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.
This week I was reading through Jax’s post on her new blog – The challenge – and my mortgage statement which, quite by coincidence arrived on the same day. Through Jax I also found Mortgage Free in Three. To say I was inspired is an understatement. I’ve decided that we should be aiming to pay… read more →
See other January meal plan post for reasons for splitting this months/why it’s mostly veggie… This week & a bit actually sees me making use of two of my cookbooks for once! 19th: Vegetable pie w/pastry top (had chicken dippers last night so swapped over) 20th: Turkey meatloaf 21st: French onion & sage soup (Isabel… read more →
See other January meal plan post for reasons for splitting this months/why it’s mostly veggie… 11th: Egg fried rice with veggies 12th: Vegetable lasagne 13th: Sticky chicken & potato wedges 14th: Cauliflower cheese 15th: Hippie pie (didn’t get to make it on Monday 7th as we had a late evening) 16th: Swede & potato boulangère… read more →
After two very meat-heavy months I have decided to go for a much more veg-oriented meal plan for this month. However, as I don’t know what veg I’m going to end up with til the week it’s due to arrive, this month’s meal plan will have to be released in batches. The rough aim is… read more →
A wee bit late typing this up but here’s this month’s meal plan… 1st: Chicken & chips 2nd: Lamb chops & mash 3rd: Chicken soup 4th: Toad in the hole 5th: Spaghetti bolognese 6th: Mince & tatties 7th: Homemade pizza 8th: Corned beef hash 9th: Roast chicken 10th: Baked spuds & homemade coleslaw 11th: Leek… read more →
A lot more meat than usual in this month’s. I got an offer on a meat box a while back and it’s all sat in the freezer waiting to be used. Figured I should get it cleared out in time for Christmas (uh oh, the C word) Thu 1st: Creamy chicken and leek pasta Fri… read more →
I realised yesterday that I’ve been comfort spending over the past few weeks. It’s somewhat ironic that a shopping hater would reach out to shopping to fill a gap where my sanity once was, but I guess it’s easy to click your mouse button a few times when you compare it packing a toddler and… read more →
Part of my ongoing mission to save money this year, these things have saved me money this month (unfortunately I could only come up with 3 things) 1. Moved hosting I moved away from Site5 in 2009 after they botched a routine server upgrade. Clook, my host of choice have been fantastic since then but… read more →
I was really struggling to fill the plan this month. I don’t know whether tiredness (Oliver is unwell) is killing my inspiration or just because it’s a long month, but I’ve had to repeat several meals from earlier months. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, just boring long term. Anyway, without further do… Mon 1st: Roast… 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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