Savings Rate is King

Example for an average savings rate.

Ie It doesn’t matter what you bring in, just what you keep. 

It also doesn't matter what you do for a living.

I read recently about Doctors who earn hundreds of thousands per year, but because they ‘keep up with the Joneses’ they spend it all, and in fact on the bottom line are no better off than you and me. This was unexpected to me, but seems to make sense - they likely have expensive houses, social arrangement, golf, the ‘right’ kind of holiday, private tuition for kids etc.

So once you work out your savings rate, you can see if you save 20% and the Doctor saves 20%, in real terms you are on a par with someone on a doctor’s salary, because your expenses overall are less and with the SR to compare, you are on an equal footing!

This was a breakthrough for me, as I had always looked at the amount saved, not the ratio. I can now see that perhaps 30% is feasible for us with ‘easy’ cutbacks and lifestyle changes, maybe more if we can increase earnings some more.

So savings rate shows us a much more realistic picture, against which we can measure goals, income and what we want to achieve. I have set up a spreadsheet to keep myself accountable on this, and can see that over the past 6, 3 and 1 month this savings rate is continually improving and the more I learn the more I hope to achieve. It won’t be easy but my mindset has really changed, as to how much we were consuming, and what we really need on a daily basis. I will update here as I go, anything I learn that has helped us and that may help you out and your comments in turn will teach us all alot too.

Do you know your savings rate? Would you take measures to improve your SR if you knew this would bring your retirement forward?

How much should I save and what is a good retirement age?

This is a question I have been thinking about alot lately.

Particularly as this year I decided to leave ‘the rat race’ and go freelance. It was a very tough decision, as a regular job allows security and holidays, bonuses and approval from others, training etc. I decided that I had been working so hard for so long that if I did not make a change now, I may never do so. I had also been thinking, it’s my only way to control my own earnings, so that I can decide when and how to retire.

You may or may not have heard the term Early Retirement Extreme (ERE for short) but it’s a website and a lifestyle that I have become increasingly interested in. It started with me hearing about a site called Mr Money Mustache, and once I read his site from start to finish, I was hooked. 

The simple premise to financial success is: Spend less than you earn, save and invest the difference, retire early.

Sounds simple, but many of us have thought to save 10% of our income is normal, and ‘what everyone else does’ I consider myself ‘good with money’ and I have never considered that if I were to save 50% of my income, and make this a solid goal, I could have a ‘real’ life after work, and before I am too old and wrinkly to enjoy it. 

After all, what’s the point of working your fingers to the bone and then having arthritis on that long promised cruise, or on hike up the dreamed of Peru trek?

So with this in mind, and after several years of focus on Junior, this year has been the career-changing, finance analysing big full stop, with a view to starting a new clear sentence. 
(I get the feeling that for a while it may well feel like a prison sentence...)

From June this year I knew my income would change, and I knew this freelance work was a stepping stone to the lifestyle change and early retirement we want to achieve.

With this in mind, I shaved costs and have done things like:

• Selling items on ebay - 2 old phones which unexpectedly yielded £180, and they are  over 2 years old and not of the fruit brand variety, so I was pleasantly surprised.
• Cutting down on groceries and wastage - we were spending close to £300 per month for 2 adults and one 5 year old, this is now close to £220 and healthful, with much less waste as I am home more to plan meals & think (thinking time is the hardest part of meal planning, isn’t it?)
• Calling British Gas and requesting a smart meter be installed in October, hopefully this will help us save money
• Increasing our savings and retirement amounts - a permanent Christmas standing order is in place now, at £60 per month until Dec. Then in Jan will be £20 per month until June, and start increasing then. Our retirement standing orders are higher too now, and need to go out before everything else, we simply live on the difference.
• Reduced some of our emergency savings to be ‘enough’ and invested the extra, especially as Santander have announced they will reduce their interest rate, which will decrease in October.
• Reviewed pension funds fees, and swapped where needed to less expensive index funds, which I have read alot about recently and seem to make more sense given that I am not an active investor, and that I don’t want a fund manager taking large chunks of my cash for their bonus. Some of my funds are still ‘rockstar’ fund manager ones, but less so.
• Continuing to overpay on the mortgage, I know what we need to pay per month to pay it off in 10 years, so this is my target. Sometimes we hit it, sometimes not, but on average it’s been a shade under the right amount every month which I am really happy with and over the coming 3 months we’ll hopefully smash it for 2016.

