helps me keep on top of to do items.

Youtube and Pinterest have inspired me massively - you can really see how creative people are with their hobbies/arts etc. I think for now I will continue on this line for diaries, as my 'electronic age' seems to have been a few years ago and I am reverting to type!

How do you organise your daily tasks, is there anything you absolutely couldn't live without to keep you on top of things? Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Evernote for mums - how I use it!

As you all know I recently started using this free software, it links your phone, pc etc all in the cloud and means your data is always available, plus you get to be more paperless. Now, I'm a stationery lover - love my moleskine and throught Evernote wouldn't be for me.
But.
It so is and I had it on my phone for ages and ignored it.

Anyway as a mum here are some of the main ways I use it:

To keep hold of all the bills in one place. If I want to overpay the mortgage when my son is having his 16 minute or less may-wake-up-anytime nap (!), all I do is type 'mortgage' into Evernote, up comes the account number, number and balance - I then just need to make the call.

To keen an Important Stuff file. Yes the one that family would need if anything happened to us. Birth certificates, wills, passports, drivers licences are all in there. We then just share the folder with key members of the family and relax, knowing they have what is needed if the worst were to happen. By the way this idea was from the 52 bites ebook I mentioned recently, already that $5 has paid for itself.

To write blog ideas and save links to sites etc - all in one spot, no more cluttered bookmark list because I can have a 'blog' notebook and simply search for things and they come up in seconds.

My FAVE use for this is definitely the Shopping List. How many times either of us has forgotten what we needed even with a list, or tried to call the other person from the shop but had no signal. Now we have the list on there and both log into it to add anything we need. Sorted!

I also love it for a reading list, as well as music or movies I want to add to my LoveFilm rental list. I have an Entertainment note for all these 3 items to keep them in one place.

Christmas is a great one, already I have a present list and several recipes in my Christmas notebook, then transferred some of the recipe items to my shopping list note. Nigella kept harping on about Pedro Ximenez sherry for dessert making, so I finally got some last week and OMG seriously she's right - it's nothing like sherry I have ever had, it won't last til Christmas! Were it not for my Evernote shopping list I wouldn't have gotten round to buying it I am sure.

The most used daily thing I use it for is my To Do List and my Baby events list - I simply tag events by day of the week (baby swimming would be tagged Monday, weds and Friday for example, Toddler Group Friday etc), so if I have some time on a Monday and don't know what's on that day, all I need to to is click the Monday tag and I will see several local events that recurr on Mondays and I can choose what we'll do that way. Combined with Google calendar to remind me of things this works a treat.

Evernote... everynote... ever simple!

Ok, so I have found *the* tool I needed. No more searching, no more scraps of paper, no more losing stuff. That's right, I am excited!

You have to see it: http://evernote.com/

It synchs with your phone, so whatever you do on the computer or on your phone, the other knows about. Sraps of shopping lists? No more. Too many bookmarks to even find what you wanted? Not an issue.

My dream of having an up to date pricebook is so much closer now. I also use it to clip recipes from the web.

Everything is searchable, so it's even better than Pinterest in that respect, plus everyone doesn't have to see what you are doing this way, especially if you are planning a birthday or event you want to keep under wraps.

A bonus? You. Can. E-mail. Directly. To. It.
So that important e-mail you got relating to the party you are arranging? You want it to quickly go into the Party folder, you just e-mail your unique address at Evernote and put '@ Party' in the subject line. Because @ pops it into whatever folder you name.
And it tags beautifully. You can tag to your hearts content, each note then gets tagged. Then just click the 'car' tag to see everything you have ever saved relating to your car. For me, it's will be the last MOT certificate, the last price I paid AA, when car tax is due...

And for me, I love the fact that... it has checkboxes... and bullet points... and you can change font size and colour. I am very visual so it helps hugely. Already I have build up several recipes, logged key household information, shared it with hubby... and now I can relax because between dropbox and Evernote, things are going to speed up alot in our household. Especially the recycling... as hubby is shared on that folder now! Do you use it? What tools do you use to stay organised? Would love to bounce ideas around as to how you do things.

Bulk Buying Bonanza - Saving on shopping

Ok so here is a short but hopefuly useful post on what I have achieved so far!

I bought 10kg of (broken) dishwasher tablets on ebay, 2p per wash this way. I will also carefully monitor the salt levels and use soda crystals so that the machine runs well and is happy overall.

I am keeping an eye on Amazon Grocery as they can have good deals too, never bought food from there before but when the have deals and also offer discounts for regular orders, some golden deals may be had there.

I'm going to use www.mysupermarket.co.uk more to compare prices and see deals, then if need be do my weekly shop in the best supermarket to bulk buy. It may involve slightly more petrol, but if we can bulk buy and make a family day out of it, it may work out!

Will keep an eye on local boot fairs and markets as they often sell boxes of veg very cheap, so I can make more pasta sauces, casseroles etc and get that slow cooker working for me again...

I will keep my Pricebook up to date, so far I know that 2p per dishwash, 10p per nappy (when I buy some, only buy 1 pack at the moment per month), 6p per clothes wash are best prices to aim for. Next ones will be things like toothpaste, loo roll (can I beat 22p per roll at Aldi!) and olive oil etc. None of them run out, so no danger of wastage - if you have any ideas please do share!

