Back From A Snowy Paradise

We had a wonderful break in Sweden and altho I didn't speak much Swedish, I definitely enjoyed being surrounded by the language :o) The snow was amazing and we saw the Northern Lights one night and although it was only a kp index 1 or 2 so only showed as a creamy-beige colour to the naked eye (bright green on digital camera) it was truly beautiful and I would have stayed up all night to watch it had it have only stayed to play longer.

Food in Sweden (or at least Stockholm and Porjus) is sooo expensive, especially when you're used to cheap value brands over here. The two main supermarkets we were able to go to were ICA and COOP. They both had their own value brands but I think they were about another 1/3 of the price on top of the UK version. We didn't starve though so that was the main thing :o) just keep an eye out for the weekly offers, especially on meat as that seemed to be really expensive.

A Swedish Frugal Tip
...For when you're in Stockholm. Try not to pee! We were based around the train station and thankfully used the free facilities at the airport before we caught the coach to Stockholm. The train station wanted to charge us 10 kronor each to use their loos! That's about £1 in GBP!!! Roughly 1 euro! When there's three of you, that makes £3 each time! Mike googled and it seems that everywhere charges about 50-100 kronor in Stockholm. Somehow (especially with my walnut bladder) we managed to hold off until we got onto the sleeper train. On the return journey we didn't stay too long in Stockholm and decided to wait it out at the airport - mainly because of the free to use loos! I know we used to charge 1p when public loos first came about (I think in London) in order to pay for their installation (?) and this gave rise to the saying of "spending a penny" when saying you need the loo. But I don't think we have that here anymore... If you know of anywhere that charges, please do let me know as I'd love to where and how much. I'm sure it wouldn't be £1 though, surely?

It was wonderful being out there, the view of trees, snow, snow and trees was totally amazing and I miss that immensely. But... It's sooo good to be back! Back around my familiar every day life this and that. My own bed, a decent shower, Tesco value loo roll (where the apartments loo roll makes ours look like it's from Harrods!). It's amazing what things you miss or discover you take for granted... I never realised how much I love the little sink next to the regular kitchen sink! It's so great to be able to pour away the tea dregs when you're mid-washing up and not have to make sure all the mugs etc are empty before you fill the sink up! I will now forever look at the mini sink with fondness and appreciation.

Not our sink, but you get the idea :o)

Well, I'm back on my no spending lifestyle now. We came home Saturday and besides having Chinese late that night for dinner (and breakfast the following day) I have not spent a penny, so to speak! I really can't afford to. Came home to find that our incomings are going down but our outgoings are going up! Not good. Looks like I won't be able to save my stitching money for a summer holiday but it'll have to go on bills instead :o( I think I'm gunna have to take back full control of the money (not an easy thing to do when the money doesn't go straight to you) and work out some super cheap yet tasty and filling meal ideas. We've only been back 3 days, but I'm very proud to have not spent any money :oD and I'm gunna try and continue for the whole of March - anyone wanna join me on a no spend month? I will say it now though that I have to take out some birthday money to get my 2 sisters and 3 of my nieces and nephews sorted. So £50 will have to be spent soon :o( All the cousins are sorted though and I've given their cards and money to my Mum already to hand out when the birthdays come around. Oh bugger! And a few quid for Easter eggs too!Looks like it's gunna be an expensive month after all... Good job I'm not buying anything for myself eh?!

Ok, so besides Easter and birthdays, I'm not spending any money! Oh!! And Mother's Day!!!! Yikes! That's in March too (UK). I was thinking of stitching something for my Mum, so I might do that, although I only have a couple of weeks to do it in... We shall see...

Anyway, that's it for now... Big hugs xx

A quick frugal tip

When labeling tubs of leftovers for the freezer... Be sure to label them before being put into the freezer as permanent marker doesn't like to be used on frosty cold lids. Oops! I will remember that next time lol! Hugs Xx

Cheap As Sausages!

We had sausages, mash and beans tonight (or sausages, noodles and raw carrot for Ayse lol). We already had everything barr the sausages so only had to spend £1.22 on two packs of Tesco value sausages for the four of us. I would say definitely less that £1 a head for dinner tonight, including cooking fuel. (Not my photo, just one from the www)

Mike's diesel consumption for last month was £225!!! More than double the last month's cost. So we definitely have to cut back on food cost this month. We have taken some chicken breasts out of the freezer to defrost overnight and we will use them tomorrow along with pasta, pesto, mushroom soup as a sauce and mushrooms (I think). Yum!

