Tag Archives: self sufficient

W is for Work at it

Day 23 of the A-Z Blog Challenge

Saving money certainly isn’t an easy thing to do. I guess if it was that easy, then everyone would be doing it and nobody would be struggling to find the pennies.

In this throwaway age, it is unfortunately, so much easier to just replace stuff with new, buy stuff instead of make it and live for today rather than forward thinking to tomorrow.

Saving money actually involves hard work. For most of the situations i have spoken about over the last month, it is necessary to do a lot of the ground work for yourselves. Whether that is by learning a new skill, researching other options either within your community or online or by being creative and thinking outside of the proverbial box for a solution to your potential spending problem.

The internet can be your best friend in helping you with this though. Youtube tutorials are amazing for showing you just how to get to grips with a sticky skill or repair that you need to know and don’t forget there are the amazing bloggers who also take the time and the trouble to present a page of tips and techniques to help you out for free.

kids-talking-clipart-people-talking-clipartAnother source of help can be friends and family, even if they don’t have the time to do the physical stuff for you, they may be willing to have a conversation to help you, and the older generation are generally a minefield of information about the make do and mend lifestyle. There was a time when they didn’t have a choice, and they didn’t have the internet to help them either. If they wanted something, they had to either work out a way to provide it or go without.

To start this lifestyle can be quite daunting though, and it takes time. My suggestion is to break it down into smaller tasks of what you want to achieve and then use that list to figure out what your priorities are.

  • You want to save money? Why? Write it down.
  • How much do you need to save? Write it down.
  • When do you need to save it by? Write it down.
  • How are you going to make those savings? Write them down.check-mark-1292787_960_720
  • Which are easier to achieve now and which ones are goals for the future? Write them down and prioritise them.
  • What will you do when you reach your goal? How will you reward yourself? Write it down – you need to be able to see a positive outcome at the end.

I would make a file of these notes and leave gaps for more ideas to be slotted in as they occurred to me. I don’t know about you, but i can never get everything out of my brain in one sitting, i do some, i go away and cogitate, i do a bit more.

businessman-with-a-great-idea_1012-219I would also leave space for comments and reflections. What if something doesn’t happen the way you wanted it to? What are you going to do then? How are you going to stop yourself from feeling a failure when real life decided to kick you up the Jacksy just to make your day? These are important points to note as well, Life can truly be a right pain in the arse sometimes and there is very little we can do about that, but we can do something about how we react to it.

Remember me saying that earlier this monthdesperate-screaming-woman-clip-art__k16052356 i had to purchase two new front tyres and have a wheel alignment on my car? Cost me over £200. That was a pain in the arse. Wasn’t expecting it. But it did save me from having a tyre blowout which could and probably would have cost me an awful lot more, and maybe not just in money.

So, plan what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. Add in your contingency plan and make sure that you find a positive, no matter how small, about any set backs you face.

Then you can make this saving money thing work for you.

Have a happy day.

Anita. x

G is for Grow your Own

Day 7 of the A to Z blogging Challenge

There is something really satisfying about going out to your garden and picking fruit, veg or herbs and bringing it back into the kitchen to put straight into your meal or preserving it for later use.

For me it is the freshness of it and the fact that, apart from the initial outlay of seeds and equipment, it is free.

I know that i am lucky though, i live in the middle of Cornwall, UK, and i have a garden. It’s not very big – a veg plot is out of the question, as is a proper greenhouse – but it is big enough for a few fruit bushes, some pots and a small plastic grow house type thing that i have to anchor against the wooden fence to prevent it blowing away in the wind.

I also live on top of a very big hill. It gets a tad windy up here. To say the least. But it does look really cute in the snow (apart from the collapsed washing line – you’ll be pleased to know that i have fixed that, not bought a new one).

I remember as a child, my parents had a massive garden. They weren’t rich, council houses down here traditionally have huge gardens. My dad used half of it as a vegetable plot, the other half was lawned. We had five apple trees – 3 cooking apple and 2 eating apple – and could never get through all the apples they produced. My parents did do a rather good, rather potent job of making apple wine with it- although not as potent as their rice wine, boy, would that blow your head off – but it was criminal to see the wastage each year lying on the ground.

Dad used to grow so many vegetables that we didn’t have to buy very much at all. Potatoes, runner beans, onions, shallots (his pickled onions are still revered today in certain circles – i try to emulate them, but i don’t think i come close), carrots, beetroot, tomatoes, cucumber…all the old favourites back in the 70’s and 80’s. My biggest memory though is of sitting in the garden, hiding amongst the leafy greenery of the pea plants as they stood  tall, shielding me from the onlooking, beady eyes in the house and popping those juicy pods, stuffing the fresh peas into my mouth as fast as i could before i got caught. It really wasn’t as much fun at harvest time when i had to help pick and shell all of them to go in the freezer though.

peas1-lead_t640

My garden now doesn’t have any pea bushes sadly. But it does have redcurrant, cranberry, black currant, raspberry and gooseberry plants permanently planted into my fruit bed. In outside pots i grow my strawberries (they run rampant if grown in beds), mint (which also grows rampant if their roots aren’t contained), chives, parsley, potatoes and rhubarb.

home grown spuds

In the conservatory (which is also my sewing studio) i usually go for a tomato plant and a few chilli and pepper plants.