Stay on top of those pesky tasks...

Well this week had been a near disaster, so many things to keep on top of! My daily list of things to think about, plan, and action goes something like this: - Start researching nurseries for early next year and maybe visit some - Renew cat insurance - Get new wheel for car - Finish tiling lobby (hubby is mid-tiling, due to finish on the weekend, dead handy when I need to get the pram in and out now... not!) - Re-design office layout at work and plan purchases accordingly - Research family tree and join some sort of website so I can create a proper tree - Finish decorating bedroom - Think about garden design for front of house (because the back is a jungle, scary for even a professional - I kid you not!) So... someone at work recommended www.remindersetc.com, and I have been using it fairly sucessfully. It won't automatically recurr on tasks but thats fine, I spent nearly an hour entering things and then it e-mails me reminders... it can even text you them. I'm sure I have divulged my Moleskine notebook addiction, and in there I do have a project list, a short and basic to do list, diary etc, but reminders etc is my nagging helper! So we now have a 1 year old little boy, costs are starting to get steeper, but we're trying to fight against it... I will write a separate blog about that though, lots of topics to cover! If you have any tips on how to stay on top of tasks, I'm all ears, as I manage all household finances, most of the meals, birthdays, planning a social life (ha ha!) and events for baby too...

Websites that can save you money & time today

Today I'd like to share some of the sites that I use to save some money, but the benefit is that they also save time too. Some you may already use and some may be new to you - either way share yours on here too:

- BidNip - This site saves me alot, it is a site that will bid for ebay auctions on your behalf. I am terrible for wanting to 'Buy Now' and this costs lots more money than waiting until a normal auction ends and bidding the normal way. So I do reecommend if you use ebay, sign up to BidNip. You place your maximum bid and let them remember to bid for you. It saves you waiting to the last minute and then getting carried away with bidding. Their 'snipe' can go in seconds before the auction ends. As an example, I was paying £1.70 for 1 door handle on normal Buy It Now auctions, but I used BidNip (and some patience in havoing to wait!) and reduced the handle cost to £0.80p - a 50% saving.

- Boffer.co.uk - A site that has a daily deal, listed at 11:59 every night and once sold out, that's usually it. They do run occasional special offers where they extend the deal.

- FirstDirect.com - Believe it or not, yes, your bank an save you time. Time equates to money, so that's why it's on this list. I can pay bills and never have to queue - I can call them at 3am, any day of the year. I can post cheques to pay in. It's rare to love a bank, but I do love mine.

- Amazon.co.uk - Associates programme - You can earn money from books or 2nd hand items through this programme, sometimes it is better than ebay as Amazon pay a fixed postage amount. I have sometimes bought 5 books for £2 for example at boot fairs, then listed each book on Amazon at £0.01, making some cash on the Amazon fixed postage. Not much if you always list at £0.01 but sometimes you will list a book for more, which is when it really counts. I did this alot for the Moneysavingexpert.com challenge "Make money from nothing" and it worked really well. You start off by selling items you have already got at home or were given and the money you make from that, you invest in other items, so you never spend 'real' money from your pocket. I made over £400 in that challenge and learnt alot. One Chanel book was £0.20p and sold for £9!

- Moneysavingexpert.com - This one goes without saying! The Wednesday e-mail is essential and will keep you updated on all sorts.

- Paypal - Most of us already have an account but if you don't, it can really change how you make payments and save alot of time. No more bank transfers, international payments, converting currency. Any time you can save converts to cash in other ways as you can focus on other moneysaving.

- Online Calculators & Time Savers:
Pleasures V Treasures
WhichBook - Can prevent you from that quick impulse book buy!
Mortgage Overpayment Calculator

FixtureFerrets.co.uk - This site can save you lots of cash on your supermarket shop. Find out who has the best deals before you even go there - well worth signing up for.

So there you have it - what sites do you recommend? See my other articles on moneysaving websites.

Also as Spring approaches, might be a good time to review my Spring Money Saving tips article

How much unappreciated cash is in your house right now?

Ok, so you will probably look around and say 'none' or 'well I have £1.10p in my purse'... but what if you were to find out what's really in your home and imagine it like a little pile of cash?

I spent the day doing this and here are some examples:

- Thai money from an old holiday - £3 worth
- Dollars from an old holiday - £4 worth
- Books that I will try to sell on Amazon - £4 worth
- Books that I can't sell online as a bit tatty - £2 worth
- Collectible items I bought for selling on ebay but haven't done yet - £8 minimum or £16 max if they actually sell
- Clothes I keep meaning to put on E-bay - £6 worth
- Cash in an old savings account I keep meaning to draw down £0.90
- Small radio brand new that I need to sell - £4
- Old kitchen handles - selection - that I could sell - £2
- Next voucher I keep meaning to use but always forget to take into town - £10
- Kitten accessories we no longer need as our kitten is a teenager cat now - £5
- Old computer we could sell for spares - £10

So there you have it - around £61, and that's the things we *know* we have.
As Spring approaches - is there an empty box you can start filling for e-bay, or a car boot sale?
Maybe that cash could then be used to buy something in Spring at a discount that will come in handy for Winter for example. Anything bought now in the sales, or obtained free, could save money for the future. Question is - what to buy!
I think I will start to make a list so I can keep an eye out for things we will need later this year as our tule in the new home is to buy as much either cheap or second hand as we can... or even better - free! This week we got a free poster on Freecycle, so that's a start!

