Living more simply...

Well, my year-long experiment of living on a shoestring is coming to a close today.  I have learnt so much this year: so much more than simply learning not to spend!  I became more in tune with my home, my family, creative arts, and with the seasons, and focussed more on the important things in life.  We probably all say that the important things in life are our family and the friends around us, but I think it is all too easy to take them for granted - to assume that they will always be there and sometimes to let them fade into the background while we focus on more superficial things (such as buying new clothes, shopping for convenience and filling every minute with something).

What I found most interesting were the unexpected things I learnt from this year.  The simple action of not spending made me think more; I became more thoughtful and philosophical about what we need.  Not buying things meant that my focus turned to making things and enjoying nature - using things around me instead of always buying them.  As a result, I have found new hobbies such as knitting and mending clothes. I am much more aware of the money that can be spent so easily, without thinking, and instead of convenience being the top priority, I've slowed down and spent time at home with my family. Enjoying the river and the woods on our door-step was a much more satisfying way of living.

This was never meant to be a year of struggling by taking things to extremes, but rather of taking time out to think a little bit more about how we live - to step back from the whirlwind of this modern, commercial world that we live in.  Changing shopping habits is easy and I have kept up my mantra of "do I really need it?" before parting with the cash.  The richness that I feel from fixing things myself, passing things on to others who need them more than me, cooking more and finding fun for free: that is what I hope to keep and nurture.  As this year went on, life did take over again and the blog did not get updated religiously once a week as I had hoped. But the sentiments carried on within my daily life and I still recorded my thoughts when I could.  I wouldn't want to stop writing in this format, and so am currently thinking of what I could move on to in another blog next year.  We will be moving house next year, so perhaps renovating a house will be the focus; or perhaps I'll do some more research into "slow living", pagan celebrations and the simple life - I will keep you posted.  I have really appreciated having some dedicated followers and passers-by who would read the posts from time to time - thank you, and Happy New Year.

Winter solstice

The shortest day of the year: 21st December.  This is significant when thinking about seasonal celebrations.

I celebrated this Winter Solstice by taking our dog for a walk at sunset in the woods, savouring every last moment of light on this shortest day of the year.  It was a special day; our boys had their last day at school, which always finishes with a Christmas church service.  So we all walked back to the car, happily singing Christmas carols that we had just sung in the service; then one more stop to collect Yasmin from the child-minders before officially being on holiday.  There is something really nice about collecting all the children up and breathing a big sigh of relief / relaxation that another hectic school term is over and we can all chill out together, be creative and catch up as a family.

I find it funny to think that the shortest day of the year marks the beginning of winter - as it seems like we have endured enough bad weather and darkness already - but I do love the crisp, sunny and cold winter days. Perhaps we will have more of those now.

I like the pagan celebrations, perhaps because they are so intrinsically linked to the seasons and natural environment that they just seem to make sense.  Different places celebrate the winter solstice in various ways, including music, dancing and feasting.  In Roman times, the shortest day fell in the middle of a week long celebration of Saturnalia, respecting the God of Saturn and in the days after the solstice, honouring Mithra, the God of Light as the days slowly lengthen.  I can't work out what came first: was I interested in folklore to begin with, or has the interest developed more strongly since I've been living on a shoestring?  It has certainly awakened my senses to simple things around me: which must be a good thing.

In tune with the seasons

I think the best memories I will have of my year on a shoestring are of all the creative projects I have done, having been encouraged find alternatives to retail when decorating or celebrating for a special occasion.

When you simplify any aspect of your life, I believe you can become naturally more in tune with the natural environment around you.  Shopping for food in season automatically reduces food bills - as well as meaning that you can grow a lot of the produce yourself - as the climate will accommodate those fruit and veg that are naturally used to growing in the environment at certain times of the year.

Sewing and knitting are both pursuits I have done much more this year.  I still have to 'make friends' with my sewing machine - it is a little scary, but fixing clothes and knitting gifts have been a highlight!  I guess it is the satisfaction that comes with growing or fixing something yourself that makes it so rewarding and beats the act of going shopping and paying for goods any time!

My favourite activity has been creating (and then watching) activities for the children, once more often defined by the seasons.  Playing with ice and snow in the early months of the year; making Easter decorations with eggs in the spring; being in the woods and by the sea for much of the summer building dams or sandcastles or dens - all great fun for hours!  Then later in the year, foraging for fruit in late summer, doing more creative projects at home such as dressing up, making cards and beautiful pictures, whether that be for a birthday or Halloween  or some other seasonal festivity.  Lately we have had great fun collecting autumn leaves for garlands - all the family involved in finding an array of colours from greens, to yellows, oranges and reds and even some rich dark brown leaves.  They have all been put to dry in the utility room and are now ready for stringing and hanging up in the house.

We have now come to that part of the year which involves much creating in the home, from decorating the tree, to preparing and cooking festive food, making and finding gifts and catching up with friends and family: Preparing for Christmas.  Today is our tree day, as we have come to have a family tradition of putting up the tree around the second weekend of December.  My husband and children would happily have the tree up on the first day of the month, but I like to eke out all the celebrations, doing one thing at a time in the build-up to Christmas Day.  Anyway, the decision was made on Friday by our 3-year-old daughter: "Daddy, we going to get our Christmas tree today or tomorrow" - was her announcement on the way back from the child-minders; being exposed to Christmas trees and houses lit up with lights galore in the neighbourhood had made her mind up that it is time!  So today we will choose our tree from a local garden centre (this I am afraid is an item we don't save money on: we have considered a good artificial tree which after the initial expense would last many years - but it's just not the same).  My favourite part of the day is putting on the Christmas music in the afternoon, fetching the decorations from the loft and allowing the children to place the ornaments where they choose to. This means we end up with not a shop-window designer tree but one that has given our children much pleasure and satisfaction and a home-made feeling that we love.

Children's parties on a shoestring

I know that this blog strictly speaking is about my non-essential spending on myself, but I thought that ideas on keeping the expense of children's parties to a minimum might be of interest as well.

