Ok, so the title sounds scary but the truth is, with job losses, increased costs, energy prices changing all over the place, Swine Flu panic and strikes, we’re all at a loss as to what the next 6-12 months will bring.
I know of people whose mortgages have reduced by about half, and instead of saving the cash, they are preferring to go on expensive holidays. Normally I would be tempted by the same thing in their situation, but in the current climate? No chance.
If you do not have an emergency fund to be your safeguard in this recession, please start one. It is better to have something as a buffer than nothing. It means if you are ill, or your partner is ill, or your washing machine dies, or your car just suddenly stops, you have a stash to cover the problem. Even worse – what if you are ill for several months, or you lose your job?
I started saving £5 a month many years ago when I earned £80 per week, my rent was £40 of that. It was back breaking work and very hard to put that £5 aside, but I did it. The years went by and I increased the amounts as I could, I couldn’t yet afford a pension yet so at least I thought I should increase the savings slowly.
That idea stayed with me and I kept it going. That £5 a month turned into a thousand after a few years which made me feel I could cope if I lost my job and needed to look for another one.
These days, the recommendation is that you have 3-6 months worth of salary just in case. It means if you lose your job, or want to change and walk away from the job, you feel safer.
Savings rates are not amazing right now, but the main reason to do this is for protection, not rates.
So no matter what the next 6-12 months bring for us all, please make sure that if you are paying any debt obligations, you also put a little aside for the emergency fund. You will feel better and able to look ahead and not worry as much about what will happen. We are all in the same boat, so worth having a lifejacket!
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Monday, 20 July 2009
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)…
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)…
Friday, 10 July 2009
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!
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Reducing Costs and Stashing Savings
Hello everyone, it has been an eventful month with lots going on, so I am sorry for not having posted recently.
June has allowed me to take some time to analyse spending for these past 5 months and compare to previous years. The results are pretty amazing, even though I do say so myself! I hope that by sharing this information it might inspire you to get more out of your budget and put aside more even if just a little, for a rainy day. All savings in this economic climate are valuable protection against the unknown future.
Some years ago I set up a Budget spreadsheet and on it I log the 'extras' we buy, ie: the non-essentials. I have one spreadsheet for me and one for the joint spending. On my personal spreadsheet, I can see the following:
TOTAL Personal'Frills/Non essentials' Spend for the year + Average per month:
2006 - £5365 (£447 per month)
2007 - £3444 (£287 p/ month)
2008 - £3548 (£296 p/month)
2009 - £763 for 5 months (average £153 per month)
So as you can see, there has been a drastic reduction in 'silly' spend since I have started to be more aware of what I was spending on non-essentials and I have focused alot more in the last 3 years. There has been little suffering yet it's saved me an average £2,000 from 2006 to 2007 alone on non-essential spending. Around £294 less spending per month comparing 2006 to 2009!
TOTAL JointSpend for the year & Average per month:
The below include bills and all household spending:
2006 - £5058 (£421 per month)
2007 - £4209(£350 p/ month)
2008 - £4552 (£379 p/month)
2009 - £1652 for 5 months (average £330 per month)
This is a reduction of £90 per month comparing 2006 to 2009, which would be over £1,000 per year in savings if you averaged it out!
Now we are leading a more purposeful life and saving more, and inflation has not affected our joint finances because we have been more creative, therefore allowing us to put exactly the same money in every month since 2006 (£400 per month) and even take money back out into savings at the end of the month. This goes towards our house deposit fund and the way I see it, each £10 saved is another couple of pillows or money towards durable items like good quality pans, growing our own veg etc.
For 2009, I have spent £52 on clothing in the last 6 months, and £30 on charity, almost half of my clothing spend! Lunches and naughty snacks have cost me £95 which is shameful and I want to reduce those much more...
www.spendingdiary.com is a great site you can use if you find budgeting boring or hard to do. It really helps.
Personally, I like to take out £100 in cash on the 1st of the month, allowing myself another £100 in the bank 'just in case'. My £100 in cash has to cover everything that is not a bill. Going out, clothing, snacks, magazines, books and dvd's, all the fun stuff. I then make a note of what I have spent in cash and when, normally on my way home from work in a quiet moment.