Santa recommends... ebay and thinking ahead!

Autumn is here and we’re all left wondering what wardrobe we have for this kind of interim weather… or wanting to go and spend more on a new wardrobe! Keep an eye out for good bargains in 2nd hand stores in preparation for the cold, as this is the time folks start getting rid of last years winter coat for that ‘must have’ new coat this year…

Aaaanyway today’s topic is more about preparing for Christmas. Yes, that’s right – I said that word! In all seriousness though, you have September, October and November paydays, to use towards spreading the cost of Christmas. So here are my top tips for a cool yule that won’t break the bank:

Make food items for foodies

Vanilla extract made for pennies by soaking 3 split pods in vodka for 4 weeks, peanut butter and chocolate, Christmas cookies, your own alcohol like home made Baileys and so much more. You could make some rum butter, gingercake, lots of yummy things, so much tastier and cheaper than store bought… some creative wrapping or a basket from the £0.99 store can perfect the look, perhaps reuse some ribbon from a gift or some brown paper from an item you received in the post.

Make Beauty Products

As you all know I love making lotions and potions. You can make lip balm in less than 2 minutes, face lotion in less than 10, heavenly face scrubs in 10 and some delightful butter melts for massages and bathing for pennies. My secret weapon is to borrow library books and scour the internet for ideas and then buy the items from ebay. How about a luscious face oil for a few pennies, rather than £30+ in the stores? Plus that way you can customise it to the recipients exact skin type.

Buy most Gifts online Through Cashback Sites

Those of you in the know, already realise that when you buy from HMV or Boots, that if you did it online through a Cashback portal site, you could get 5-10% cash back in your hot little hand, for the same items you would normally buy on the high street. So for Christmas, buy the normal stuff you would usually, but via cashback websites instead, the sites in my Guide (see the Cashback section on the right).

THAT way January will be fun as you will have cash back on it's way to you!

Those are just some ideas, I don’t want to inundate you now, seeing as we’re only in September, but start preparing and a) it will be less stressful, b) it will be cheaper and c) you can dedicate more time to choosing the right present with thought, rather than a last minute gift card. Have fun with it, and get creative!

I will intermittently write a few more ideas just to get the creative thought process going, you never know what we might all come up with!

Changing Hobbies for Changing Times

There was once a time when I would spend all my time in the shops on weekends, desperate to fill my bags and bring home rewards for a hard working week. I would really feel disappointed to return empty handed. I would feel bored at home and literally feel that if I was at home, I was missing out on something.

The same thing went for holidays or breaks, I would plan them ahead and look forward to my time off as a reward for hard work. Nothing wrong with this at all, if we can afford it and if we have no other bigger aims in mind for the cash.

These days though, I see that the last 3 years have changed how I see things. I was fortunate enough to find moneysavingexpert.com before the credit crunch hit, and so had around 18 months of 'practice' saving money and building an emergency savings fund before I actually saw the financial storm roll in and crash upon our shores.

Instead of expensive shopping and holidays I have now started to enjoy these more credit crunch friendly hobbies:

- Making homemade beauty items (saves a fortune, sometimes goes wrong but still saves so much and is more natural for my skin).
- Scouring charity shops for clothing and vintage plates etc - it also gives me inspiration for items we might like in our future home.
- Reading (I get out library books, which saves a fortune on books and is greener too)
- Visiting places in England instead of holidays abroad, or if we do go abroad, we spend as little as we can
- Making homemade cleaning products, not only cheaper but greener too
- If we go out for dinner we try to use a voucher like 241
- Never paying full price for a movie (get a free Orange SIM card on Google and then go to the cinema on Wednesday with a friend to get a free ticket).
- Scrapbooking (well, gluing onto paper!) ideas for our future home
- Growing tomatoes, basil, coriander and parsley (will try garlic this Autumn)
- Laughing at marketing on adverts which claims you 'need' an item to feel great, young, sexy, successful etc etc
- Homecooked meals - I cook in batches and then freeze to save time in the week when we are more tired. I really enjoy cooking when I get into the mindset - radio on, focused, relaxed, just need to make it happen more!
- Games and times together with my husband - planning ahead, getting to talk properly and feel connected is completely free and enables us to feel we're not just working the 9-5 grind all the time.
- Plan ahead - To avoid buying things new, I am following what Amy Daczyn from 'Tightwad Gazette' suggested - think ahead of items you might need. It hasn't happened fully yet but I am working on it, thinking now of items I might need in Autumn/Winter and keeping an eye out for them.

I do find it hard not to just sit and watch TV when I get in thoguh, so I am learning to be more productive with my time, like I have a list of things I 'Need' to do, but I also want to create a list of things I 'Want' to do. These can replace the need for shopping or over indulging, so that when I do want something special, it won't feel like I have been greedy!