Our three lions for the party!

My little girl turned 3 last Monday and so for the past month (no kidding) she has been meticulously planning her celebrations!  Given her age I was hoping to get away with a little family birthday tea, and perhaps a weekend day-trip out to a farm park or somewhere similar that she would like.  But no: my daughter had other ideas!  I suppose that being the youngest of three she is accustomed to birthday parties, and so of course, she expects the same!

And so for the last 4 weeks or so, the topic of birthday parties has dominated our conversations... initiated by her.  We (she!) sorted out who was to be invited, what games we would play and what food would be provided, the most important item being the CHOCOLATE CAKE!

Although a proper party would not be my own choice for such a little one, we managed a very relaxed chilled-out affair *on a shoestring* which everyone seemed to enjoy.  The only expense (which was optional) was the accessories - such as party hats, and themed paper plates.  Party food expenses were low - jam or cheese sandwiches, chopped carrots, grapes, tomatoes and cucumber, a pack of biscuits and crisps and the all important chocolate cake.  I am not a fan of party-bags and certainly don't feel pressure to conform for this age group, so instead we had a basket of sweets and stickers that the guests could choose from before they left. There were also sweets and a little gift in the pass-the-parcel, but all in all, it was a lovely homely event focused on the children having fun, rather than being sucked into the commercial whirl of party expenses which is so easy to fall into.

Dog in a party mood...

Halloween on a shoestring

It is so lovely to watch the children tonight, so excited to answer the door to neighbours who are out and about trick-or-treating!  It gives them so much joy, and such a simple pleasure that barely costs a penny!  All that is required in preparation is a trip to the local shop for some sweets, a dig around in the dressing-up basket and some face-painting: this year I have a little fairy, a skeleton, and Dracula - and a big daddy skeleton as well.  Then all we have to do is wait... knock, knock sends our three kids to the door to greet the other beasties with treats of sweets and chocolate ... again and again!  What fun!

My scary family!

Preparations for Christmas

It seems appropriate this year for us to do what we call our "Victorian Christmas".  This is what we tried a couple of years ago, and it worked really well.  I don't mean that we dress up in Victorian costume and eat traditional dishes which have taken weeks to prepare.  Our Victorian Christmas consists of asking family to contribute what they are happy to towards one present for each of us.  So we basically each get one present (plus, perhaps, a few small gifts from friends we exchange presents with: we don't always feel we can ask them to partake in our eccentric ways!)  So the boys got a table football set last year, Chris and I bought a bread-maker with the money given to us both, and Yasmin got a trike.  As everyone contributes, it means that the children are each able to buy something fairly substantial, rather than having lots of plastic toys that very quickly get discarded anyway.  And generally, it means we all get something that we really need, or would find very useful and engaging.

So, as this year is "living on a shoestring" for me at least, it seems right to have another go at our Victorian Christmas.  It was actually Felix's idea to repeat the experiment, as he enjoyed it last time round. So that's decided.  We just have to let our families know! But I think they're getting used to our funny experiments of electricity-free days and Victorian Christmases!

Bartering

Since we have a couple of quite productive hens, we often give away boxes of eggs to friends and family. In the summer months the giving often extends to fruit and vegetables that we have grown ourselves.  However I have only once bartered, out of desperation one weekend when I had friends coming over for lunch and needed a leek for the recipe.  You may be wondering why I hadn't planned a lunch party more carefully and bought all of the necessary ingredients before the night before!  Well I had, I thought, until I realised that the last leek had already been used.  So quick thinking sent me rushing around to my neighbours who have an allotment.  They are lovely, and happily accepted my proposal of swapping a couple of leeks for a box of our eggs. Everyone a winner!  I was so excited!!  It was really satisfying obtaining goods in exchange for others that we had produced, and with no money changing hands!  I think I was probably born in the wrong century...

I was in my element this morning, out in the crisp autumn air; the blues skies and leaves on the ground enticed me to get out into the garden and deal with some of our summer pots that needed clearing out and preparing for spring bulbs.  The icing on the cake, for me, was having a cup of coffee and listening to the Food Programme on Radio 4.  It was a very appropriate listen, because today's episode was on "How to waste less food".  It was very inspiring, discussing innovative people all around Britain who are joining the food revolution in their own ways (including a co-operative in London who have asked a chef to create delicious dishes out of nearly-out-of-date food that will otherwise end up as waste).  One company that I liked the sound of, partly because of the name, is Rubies in the Rubble. They collect unwanted fruit and vegetables from Spitalfields Market and turn them into delicious chutneys and preserves.  Similarly, The Garden Cider Company in Surrey make use of their community's glut of apples, turning them into cider, giving their donors part of the produce and selling some as well.

"Donate, Don't Dump!"

I saw this slogan in Primrose Hill a few weekends ago, in the window of a charity shop owned by Mary Portas - brilliant!  For those of you who are not familiar with this part of London, it is pretty smart with a bohemian twist: lots of wine bars, gift shops, boutiques and a lovely health-food shop and a fantastic second-hand book shop which really defines the area.

This was not your average charity shop, although having said that, gone are the days when charity shops were associated with old ladies looking for uninspiring blouses and skirts.  When I was growing up, I think I got the impression from my parent's that you don't shop in Charity shops - or at least that admitting that you do is slightly embarrassing.  So in my late teens it almost felt like a rebellion to go into one and find some cool piece of retro clothing (either from the 70s or even 60s, and with the emphasis on the hippy look. Luckily, no-one has kept the photos). Since having children, it now seems completely acceptable to browse in a charity shop; they are brilliant for baby clothes, which are often not very worn and which can save a lot of money. It's a lot better than buying things brand-new at that stage, since the little one will only fit into an outfit for a matter of months.

So it is partly as a result of moving through different stages of my life that I have changed my attitude to charity shops.  But I think there has been a wider change of perceptions, so that now it is generally seen as a good thing to be supporting a charity, and charity shops themselves are seen as places where you can find amazing bargains (from designer-wear to useful accessories, all of which  are generally in good condition and won't break the bank).  Gone is the stigma of wearing something that someone else has owned before you.