Normally, the other £100 stays in the bank for times when I need to pay for something via debit card, but most times, quite a decent amount of that is left in the account at the end of the month, maybe £60 is left. I either save this, or sometimes buy shares or take it out and keep it at home for special treats like going out for dinner or a movie.
So by using this ATM machine rule, I have saved around £300 so far this year, proving that my thoughts last year that I 'couldn't possibly do any better in 2009' wasn't true...
Any extra cash I have come in (on top of my wages) from cashback sites for example, goes straight to savings, I have trained my mind to not even think of it as real money. I also would never consider buying anything off the highstreet now *IF* I can buy it online through a cashback site. See my Cashback Sites section on the right for more info on hwo this can save you some money.
I hope that this inspires you and if you are a homemaker or work a full time job, there are savings to be made in small tweaks here and there that do add up. Make a start, see how you like it and then try and challenge yourself week by week... perhaps keep a log if this motivates you.
June has allowed me to take some time to analyse spending for these past 5 months and compare to previous years. The results are pretty amazing, even though I do say so myself! I hope that by sharing this information it might inspire you to get more out of your budget and put aside more even if just a little, for a rainy day. All savings in this economic climate are valuable protection against the unknown future.
Some years ago I set up a Budget spreadsheet and on it I log the 'extras' we buy, ie: the non-essentials. I have one spreadsheet for me and one for the joint spending. On my personal spreadsheet, I can see the following:
TOTAL Personal'Frills/Non essentials' Spend for the year + Average per month:
2006 - £5365 (£447 per month)
2007 - £3444 (£287 p/ month)
2008 - £3548 (£296 p/month)
2009 - £763 for 5 months (average £153 per month)
So as you can see, there has been a drastic reduction in 'silly' spend since I have started to be more aware of what I was spending on non-essentials and I have focused alot more in the last 3 years. There has been little suffering yet it's saved me an average £2,000 from 2006 to 2007 alone on non-essential spending. Around £294 less spending per month comparing 2006 to 2009!
TOTAL JointSpend for the year & Average per month:
The below include bills and all household spending:
2006 - £5058 (£421 per month)
2007 - £4209(£350 p/ month)
2008 - £4552 (£379 p/month)
2009 - £1652 for 5 months (average £330 per month)
This is a reduction of £90 per month comparing 2006 to 2009, which would be over £1,000 per year in savings if you averaged it out!
Now we are leading a more purposeful life and saving more, and inflation has not affected our joint finances because we have been more creative, therefore allowing us to put exactly the same money in every month since 2006 (£400 per month) and even take money back out into savings at the end of the month. This goes towards our house deposit fund and the way I see it, each £10 saved is another couple of pillows or money towards durable items like good quality pans, growing our own veg etc.
For 2009, I have spent £52 on clothing in the last 6 months, and £30 on charity, almost half of my clothing spend! Lunches and naughty snacks have cost me £95 which is shameful and I want to reduce those much more...
www.spendingdiary.com is a great site you can use if you find budgeting boring or hard to do. It really helps.
Personally, I like to take out £100 in cash on the 1st of the month, allowing myself another £100 in the bank 'just in case'. My £100 in cash has to cover everything that is not a bill. Going out, clothing, snacks, magazines, books and dvd's, all the fun stuff. I then make a note of what I have spent in cash and when, normally on my way home from work in a quiet moment.
Normally, the other £100 stays in the bank for times when I need to pay for something via debit card, but most times, quite a decent amount of that is left in the account at the end of the month, maybe £60 is left. I either save this, or sometimes buy shares or take it out and keep it at home for special treats like going out for dinner or a movie.
So by using this ATM machine rule, I have saved around £300 so far this year, proving that my thoughts last year that I 'couldn't possibly do any better in 2009' wasn't true...
Any extra cash I have come in (on top of my wages) from cashback sites for example, goes straight to savings, I have trained my mind to not even think of it as real money. I also would never consider buying anything off the highstreet now *IF* I can buy it online through a cashback site. See my Cashback Sites section on the right for more info on hwo this can save you some money.
