In May 2012 I had my baby son and started maternity leave for the second time, knocking my family income down by over £800 per month. Surviving on Statutory Maternity Pay taught me to budget, and how to feed a family of four on only £20 a week. Nowadays I'm back to working, but still juggling the demands of two school-aged children against the reality of self-employed income.
One of the first things I did this month after starting my new job was to set up a new bank account. It’s not that new work necessitates a change of banking details, I’m just slightly paranoid that my old details are splashed all over every invoice etc from self-employment. Plus, a better rate of… read more →
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I bought a bigger slow cooker to try and frugalise (is that a word?) some of the meals I’m used to making by reducing the fuel cost to cook them. Having made a few ‘easy’ meals with success I spotted some bargain pork this weekend in the Co-op… read more →
Bit uninspired this week :P Sun 4th: Roast chicken, mash, veg Mon 5th: Creamy salmon pasta inspired by Jack (adjusted to make it dairy free/suitable for my fusspots) Tue 6th: Chicken soup from carcass Wed 7th: Mince & tatties Thu 8th: Beany mince / salad filled pittas Fri 9th: Pizza night Sat 10th: Curry? probably… read more →
Bit more veg this week, except tonight’s “meal” (don’t ask) Sun 14th: Meatballs & mash Mon 15th: Spaghetti hoops on toast (‘oops’ disorganised night) Tue 16th: Slow ‘roast’ veg & crusty homemade bread Wed 17th: Macaroni Peas (adapted from River Cottage Veg Everyday) Thu 18th: Sausage & chips Fri 19th: Pizza night Sat 20th: Wrinkly… read more →
Making the most of leftovers and the freezer this week, with short-dated prawns and pork frozen from previous supermarket shops & Tuesday’s pie made from tonights pot roast. Sun 14th: BBQ leftovers & sandwiches/salad Mon 15th: Beef brisket pot roast Tue 16th: Beef & mushroom pie Wed 17th: Prawny pasta bake Thu 18th: Egg, chips… read more →
Last year we built a cat run. The original plan was to have one built for us by a guy who specialises in bespoke wooden runs but after 2 visits he went quiet and despite numerous calls and emails we’ve never heard anything back. Anyway, we did some searching and found some metal run panels… read more →
I’ve been up and down with my meal plans lately, trying to find a system that works for me. The most productive way I have found seems to be to plan from Sunday through to the following Saturday. That allows me to buy a piece of meat / chicken / whatever for Sunday and incorporate… read more →
In my moan about selling on eBay I touched upon something important I’ve discovered about budgeting: the time spent planning and plotting a budget is not always outweighed by money saved. Things have been pretty hectic here lately. You know, the usual stuff: a 1 year old, 3 year old, household chores and trying to… read more →
One of the ways I was hoping that we would pay off our mortgage (let’s pretend I’ve updated that page recently) was to sell the mounds of crap I have sitting around the house on ebay. Of course by crap I mean treasure … kids clothes, old PC parts, DVDs, books, that sort of thing.… read more →
Six things I do to make developing gutenberg-based WordPress websites easier to develop and maintain.… read more →
Sumptious double chocolate brownies with fresh raspberries and a fruity raspberry swirl.… read more →
A very biscuity Biscoff ‘Cheesecakecake’. Layers of sponge and cheesecake filling on a buttery biscuit base topped with a Biscoff drizzle.… read more →
pipdig, WordPress theme and plugin provider, caught distributing malicious code to customers and DDoSing competitors… read more →
A review of nuud natural deodorant by a self-proclaimed ‘sweaty betty’ and follow-ups after suspicious lumps appeared in my armpits. Includes a statement from the nuud deodorant team.… read more →
The benefits of the Filofax organiser, and tips on organising your Filofax to suit your needs.… read more →
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