Looking Forward

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Every Penny Helps

I’ve been reading lots of blogs about saving money recently, hoping to find ideas I haven’t already had. I can’t really do a list, as I think so many of them really have ideas that we all know are good, we just sometimes can’t be bothered with them! There are a couple that I think I will do. For example one said to save as if it was a direct debit, which I do think is a good idea as I love direct debits as then I can never forget about bills and get a fright when a new bill comes through the door! One also said you should ‘bank’ any spare money like in The Weakest Link, I defintly think it is out of sight, out of mind for me too.


I’m already selling some things I never use on ebay, and my paypal account which was empty in January now has £64 in it! I was very proud, as I wasn’t doing anything with what we sold. The thing now is to only spend it on something we needed anyway. I certainly am guilty of finding these little piles of pennies and using them for a treat! Hopefully we can have a carboot sale soon. There is a big place close to us that has them on a Sunday morning, so it is when I already work. Last year we kept meaning to have one, but the weather was so awful I was glad I didn’t take a day off to help out. They normally last 9 hours (as you are pretty tightly locked into the selling area), so it would be TH and I together so one could at least nip to the loo if need be!

TH is a reiki practioner and is hoping to extend his client base (this is his site here). One day I hope he does it full time as it makes him so happy, but I think it would also be quite scary starting out a new business, and now isn’t really the time. He has been getting some training for using the hopi candles properly and all of the types of massage that should be done with them, so I think he’ll be able to start advertising his skills in that too. TH’s friend also sells salt lamps and we said we’d help out with that. I love them to bits anyway-and they were so helpful when we moved into the new house and it was a bit dampish and cold, so I know I could sell them with real passion!  I'll be sales person of the month in no time!

Shake yourself off

TH and I have been through the mill recently. We’ve been bashed about a bit and retreated for a little while into the comfort of our own home. For a little while we stayed hiding, we sat in front of the TV on the comfy sofa wrapped in blankets. We were not in the slightest vulnerable as we didn’t stray outside the front door. When the weekend came the drawbridge went up.

This happened for a couple of weeks, Friday night would come and we wouldn’t venture outside. However two weekends ago we were forced from our home as TH needed to attend an opticians appointment. The sun was shining, but we didn’t really want to go, the birds were chirping and tweeting and yet I didn’t skip outside of the front door the way I normally would. The drive into Inverurie town went smoothly and we found a parking space quickly. The town was setting up for a farmers market and everyone was smiley and welcoming. Daisy Dog and I walked through the town centre looking in shop windows and wandering up alleys to find new little parks, ponds and pretty green spaces.

By this time I was quite content and forgot my worries. The breeze was warm and I had a belly full of ‘tasters’ from the market stalls. The weight on my shoulder lessened and I was really quite content. Daisy Dog and I walked back through the town in time to meet TH and we then all walked around the stalls together. We got some dog treats for Daisy and some bread for ourselves. I picked up some cookies to have with a cup of tea later and TH had a good look at some cider, but decided against it.

That weekend wasn’t about just having fun or spending money. It gave us the strength to head out again. We are now going to take advantage of the good weather and spring Fayre's all around us and head out again this weekend. There’s a farm open day out west and it promises to be lots of fun!

Extra in the Jar

We’ve been saving recently and have a strict budget where all money needs to be accounted for. When we paid our bills out of two accounts The Husband paid for the sky package as he was the one who wanted it. I obviously watched the TV too and now have a sky box full of reality TV shows which I can’t live without. Now that I am in charge of the budget I have been looking at every little outgoing and wanting it to be really worth it. I was just about to kill off sky when TH got me to look at some of the sky packages available. I guess I am one of the sheep like consumers who get a package and stick to it, “AHA” TH shouted when he thought he could keep his Discovery channel programmes, “these things change, you should only get and pay for what you will watch!”


I conceded and had a little look. Just like the phone bill or the quizzing up on bank accounts I could get the same thing for cheaper or certainly better value. It made sense to keep the sky as we live so far away from any cinema, we don’t buy DVD’s, and we eat out only for Birthday gatherings. Of all the things we could be extravagant on this was one, and we weren’t really being extravagant at all.