I hope that this inspires you and if you are a homemaker or work a full time job, there are savings to be made in small tweaks here and there that do add up. Make a start, see how you like it and then try and challenge yourself week by week... perhaps keep a log if this motivates you.
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Fat Cheese - Cashback New Kid On The Block!
Hi all,
Today I have another interesting cashback website for you - they're called FatCheese, a strange name but they seem to have good offers!
(If Cashback sites are new to you and sound confusing, don't worry - it's a great way to make money online and buy items you were going to buy anyway - see the Cashback Sites section on the right hand side).
A few sites as you all know just get you in on good offers and then once you start to use them, you see those offers dissapear. Some of the sites remain more loyal to customers than others. It seems FatCheese are aiming to be a real contender, with enough going on to keep us all interested, plus with quick customer service response as well but this is my first impression after a couple of months.
Customer service has not always been great with these types of sites, nor do they always share 100% of what they get from suppliers with us. So far my queries have been answered quickly, and my transactions are tracking smoothly, so I thought it was time to write about them a little more.
From what I can see at the moment, they have a good selection of offers on, it might be that some of them are of interest to you now, but you can always take them up another time if you don't need them at the moment. However, these ones seem particularly good, 3 of which involve no spend at all.
Some of the Best Offers at FatCheese today:
- Sky+ at £75 cashback. You can get a free Sky+ box plus £25 Tesco voucher so overall this is worth quite alot - IF you were planning to subscribe to Sky+ anyway.
- Hastings Direct Car Insurance. FREE £20 MOT voucher just for getting a quote, so there is no actual need to take up the offer if yous insurance is not yet up but you want to get an idea of prices.
- T-Mobile FREE SIM cards. £1 cashback for ordering two FREE SIMs. Costs nothing and is useful too if you need some SIMS.
- Gala Bingo. £20 cashback for each new player depositing and wagering a minimum of £5. Essentially you would get £15 free in cashback terms.
- Synovate. £1.35 cashback when you register, easy and quick to do.
As always make sure you clear your cookies effectively (ie: delete all cookies before you log in to the cashback site to make any purchases or register for no-spend offers such as the above SIM cards or Synovate / Hastings Direct) - see my Cashback section on the right-hand side menu for more tips, or request my full guide.
In addition if you follow my referral link:
Fat Cheese
You will get access to an extra £5 to use Coral, currently it's £5 cashback but the above link will give you £10. This will be credited in due course on your statement. You may of course like to check other sites for what they offer, I just thought I'd mention this little extra if relevant to you as that extra £5 effectively pays for your admin fee on FC.
Soon they will be offering a full 10% cashback on purchases at Play.com which is a great offer, given that you cannot get any cashback for Amazon. This means if you buy a £15 DVD from Play.com via FatCheese you would get £1.50 back, reducing your price to £13.50...
I would love your views on this site once you have started to also use it, so we can all comment on whether they may be serious contenders to Quidco!
They seem to offer 100% cashback rather than 'share' the cashback' with members. They do charge an admin fee but I think overall this will still be worthwhile, especially with the kind of offers they are starting to make available.
As always over the coming weeks I will keep you updated on any other sites and will also be updating my cashback site Guide with more info, removing the sites that have been failing members and updating with fresh offers and new sites.
Enjoy the sunshine out there today!
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Ideas for Super Summer Savings
Hi everyone and hope you have been out and about in this lovely sunshine...!
This weather is ideal to make some savings, so see whether any of the ideas below inspire you to make some small changes! Perhaps you are already doing some of them, or have ideas for others that read this blog:
- Dry clothes outdoors if possible, or at least in a well aird room if you have no outdoor space. Saves time, energy and money!
- Eat less meat – this is a great time to eat more fish, more salads, more cous cous and perhaps some interesting pasta salads and vegetables. All of these improve you diet, save you money and generally help you feel better in these hot summer months…
- Spend more time outdoors – More time outdoors is money-saving as long as you keep to the free activities, such as street festivals, walking, going to the park and playing Frisbee, swimming, window-shopping etc. Take a packed lunch from home and enjoy the weather. This means you won’t be using electric at home and will get to enjoy all the outdoor activities that cost nothing. Check your local museums and online sites to see what’s on.