How do you avoid spending money these days - have you replaced certain hobbies with others? Have you learned new skills? Are your family and friends supportive and encouraging? If we can all exchange ideas I am sure we can learn alot!

How to organise with no time!

Ok, we have all been there – trying to get stuff done, it all piles up and you suddenly have a moment where you think ‘How can I even make a start on all these things’!
I have been a bit like this lately – lots of things I had in my ‘head’ list but never wrote down or if I wrote it down it was on a post it note I lost under a pile…

So today marks a new start – I will write more down and every day take a few minutes to revise the list and see what I have still to do.

The key with this will be to mark each item with a deadline date. With out that, items just sit on the list. I can cross them off, then by the end of the week write a new list for the week ahead, hopefully with less items (ha ha, as if that will happen!).

This isn’t just for regular things like collecting dry cleaning (which by the way is a pet hate of mine, I don’t buy an item that needs dry cleaning as all I can see is expensive bills in the future each time it needs to be dry cleaned!) – anyway – this list is also for hopes, dreams, research and more.

Make A List
So your list might be a mix:

- Book dentist
- Call friend to arrange movie
- Research soap making courses
- Buy birthday present for brother
- Check phone cashback
- Pay tax bill

Each one needs a deadline date, or you might mark the item with several asterisks to show a higher priority – say 3 asterisks (***) for important, two (**) for important and one for normal (*).

Online and Technology Helpers
Also Yahoo mail offers a calendar which might help you get organised too, as well as mobile phone applications etc which can buzz a reminder at you at a set time. I use these mobile reminders especially for appointments, as a written down note will not get me there guaranteed for the set time! Very important especially if your dentist charges you for cancellations/not showing up!

Plan Time & Money
Obviously if you have a month coming up with lots of tasks to do with birthdays, it would be an idea to budget that cost in ahead of time, so you know you will need more time for research as well as the extra cash to spend. If you research a few months in advance, you might be able to pick up the items cheaper at car boot fairs, on Amazon 2nd hand etc etc.


Set Days
Another things that I would like to do, for housework especially, is set a day to do certain things. For example, Tuesdays might be 5 minutes polishing and dusting when I get in from work.


Get Help
If you are really struggling, who can you ask for help? Even small things removed from your list and onto someone elses' can help you tackle the other tasks much better. You may feel embarassed to ask, but often people realy don't mind - to you it's something huge in your mind, to them it's something they can handle easily and it's such a relief to you, plus they feel good for helping out.


Sit Back and Assess
See how it works for you – one persons method may not be the same as someone else’s best way to do things, you can chop and change to suit.

We all fall short of the super-organised ‘ideal’ and I know that for me both writing things down and having a Household Binder helps a lot (see the Organizing category on the right for more info)…

The 6 month Review - What can we reduce?

Hi everyone,

Well one minute we think it’s Summer and the next – it’s Autumn/Winter! The last couple of weeks have been strange weather-wise and also personally, I am a big Jacko fan so the new hit me hard, hence lack of updates, my apologies for that.

Anyway today is green day, so today’s focus is about what you can start to live without and reduce resources. As times get tighter and we see the news headlines talking about more job losses, higher cost of living and the lack of mortgage lending, cutting back is on all our minds.

Are there any items you would be able to do without? Those little niceties that you think you ‘need’ to buy but can in fact either make at home, buy second hand, or not buy at all? Not only would they declutter your life, they would leave more cash in your purse.

Examples…

Take aways
Coffee on the go
Magazines
Sweets and chocolates
Snacks like crisps
Bus fares or taxi fares
Beauty of make up products
Outings to the pub

All of these slowly drain away from our pockets and don’t seem like much but can amount to a lot over the year. We have all heard the Starbucks quote that a take away coffee every working day can cost around £650 a year – sounds very painful that way!

So for me, this is my 6 month review on how things are going. Below are the things I have either started to make myself at home, or stopped buying completely:

- Washing up liquid – make at home for a fraction of the cost (see right hand menu for how to make this) – now just costs around £10p per litre.
- Handwashing soap – same as above
- Kitchen counter spray – same as above… barely costs 1p per bottle now.
- Magazines – I probably buy one every 3 months now, if that.
- Clothes – I have bought almost all my clothes in the past 6 months from second hand stores and all are of good quality, saving me at least £200.
- Washing powder – I buy the big boxes on an offer then cut it with half of soda crystals (around £0.69 per KG). This means one box has lasted us over 6 months, at a cost of around £5.50 for washing all our clothes for half the year.
- Paper towels – stopped buying and now use small rags cut into squares – has saved around £4, not much but it all counts.
- Beauty products – I make my own now from shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba or almond oil and some essential oils plus some kitchen cabinet ingredients. Although it costs a little in raw materials, I estimate that it has still saved me around £30 these past 6 months, possibly more. See right hand menu for recipes – the beauty oil alone that I made saved lots! I have made lip balm, moisturiser, cleanser, exfoliator and beauty oil from around 6 ingredients, amazing really and so natural, no preservatives as I can just make them when I need them.
- Foods – sounds daft but I used to buy Hummus a couple of times a month – I make my own now for a fraction of the cost then freeze it in small pots for as and when I need it. Other examples: Chilli oil, vanilla essence, tomato and onion chutney and more – these have saved us at least £20 compared to store bought.
- Movies – We rarely pay full price for a movie – get a free sim card from Orange on Google and this gives you half price movies every Wednesday when you take a friend. We also see a lot of free movie previews which cost nothing. Savings are around £50 so far this year, compared to paying ticket prices.
- Energy - Obviously with teh warmer months there is less expense, but we have decided to keep our direct debits as they were so we can have some money on account over the next few months. Also, we have made conscious efforts to always turn off rather than leave items on standby, I charge my phone at work etc. Plus being outside more means less use of gadgets inside.
- Plant your own - we have planted green beans, basil and tomato which are all going well. Savings so far probably £1 as we have only used the basil, but once the tomatoes ripen in 4 weeks or so I am hoping we will save more.
- Amazon - selling books I had read but were still in good condition - have sold arounf £4 worth, nothing much but then I haven't bought many books this year either...