One key expression I read in one of many financial books recently (thanks to the "Miracle Morning" routine by Hal Elrod, but I will get to that in another post) sometime) was ‘Mind the Gap’ in terms of how much comes in, how much goes out, and keep trying to grow that gap and invest it. 
This is what changes someone to having no power to having the power to change jobs, feeling freedom and make decisions they may not have made. I know for us just having an emergency fund in place has always been helpful, I’m the sort of person that really dislikes not being able to pay for unexpected bills.

So we are now finding what ‘our’ preferred savings rate is - which by the way many early retirement websites disagree on how to calculate this - personally I divide savings into our income for the month. Right now we are hovering around the 20% rate, which I hope to increase, probably more in early 2017, as Christmas is looming (yes, I did say that). 

Mr Money Moustache has this interesting 4% annual withdrawal article. If you have never done so, spend these Winter months reading his blog from start to finish, he's an inspiration.

As to the ‘ideal’ retirement date, for me this is moveable as I want to bring it forward. I suppose I would like to be financially neutral first (ie investments & savings = the amount we still owe on the mortgage).  Then retire by 55 at the latest.

I do NOT want to be 67 when I retire. Moving towards a gradual retirement at some point would be fantastic, where we have ‘enough’ and spend ‘enough’ but don’t over-consume.

What is your ideal retirement date and how much would be enough for you? Would you continue to work, or do you have other plans? I love to hear what people’s dreams are, as for all this hard work, there should be something to look forward to at the end of it... 

Awakening - the beginning of a lifelong journey

Well it's been a while since I have written anything here, and for that I do apologise.

The early years of a little one are frantic, exciting, tiring and enlightening  what a rollercoaster of emotions! Junior is now 5, and full of excitement for life.

As to myself, there have been some big life changes this year. 2016 started with a kitchen refit (I will update soon so you can compare the old kitchen with what we have now, a big big change and so much better for family life.

Since then there has been family bad news, career lows and then highs, and the start of a new beginning for me.

I feel in a much better space to commit to writing, which I enjoy doing and is such a great creative outlet.

So the blog posts I intend to write now are centered around family life, personal finance, retirement and some freelance musings. I’d love to interact more on the blog and I hope that my posts are helpful, and will engage you to chat, comment and break up our days with some far reaching tendrils around the virtual globe. 

The post coming up next is about 'how much' to save for retirement - a topic many of us don't want to think about much, but essential, especially in turbulent political and economic times...

Mmmm, I love the taste of vinegar in the morning...! Apple cider vinegar - Fact or fiction?

Ok, so that's not true. But I have been absent for reasons linked to being EXHAUSTED... all the time... possibly a tiny teeny bit related to having a toddler running amock... is that how you spell it? Oh you know what I mean anyway... to put it simply, with Autumn arriving, it has just cemented my tiredness.

My low enthusiasm for much more than couch-potatoe-ing. And that's definitely not a word but more of a state of being past Toddler-O-Clock. One glass of red wine, dinner, some Greys Anatomy or Breaking Bad episode (one or half a one), and I am dead to the world. What weekend excitement eh.

So, this got me thinking about food, nutrition, exercise etc. Note I said thinking, not necessarily doing...
So as I love research, I researched some of it, to at least get me into the mood of 'getting to' the doing. Actually, all jokes aside, food isn't the issue, it's the thinking time involved! Between work, toddler, my business run from home, and house, and of course hubby, sometimes we just survive the day.

Is that enough?

So the point is, what can I do that's easy, quick, and will boost energy on those hardest days when the sofa is calling?

Drink yummy(ish) apple cider vinegar, that's what. Here are 15 reasons why you should. 

My main faves are:

1) easily regulate your PH balance (ie, that extra Costa coffee you had made your body more acidic, and you didn't know or care).

2) easily gets a selection of good stuff - b vitamins, potassium - which it turns out you need lots more than 1 banana a day to get the right amount (in a top 10 potassium foods list, banana comes 10th, I thought it was top 3 at least but no!!!) You need potassium every single day, because what you got, or had, gets used in a flash. So this vinegar gives you something towards that and other good stuff too. Banana vs Apple Cider Vinegar. - ok so the banana is bigger but will put more weight on if you tried to get all your potassium there...