To be a connoisseur of charity shops, I think the key is probably location.  I use them from time to time, but my favourite type of bargain shop is actually a bric-a-brac/ antique store in Salisbury.  So I am still learning this skill of finding great things in charity shops.  "Donate, don't dump"... is the bit I have got the hang of; but now with the prospect of moving house looming for us, I will have to frequent those shops more often, looking for bargains to furnish our new home with - my plan is to start with a car-boot sale in the next few weeks, and see how I get on... I will keep you posted about any finds!

Brown paper

I have flash-backs of my Granny, and her saving habits, when I catch myself saving pieces of brown paper for wrapping up parcels.  My sister and I, as children, were always amazed at how much stationery Granny re-used.  She had a cupboard dedicated to paper, string and all the other paraphernalia used for wrapping.  Even now, I can visualise her folding up a piece of brown paper nicely and neatly into a square and in the cupboard it went... for another occasion!  Although it's probably not rational to be saving paper as if we were still in the middle of the Second World War, I can understand why women from my Granny's generation adopted such habits.  And it's not a completely mad thing to do - there are so many uses for a scrap piece of brown paper: sending a parcel, endless creative projects with children, wrapping presents up...  In our extended family, it is certainly a habit that has crept through the generations - my mother, sister and me are all made fun of (in an affectionate way) by our partners for our stock-piling tendencies (from tinned food, to toiletries to stationery...)  The habit has become a bit less eccentric down the generations, but it is certainly a principle that has been instilled in us: "waste not, want not."

That brings me to a related topic: gift wrapping.  I always used to be a little disappointed by the fact that my husband did not see it as necessary to wrap up my birthday gifts (and sometimes even Christmas ones).  I can see that it could be seen as a great waste to wrap up a present in expensive gift-wrap which is only going to be ripped off days later and then thrown in the bin!  But the element of surprise by the recipient, and the pleasure in the effort put in by the giver, is down to the presentation.  Over the years, we seem to have met somewhere in the middle on this issue by finding creative ways of wrapping: using materials or blankets to hide presents, or baskets or bags that will be re-used, or discarded boxes screaming to be used again.  I suppose that the difference may be a gender thing. I am always reluctant to stereotype in this way, but many women seem to have this appreciation for gifts and pretty things, in a way that many men just cannot see the purpose of.  So when he gives me a non-wrapped present, Chris reminds me that we should consider the environment, and I remind him of the joys of receiving a genuine surprise!

3 for 2...

The dangerous world of bargains:  I heard on the news today that only 40% of people who have loyalty cards actually benefit from them.  It is easy to get sucked into offers - or yet another card to squash into your wallet - all because if you are getting something for free, then why not?  My husband always laughs at me when I don't automatically tune into these bargains, and I do get some funny looks from shop assistants when I don't want to add an enormous bar of chocolate for £1 to my shopping basket!

Don't get me wrong: sometimes offers can be very helpful and really worth it.  But I don't understand this obsession with making sure that you don't lose out on any bargain however pointless and without thinking it through!  My step-father in law has stacks of cereals and various other food stuffs in every nook and cranny - above the cupboards, in the utility room - everywhere!

It does annoy me that marketing companies lure in people - many of whom can't really afford the items they are buying - into buying something extra, convincing them that "they really need it".  I could really start ranting about car hire insurance deals, appliance insurance, shoe polish for a particular pair of shoes.... but best not to!

I suppose what I would really like to see is more ethical companies and stores selling goods of good quality and produced in an eco-friendly manner, and less mindless persuasion for people to buy more than they need just to increase the profits of multi-national companies.

I promise a more light-hearted post next week about brown paper and packaging!

Keeping children occupied for free

Where are my glasses?  The monster ate them!  This was the response my children gave me once we had got into the car after a fun morning fruit-picking.

Now the children are back at school, I have had time to reflect back on the holiday period and on how my challenge has been going.  Generally, I find the holidays a good time to stay away from spending as entertaining the little ones keeps me busy, and I have no time to even think about self-indulgence!  So apart from a bargain that I could not resist - a picture of a beautiful beach in West Dorset where we have just returned from our summer break (£10 for a nicely framed A3 sized photograph!) - I have kept away from treating myself!

Instead, my mind has been busy working out ways to keep my 3 smashers busy for 6 weeks!  Some holidays I find run relatively smoothly, with them happy working on creative craft projects they've dreamt, as well as running around the garden, parks and the beach.  This summer was not one of those!  This was one of those holidays where I was kept challenged with groans and whines of "what are we doing today?" and so fruit picking and lunch at the cafe in the nearby garden centre was one of the first outings that proved successful!  The middle section of the back seat our the car lifts up as a storage space, and this rapidly became a monster which ate everything (including my C.D.'s and driving glasses!)  This is a sign of a good day out!  Very simple - a couple of punnets and plenty of fruitful raspberries canes and they were off...

Fruit Picking

The other great successes  of the summer mainly seemed to involve water: from crabbing off the harbour wall to fishing for minnows in a river to fossil hunting on the beach.  What more could two boys ask for than rocks to chuck on the beach to discover whether there is a fossil in the middle?  My husband and daughter meanwhile were busy collecting crabs while I looked for pretty little pebbles!  Chesil Beach is a great place for pebbles, my kids spent hours sorting the little pebbles into colours - whites, blacks, reds, speckled... and then off for a break by racing the waves and getting completely soaked!

Waves on Chesil Beach

All with very little money spent and lovely memories to keep...

Electricity-free day - part two

This time, our simple day ended with Usain Bolt running the 100m in 9.63 seconds.   We seem to end our electricity free days with memorable radio listening.  Last time it was Stevie Wonder performing at the Diamond Jubilee concert; this time, the London 2012 Olympics.  I went to bed feeling satisfied and full of contentment.  Not so much is different about these days we have without electricity, but we just seem so much more in tune with the natural environment around us - bound by the daylight hours and simple food.