Hopefully these give you some great ideas to continue with and maybe make some cuts or have different ways at looking at your spending / making items at home. Be it honey lip balm, vanilla essence or delicious chutney, once you start to see the product marketing for what it is you can save lots more money!

How to avoid overspending in Spring

What miserable weather all of a sudden! We all thought Spring had sprung, and now we see Autumn/Winter is back with a vengeance...

Well I guess this puts us slightly back into hibernation mode for a few days which can be a good thing, because I think it's the perfect time to plan your strategy for Spring.

Shops will soon be tempting us all with lovely new Spring clothes, goodies, food, picnic ideas, new futniture and so much more in the lead up to Summer. You may already be thinking of Holidays, gin and tonics, more white wine, lots of meals out and day trips. Or you may be worrying about finances and concerned that the school breaks will cost a fortune. So tiem to sit and plan ahead - is there anywhere money can be saved completely or at least some of it clawed back?

Here are some small ideas:

If school breaks are worrying you - can you see local attractions and events for free? Could you visit the beach rather than a centre of town? Or perhaps a country walk with a pub lunch for a treat rather than a big amusement park?

For kids clothing this summer what about checking out charity shops? Other parents will be discarding kids stuff from last year and no doubt some very good quality items will appear that have been used only a few times. You can also browse for yourself!

If you like your wine, perhaps buy in bulk to save money, or if you like G&T's buy enough to last a while rather than always buying individual tonic botttles.

For picnics, make your own food rather than buying ready made as it;s so much cheaper. Take your own tap water, or if you must buy bottled water at least buy an ethical bottled water or one that supports charity.

If you have friends that love eating meals out, how about using vouchers to get money off? www.moneysavingexpert.com have lots of vouchers weekly for Pizza Express, Wagamama and more - this can save you so much money and everyone will benefit.

What about food? Summertime is a great time to cut back on expensive read meats and enjoy fresh salads, aduki beans, fruit and even chilled soups. Good for the wallet and the diet too! It's harder to bulk cook in warmer months but much better for the diet overall. Remember to buy online so you can see the costs mounting up as you shop. This also avoids going to the supermarket and being tempted by all those instore deals.

Also foodwise, why not sling some basil seeds in some compost in a washed yoghurt pot - in a few days it will start to come up, just keep the soil damp and the pot on a sunny windowsill. You can plant as many as you like, so they flourish throughout Summer months for all those lovely salads.

And finally, how about making your own vanilla extract rather than spending a fortune everytime you need some?
Make your own vanilla extract

This is something I want to try as we do use a fair bit in making desserts and it's so handy to have around. It would make a great present for someone too, in a pretty jar.

I hope these ideas have inspired you in some way & welcome to all the new members - do suggest ideas of what you aim to do so save money this Spring/Summer!

PS: Don't forget 20:30 on Saturday is Earth Hour please join in & switch your lights, tv, computer etc just for one hour! Also on Saturday night the clocks go forward one hour...

Counting the pennies... so the pounds can take care of themselves

Well, as some of you know, I take part in the NSD (No Spend Days) challenge on MSE – usually I do it as a ‘lurker’ – ie: I have never officially signed up, as I have been testing the water to see how well I do myself...

Well, now there’s a new post dedicated to doing it in March:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1509465

How about we all take part here on Savings Now?

It has to be worth a shot – we could support eachother either on the actual MSE thread or heer on the blog, to see how far we can stretch the cash in March.

Personally, I will not purchase:

- Treats like chocolate / crisps / sweets / soft drinks during working week
- Magazines / coffees etc on weekends

I always allow myself this ‘Pocket Money’ for the month for my non-essential spending. This covers treats, going out, clothes, entertainment and those kinds of things.

My steps for the March Challenge:

- Take my ‘Pocket Money’ out in cash again on 01 March and only spend from that.
- Get 20 No Spend Days (NSD’s) for March
- Convince him indoors that what he takes out in cash is it for the month!

I normally allow myself maximum £50 per week / £200 a month to cover everything that isn't a bill.

In February I managed well and have only taken out my £100 allowance in cash at the beginning of Feb and been using that. It means that this Friday I will have a massive £100 for my savings account which is fantastic.