3) Save a bunch of money cleaning the house, and even as a lovely hair rinse and other beauty uses. Like a (ok slightly smelly) facial tonic, great hair, added to sugar scrubs, cupful in the bath and more.

There is alot of fact vs. fiction out there, old wives tales, wishful thinking, and marketing hype. So what about facts - let's check out some:

Facts you didn't know?

• Use it as a natural 'personal lady wash' to balance things down there.
• Rinse with it as a mouthwash to naturally get rid of dental plaque. You may also get rid of romance though. And less enamel.
• You might lose weight - there's lots of talk out there that this works. Why? Because it helps you feel fuller for longer, and stabilises your blood levels, so less snack attacks hopefully!
• Give it to your pets - staves off allsorts and they won't notice it in the water supposedly. Less fleas = happy everyone. 
• Good for diabetics and lowering cholestorol - one of the key facts,
  See here for more facts.

Ok, as you expect, I have got some fab links for you to save you any work in looking into this stuff. 
But let me leave you with this:

• ONLY buy the apple cider vinegar - regular vinegar or regular cider vinegar won't do.
• Only buy it if it has the Mother in it. The Mutha baby. This means all the good stuff has not been processed out. The label should state this clearly. I personally buy Biona in the UK, but over in the USA the Braggs brand is popular.
• Drink it with honey and lots of water. Only other way is neat on salad. Do not take as a shot unless you want painful throat and no more tooth enamel. I love it with water and molasses - that way I get my potassium and my iron for the day in one drink.
• As with anything, do not overdo it! You still want some teeth, and stomach lining!

Combined with a healthy diet I'm sure it can't help to try, and at less than £3 for a big ol' bottle, I'm sure going to give it a go. I know it's not a miracle food but worth trying as an addition to my salads etc.Let me know how you get on!

My experience so far:

- I do feel more energetic - this could be down to anything, but seems to have helped somewhat.

- As a face tonic, this has smoothed my skin, so I have made a tonic with green tea and apple cider vinegar as per the link below, I'm sticking with that from now for sure, as a bottle of toner now costs me pennies.

Before I forget, a special thank you to Aurora from Freya's Rainbow for your link, much appreciated, and so nice to be in the ethical/green-minded community - thank you!

Youtube links:

Benefits of apple cider vinegar

Apple Cider Vinegar Toner (skip to around 1m 40 seconds to skip the intro)

Apple Cider Vinegar Facts

Braggs Video (ok so it's self marketing, but interesting to watch. I love that Paul Bragg was a Life Extension Specialist. What a job title!)

Have a great weekend all!

xxx

Summer porridge / refrigerator / overnight porridge - call it what you will, it's a lifesaver!

OK, I have blog jealousy right now, I am addicted to the Yummy Life site. It's really inspired me to look at what we eat and how much easier food could be...

You HAVE to check out this overnight porridge, it will make your mornings so much nicer!

http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal

I made a banana and honey version yesterday plus a fruits of the forest version. I love the idea of a pecan and maple or coconut / pineapple (hmmm would the pineapple be too acidic I wonder with th emilk though?). Anyway,Monica has inspired me to think about it anyway and since she's given 14 recipes, there's loads of... food for thought (sorry people, I had to).
I will make these for my toddler too for an easy breakfast that can be made on Sunday and last the week for the whole family.

I guess you could do special naughty ones like chocolate, caramel and nutty swirl... weekend only, mind ;o)

Anyway if that gets you addicted wait till you see the make-ahead smoothies...

Seen anything that inspired you? Let me know! I love Pinterest for these ideas, also love the make ahead salads, I will let you know how I get on when I make one.

Summer food you HAVE to try!

Hi everyone,

Well Summer is truly here and so I was inspired to make some nice food to enjoy the weather, and celebrate our little boys' second birthday with a lovely barbeque.

The dishes I chose were all easy-ish to make, Summery, zesty and flavourful so I definitely recommend you try them if you have never enjoyed them before - and even if you have - these recipes are scrummy and a true staple:

Chicken satay kebabs with real satay sauce

and that includes what I consider The Easiest satay sauce (not requiring peanut butter).
For me personally, I love Thai inspired food and so for extra properness... rather than cube the chicken, I cut it into strips and then 'knitted' it onto the skewers by piercing in folds (I hope that makes sense, the chicken ends up in S shapes on the skewer). Remember to soak wooden kebabs first.  They look amazing when done!


and a general staple for a BBQ or any time you need a dipping sauce that's truly simple yet delicious:

Tzatziki - a refreshing Greek cucumber based dipping sauce, yum yum. For me, it has, has, has to have a bit of mint in there for the true taste of Summer to really pop out and wake up your senses.