- Spend less on clothes – No need for all those expensive Winter clothes. Donate what you no longer need and spend more time in summer clothes. These are cheaper to buy overall as they cost less to produce. Scan your local charity shops and get inspired! Not only that, washing summer clothes could cost less as they take up less room in the washing machine and take less time to dry compared to winter wollies…
- Meet friends – This can cost next to nothing! Socialising on a budget can be about meeting on the beach or in the park, using Pizza Express or other restaurant vouchers to get money off, going to drink cocktails when they have a Happy Hour, all pitching into buy food and drink, or BBQ’s round eachothers homes. All these ideas and more can save you money – get your creative juices flowing!
- Make homemade – things like ice-lollies, cordials, fresh salads, infused oils and vinegars, salad dressing and more can all be made at home rather than being conned by the ‘Look it’s summer’ campaigns at the supermarket. Experiment with recipes – vinaigrette takes literally 60 seconds to make fresh and if you pop some in a clean jam jar it will last a few days for other salads, just give it a shake (use a third vinegar, 2 thirds olive oil, squeeze of lemon, oregano and a dab of Dijon mustard and shake till mixed!).
So there you have it – Summer can be enjoyable and keep you under that all important budget…
What are your ideas and how do you intend to keep costs down during the coming ‘Heatwave’ they keep predicting?
This weather is ideal to make some savings, so see whether any of the ideas below inspire you to make some small changes! Perhaps you are already doing some of them, or have ideas for others that read this blog:
- Dry clothes outdoors if possible, or at least in a well aird room if you have no outdoor space. Saves time, energy and money!
- Eat less meat – this is a great time to eat more fish, more salads, more cous cous and perhaps some interesting pasta salads and vegetables. All of these improve you diet, save you money and generally help you feel better in these hot summer months…
- Spend more time outdoors – More time outdoors is money-saving as long as you keep to the free activities, such as street festivals, walking, going to the park and playing Frisbee, swimming, window-shopping etc. Take a packed lunch from home and enjoy the weather. This means you won’t be using electric at home and will get to enjoy all the outdoor activities that cost nothing. Check your local museums and online sites to see what’s on.
- Spend less on clothes – No need for all those expensive Winter clothes. Donate what you no longer need and spend more time in summer clothes. These are cheaper to buy overall as they cost less to produce. Scan your local charity shops and get inspired! Not only that, washing summer clothes could cost less as they take up less room in the washing machine and take less time to dry compared to winter wollies…
- Meet friends – This can cost next to nothing! Socialising on a budget can be about meeting on the beach or in the park, using Pizza Express or other restaurant vouchers to get money off, going to drink cocktails when they have a Happy Hour, all pitching into buy food and drink, or BBQ’s round eachothers homes. All these ideas and more can save you money – get your creative juices flowing!
- Make homemade – things like ice-lollies, cordials, fresh salads, infused oils and vinegars, salad dressing and more can all be made at home rather than being conned by the ‘Look it’s summer’ campaigns at the supermarket. Experiment with recipes – vinaigrette takes literally 60 seconds to make fresh and if you pop some in a clean jam jar it will last a few days for other salads, just give it a shake (use a third vinegar, 2 thirds olive oil, squeeze of lemon, oregano and a dab of Dijon mustard and shake till mixed!).
So there you have it – Summer can be enjoyable and keep you under that all important budget…
What are your ideas and how do you intend to keep costs down during the coming ‘Heatwave’ they keep predicting?
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
The £0.10p bar of soap extravaganza
Ok, so you all know I love it when I make things for £0.10p... for a litre of home made washing up liquid, for a litre of home made liquid soap... well now I have done it for bars of soap as well...
Goat's Milk, honey & Oatmeal Soap
This soap is ideal for sensitive skin...
I bought 6 bars of plain Castille soap for £0.99p at the £0.99 store - any inexpensive soap you can find will do (Tesco do some I think)
I then used two of those bars, £0.32. Each bar is 100g.