We are being savvy with how things were being spent, and if we think we’re having a grand night in by making our own popcorn and watching a good programme or film then I think we can just let it be!

We were able to compare packages and when Christmas rolls around I will take another look online to upgrade to include some more channels-I always need all the movies just in case I miss one that looks Christmassy! The blog on the site will also keep me updated with any deals I can switch to if they turn out to be better than the one I currently have….OK, that’s The Husband 1 and me 0.

A Shout Out

TH has been applying for some different jobs and I imagine it won’t be too long before I follow him. We have really set a goal in our heads about being able to get a mortgage together and we are really going for it. We’ve already got some discounts on those pesky bills we have to pay like insurance and seeing as TH needs a phoneline for his work we have to keep with the one we have, but have got a discount from them too.

Our heating isn’t being put on until Autumn at the earliest, so we only need to put money on the electric card and that can be monitored easily. Its such a pity that because we rent we have landlords that have put in an electric key-its so expensive, but costs over £50 for it to be removed, so we really don’t think it would be worth it.

We’ve been switching services where we can and even if we weren’t trying to save for a deposit it’s what we should have been doing a while ago. TH is in the middle of establishing his own buisiness and we have found a great company who can help us with those costs you never quite put enough attention to. Telecomsworldplc is a company based in the UK that can help even the smallest of businesses and gives great customer service. TH used to work in telecoms and was a business manager himself and can quite easily spot and ‘call out’ people who do not offer a good service. I think I would be bamboozled by the sorts of people that make it their day job to squeeze the pennies out of you-but TH has been speaking with telecomsworld on and off for a while now, making sure he gets exactly what he needs.

One thing important to TH from the outset was that he had a good number, I mean, you could get great value but if they don’t have good phone numbers available it’s a bit of a non-starter. They already help a wide range of UK based businesses so we knew we were in good hands. We’re not Lord Sugar or anything so we will listen to any advice given. It’s not really something that would make me pick a company, but if there is a blog on the website I do read it, and they seem to do loads of good work too what with fundraising and helping the community.

If you happen to be looking for cheap business line rental I urge you to look this company up.

Something to live by...

“Matilda said, "Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable...”


― Roald Dahl, Matilda

Thinking

A little of what you need

Saturday was one of those perfect days.  Not because it is actually perfect, but because you feel it is perfect deep, deep down inside.  It was one of those days that the sun was shining, we actually got out of the house and everything seemed to be going well-I needed a day like that.  You couldn’t ever put your finger on it, you knew that it wasn’t just because there was a farmers market in town.  I knew I didn’t feel that way because I got to go on a big walk with Daisy Dog. It wasn’t just because we made a fuss and had a yummy tea.  It wasn’t just down to the fact we added to the wood pile.  It was exactly what we needed, and that alone had the power to heal.

I hope you had a great weekend, we're in the middle of the week now, not long to go until the next one!

Mothers, how do you do it?

How do you get on? I mean, how do you juggle it all? I don’t have children, yet I find it so difficult trying to juggle time with The Husband, time with family members, a second job, housework and the first job. We live over an hour away from work and nobodys schedule is compatable meaning that I see everyone at different times. Firstly-please don’t think I am mean. I love having a family. I spent a few years not talking to most of them and I am grateful and happy we are one step away from normal now! However I am being pulled in so many different directions at all times.


I think I am going to really have to sort out some QUALITY time as opposed to lots of meetings where you say: Person 1 “What have you been up to?”
Person 2 “Oh just working and housework, what have you been up to?”
Person 1 “Oh just working and housework…..[silence]”

I think it absolutley shouldn’t matter how often you really see people, you’re meetings should be friendly and open. I’d love to have people at our house as if it was nothing. I always wanted a kitchen that everyone was in. Even when I was a child I wished my friends could come round more and just hang out. I love it when family members and friends just sort of waltz into your house and start chatting. Our house is in no way stately or fancy or lavish, but its ‘our castle’ and we hope to welcome anybody into it. I think I have an awful lot to sort out and set in place, all I know that when I have been up for 18 hours I don’t want to have a coffee in a shopping center. I know that I want friendly chats and hanging out that isn’t a chore, but an absolute pleasure.