The children were much more supportive and into the whole adventure this time round.  They informed us - rather than the other way round, as they entered our bedroom at about 7am - that there was no t.v. this morning and they had shed light into their room by pulling up the blind rather than by the usual flick of the switch.

Dinner was amusing this time and perhaps not an advert for healthy living!  The children had pasta and cheese sauce all done on the gas hob, and for us, Chris made some delicious avocado bruschetta by toasting the bread over the gas flame!  One problem: we were still hungry, but not hungry enough to make  another whole dish.  Solution: a packet of crisps each and a chocolate mousse from the corner shop!  Oh well... At least we sat out on the swing-chair in the garden enjoying the natural light before retiring to bed with our trusty battery radio.

I can't really put into words why the days we have done this feel so satisfying.  My holidays at a friend's cottage in Shropshire have always stuck in my mind as something I would love to recreate one day.  Her extended family together own a little cottage near Leominster, in a tiny village, and every year she would take a group of friends for a little break in the summer.  No electricity, simple living - one room for the boys and another for the girls, paraffin lamps, a gas-run fridge and a river at the bottom of the garden.  Our days were filled with long, adventurous walks, card games, some wine and swimming in the river - it was bliss!  I haven't quite got the little basic cottage of my own yet but our own days without electricity go some way to replicating the simple pleasures, and the relaxation and feeling of liberation, that comes without technology and electricity.

My useful husband!

My useful husband saved us some money last week!  He is very proud of his achievement as I was just about to phone the plumber when he saved us a call-out charge, with some useful surfing the net to solve the problem ourselves.

We had come back from a few days break to find we had no hot water in the morning!  Help!  Our new boiler was put in about 12 months ago, as our 8-year-old boiler before that gave up for good.  We have had no problems since the new boiler had been installed; we were just pleased that we no longer had to fork out for regular call-outs from the plumber to sort out our heating.  So when the water wouldn't heat up the other morning, I panicked.  I looked at the boiler - that didn't help.  My first reaction was to re-set it, but that did nothing!  Next stop, the instructions - not much use!  Third step is usually a call to the experts - in this case, the plumber.  Chris, who is always trying to fix things himself to save money, has a mixed record.  If it is decorating (painting, plastering, putting together), or electrics, he has a very good record; but anything to do with wood or working with technology tends to mean a failed attempt by him, sometimes spending money on the way, but resulting in us spending a whole load more money after he has had his go!!  So I got the usual "don't call them yet" response when I informed him of my next step.  Reluctantly, on my way to work, I reminded him of the urgency of having hot water in a family of five.  To my surprise, the problem had been fixed only a few hours later after my husband resourcefully checked out fix-it forums which he found via google - all very simple and representing a big saving!

Blooming flowers!

Tulips picked from the garden - 27/03/12

After weeks and months of rain, we certainly should have lots of blossom in the garden!  In the hot spell that we enjoyed at the end of March, I picked these tulips that I had grown from bulb.  Unfortunately, my summer flower seeds and bulbs have not done so well!  Partly the wash-out weather and cool temperatures, but probably more significant is my adolescent dog's digging habits!  I only found out recently that flower bulbs can be poisonous for dogs, although it does not seem to have done our four-legged friend any harm!  Roses would rather have not had so much rain as well, but at least we can enjoy the sun now and I can, finally, happily potter around the garden without feeling cold and wet!

Looking on the bright side, tomatoes in the green-house are thriving and lettuces are doing well.  We haven't checked on the potatoes yet, but we are not so hopeful for a good crop.  So a freak year of weather does not help in sustaining self-sufficiency but every little helps.  My hope is now pinned on soft fruit - raspberries and blackberries later on!  My best deterrents for buying is firstly the sunshine - the warm day keeps me happy enough in the garden without the need to venture further - but when that is not possible, my other trick is to go into a shop, look at items and even pick them up, but whisper my mantra of "do I really need it?" to myself. This tends to have the result of me putting back the items on the shelf and feeling good!

I am planning to have a good pruning session in the garden this afternoon in a quest to find something to put in a vase, even if not a conventional cut flower!  And will keep you posted on vegetable, fruit and flower updates.

The joys of washing!

My dining-room cushions (that I recently mentioned) have had a temporary make-over.  It is amazing what you can do with some stain remover!  My lovely neighbour who is a sewing whizz said she would make new ones but at £20 a piece that would not be much cheaper than buying replacements, and she was wisely concerned that new covers would not last long with 3 small children!  So she took in the worst affected cushion and returned it looking nearly as good as new - no longer marbled with green and blue paint, but cream again and respectable enough for my book-club get together!  Less than a week later, my children seemed to have an uncontrollable need to release their creative juices - and so out came the green paint... again!  I went in to the room to find a puddle of green on the floor - and a sea of green on our table (luckily covered by an oil cloth)!  So the cushions back into the wash while I continue my hunt for fabric to re-cover them myself.  Being a seamstress' daughter, I should be a dab-hand at sewing, but my fear of power tools (whether it be a sewing machine or band-saw) keeps me away from the sewing machine I inherited from my grandmother.  A phobia which I should persevere in over-coming, as a year on a shoe-string would benefit greatly from home-made items being quickly made up on a machine!

Perhaps I am a little odd, but to me there is nothing better than a basket of clean washing.  There is something very satisfying about solving a problem like a stained shirt by soaking it, scrubbing  it  and then watching it transform into a clean item as if by magic!  With my trusty washing powder and stain-removers our clothes last for season after season, and once we have out-grown the items, I gain much satisfaction from passing on my children's clothes to friends or on to a charity shop where someone else can benefit from them.  For environmental reasons mainly I am not a fan of tumble dryers, but I do have a washer-drier and so when the need occasionally arises to quickly dry school trousers at 7am, or help out a neighbour's teenage son who needs his jeans a.s.a.p. to go out in - it is possible!  A load of sheets or towels will find their way to the drier on a rainy day; unfortunately this summer this has been much more than I had hoped for. They just don't fit on my faithful clothes-horses, and it saves filling every room with draped sheets!  However, this resistance to using tumble driers, although not really financially driven, does save me £40 in energy bills per year. Ironing is also practically non-existent in this household now - thanks to a friend who showed me how to create ceaseless trousers by wiping them with a firm hand. This performs wonders on clothes. Otherwise hanging them out in the sunshine keeps them pretty straight!