Here’s to hoping we can all do this together in March!

When the brain just ain't good enough

Ok, we have all had those days when we think 'well, I know I had lots to do, and I've achieved two of those things. What were the rest?'...

... Or what about the birthday that you asked your other half to remind you of, in case you forgot, and they then ended up forgetting... you see - they thought you would be your usual organised self anyway, so subconsciously they didn't *really* need to remember it!

Truth is, sometimes pen and paper is the only way to do it. However, not lots of papers, lots of envelopes, lots of post it's or lots of cork boards. For me, it used to be my Filofax but I use my own homemade diary now - and that is just that - a diary and a task list.

For other stuff we use a wall calendar for birthdays and important dates, this is essential and is easily viewable every day in the kitchen.


The Piece De Resistance? Well, it's our Home Binder. I came across this concept on a US website last year and initially dismissed it as too much of a faff. However! My interest was raised and I started to see that rather than digging out that old council tax bill to try and find outr account number, why not have all bill companies and their account number & tel on one sheet? That level of smart-thinking hit me right in the middle of my forehead. Above is the pic to prove it... one page ladies and gentlemen - right at the front of the manual!



This is the tab for the 'home' section. In here I have recipes for homemade stuff (food, cleaning, beauty lotions etc).



This example is in the Home section is about bathroom cleaning and then I jot notes on that page + the back of the page all to do with the bathroom cleaning.


Finally, I have the reading section - here I will eventually jot notes for books I'd like to read. However, I also have an Amazon Wishlist, so I tend to use the two methods. Right now mainly I use scrap bits of paper for notes on books I want to read, which I'd like to transfer to this manual. it reminds me I must check my Amazon Wishlist to see it's up to date!



There you have it - it's an idea that may work for some and not for others. However for us it works fine as my other half knows exactly where to look for what and as it takes far less time, it's less of a 'chore'. However, for stuff I need to urgently be aware of, we still use the wall calendar and my mobile phone reminders that beep at me...

February Challenges

Well it’s been another few days and my skin is still feeling great, so the other cosmetics are definitely out in my next recycling box.

I will be making some more of the oatmeal/honey/milk cleanser for the coming week, plus some actual face moisturiser and a body one, as my unrefined shea butter from ebay has arrived. I am expecting some rose essential oil too and I will then be set to go. A cheap Argos hand blender has been purchased so all in I have spent approx £9 to get these basics which will do me for at least 6 – 9 months which is an amazing saving compared to this time last year.

In addition, I will be able to use the rose essential oil to add to my homemade shower gel or handsoap if I want to, so that’s another plus, however this will be rare as I will use it sparingly because it’s not the cheapest oil – more likely grapefruit / lime etc will be used and I will save the Rose for face moisturiser or cold cream.

CHALLENGES

February marks the start of another month, another chance for me to beat the monthly challenges and they may be something you already do. Some I already do and some are ones I’d like to start:

- Monthly supermarket challenge – I try to stick to £120 for two people for all food, cleaning and drinks, but wine normally blows this budget to around £135ish. Let’s see how we do in February.

- Monthly No Spend Day Challenge – This is my personal challenge and every day that I do not spend any money at all, I mark it as an ‘NSD’ in my diary. My personal best has been 21 x NSD’s in a month – not bad but very rare that happens! More average is 16 or 18 NSD’s per month. I find that it focuses the mind though and I know that most times I won’t hit 18 NSD’s in the Summer months...

- Cash Only Challenge – This is a new one for me - I am going to withdraw cash in one go this month and not visit the ATM as much to make it stretch. Not only will it save me time but it will ‘hurt’ me more to get the cash out of the drawer and see it dwindling away there than in the bank, so hopefully I will stay away from the drawer!
Plus as the banks and savings accounts are offering such poor interest rates now, the justification to leave it in the bank is getting less and less of an issue, so this may help me put a few more coins in the piggybank at the end of Feb.

- Less Electricity Challenge – Another new idea - I am aiming to have one night each week where we get back from work and literally only have a radio on. This means we can catch up properly with eachother, read, enjoy quality time, file old paperwork, clean house and all those things that seem to build up with all the busyness of the week. I am hoping it will help us lead a simpler life with ‘less static interference’ – let’s see whether it happens!

February is a hard month for challenges - Valentines day is coming and for those in a relationship it marks an expensive time – will you be treating yourselves or saving money in the credit crunch?

Painless Savings in painful times

Ok, so we all know the credit crunch is here to stay, and now economists are saying that this isn’t even the worst of it and could even topple from being a ‘Recession’ to a ‘Depression’ (The old joke goes that Recession is when your neighbour loses their job, a Depression is when you lose yours). Obviously, it’s no joke, so we’ve all got to do more than *think* about tightening the belt – we’ve got to get a thinner and longerlasting belt too.

Most of us are doing this already, but I thought what else can we do? It already hurts so much to work all day, and not really splurge even though every day is a slog in the 9-5 grind, or a fulltime job at home caring for others.

My thoughts this year, over and above what we did last year:

- Hubby will continue to have his hair cut Chez Moi, rather than a hairdresser. Perhaps he’ll go to them twice a year rather than say 8 times. Saving? Around £50.