For afters? A British classic:

Strawberry fool - After looking at a few recipes, I decided on this one. I first tried fully combining all the ingredients (into a pink fluffy cream pudding), and this was lovely. I then tried a more layered technique like the image above, which I preferred from a looks point of view, but also because you get different textures.

Here's my result - a smaller portion for a more waist friendly treat:

I also wanted to share with you the M&M cake I made for our little ones BBQ birthday party. I found this on Youtube, I am such a YT addict these days, and I knew I had to make it - here's my finished one:

 

One tip I would recommend is a) do not do this with a nearly 2 year old who when helping decorate nearly eats all the M&M's and devours the (already melting) buttercream... and b) take it out of the fridge a few moments before cutting, it was too hard for me to cut after we sang happy birthday

I followed this recipe on YT to make the cake and it was well worth it - all the kids rushed forward to have a look and get a taste, very excited!

Enjoy the warm weather and do share any BBQ or other Summery recipes that you have been enjoying!

Top 5 Savings Now Posts - Have you read these?

Hi everyone.

I finally got round to tecchy-mode and was checking the stats on my site to see what you folks enjoy reading the most.  So this weeks' post is about sharing the most popular blog posts so that new readers can have a read through and existing readers can perhaps get inspired:

Washing up liquid for £0.10p.
Yup, a whole 10 pennies. Maybe these days it's £0.15 with inflation!

Bagels for £0.05p & Comfort food ideas
Another popular one and bagels can be eaten all year round, so yummy you will never go back to store bought!

Bulk buying bonanza - save on shopping
This is one of the key ways to reduce that shopping bill, try to start in June and see if you can stretch that shopping budget.

Cashback site - Quidco
This is one of the leading cashback sites, have you joined yet? Don't buy a thing online unless you go via the Quidco 'doorway' first.


and by far the most visited page is....


Shabby Chic Kitchen
By far one of the most viewed articles on this blog, I'm glad so many others share my passion of shabby chic and got to see my journey with this kitchen! So much more to be done still.


So there you have it, I hope these articles inspire you in some small or big way, drop me a line if you have any challenges you are trying to beat right now, or have your own blog to share x

Are you ready for Christmas?? (I did say that, so did it get your attention!)

That's right. The old chestnut of, 'oh it's Summer Christmas is aaaAaaaAaaaAaages away'. Well, it's not! Not when you consider that the average family spends around £300 on the seasonal festivities and gifts.
Where will that money come from when the time hits?

• How much did you spend last year?Are you still paying it off?
• Did you eat or drink everything you bought for Christmas AT Christmas? Or was some still being eaten in January or even February?
• Did everyone enjoy their gifts?
• Did you charity shop or sell amny of the gifts you got given?

The reason for my post it, if you start planning now both in terms of finances and gifts, you can make Christmas 2013 a much less expensive and more enjoyable experience.

Here are some ideas that might get you started in the thinking-about-it-as-a-minimum-starting-point:

- Start saving now - a regular saver of £30 a month will help massively and be less painful than paying for it all out of November and December wages (and January and February and March....)

 

 

- Start collecting ideas - Check out Pinterest and start pinning ideas now that might come in handy - I''m thinking big jars full of goodies like: Christmas flapjacks in one, a 'movie night in' in another (ie popcorn, dvd, chocolate, unusual facts about the actors of the movie), peppermint sugar foot scrub in another (brown sugar, olive oil, peppermint oil, MIX!), a bath salts treat in another (SO easy to make - some bath salts from the £1 store, some aromatherapy oil, mix  - DONE!), some vanilla essence in a bottle (250ml vodka, 8 vanilla pods from ebay, split pods, store in cupboard for 5-6 months, shaking gently weekly). I will blog from Summer onwards with ideas to keep you inspired. What about a jar full of homemade laundry powder? Grated soap, some borax, some washing soda crystals, some baking powder, some aromatherapy oils...  This link even has a lovely printable, too cute - see pic below!

Another would be some homemade eye make up remover (maybe jojoba oil, rose aromatherapy oil. water, witch hazel)

- Make a list - Start adding ideas for presents onto a list. This could be in your diary, on Evernote, on a document on your pc. Just somewhere so you don't forget! I like to take photos when I see a present idea, and Evernote it so I know what to look at around Christmas time.