Paul Hollywood's Bread

I think like everyone else I am addicted to this show.  I have to get rid of the breadmaker and do it properly!  I am being put to shame!

Free Heat

I’d been in the grumpiest of grumpy moods recently. On Friday we found out that we had went through all of the gas in the tank which was a lot of money and only went in on the 21st of December. I had counted on it lasting quite a while and to say I was shocked doesn’t quite cover it. I’d been down and gloomy for a couple of days prior to that, but started to think of Thursday that a line had to be drawn under it and what will be, would be.

Fridays test was exactly that, but after my initial mini-meltdown on the train on the way home we sort of saw that we couldn’t linger on it. I am not putting more gas in the tank, we don’t need the radiators and we harldy use the hot water from the tap. If its not paid for it isn’t there, and if it isn’t there we can’t use it. We do use the multi-fuel stove and I’ve been out collecting sticks while on walks that always are good for kindling.

On Saturday night we had a night of ‘free heat’ with all of the sticks I had, so my new goal is to have more ‘free heat’ nights each month. We started to cut down some of the fencing in the back garden which we have piled up in the garage and apparently to find out if we can have the fallen sticks in one of the fields behind us we just have to contact the council. Hopefully they’ll say yes and I can start stock piling. The weather took a turn for the better the during the weekend so last night we didn’t even have to use the heater in the bedroom. Sooner or later I’m not going to have to pay out month after month and that can only be a good thing for the savings account.

With a Little Help

Friends of ours are thinking of buying a property abroad and have been looking about for a little while, and while TH and I have agreed there isn’t going to be a holiday for us this year, we haven’t exactly said we can’t ‘help’ friends out. When we were chatting about this purchase the other weekend I think I got them thinking about how easy it would be to get to another property. I go green when I think of some of the cheaper trips people near big airports can go on, and compare it to all of the surcharges our little airport gets! And seeing as I am now on a money saving plan I keep reminding them of all of these extra costs.

They are now thinking of buying in Turkey, and seeing as I have never been there I will be more than happy to encourage them. I think an important part of this decision is that you can get flights from Aberdeen where we are closest to, and I imagine you’d want to visit your property as much as possible if you had one.

They come round and I get right into helping them provisionally look at places. I have to say I swear by thiswebsite. I love how you can do quite advanced searches which means you’re not looking at properties you like the look of but once you’ve got to the bottom of the listing you find it never really was what you wanted. When I was even looking at holiday lets that would drive me mad! Its not like you can pop into any old property any old time as if it was in the same city as you, so when you have too make your trip abroad to find another home you had better make your time worth it!

Being a librarian makes you crazy for a good search engine, and any help in that department makes me very happy. I think the site is really easy to use too, but apart from that it actually covers loads of areas. It’s all very well having amazing search options, but if there is nothing to search it isn’t worth it. This is very different and also means that by showing loads of properties in different areas it gives you loads of options for what to spend and where. We found them talking about Istanbul properties and then jumping into chatting about seaside locations, just because they changed the search options a little. And hey, what are friends for? If they need help searching and im a good list maker I am more than happy to help….they had just better remember when we’re moaning for a trip away!

Nursery Days

I think a nursery mood brews nursery food and I have certainly found that to be the case with me recently. A nursery mood is meloncholic and unrest, and the best way to ‘treat’ it is to treat it! Everyone is allowed to have off days-although I have let too many creep up on me at once. However, I think it’s quite counter productive to force yourself to be cheery and eat mango or pineapple when, quite frankly, you need stodge.


There will be many that think quite the opposite, and I understand that too, but it does not work with me, and at times when you feel the most lethargic I don’t want to train my mind to want something my body really doesn’t. So, when I get a bit gloomy the food which does the most amount of good is stodge. That’s why Autumn doesn’t bring me down the way it can feel oppresive to some Summer People. I like the smell of decay in the woods, wood smoke on the wind and pot roast in the kitchen. When my mind is full of gloom I want the same comforting Autumnal food on my plate.