Free gifts from nature

I suppose one would think of foraging and what you can eat for free from the countryside around us.  This is a topic which does interest me and which I will return to, but for today my subject is entertaining children for free.  Children are so tuned in to the commercial world that we now live in that they know exactly which toys are the latest fashion, are aware of pocket money and piggy banks, and as they get older are more difficult to persuade to come on a good old-fashioned walk in the country.

We spent the weekend in Devon with my husband's aunt and uncle where we always look forward to a good country break with lots of walks and fun.  On our first day there, my husband took centre stage in entertaining the children, by showing them how to build a dam on the beach and re-direct the stream of water flowing back into the sea.  All three children seemed to devise their own tasks with my daughter distributing sand, my eldest son redirecting the rivulets of water and my second son building the dam - they had such a lovely afternoon, completed by an ice-cream on the beach!

Chris took them rock pooling as well where we found many crabs of all sizes, a shrimp, anemones and again they were all entertained for free.  The children found it so satisfying to help Daddy find the crabs and then collect them in their nets to deposit into the buckets of water.  After some time of splashing in puddles and collecting beautiful shells, we put the sea creatures back and said goodbye before setting off back for a well-earned lunch!

Today, I defeated the world of commerce by successfully entertaining my children with a walk on a tow-path in Devon.  What made me proud was that all I did was pass down secrets of nature that my Mum and Granny had shown me.  Wild grasses can be transformed into catapaults and confetti and the possibility of finding a four-leaved clover can occupy a six year old for at least half an hour.  Nature became a fun and magical world that I think beats computer games and football cards any day!  Our last activity was to head to the dunes by the beach where the boys decided to collect large pebbles and find dips in the sand dunes, so they could sit on their (pebble) dragon eggs and wait for them to hatch, while my daughter had great fun chasing waves and throwing stones into the sea.

I just loved watching them choosing their own games in the natural environment, all having fun for free and learning so much at the same time.  At the end of each activity we had to coax the children back home with the lure of food - otherwise they would have stayed there for hours!

A creature of habit...

Routine and habits - those ways that one is accustomed to - seem to have a lot to do with spending patterns, I think.  My posts have slowed down in the last couple of weeks.  This is not because I have lost interest in the project or feel less passionate about writing about it; instead I think I have simply got used to spending less.  I go to the shops less, I have a constant mantra in my head when I do go shopping:  "do I really need it?" and when I shop on-line I search for the best deal often instead of buying now I just 'save my basket,' to give me time to decide whether what I am buying is really essential.

So I seem to have adjusted, and although there are still plenty of topics to write about and areas to improve in terms of making savings, it seems as though acquiring things has lost its appeal to me!  I will continue with my weekly thoughts, but I think the focus in the next few weeks with be clearing, fixing and mending.  I have been spending the last few weeks methodically clearing through each room in the house.  At the end of each tidying session, I am left with the satisfying sight of less clutter on the surfaces and full bin bags separated into rubbish, recycling and charity shop piles.  I am nearing the end of my mammoth clear-out and I still feel I could have been more ruthless, but it is a good start.  My next job is to tackle the dining room chair cushions and the ever increasing pile of darning... all creative jobs which I look forward to embarking on; probably a year ago I would have thrown away those things and bought new ones.  Much more satisfying to fix what I have and appreciate those lovely things for a little longer!

More fun for free

Finally today we had a lovely sunny day and so we went for a really nice walk by the river.   However, these warm days are few and far between.  Thinking of days out when it is pouring is a bit more difficult - especially if you don't want to spend money.  So how about this:

Rain was beating down on the windscreen as we were all ready to go to some jubilee celebrations, but couldn't quite face a parade in this rain.  I looked to my husband in the car wondering what we should do, and he responded: "Let's go to see the tropical fish at Arturis" (a local garden centre).  I was a little shocked and not sure whether to quite believe him, but he was serious!  With no better ideas, we trundled down to visit the fish.  It was quite a revelation: we spent at least half an hour looking at all the different kinds of fish and all the high-tech tanks.  It was only then that my husband confessed that this is what he used to do with his family on a rainy day as a regular outing!  After our visit to the fish, we had a cheap lunch out at the garden centre cafe.  It was still raining when we came back home a couple of hours later, but we thoroughly enjoyed our little trip out and then snuggled up on the sofa to watch a film and have a cup of tea - satisfied by our achievement of a surprise cheap day out!

Baby products

My daughter surprised us all the other week when she simply sat on her potty and did a wee!  Hooray - outgoings will certainly go down significantly when I no longer need to buy nappies and wipes.  Having children certainly adds to the bills every month.  I guess in a lot of ways, the first child is the most expensive because after that at least you have the basics, and some clothes to hand down to the others.

I fondly remember those first shopping trips to Mothercare and other stores to buy brand-new lovely baby paraphernalia!  It is exciting - and such a milestone in your life - that it is only natural to want all-new bright things for the new addition to your family - assuming that finances can stretch.  However, as time goes on and baby budgets become depleted, you start to learn all the tricks of saving money as a parent.  First of all, there seems to be an awful lot of stuff that is never needed at all!  If you are lucky to have friends and family who have also recently become parents, then they are generally a font of knowledge for what is really needed and what can be done without.  We were lucky to buy both cot and pram second-hand from a friend, which is a good start.  Then there is always e-bay (a huge section for children), and the National Childbirth Trust (N.C.T) local sales, where both clothes and toys are very cheaply bought and can always be found in good condition.

We tried the cloth nappy option with our first baby, but seemed to be doing about 6 washes a day, as he seemed to leak down his legs every time!  There is a wealth of choice when it comes to which type of cloth nappy would suit your child's shape - but we learnt that a little too late, and eventually opted for the disposable eco-nappy route. This doesn't save money, but did make me feel a little better about using disposables!