- Buy now, save later - That's right. How about buying items at boot fairs or on ebay, or making some of the gits now and keeping them to one side? Vanilla essence, laundry powder etc can all be made now.

OK, so that's probably alot to even think about right now.

So how about just two baby steps?

1. Start a list
2. Start a regular savings account

Make life easier on yourself - take just these 2 steps now, to save your sanity in 7 months time.

Yes I am mad, but this will hopefully at least get you thinking about the subject and saving your whole family some stress come Christmas time. I will try to think of other ideas as the months go by too so we can all work on it together.

Have a fab week everyone x

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!

Anyone for coffee? Create a shabby chic coffee bar at home

Hi all, and hope you had a fab Easter!

Now the Easter break is over, and I have finished a bunch of stuff for work and my other business customers, I felt like I could get creative again even if just for a few hours here and there.

In the past few months have discovered a world of interesting videos on YouTube, from making soap to making your own diaries. I had looked before, but not had the time to try out these things properly. Wow, people are amazingly creative!

In my family we have a soap maker, so I was very inspired to try and create some soaps - I have now made a basic castille soap, and in 3 weeks time it will be ready to use, so I will report back here with the results and more info on another blog post.

Anyway, all this to say that with the extra time, I decided to copy an idea I saw on Malitose79s videos (Organising tip of the day), she made a coffee bar and I loved it! Anything shabby chic is great by me, so I thought I would come up with a project to do something similar.

I had already bought some chalkboard a3 sticker sheets and this was the perfect way to use some of them - I didn't even know you could get chalk pens, these are so amazing and much better than regular chalk! My stationery addiction is now 100 times worse, so I think most things in my kitchen are now going to get chalk labels...

I got the green oilcloth from Dunhelm Mill, it's a great vintage cutlery design, and I bought half a metre I think, and have lined drawers with it, done this coffee bar, made some cash envelopes (for the Dave Ramsay Cash Envelope System) and still have loads left. Oilcloth is fab, I will need to get more...

Then I reused my Bonne Mamman jars as I love the lids so much, i think they are always so pretty especially if you have a group of them. You do need to make sure they are sterilised if they are going to store liquids, dry stuff you can be a bit more relaxed with a quick wash in soapy water.

The coffee bar is a great idea, it can be as customised as you like, maybe even a tea bar instead? A very specialised selection of fine teas, perhaps some mini marmalades? I plan to get some sugar lumps, some thin pots to store cinnamon and also some of those coffee syrups like hazelnut, then it will really feel like Costas.

And maybe as a result I will save a ton of cash!

What are your latest projects and where do you get inspiration?

Agh nurseries, tantrums and time

Hi everyone,
Not much to report at the moment as work is taking over my life it seems so this post is more of a rant, or a selection of rants... so much for the work/life balance, as this past 4 weeks AJ has had to put up with lots of calls/e-mails etc. Anyhoo, need must and really it's time for us to look into a nursery for him.

I tried around 6 months ago but it wasn't 100% necessary yet and nothing prepared me for how hard it'd be when it came to properly doing it! Some of these places are scary, and they think you would leave your kids there... anyway, I am sure every parent thinks their kid is the Preciousest one he he, but honestly, it's so hard to choose.

The How To Choose A Nursery Stumbling Blocks I Have Come Across List

Do you go for the place that's closest to work so that if they are ill you can get to them quick, or closest to home (with easier parking) so it's faster to drop off and pick up?
Do you go for the one that's council funded rather than private, so you know staff turnover is low?
Do you choose the one that has the nicest looking toys and is spotless, or the one that offers more different activities and variety but is slightly lived-in/more immune system building?

So many variables. Unlikely I will get a low turn-over, close to work, clean, affordable, varied one... I have tried. SOOOOO I have to compromise slightly, because, he is My preciousest one... and HOW expensive are these places? £45 a day, plus food in some places. Wow. Then again we live daaahn-Saaaf, expensive is de Rigeur.

Help!

Also, it's a good time, as he definitely will benefit from seeing other kids more than just playgroup, and he can also learn (good and bad...) from their behaviour. Ok,let's be honest, he'll also benefit because he's starting to have (mini) tantrums, and someone else can deal with them for a bit!
So he will be less frustrated and do loads of fun stuff, and I can focus on work 100%, both of us will be happier at least 2 mornings per week. I still get time with him all to myself and will see so many changes as he learns.