- Less meat. So far we’ve only cut what what we spend by getting deals etc. This year we will actively cut back on meat, especially red meat, and enjoy more locally sourced vegetables, including reduced prices ones if we shop at our local market or late in the day at the supermarket.

- Less clothes. OK, it hurts for a girl to say this, but really I should try to cut back. I can then save money and if I buy good quality items at second hand stores, I will also be more eco-friendly as well as helping a charity. Win/Win all round. I make exception for shoes which I cn

- More pension – I currently pay into a private pension but if I can I would like to upp this, because in the current market your pension payments are buying you more for less than they used to. This is called Pound Cost Averaging – drip in slowly and you will hopefully have a safer time in these storms.

- Less waste. Eat whatever we buy – nothing goes in the bin. We have bought more and more from the fruit and veg market over the last 12 months, which means we can buy just 4 tomatoes if that’s all we need, rather than a shrink wrapped pack of 8, of which 2 may end up in the bin. It’s also greener as involves less packaging.

- More discounts – There’s no harm in asking, and if asking saves an average of 10% of some purchases, we’ve gained 10% in our pockets.

- More Free clicking – I will click as many offers and free cash-earning clicks as I can in 2009, to hopefully beat last year’s extra earnings.

- More working for ourselves – We’re self employed as well as having full time jobs, so the more we can earn the more cash we can save, and in the current market cash is king.

- Less energy – Use less gas and electric where possible and switch every 6 months if this offers significant savings, or other bonuses such as Nectar points, cashback or vouchers.

These are my ideas so far – what do you have planned – what are you going to spend more on (to reap rewards in the long term) or spend less on (to save cash)?

A gorgeous diary for... zero (just some time needed)

OK, I have to confess to you all that I am addicted to organisers / diaries / lists and so on ;o)

For me, ambling around a stationery store is a hobby, seeing different diaries, checking different paper and the different covers on notebooks etc... the colours, the textures, what content they have - it's all just a pleasure! But the ones for me have to be a certain way, I'm way too fussy...

So you can imagine that December/January is the time I make the huge decision of what pretty diary I will have for the year ahead... and well, they were never quite 'it'. So I discovered DIYPlanner.com which has loads of templates to create your own 'book' whether it be for a diary, tasks, notes etc etc.

BUT I found it all... embarassingly confusing because I don't work in US sizes! So I feebly searched and then found:


Amanda's Site (thank you Amanda)

Which presented me with the option of having something custom made by her, that I could freely use.

All I did was 'save as' the images I wanted on her site, then pasted them into Word. I then changed them to the size I wanted each page to be (by right clicking on the image and going to the size tab).

Then after figuring out how to place 2 images on the page (to save paper), I printed lots of pages - around 28 as each one covers 1 week and I had 2 per page. I also managed to print some other 'Notes' pages on the back of each 'Week' one (lots of lining up and testing for this but it worked). In addition, also printed some 'Task' pages, because lists are the only way my befuddled head gets things done.





The design I preferred was this one as it suits me for each week. But there are lots to choose from.

Doing this gives me the option to print onto say scrap paper that I had at home, and use the 'good' side for another year's worth of stuff. As the template has no year or month, I have kept the Word document on my pc so it's just a case of pressing 'print' x 25 next year...

So for the sake of a couple of hours printing and cutting, I have my own thing which is cheaper and greener, and will do the same next year...

Another good site is Printable Paper for free paper download templates...

Saving: Around £6 plus keeps me away from the alluring stationery shelves spending money!

The Big Ideas for 2009

Many apologies for the delay folks - Happy 2009 and I hope you had a great Christmas and January isn't too painful - both weather-wise and financially!

I am pleased to say that from our moneysaving / voucher earning activities etc - we were able to only spend £50 on food at Christmas. The rest of actual Christmas food and alcohol was paid for from Cashback Clicking (see right hand menu), surveys etc.

We also emptied our coppers and changed them up in the machine at Sainsburys - this gave us £12.50 worth which was great.

Individually, we had saved silver coins in piggy banks, and on changing these up, we had around £40 each, which paid for our night out on New Years Eve which makes it even better!

I thought I would start a post for ideas for the year that we could all benefit from - creative ideas to get us spending less, using less and saving more.

For now here are my plans of attack for 2009:

- Stop buying paper towel for the kitchen - cut up cloths and rags into wipes and simply wash these regularly. This should save us around £6 per year.

- Stop watching TV for one night of the week - this will be hard to apply in Jan/Feb but I am sure I can do it. Could get reading / tasks / cleaning and time with hubby. This will save us electric and maybe increase our knowledge through reading. Plus it's quality time - maybe just the radio on and chilling out.

- Less plastic bags - Ensure I always have my tote shopping bag so we don't pick up too many plastic bags. We do this already but still, always room for improvement. Any plastic bags we do pick up get used for our bathroom bin.

- Reduce food waste - Over 2008 we were so much more aware of throwing out food that had gone off. Having a slow cooker has helped alot as you can throw anything in pretty much. Plus we always write a proper shopping list before even entering the supermarket. Having a weekly plan on a wipe board for meals has also helped. So now what we throw in the bin is almost always peelings etc rather than wasted food - which I had started to visualise as pound coins...