Got my Mum coming over this weekend to see us before we go to Sweden. Will be great to see her, she's only 45 mins by car away but I still don't get to see her as much as I used to, which is a shame. When we're millionaires, I plan on buying us both somewhere very close :oD or she can have a granny annex in our mansion lol. Ooh if I were a millionaire, I'd buy a house here in the UK, one in Sweden, actually one anywhere I fancied... It would be awesome! And I could go anywhere I pleased and just immerse myself in their language and culture without any financial worries... It would be awesome. I would definitely do some charity work too and help people recover from natural disasters and the such. Help them rebuild their lives. Do you hear that PTB, I would be good for the world if I had millions of £! Next time you're dishing out the 6 zeros, keep me in mind lol. On a similar note; if I ruled the world....

So, anyone want to share one of their cheapy meal ideas which you have to help keep costs down?

Hugs xx

No Spend Day - ish!

All I spent today was postage. 1) sending the cross stitch off, p&p to be refunded. 2) sending off something I sold on ebay - p&p cost already received. 3) sending back an item I bought off ebay as they sent me thermal leggings instead of a thermal vest! P&p should be refunded! Fingers crossed I don't have any more problems with this seller.

Frugal tip (and common sense tip!)
Read the feedback!!!
I was stupid and didn't read it. Having problems. 'Nuff said.

I was gunna have an exchange but instead I'm gunna get my money back (hopefully!) and borrow my friends thermals she took with her when she went skiing.

I finally met up with her (plus bf and bro!) yesterday. Was lovely seeing her again but I didn't really enjoy her talking about how much money spending activities she was doing and trying to get me to spend money too. She was suggesting we all went out for dinner for my birthday - only £25 for a 3 course meal and entertainment. Now, in theory that is a very good price for what you do get. But when there's two of you and the price doubles to £50... OUCH!!! Sorry but sofa and jammies it is. Maybe push the boat out and cook a special meal for £10 at home instead. £50 is soooo much money. That's a big chunk towards a holiday or debt repayment!

Anyway, reluctantly spent £1.60 on a cuppa tea and £1 on a Galaxy caramel bar of chocolate but the rest I spent was on bits for Sweden and semi necessities - travel size plastic bottles to decant shower gel, shampoo etc (not gunna buy full travel size bottles! Pah! Bought 2 sets from Poundland - £2. 200 Muffin cases £1. Set of 2 Microwave "lids" to put over your plated food when reheating rather than using copious amounts of clingfilm £1 (been wanting some for a while and finally found some in Poundland). Paracetamol etc just in case for Sweden. Plastic tubs for freezing leftovers. My friend bought a pair of boots in the sale £5 (a bargain if I needed some new boots for sure! Very proud of myself for not even looking at any :oD ) pair of sunglasses £3 and some rings £2.I found myself wondering why she was buying them, thinking does she really need them? Lol. Some people might see it as quite sad, but I don't care. I see it as keeping my money for more important things and keeping that space free in the house. I still reckon we need to declutter more.

I'm feeling rather smug with myself coz I didn't even feel the need to browse and look for things to buy. I'm learning that I don't need to buy anything like more clothes, shoes, jewellery etc.

Things currently (still!!) on my "To Buy List"
Teapot
Pyrex dishes especially rectangular for lasagne
Cloth napkins
Decent tea towels (we have plenty still usable but not a very nice colour due to a black towel running when we washed them - oops! These can wait until we see some decent ones cheap or get as gifts)
Hankies (must try and stop my tissue habit lol)

I don't think there's really anything else I need or want and all of them can wait until I find them cheap or in the charity shop. We can still make tea without a teapot, still make lasagne - just can't bulk make, we have 6 napkins from Christmas, tea towels are still usable and we have some hankies. It feels so good to not feel dependant on buying things :oD I love it!!! I strongly urge you to try it, even if just for a month :oD be sure to let me know how it goes!

Ooh had a major clean in the kitchen today!!! It felt gooood!! And hopefully worked off that Galaxy I got yesterday lol! Sorted out all the recycling :o) again, it felt gooood! Lol :o) had a mini sort out of the lounge - it's a work in progress lol :-p I think I wanna get stuck into our bedroom again. There are always clothes to be put away! Sigh, perhaps I shud just walk around starkers... Naaah wouldn't wanna scare the postman! Hehe. On that rather creepy and scary note, I shall say good bye and give you hugs xx

Half of the cake

Was yum!

Cake!