I think I have found The One, the 'right' nursery. Now just to actually be able to leave him there. On his own. Without me. Alone.

Pffffleugh. Tips please on how to get through this stage!

Hello, I'm a Pinterest Addict... and I'm stuck on an idea.

Yes it's true. We've all been there - intending to go on there for a few minutes, and an hour later still on there bursting with ideas, new menus, fashion, decorating projects and more. At the moment my main two Pinterest addiction areas are: Garden and Walk In Wardrobe ideas.

I'd like to do lots more to make the bedroom our haven, as with a busy work life and AJ approaching the Terrible Twos we certainly need a peaceful haven at the end of the day! The theme is purple, silver and vintage-y.

With that in mind here's one of my latest creations:

I found the frame at a car boot sale for £3 and took out the horrible oil painting inside, cleaned it up and bought a metre of crushed purple velvet from Dunhelm Mill. A couple of pins, and then two of my favourite necklaces - done!  Behind it is a scrap of the wallpaper we used in the bedroom, sorry it's not that visible, .but it reflects the light really well in the room.

Now I just need to finish a bigger version of this, a larger and slightly less decorative frame, which will hold all my other necklaces and earrings etc. Well, I say *all*, there's a handful, we don't spend much on ourselves these days. All of this is aspirational - might well cause me to completely revamp my wardrobe! So anyway I'm stuck on how to actually do it, though I have the frame and the velvet...

Apart from that my plan for the (small) walk in area involves this wallpaper at the far end:

Typically just my luck that when I go to Next and fall in love with it, I then discover that although they have the samples, they no longer stock it *at all* as it's sold out. SO then I end up being fleeced on eBay as people have started selling it as 'rare'. Still, I only need one roll hopefully and I do love it. So my tranquil haven is one step closer.

Now just to get wallpaper stripping and roll up my sleeves... think I would rather have a glass of wine!

Can anyone inspire me with jewellry storage ideas involving picture frames, vintage, small spaces?

Toddler food and snack ideas - energy balls and fake pizza

Morning everyone,

Hope you are not too cold today! We are using up one large lamb roast and eating nourishing food / plenty of protein in cold weather has inspired me to make more protein snack balls for AJ (daddy sometimes steals them too).

I just had to share these with you as they are incredibly easy to make and so good you might have to make yourself some:

ENERGY BALLS (click for original site)
1/4 cup finely grated carrots
1/4 cup rolled oats or Granola*
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 Tablespoon honey
3 Tablespoons peanut butter

Mix and roll into balls. Easy carrots in the tummy! 
*Granola makes these Energy Balls more tasty and adds a nice crunch!

They freeze very well and I then take 2 or 3 out in the morning for him to have during that day.

Personally I always like to add grated banana or apple too, plus any dried fruit lying around etc. I also coat them with flaked coconut, wheatgerm or even the odd one in powdered chocolate as a special treat.
AJ loves, loves these and as soon as he sees them stretches his hands out and grabs 2 at a time... I may experiment with courgettes, sweet potato etc as they have natural sweetness and would be a great way to get more veggies in.

Fake Pizza

For my fake pizza you simply take 2 slices of bread. Grill one side. and part grill the other side. Butter the part grilled side, and spread tomato paste on it. Add ham,finely sliced green and red peppers, pineapple, sliced cherry tomatoes and some grated cheese. Grill for around 5 minutes keeping an eye on it until golden. Cut into triangles for the full pizza effect! Cheap, colourful and cheerful and most importantly, quick!  A good way to sneak veggies in too...

We are off to playgroup later and Ive also got to put together a presentation for work tomorrow, hopefully a nice long nap after lunch, and that'd be lovely for me too ha ha...  but next on my list this morning is to check the Approved Foods website for deals and also to start a Shepherds Pie for dinner with our lamb leftovers. AJ is also clamouring for breakfast, so we've got the raspberry porridge from yesterday yum yum.

£0.05p bagels and comfort food ideas for the cold weather

Hi everyone, well happy new year and tut tut to me, what a Bad blogger I am! Christmas and work have literally been huge focuses over the last couple of months, and needless to say one little toddler who just turned 18 months.