What are your ideas for this year?

Christmas & Plans for 2009

My thoughts are now turning to the Christmas break, a lovely time to relax, spend time with family and just enjoy the time off from the 9-5.

There's wrapping to be done, mince pies and mulled wine to enjoy, friends to see - so much on! Yet I still try to find time to plan my ideas for the year ahead.

My plans at the moment are as follows, just whilst they are fresh in my mind. 2008 has been a year for 'homemade' and I have learnt so many skills. From lemon curd, rice pudding, chutneys etc, to more usage of my slow-cooker and spending more time planning ahead. In 2009 I am hoping to:

- Fine tune these aspects even more - this includes: Shopping for more items in the 'Reduced' section, whereby I will freeze more items to slow cook with. My husband loves cooking bread so hopefully we will experiment lots of new and tasty varieties in the new year.

- Make my own liquid soap (easier than making normal soap, which seems far too scary for me!)

- Make my own washing up liquid (more natural and less expensive than shop bought).

- Only buy new if really needed - otherwise search the Freecycle site, local second hand markets and re-using items we already have if they can be repaired.

- Save all coppers into a 'Food for Christmas 09' pot - and the same for silvers. We did this this year and it's great as December is so much cheaper then.

- Save all vouchers earned from surveys etc for Food & Drink next Xmas. We have done this for 2 years now and December is actually our cheapest month of the whole year as a result.

- Do even more 'Free Clicking' online - see right hand menu for details - as this earns me over £350 per year, for a few clicks a day in any spare time I may have.

- Eat less processed food - we make most of our own food as it is, but to cut out what we can in terms of 'lazy' eating when in town shopping.

- Buy second hand clothes if they are good quality, rather than new. I am a petite size, so this is hard for me but I have found a few bargains here and there. Whereas I was spending £15-£25 on a top, I have found items for £5 for example. It does not need to be on every item, but at least where possible.

- Make more chutney, learn how to make jams and jellies, cordials etc. These add such a fantastic element of luxury and cost so little compared to processed store bought.

- Buy more good quality bedding items that may last 10 years rather than one or two and try to choose items that will wash/wear well no matter what.

- Grow more of our own herbs and vegetables. Learn about seeds / best tiems to plant etc.

These are just what I can think of so far.

What are your ideas for the coming year?

Autumn now, Xmas next - scary!

Well the cold is definately settling in now, and in our household we had held out until 1st October to put the heating on... it finally happened on the 4th, this Saturday, as it was quite chilly. Here are some points we have been talking about which may help you...

In August we called our energy supplier and switched to a fixed tariff for gas and electric, I guess for us it's worth the peace of mind. I have also made sure they are going to take a bit more from my Direct Debit every month, to cover the fact we will start to put the heating on more now. Could you benefit from switching suppliers? Even if not, what about a fixed tarff so you get no nasty surprises? Also to avoid some of those, why not set up or increase your direct debit, so you know you will have enough for gas/electric when the bill comes? Paying by DD saves money as they usually give you a discount, and it also allows you to save paper/postage stamps/ envelopes and those horrible big bill days. I love DD and wouldn't go back!

We also decided this weekend we would look at our goal for the next 6 months, which is to really bolster up our savings, as we are hoping to buy a place next Summer. We keep our eyes peeled on the markets but for now we are waiting and seeing, like so many other millions out there. For now we are holding fast with our Icelandic bank called IceSave but we're glued to any news about the Icelandic economy.




In September was interviewed on a local radio station as a first time buyer and what my thoughts were - and in a nutshell, I explained that whereas family and friends used to look down at us for now being 'on the ladder' yet, now they see it as a wise move that we are renting and saving, waiting for more sensible prices to come along. We have friends who bought last summer and are probably now in negative equity - not a pleasant prospect for anyone. In time we will hopefully see some more acceptable prices that reflect people's real wages and with some luck, a balancing of the current market turmoils.

We also took the opportunity last week to cancel our joint gym membership and buy a second hand cross-training machine, which just barely squeezed into our flat. At £60, this is the cost of our joint membership, so in October it has already paid for itself. I have also sourced some free weights for my husband from FreeCycle, which he is happy to collect as there was no spend involved. This has saved us £720 a year and even if I join again in Spring, it is still worthwhile. For now I am using the machine almost daily, sometimes twice a day, because the weather and effort of travel are no longer an excuse!

We bought a counter top freezer for £20 too, which again, just about squeezes into our kitchen, but we feel for the cost will easily pay for itself and much more. We can now batch cook and obtained some free containers from a recent work take-away meal. This means so much to us - and easier dinners from now on. It would also allow us to make homemade pizzas for example in advance and then pop them in the oven which is extra lazy as making them from fresh (pre-bought base) only takes 5 minutes... I can now take advantage of more Buy One Get One Free offers!

My husband agreed to buy a hair trimmer a while back so I am now designated hairdresser! Each time I cut his hair he puts the cost of a haircut in a savings tin, which is great and I have to admit, the first cut was scary but now it's not so bad!

So there you go - some ideas to keep you going as we head into Autumn - I would love to hear what you are up to and what tips you have!