I suppose my biggest bug-bear about spending money connected to babies is all the marketing that's focused on baby goods - and especially that relating to bottle-feeding.  I understand that a proportion of mothers will be unable to breast-feed, for various reasons, but otherwise so much seems to depend on having good support to surround mothers in sustaining breast-feeding.  I will try not to be militant here, so for the purposes of this blog it would suffice to say that it certainly cuts down a lot on cost and preparation to use breast milk.  Then there are the purpose-made baby foods.  It was only the other day that I discovered foods can be labelled organic if they only have 14% organic ingredients.  This was a great shock to me as this food is more expensive, but many mothers, if able to afford it, would give it to their babies on the premise that it is so important to feed your child good quality organic food.  As we have had more children, we have been more relaxed about giving our children specific baby food.  Our third more or less forced baby weaning on us, for example, by demanding a bite from the banana I was eating!  The ready-made foods certainly have their uses for travelling etc. but generally I think home-made is best - as well as being so much cheaper. By the time they are one year old, most babies are able to eat much more which looks like grown-up food rather than puréed mixtures!

Since I started this post, our daughter has decided that nappies are much more convenient, so the dreaded potty training may take longer than first anticipated - but nappy-free days are still in sight!

Our adventure without electricity!

Well, our first attempt didn't go too well.  I got up on Sunday 3rd June, went downstairs and switched on the kettle - whoops!  It is just so automatic, so much taken for granted that the hard bit is not living without the power but remembering not to use it as it is just there!

By the time it had dawned on all of us that we were not meant to be using electricity, it was 10am and more or less every appliance had been used already that day!  Oh well, I am not easily deterred, so the plan was to try again tomorrow - as it was a Bank Holiday it is a similar day to a Sunday in terms of not needing to rush off to work etc.

Take 2: Monday, 4th June - this time it worked better.  The main difference was that we made sure we told the children what we were going to do, just before they went to bed, so that they remembered not to turn on lights etc in the morning.  Tea was made using a saucepan of water on the gas hob, the battery radio kept us company in the kitchen and the children were turfed out into the garden sooner than usual.  The novelty of living without television did not last long for our 6-year-old son who had just discovered the film of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  He can be defiant and disobedient when he wishes, but for some reason he did listen and didn't try to sneak the t.v. on; instead we just had to put up with half-hourly questions about whether we could watch "Harry Potter now?".  Mid-morning snack for the children and coffee made in an old-fashioned cafetiere gave us energy to take our dog out to the park.  This was a normal outing for the children, so they forgot about moaning and just enjoyed scooting in the park.

Tea will be ready soon!

Lunch was fried vegetarian sausage sandwiches, and then the afternoon was spent pottering about in the garden.  As soon as Leo was taken out of the environment where he was reminded that he could be watching the film, he was soon occupied in whatever activity we encouraged.  He very enthusiastically re-potted a tray of sunflower seedlings into individual pots with me, and I managed to do all the sowing of onion and sweet-pea seedlings into the ground, and pot up some lettuce and tomato plants into larger pots to encourage their growth.  The rest of the day was taken up with playing Blockus (a board game), whilst Felix started the industrious task of designing and drawing superheroes made from fruit to occupy him and his brother.

Playing Blockus

So while watermelon-man and banana-superdog came to life, Chris and I managed to get the picnic together for the jubilee celebrations that we were having with my Mum and Step-dad in their village.  After a couple of hours of yummy food and listening to a brass-band, we returned to our naturally lit house to get stories read to the children and into bed before the light faded from the windows.  All achieved and finished with a romantic hour of listening to the Royal jubilee concert broadcast from Radio 2 on our little battery-radio in the dark!

Off the grid!

Finally been pushed to go for it - so here it is, one day a week without electricity.  The final straw was my husband and sons frequently checking for dragons on an on-line game that they have started.  The bad news is that as you create your own kingdom etc, it never ends!!  So, I had had enough of losing my family to the big computer screen up the stairs.  What better way to make your feelings known than to announce a day without electricity once a week.  My husband had promised that the computer won't be played at weekends any more, but still - this will force them to put on their sandals and join me in the sunshine.

Here are the rules: simply cannot use electricity!  So that means out with the phone, television, stereo,  radio unless battery-powered, lights, computer games (hooray) or anything to do with the computer, kettle and oven.  I will allow gas - just so I can at least cook hot food on the hob and make the essential cups of tea, as well as heating water for washing-up and baths.  Also, no use of the dishwasher or washing machine!  This is going to be fun - or at least a challenge.   With a lot of my challenges this year, I start off small and then can always expand the remits - either by having more days without electricity or by adding more restrictions - i.e. no power at all.  I will start off allowing the use of the  fridge and freezer (stopping use of these appliances would be wasting a lot of money on food that has already been bought), for me this is about making my family aware of how dependent we are on electricity and about breaking the lazy habits of watching t.v. and using the computer.

The family have been warned, the rules will be posted on our fridge, and Sunday 3rd June will be the first day.  Will let you know how we got on in my next post!

Fun things to do in the Spring which are free

Make an ice dog for fun!  Saturday chores were being done while the children played out in the garden.  My husband had managed to de-ice the freezer which was beginning to get difficult to close!  So a bucket-full of ice sat in the garden in a bowl...but not for long!  That is what I love about children's creativity: they are brilliant at making things out of whatever is around them.  Felix then comes in to say he would like me to see his ice-sculpture of our dog.  Picture to follow, as we have had trouble uploading the photo of the said ice-dog.  Instead, here is some inspiration for ice sculptures found on google images:

With windy, wet weather like we have been having for most of the months of April and May, our cosy home has felt like the most appealing place to be.  Board games, baking, and getting wrapped up in all-in-ones and wellies for a splash in the puddles have been the main activities for us in the last couple of months.  Looking on the bright side of having miserable weather - I think you tend to spend less on days out!  Gardens, farms and other family-friendly venues are always much better in the sunshine.  Talking about sunshine, it is the beginning of fete season. The weather has only just decided to catch up with the season and give us some sunshine in the last couple of days, but fetes have been happening regardless - "the show must go on in the English countryside".  Although not free, they are often cheap and great days out - lots for the children to do: face painting; lucky dips; bouncy castles and yummy home-baked cakes.  For me and my husband, the highlights have to be the plant stalls and book stalls where we often find a bargain or two.  I went to my first fete of the year a couple of weeks ago with instructions from my husband (who was away) to buy tomato plants.  My attempts to grow them from seed do not seem to have been completely successful - and perhaps were started a bit late!  So, for £3.00 I came home with 2 of the Alicante variety and 4 Moneymaker, plus a handful of books (75p for 3 paperbacks, as I just visited the stall at the right time when everything had been reduced to half-price!)  The children were given some pocket money and spent it on a soft toy each plus a couple of rides.  50p for a dragon seems like a good deal to me!

My inspiration to write this post today was our afternoon activity, over a cup of tea and piece of cake after a breezy walk on the downs with our dog:  we made collages, using today's newspapers, of Chelsea'swin in the final of the Champions' League.  My husband has been a loyal supporter from the age of 6 and has now indoctrinated his children.  I am fighting a losing battle, so I thought at least I could have some input by encouraging a creative activity connected to this big event for all of us!!!!  I quite enjoyed my cutting-up of little pictures, and the children were delighted to have these to stick onto their pieces of card with a glue stick. All for the price of a couple of papers!

Now, with the hot weather finally appearing, "the world is our oyster" with plenty of gardening to do, and more opportunity to enjoy the outdoors!

Seeds emerging...

I'm beginning to see rewards for all the sowing I did in the greenhouse back in March.  Broad beans which started off like the one below are now 8-10 inches tall in the vegetable patch and doing really well. The journey for the courgettes has been more rocky - one shop-bought courgette plant survived and one of my ones planted from seed too; both are doing well.  I have also had donations from my Step-Dad to my collection of courgettes, sunflowers and herbs which is great!

Our broad been seeds beginning to sprout - more photos to follow soon!

Snails have been doing their best to spoil my fun in the greenhouse which is very disheartening.  They destroyed a courgette, most of the dahlias and were also slowly working through the cucumbers!  So, the kitchen window-sill has now become an extension to the greenhouse. I'm also using space in the conservatory as a haven for plants - I will not be defeated by snails!

The weather was so wet in April - and also very mixed this month in May - that the appeal of the garden has lessened: I do like it warm and sunny if I am going to work out in the garden!  Anyway, regardless of a few missed days of watering here and there, everything is still doing fine and I'm now moving on to the next stage of thinning out the seeds and planting out.  I have to remember that in a few months time I will be eating my own produce and then all the trials and tribulations will look to have been worth it!

Dreaming of strawberries to come!

Technology free days

I have been thinking for some time now about how to cut down on using power.  Partly for environmental reasons but also because I am sure we as a family could save quite a bit of money just by being more thoughtful when using electricity.

Blogging is great but I do find it brings me to the computer many times a day  - to write drafts, check page views and add photos.  I also seem to spend time reading other blogs, checking my emails, and reading the Yahoo news pages which are full of pointless gossip; so I have decided it would be healthy for me and the children (who are rather attached to watching video clips of childrens' programmes on the computer as a treat)  to have the odd day without these technological advances!  In addition, it would save money through not using electricity.  I have often wondered about having another mini-challenge of being off-grid one day a week?!  That is definitely on the cards for later on in the year, but I have to think it through a little more before embarking on power-free days.  I want to consider what day would make an impact on us without making things too difficult - so probably a weekend day ...

Having two weeks away with family at Easter forced me to stay away from the computer and it did me a world of good - proper relaxation!  It always takes a bit of time to adjust to the fact that I don't have the facilty to check  emails whenever I like, but it is a good thing.  It makes me focus on what is going on around me in our family home.

The idea of technology-free days has now been forced on me to an extent due to a fault on our phone line which also means we have no access to the internet either - Argh!  I feel bereft!  But I can check email and do my weekly blog from work until the problem is fixed and once I get used to the idea it is nice not to be relying on instant information from the web at all times.  In addition to not using the phone and internet for a week now (and it will probably be another week before the problem is fixed), I am going to make a concerted effort to only use the lights, kitchen appliances, water etc when absolutely necessary to start getting in a mind frame of living without electricity for a day a week - more about that later.

Spring clean!

It seems like a good time at the moment, with all this rain, to have a good clear out and clean.  I started last week, doing one room at a time which I find very rewarding.  Sorting through all the drawers and shelves with a bin bag in one hand and a charity bag in the other.  So far, I have gone through the sitting room, hallway and am now working on the dining room.  It has been fairly straightforward so far, as I don't tend to hoard things in the sitting room and hallway, but the dining room has always been a bit of an Aladdin's cave.

I have a few projects for the dining room, the cushions for the chairs desperately need re-covering.  My old method would be to throw these ones away and buy new ones, but in my year of the shoestring, I am determined to re-cover the original cushions.  I inherited my Grandmother's sewing machine - so I have no excuse now!  Then there are all the school photos to frame and recipes to write out and sort through - so my attention will remain with the dining room for some time, but in a good way and keeping me away from the shops!

A Confession to make ...

A challenge which is certainly a "Work in progress...":

This week I went to John Lewis - oh no!  With good intentions of replacing my kettle which has been falling apart over the last few months and our printer which has let us down several times with important documents, and now refuses to print.  Both items we have had for some time and I was comfortable with replacing them, but I somehow ended up in the ladies' fashion department!  I have spoken for some time to my husband about buying a work-type jacket for the warmer weather, which I can wear with work clothes. I do find it difficult keeping warm but at the same time looking smart - chunky cardigans don't really complement my dresses or smart trousers!  But as we are in a year of living on a shoe-string, I'm not sure it comes under the definition of necessity!