I can't go to work today due to the snow - it's worse than the photo below now, which as taken at around 8:30 this morning:

Anyway today I want to show you some of the things I have been making lately. Firstly cinnamon rolls, which hubby loved and I decided I will only make once in a blue moon because they are BAD for the hips:

AJ helped, by making 'Socks A La Mode' for dinner:

Next, I made bagels, which I had always wanted to try out. They are great fun to make and after several recipes and a few not so great results, I finally found a good bagel recipe to follow. The only changes I made to it were to bake at 180C (fan oven), and only for around 18 mins. I also like to add an egg wash to the tops before putting sesame seeds, rock salt etc as it sticks better. Rosemary, chilli and garlic are one of the good flavour combos I found for savoury bagels. For sweet ones, the classic cinnamon and raisin is fab, I also did a Christmas one with dried fruits, nutmeg, cinnamon etc. I also find that adding semolina to the bottom of the baking tray before baking means the bagels don't stick, plus gives them a lovely floury consistency underneath.

Please, please make these - loads of fun and so cheap to make - strong flour, sugar, salt and dried yeast are all you need for basic bagels and a batch of 8 bagels as per this recipe is probably only £0.35p ingredients wise. That's around £0.5p a bagel, insane!

Hubby gave me a lovely book called 'Sweet Tooth' for Christmas, an artisan baker in London wrote it and it's lovely plus explains lots of baking techniques, I made these muffin sized banoffee pies from it:

So as you can see, I've been experimenting lots and learning! I've also signed up for a cake decorating course Monday nights, something non-business like so my brain can relax into something and zone out in me-time.

Anyway have you cooked anything great lately that you want to share?

I'm def going to be cooking comfort foods in this weather - tonight will be chicken pasta bake I think as we have a chicken to stretch out into as many meals as we can. Stay warm and say hello below!

Shabby Chic jars... eating a frog and the curious case of tortilla addiction.

OK so it's a weird post title, but I have a lot to talk about today and the varied subjects mean my post title has to be, well, varied.

In my last post I mentioned blackboard stickers - well, they are my latest love. Yes I said that, sad but true, they just make our cupboards look so much better. Rather than packs of things lopsided full of overspilling things, we can use jars that may not look the same, but having the stickers on there and the text the same can combine it all and make it look as if you did it all on purpose (rather than just reusing mix and match jars to ssave some cash).
I happened to see some great jars in the £0.99p store, so spent £6, plus bought chalkboard sticker sheet on ebay (A4 size, you can cut your own that way). I also got some cute chalk PENS, who knew you could get those? SO much better than normal chalk and very pretty colours. Anyway, for £10 I now have lots of labels, pretty storage and could even use the chalk stickers for menu planning, gifts at Christmas, in the nursery for toy boxes and much more, so well worth the purchase. As to the storage jars, what do you think of the finished project below?

As to eating a frog? Well I have been reading the very popular blog e-book called One Bite At a Time, highly recommend it as it's really helped me work through productivity areas - buy it here.
Anyway, one example is that it mentions that on your daily to do list you would have the Frog (your most hated to do item) on the list first. Eat that first and your day can only improve. It has made me look at my to do list differently - just get the thing out of the way first thing and the weight is off your shoulders, great idea. Plus the other 51 ideas in the book are great too, some stuff you will do already but other stuff it will just inspire you no end.

Ok so my last mention has to be my newfound use for tortilla wraps. I mean, they are sooo versatile. I heated a saucepan, put a wrap in, spread cream cheese on half, graded apple and sprinkled cinnamon on with some banana slices, folded it over, toasted the other side and hey presto, a great deliciously melted sweet snack that has no added sugar! My son loved it and I did too. We then did a savoury version filled with some left over omelette and grated courgette and spices - not the best pic but you get the idea!

 

Experimenting gives great results - grated cheese, ham and sliced cooked egg could be a 'breakfast wrap', plus grated pear, cream cheese and cinnamon worked well too. They last well in the fridge and if you use cheese inside it tends to act as 'glue' to keep the contents inside. My son loves slices of the tortilla that he can hold and eat himself - victory all round!

They're great in freezer bags in the fridge, sliced in half to grab and go.

Have a great weekend and please do comment and share ideas!

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.

The Shabby Chic Kitchen progresses... slowly!