I grated down all of the soap into a glass bowl. I placed this bowl of grated soap inside a pot of hot but not boiling water (bain marie method).
To the grated soap, I then added a little over 100ml of goats milk (basically, half of the volume of the soap), plus one tablespoon of honey, a teaspoon of ground oatmeal and half a teaspoon of cinammon for texture. You can judge for yourself how much liquid to add, just don't make it too liquid or the soap may end up softer than you would like.
Once completely melted, this is when you would add essential oil if you wanted and mix well.
I then poured it all quickly into a clean used butter tub (the 500ml size is good). If you don't pour it quickly, it may start to set in the glass bowl so act fast... and don't overcook!
Once in it's 'mould', this was left to cool some more and once cooler, then placed in the fridge for 3 hours.
I then removed it gently and sliced into 5 soaps, which are perfect hand soap sizes...
A fun thing to do on the weekend and if you have kids it's lots of fun. You can experiment with any soap and any 'flavours', just remember if you are adding aromatherapy oils to add these when the soap is close to cool (but not yet hard) as otherwise the oils evaporate... also do not add too much liquid (milk, water, lavender water etc) as otherwise the soap could end up too soft.
Ideas to add:
- Ground almonds
- Orange / lemon / lime / grapefruit zest etc
- Aromatherapy oils
- Dried lavender etc
- Old soaps you want to melt down and reuse
- Chocolate powder
This process is what is called the 'Melt & Pour' technique, so no scary lye is involved, just a fun quick 10 minute project to multiply 2 bars of soap into 5 nicer, gentler ones...
As these simply involve melting down and re-shaping with some added nice ingredients, you could give these to friends and family as a thoughtful gift. Wrap with some nicely edged brown paper or card, with a little sticker and even maybe a dried flower or emboss the soap with a shape you like.
If you were to turn all your soaps from 2 bars into 5 bars - that will keep you going a long time, and soap improves with age!
Monday, 11 May 2009
Shabby Chic... from unloved to much loved!
Here is what I was up to this weekend - an old 2nd hand table we have was always kept in a corner and covered with a linen tablecloth, as it was marked... I sanded it down, bought some Crown paint for metal and wood in 'Crochet' cream and I will next post the resulting table... took around 30 mins sanding and another 2.5 hours to paint and dry. I then dinished off with a light sanding once it was all dry. So in 3 hours and for around £9, we transformed it into something we now love and will cherish for years to come...
I also found a teacup at a local market for £0.50p, so am using this as a laundry scoop, with a glass vase I found at TK Maxx. The powder is 50% normal laundry powder and 50% soda crystals (Dripak - around £0.70p for 1Kg from Tesco). This saves cash and also softens the water which is greas our water is very hard in this area. So not only is it maintaining our washing machine, it's also softening our clothes more and also saving us money!
Friday, 8 May 2009
Dandelions Revenge... and eating healthier!
Hi everyone and I hope you are well!
My thoughts so far in May have been that usually, Summer costs us more than Winter. This mainly in terms of going out, holidays, foods etc. However, Winter also brings higher fuel bills, Christmas and all those new Winter clothes to keep us warm…
So now I find that food will be more expensive because I love salads and fresh fruit and veg in Summer, as our appetites are smaller.
Do you have any fresh Summer recipes that are not too expensive?
What I have started to do is buy dried aduki beans (one of the SuperFoods), soak overnight and batch cook them to freeze in normal ‘tin’ portions. I have made:
- Tuna, Spinach and Aduki salad with dressing
- Salmon, aduki beans with cucumber and some dressing
- Chick pea, aduki beans, feta cheese and tomato salad with dressing
- Healthier Lasagne with aduki beans and lentils in, together with thin sliced courgette/aubergine etc. This can be frozen in those aluminium tins you get at the £1 stores, and go from freezer straight to the oven
Those are just some ideas for aduki beans – very healthy and cheap too! I love them for lunches too. You can throw on some sunflower and pumpkin seeds to make it even healthier!