“What?” I hear you say, “this is Spring!” Well I know that, but look out of the window and the sky will tell you a different story. This means that I crave mince, tatties and skirlie. This is what Grandmothers made, and Mothers had in a slow cooker for you after school. This is instantly what you need. Butchers mince, browned off and bubbled up in a pan so the gravy is thick and goey. Soft fluffy mash and a generous spoon of skirlie. Fried off oats and with chopped up onion thrown in the pan. Oh the diet goes right out the window, but nothing makes you better like it!

Not our Circumstances

Come Out, Come Out.............

Where is Spring? I got so excited about it when the snow went away at the beginning of the year, but I can’t seem to find it. Is it under the bed…no, not there, is it in the hallway (where everything always seems to get left)….no, I’ve had a look and it isn’t there either…has it been in my pocket all along? No, Spring isn’t anywhere.
Last weekend there was a big snow again. We headed out on Sunday morning in a blizzard, but by the time TH came out of Church it was all melted away. I can’t wait for little Daisy Dog to get out into the sunshine like she used to do. She just sits up at the slabbed area looking out onto the hills, I’m sure she’s thinking what I’m thinking!

Saving Savvy

TH and I will have our five year wedding anniversary in October and my plan for our six year anniversary is to have a deposit for a house. As we only moved house in December we are still settling into what needs paid out and how often we need to order things like logs. We buy gas for the tank in the garden and that needs to be done as one lump sum, which is a bit odd for someone who only had to pay a little bit every month. Handing over £800 in one go was a shock, but we shouldn’t have to do it again until late next Autumn hopefully!


My budgeting skills are being pushed into action and I will have them finely tuned by the time we have a deposit.

My plan so far is making a big batch of soup for supper once a week. TH is very old fashioned and doesn’t like it when there isn’t a ‘meat product’ on his plate at tea time. I will wean him off of this and have him chowing down soup and dessert in no time-its hardly porridge three times a day!

I also plan to go about the house checking if we really need that radiator on, or that fire to be built up when we’re heading to bed in ten minutes or so. There aren’t any direct debits we can cut off (although I’m sure we could live without the sky package), as although I’d be happy to go without a phone line and broadband TH sometimes works from home and really does need it. We live so far away from work that we really do need a car, and we rarely eat out or visit the cinema.

Things that I could be better at would include being more organised with the weekly shop and running down one of the freezers so that we didn’t have to run it or fill it (I hate having the freezer with even the teeniest space in it as it’s such a waste of money). We may even sell it when its empty! I really think I could easily have a months worth of suppers in the freezers so in the short term that will save a little bit.

There is a fence we are in the middle of taking down in the back garden which I will keep in the shed until winter when it should be dry enough to burn. We have so many beautiful views all around us, but the last people in the house erected a 9ft fence all around the back. Poor little Daisy can’t even dream of jumpting over the wall, let alone the fence, so we were going to be getting rid of that anyway as the garden was in such a state when we moved in we’d been told we can do what we like with it.

I went a bit mad at the end of March for TH’s Birthday and spent more than I should have-I know this by the amount of party food that Daisy ate in the following days-but it’s done now and I will have hopefully learned my frugal lessons before a splurge filled time such as Christmas rolls around.

I will be scouring blogs for good money saving and money making ideas, and can hopefully update you in a month or so as to what percentage of the goal we’ve put away so far. Fingers crossed I’m not distracted before then, I am attempting to be on the straight and narrow!

Drip, Drip, Drop (inside and out)

Little April showers.. Oh dear, rainy outside and im a wee bit gloomy on the inside too im afraid. Life here seems to move at a million miles an hour and although I love that I have a full time job now (well I enjoy the pennies) I really miss those afternoons I had to myself. When I first started this blog I would have whole days and then later on, mornings or afternoons to myself at home with Daisy Dog. She would force me outside onto some walk through a field or hills or at the beach. I loved that I had a couple of hours while the sun was shining and I had the energy to just get out and walk. She’d be off her lead and we’d just set off together. The sun would be shining and I’d leave all the windows open to cool the house and get some freshness into every corner.