OK, many of you may remember we got a pretty nasty kitchen when we moved in - I mean, it had blood red walls, dark dark units, and horrible CARPETED floor. Some older people had lived here and Eugh, carpeted floor, it still gets me. It had to change. So we did some basic work - I painted the units cream, replaced the handles, we changed the floor to a lighter colour and we painted it a sage green colour.

Apparently green enhances the appetite so I thought it would be ideal to have th the kitchen. Plus as a north facing room, it needs all the light it can get (blood red people, seriously??! Retirement has a lot to answer for).

Anyway with the baby we've had little chance to move forward on it any further, so I thought hey, let me do it one tiny thing at a time. So, my next few blogs I hope will inspire you to do small things, even if you haven't got a lot of time.


I focused on one drawer in the kitchen, in terms of how messy it looks inside, and making it more glam...

This is the before image:

 

 

 

And here is the after - not the best image but you get the idea (ie: it's clean, tidy and prettier!):

 

 

 

I do have more than one teaspoon by the way... You may not notice but the pattern on the oilcloth is of some cutlery, which I thought would be really cute for a kitchen drawer. The background colour is sage green which is perfect. I got this oilcloth from a shop called Dunhelm Mill, they have a lovely selection of them and this one was perfect, half a metre will do all my drawers plus I plan to use the excess to make some envelopes to use with the Dave Ramsey Cash Envelope System, but more on that later.

 

Anyway as you can see from the before and after, I decluttered, got rid of the ugly cutlery tray holder thingy and found this one at a local charity shop for £0.50p. So all in all I think for around £1.50 I did this one drawer make-over. A small start you may think, but it made me feel great, and inspires me to do more.

 

My next project is some stick on blackboard stickers, which I am using for storage jars with fab results and will show you how easy it is to organise the kitchen with those in my next blog. Definitely adds to the shabby chic look and the bonus is I can wipe off the text any time I like!

 

Hope you are all having lovely weekends, enjoy the sunshine out there - we went for a lovely early morning walk and the fresh air was amazing.



 

The Pricebook returns - can it help me pay down the mortgage?

Well as you know Evernote is now firmily in my life (see last post) and I can honestly say I love it and it's really got me organised!

This morning was the time to get back into my pricebook mode. This first year with baby has meant I lost my mojo on this sort of thing - tidyness, the blog, batch cooking, pricebook all went out the window pretty much. But no more!

How do I do it?

I have a notebook inside Evernote called 'Pricebook', and it's easily editable both on my pc and my phone. So when I am in the supermarket, I can edit prices, and it's all synched up with my pc.

Here is an example of the work I have done so far - some data is missing but I will fill that in next time I find that product:

Butter - Olive oil type £0.89p ALDI

Cheddar cheese 400g £2.39 / 5.98 per kg ALDI

Coffee (instant) - £       £0.72 per 100g / £7.20 per kg ALDI

Ginger (ground) 50g £0.50p / £10 per kg
Marmite £      £2 per kg ASDA

Mayo Squeezy 475g £0.89 / 1.80 per kg - ALDI

Nappies Size 4 (56) £0.10p each ALDI

Oregano fresh Mexican £3.50 per 100g / £35 per kg - Ebay

Paprika

Peanut Butter (Special) £1.29 / £3.58 per kg - ALDI  

Rice basmati 5kg - £6 / £1.20 per kg  Amazon

Teabags x 440 £1.49 / £0.01or less each - Approved Foods

Tinned tomatoes 400g £0.31 / £0.78 per kg ALDI

Toilet paper x 9 rolls Saxon - 1.99 / £0.22p per roll - ALDI

Tomato concentrate puree 200g 0.35p / £1.75 per litre ALDI 

Toothpaste 75g - £0.20p / £2.67 per kg - Approved Foods

Washing conditioner 1500ml £0.99p / £0.66 per litre - Approved Foods

Washing liquid bio Time £0.75p / £1.02 per litre / £0.03 per wash - Approved Foods

Washing Powder Radon non bio 800g £0.99 / £1.24 per kg / £0.08 per wash - Approved Foods

Washing Up Liquid - Magnum - £1.00 per litre ALDI

So I'm really happy with how it's working for me so far. Much better than a piece of paper, or a notebook - this is virtual and I will not lose it because it's 'in the cloud'.

What products are on your list? What are your secret weapons to save money on shopping?

I can't wait to add more to my list, sad but true!  Would much rather be saving that cash for baby or putting it against our mortgage. In fact, that may well be a challenge to myself now we are at the start of the month!