I thought today would also be a good time to discuss the terms of  my challenge; I've been meaning to return to this but haven't got round to it so far.  I often get people asking me to 'define necessity' and they seem to think that my challenge must really mean living on the bare necessities (and as a result, judging from their reactions, taking enjoyment out of life to a large extent).  I never intended for this to be an extreme challenge where I denounce all wordly goods; it was more that I had got to a point where I looked around me and saw people buying things simply because they are trendy or say something about their status in society. I realised that I was getting sucked into this commercial frenzy of buying things for the sake of having them - for greed rather than enjoyment or need.  So I still feel I can enjoy my life, go to my exercise classes, go out for the odd meal and drink and see the odd concert - but nothing in excess.  Making sure what I do spend is within my means and thinking about the purpose of the item before buying it: that's the idea.  I am pleased with my progress so far as I have bought very few things that break the rules - as I mentioned in a previous post.

One thing that I never felt before this year was guilt when I did buy something unnecessary - which I guess is a good thing.  And I have acquired a self-discipline that I didn't have before of not visiting shops much. And when I do, I ask myself whether "I need it".  The jackets - yes 2, I have to confess - are certainly breaking the rules and have left me feeling a bit disappointed in myself!  One jacket may have just scraped through as something I could do with for my daily life, but I am not going to dwell on it too much.  Instead I intend to carry on thinking carefully about my purchases and enjoy exploring the world of hand-made goods and home-grown food and try better the next time I enter my favourite shop!

Fashionable fish

I thought I would return to the subject of food momentarily, and discuss my progress on £50.00 a week food shopping.  Unfortunately, although we succeeded easily the first week, spending in weeks 2 and 3 increased to £75.00 which is where the total seems to remain for our weekly food shop.  I think we could have just about done the £50.00 for weeks 2 & 3, but we'd really be cutting some things out and we also had friends over for meals a couple of days in the last week which always increases the food bill (my husband tells me I have a generous heart when it comes to cooking for people!).

I have come to the conclusion that food was never going to be a primary focus for the year; for me personally, this was about restraint on luxuries: the nice top I saw in the high street, the book that looked interesting or the pretty stationery or brightly-coloured utensils from our lovely garden centre and home shop.

Nevertheless, our food bill has certainly shrunk in the last few weeks simply by taking more notice of what we're buying, so that is a good thing.  But I really am enjoying the kitchen more this year - especially spending time making and baking.  I finally tasted my home-made marmalade today and it was delicious! Not the perfect consistency, but really yummy all the same.

You may wonder why 'fish' are in the title of this post when I haven't mentioned the creatures yet!  Well, fish is something we like in this house and we try to buy sustainable fish which is not under threat or farmed.  Chris has started going to a market that sets up every Monday in town near his work. The fishmonger now seems to know his likes and dislikes and understands that the fish will need to be filleted for the wife - without even having to be asked to do it!  I love fish, but I am not as skilled as a cat at eating it and spend hours sifting the fish from the bones - so a good piece of filleted fish is much appreciated!  We tried Gurnard last week - delicious and only £3.00 for a fish provided enough for two people.  Plaice is also very reasonable - £5.00 for a good portion.  Monkfish and sea bass used to be in the 'reasonable' bracket but have become trendy in the fish-market world and so the prices have soared!  It really is worth experimenting with the types of fish.  Our fishmonger is very helpful in describing what type of fish is it - in terms of taste and how to cook it simply, so that takes away some of the apprehension of trying new types.

A friendly-looking Red Gurnard

So although food is not the main focus for my money-saving experiment, it has had quite an impact on what we buy and we have made lots of little savings in various ways.  I think the main triumph for me is that I spend much more time enjoying cooking and experimenting with food.  Also consciously looking for cheap but at the same time, good quality produce, often means that you manage to do a little bit for the environment - such as buying fish that is not endangered and buying fruit and vegetables that do not have excessive packaging around them.  After some time of feeling in a rut about 'what to cook for dinner tonight...?' my enthusiasm for food has returned and all because I simply spend a little more time thinking about what to buy and cook!

Garden in spring

We have returned to normal spring weather with a mix of wind, rain and sun.  So I thought it would be nice to post a few pictures of last month which inspired me to get out into the garden while it was lovely and hot!

Our Magnolia in full bloom - now the petals have dropped and the leaves are coming...

The last week of March has been like mid-summer with temperatures reaching 26c, which has been bliss.  The glorious weather has made the tidying-up much easier and we have all been beavering away.  Although it's very strange to have such temperatures this early in the year, it does mean that the garden preparatory jobs such as tidying and sowing seeds is done much earlier and so we can enjoy the garden for a little longer!

This is Snowy searching for worms!

When the weather is like this, the only tempting place for me is the garden centre in terms of retail.  I have stayed away from beautifully grown plants ready-to-buy and instead headed straight for the seeds and compost.  So far, the sweet peas and dahlias are beginning to emerge in the green house, tubs have been filled with summer flowering bulbs including freesias and irises, and I am slowly building up my collection of vegetables - which are mainly keeping warm in the greenhouse for now.

Two weeks later and back to colder temperatures and a wetter climate again!  Still, it's very good for the garden and despite the temperatures plummeting again, the colours of blossom and tulips are very warming.

Book Binding

The discovery of book binding - my solution to buying pretty note books in stationary shops!

My attempt at stab-binding

Wow!  I was given a weekend course on bookbinding as my Christmas present this year.  So last weekend, I trotted off at 9.15 for two days of creative bliss!  I loved it, it was a very satisfying craft to learn as you could make so much in a very short space of time. It is fairly straightforward to get the hang of and it was a weekend meeting new lovely people and having the chance to immerse myself into something creative and forget life around me for a little time - very relaxing!  So I no longer have an excuse to lurk in beautiful stationery shops stocking up on lovely note books - I can make them and they make fantastic presents: photo albums, picture-books, sketch-books and note-books etc...
I recommend it:  The one I went to was at a local printing workshop called The Red Hot Press: www.redhotpress.org.uk,  but I am sure they are dotted about all over the place.

My collection of hard-bound binding