My next idea, which I will experiment with soon, is to eat some Dandelions… we have lots of weeds in the patio, and I have discovered not only are they edible, they’re good for you! I hope to take my revenge on those pesky things by eating them… only the newest leaves to start though, as the flavours are more delicate:
Dandelion Recipe
You can then even make infusions from the dandelion heads, thus using the whole flower for body and mind! I do hope this inspires you to think of Summer salads and eating for less…
My thoughts so far in May have been that usually, Summer costs us more than Winter. This mainly in terms of going out, holidays, foods etc. However, Winter also brings higher fuel bills, Christmas and all those new Winter clothes to keep us warm…
So now I find that food will be more expensive because I love salads and fresh fruit and veg in Summer, as our appetites are smaller.
Do you have any fresh Summer recipes that are not too expensive?
What I have started to do is buy dried aduki beans (one of the SuperFoods), soak overnight and batch cook them to freeze in normal ‘tin’ portions. I have made:
- Tuna, Spinach and Aduki salad with dressing
- Salmon, aduki beans with cucumber and some dressing
- Chick pea, aduki beans, feta cheese and tomato salad with dressing
- Healthier Lasagne with aduki beans and lentils in, together with thin sliced courgette/aubergine etc. This can be frozen in those aluminium tins you get at the £1 stores, and go from freezer straight to the oven
Those are just some ideas for aduki beans – very healthy and cheap too! I love them for lunches too. You can throw on some sunflower and pumpkin seeds to make it even healthier!
My next idea, which I will experiment with soon, is to eat some Dandelions… we have lots of weeds in the patio, and I have discovered not only are they edible, they’re good for you! I hope to take my revenge on those pesky things by eating them… only the newest leaves to start though, as the flavours are more delicate:
Dandelion Recipe
You can then even make infusions from the dandelion heads, thus using the whole flower for body and mind! I do hope this inspires you to think of Summer salads and eating for less…
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Saving Money... Nipping ebay in the bud!
Hi everyone and hope you are enjoying teh fabulous weather out there - even if it's just a quick walk at lunch!
Today I thought I would focus on the amount of money we all spend on ebay, as it can become an addiction... but as usual, I hope to save you some cash on that hobby too!
Around 6 months ago I joined this site called BidNip and they bid for you, in the last few seconds of the auction. If you do not win the auction, there's no fee to pay!
How it works is that you pay for some credits in advance so you can 'snipe' an auction. They are incredibly cheap at a few pence per 'snipe' (only charged if you win) and have saved me at least £80 over 6 months as I buy lots of clothes / books / aromatherapy, items for my workplace and more on there.
You then tell BidNip the auction number (normally on the right side of the screen on the ebay page). Copy and paste that onto BidNip, tell them the maximum you are prepared to pay, Snipe the auction, and wait to see if you win because they will bid for you in increments until your set maximum is met!
So - no more of that last minute paying more than it's worth because you got heated up and *had* to have the item...
I normally set my 'snipe' to 8 seconds before auction end... so if you want to be in bed, or out on the town when that auction finishes, now you can - because BidNip will do the work for you even in your sleep!
Let me know how you get on!
Today I thought I would focus on the amount of money we all spend on ebay, as it can become an addiction... but as usual, I hope to save you some cash on that hobby too!
Around 6 months ago I joined this site called BidNip and they bid for you, in the last few seconds of the auction. If you do not win the auction, there's no fee to pay!
How it works is that you pay for some credits in advance so you can 'snipe' an auction. They are incredibly cheap at a few pence per 'snipe' (only charged if you win) and have saved me at least £80 over 6 months as I buy lots of clothes / books / aromatherapy, items for my workplace and more on there.
You then tell BidNip the auction number (normally on the right side of the screen on the ebay page). Copy and paste that onto BidNip, tell them the maximum you are prepared to pay, Snipe the auction, and wait to see if you win because they will bid for you in increments until your set maximum is met!
So - no more of that last minute paying more than it's worth because you got heated up and *had* to have the item...
I normally set my 'snipe' to 8 seconds before auction end... so if you want to be in bed, or out on the town when that auction finishes, now you can - because BidNip will do the work for you even in your sleep!
Let me know how you get on!
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