I forgot to tell you about the cake I made... It was yummy! And I found the recipe HERE The two sponges didn't rise *that* great for me but it was still very tasty and I don't think it would have been any better had it have been thicker so... I was happy :o) I do have a photo on my phone, well, half of the cake lol, I forgot to take piccie earlier - oops! Never mind :o)

Ayse enjoyed making the filling with me, or rather, she enjoyed licking the bowl afterwards! I had to give her a minute countdown to release it lol! Needless to say, the bow didn't need any soaking... Bless her!

Frugal tip...
Make cakes when your kids *aren't* around... So you can lick the bowl yourself!
But no, make your own cakes. You know exactly what's gone into them, they're probably healthier and cheaper and you can tweak it to your own desires... This cake would have been yummy with sliced strawberries inside too!! Yummmmm!!

Life Is Strange

I just watched Coyote Ugly, I'd seen it before - I have the dvd somewhere, or is it on video?! But as I hadn't seen it for years and it was on tv, I thought I'd watch it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was great to see a young Piper Perabo and Adam Garcia. What I didn't expect to see was Tyra Banks and Erin from Blue Bloods dancing on the bar! It's so bizarre when that happens. You have someone come into your life on a regular basis and then you realise you had already met them many years earlier! (Figuratively speaking of course, lol). It was great to see the old 90s fashion, I'm a 90s girl, born in 1981 so my years of shaping were the 90s. It's so strange, you never think that the fashion or technology you currently have will look so odd in just a few years time. Videos were great until dvds showed up with a clearer picture. I'm wondering what we will think of skinny jeans and floppy fringes in 10-15 years time. And what will be the current fashion then? I love to see tv or films made 10-20 years ago and it's set in our current year with what they think life and fashion would be like. We still don't have flying cars and we don't tend to wear silver clothing. I am noticing tho, that the portrayal of our future life is looking darker and more grim than the technological Jetsons type of scenario. I guess that's what happens when you, as a planet, start to worry about global warming, over population, nuclear issues etc. Technology still plays a part but it doesn't seem as carefree as previous portrayals. I will be very interested to see what the future will really be like.

Hmmm not so much of a frugal tip, but perhaps a philosophical frugal tip?
The future is not always what you expect it to be. You may have it all right now, a nice car, great job, great house etc etc but it could all change and your future could be the complete opposite. Do something now to ensure you can cope should things change. Start saving a little every week or month. Learn the skills needed should you find yourself on your own. Learn to cook, sew, clean, car maintenance. Anything you think could be necessary if you couldn't rely on someone else to do it. If  your money suddenly took a drastic cut and you had to feed a family of 4 on £20 a week instead of £50, could you do it? Should this happen, it would be so much easier and less worrying if you already had a stock of recipes to work from, knowing how to choose the items of best value and price rather than sticking to brand names etc.

We never know what is around the corner, life is strange, anything can happen. We need to be prepared for any eventuality. What's the saying... Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. It's a bit doomsday-ish I admit and perhaps we don't have to go quite to them extremes, but I do believe in knowledge being a power to be kept in reserve for a just in case situation. I think I will start to learn some first aid. What are the chances of someone knowing what to do in an emergency situation? I think it should be taught at school.

Anyway, enough of my wierdness for one night! I'm off to bed to study some Swedish :o)

Swedish Bedtime Reading

Not very frugal unless you take into account that the Hugo's Swedish in 3 Months book I'm studying from was second hand from ebay or Amazon but it's what's going on at the mo'. I have been studying in bed before I turn the light off and it's great to know that I still remember stuff and that the stuff that slipped out of my brain is coming back in and staying there :o)

I only have a couple of hours worth of stitching to do and so I will send that off on Monday worked into a trip into town to get the bits and pieces previously mentioned.

Not spent a penny today which is awesome :oD and we're having chicken noodle soup made from the carcass tonight for dinner - smells gooood!! Mike even munched away on the carrots that were added for flavour and nutrition, so even they weren't wasted lol. I didn't see him go for the onion so I think that made it's way to the scraps bin lol.

Had to tape up my laptop today... A bit of the corner had broken off! Eeek! But it was found and taped back into place until I cba to glue it back on. My poor baby, he's had good innings and I hope he lasts a lot longer. He has already had his screen replaced just before the manufacturers warranty ran out and he's started flickering again. Fingers crossed he'll be ok.

Frugal Tip Du Jour (no idea on the number lol)

Use things until they wear out rather than replacing them. Use it until you can't use it no longer, if you can fix it, fix it so it will last longer. Make the most out of everything :o)

Hugs xx