I think I am missing the old house too much. I miss the sea and I miss the sunshine. I miss having more time throughout the day. I miss sandy soil. I am grateful that we are closer to relatives, but it certainly was a step too far for me to now be outwith a village. We’ve had so much rain that the soil is boggy and soggy. I forgot what tree’s did and how damp and mossy they are. We had no tree’s in the village as the wind bent them til they broke or they would grow sideways.

We always wanted to stay at the bottom of Bennachie just outside of a village in a house with more room. We always hoped that if we rented it would be unfurnished so we could buy our own things. We always wanted to put our own stamp on a place and decorate it. I always wanted a study, we always wanted a dining room, a big garden…oh my goodness, this could go on sometime. We have all of these things, but I don’t seem to have time or the sea-which I miss so, so much.

I think I am just trying to figure out what’s important. What I can do without and what feeds my soul. When we lived in Cruden Bay and I was having a bad day I would walk to the beach or the cliffs, then I’d just sit. Everything faded away, the powerful crashing waves put it in perspective. The wild sea and the howling gales were sublime in the truest sense of the word.

I am aiming to not spend the weekend sleeping. I have done that a lot recenlty. I need to realise that this situation may get better within the time-limit we have given ourselves to save or it will get better after it, but it will get better. I aim to go for a walk up Bennachie this weekend. I will drag myself out of whatever mood I am in, and force myself to put one step infront of the other until I reach the top. The climb won’t be difficult, getting out of the door will be.

I’m sorry this post isn’t jolly or pretty. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to actually post it, but I do keep this blog for myself and everything flows and this too shall pass.

The Great British Sewing Bee

Anyone else been watching this show?  I totally love it and am so addicted!  Have to tackle the pile of ironing while watching it, just try to remember not to leave the iron too long on a particular spot while you get carried away!

What I've Been Reading

I’ve been trying to get to grips with the times my new library is open. When you move house you all of a sudden have to remember the new bin day or recyle collection day, you have to remember new transport timetables and you have to remember when your library is open and closed. Too many times have I stood outside of the closed library swearing that I had seen somewhere that the place should be open.

When I do actually remember when it’s open I find a beautiful old building with lots of portraits in it. The childrens area looks so lovely and inviting-even though I have no children I always am drawn to this area as it was where I maintained when I worked in a library-lots of little chairs and murals. I find the woman that works there so kind and helpful, and even manage to get a chat on those snowy days hardly anybody ventured outside of the house.

I haven’t been going as regularly and so have been re-reading some of the books I already own. However there are a couple I have been getting through. I’ve been reading Dracula as I have never read it and it seems like one of those books that everyone knows. It’s a bit odd reading something that is in letter/diary/note form, but I do like it. There are the cookbooks I always try to get my hands on like The Unofficial Narnia Cookbook which I got because I can’t afford the other one. It’s over £100 and I don’t think our library would stock it for me! The Unofficial Narnia Cookbook wasn’t quite what I hoped it would be, to tell the truth I hoped it would be a bit closer to Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer, but that’s just my book-hangover!

I also got my mitts on Miranda Harts book, Is It Just Me? I think Miranda divides a lot of people, but I find her good fun and very funny. I think I can relate to some of the sillyness too, so the book was just perfect for someone who loves the TV show. She does a really funny chapter on how upon leaving school you really should be an office junior or some other person low down in the pecking order as its all a bit like school anyway. When leaving University I most certainly thought this. Out in the world where there aren’t any groups demanding you be in the club. No ‘friends around every corner’, no sitting on the grass making daisy chains in the middle of the day-just because it is sunny, no spur of the moment flour and water fights. I think it’s best to be the one that can muddle through low paid jobs too, it gives you time to grow up. It is said much funnier in the book-but if you like the show then it certainly is a pick me up!

I’ve also been re-reading Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, this is one of my favourite books ever and reads so beautifully. I adore everything about this book, made even better when you think this man invented Narnia too! Well that’s what I’ve been up to on rainy weekends and snowy days. Me, on the rocking chair in the study, pot of tea on the desk and a book in my lap…good thing such pleasure is free!