Conservatory

As i said, i know that i am lucky to have a garden at all, there are times that i wish that it was a bit bigger, but, in all honesty, i probably wouldn’t have the time to dedicate to it properly if i did. That is one of the reasons i don’t apply for an allotment, but if that is an option that is open to you, then go for it.

Believe me though, you can’t beat the taste of home grown, or the satisfaction of adding your own fresh food to your cooking repertoire. If you have room for a few pots, try some chilli’s or peppers. Pick them straight off the plant, quick wash and dry with a paper towel, freeze on a baking tray (so they don’t stick together) and then pop them into a container in the freezer. You’ll have more than enough to spice up your dishes all year long. Or make some Sweet Chilli Jam (this is the recipe i use) and give it as part of a homemade Christmas hamper (more about that in a later post). Your friends and family will be begging for more.

And it saves you money.

Big bonus!

Have a happy day.

Anita x

No spend year – The ground rules part one

8th January.

What am I doing this for/what do I want to achieve?

I think mainly I want to achieve better health, both mentally and physically, and less waste. I’m being selfish here, I mean less financial waste by me. I need to prioritise what is a need and what is a want. Things I need to live comfortably are not the same as things I would like to enable me to live comfortably.

Ultimately I would like to see my savings increase rather than decrease and the only way to do this is to stop spending money on things that I don’t actually need, no matter how ‘nice’ it would be to have them. It would also be nice to pay off what is left of the mortgage early, this would be possible through overpayment of the monthly term and would secure my future nicely. A bit more thought before I open my purse may go a bit of the way to achieving this. After all, I am a crafty person (in the craft sense, not the way you were thinking) and can turn my hand to a fair few methods of repairing rather than throwing away and buying new. My workshop is also overflowing with fabrics and craft stuff. A true crafter never throws anything away, and yes, I truly fit this mould. It’s not all old stuff either, when dressmaking I have a habit of buying an extra metre of fabric in case I go wrong and need more. I rarely go wrong, I always have fabric left over.

This has to change.

I have to change.

Am I up to the challenge?

You betcha!

rambo thumbs up

My rules for a no spend, make do and mend year:

1) Food.

I need food. And I am fussy about some food, especially my coffee. So, I will still buy food – although by not buying food I guess I could lose that extra stone…tempting idea, but no, I will still buy food. I will also still buy nice coffee,  Own brand smart price doesn’t quite cut it for me where the coffee is concerned. I will make some concessions though. I will bulk cook and freeze down into smaller portions so that I am less likely to buy ready meals or takeaways on my way home from work. After raising three boys, all with hearty appetites I always used to cook large meals and there was rarely anything left. However, as they have grown and flown the nest I so lovingly made for them, I often eat alone in the evenings and can’t be bothered to cook a proper meal just for me. There is probably a bit of Freudian philosophy in there as well, something to do with not feeling myself to be worthy of a proper meal whereas others are, but I won’t go there just now. Suffice it to say that I am worthy, I’m just tired and lazy after a full day at work to warrant going to the effort that cooking a fresh meal from scratch requires.

And have you noticed how it is more expensive to buy for one person than it is to buy for a family? I swear shops are out to penalise the people who live on their own, or in my case, eat at home alone because the son who does live with me works opposite hours so we tend to meet in passing. I can however, buy a large joint of meat intended for a family, slow cook it so it falls apart and then separate it into equal portions and freeze to eat at a later date. Usually with a handy bag of microwave cookable rice…

I am a bugger for buying coffee out. But I don’t need to and it will stop. It’s going to be hard though as I often go out with the people I support at work and we will visit a coffee shop where they can learn essential social skills. It doesn’t feel right sitting there without a coffee myself but the cost of those coffees add up.

Generally, i would have one per day, five days a week.

On average a latte is around £2.50 a cup which would be £12.50 a week. I get 6 weeks holidays a year so times that £12.50 by 46 weeks and you get to £575.00 per year. That’s a lot of coffee, but hold on, I’ve not finished. Next door to my work is a rather nice coffee shop where, if you are a local and bring your own mug in for a takeaway coffee, they will sell you one for just a quid. It’s only a quid right? I have got into a rather nasty habit of nipping in there first thing every morning for a latte to start the working day with. Very tasty. Now, £1.00 times 5 days equals £5.00. Didn’t need to use the calculator for that one. Go me! But, times that fiver by 46 (back on the calculator) and you get to £230.00. Add that £230.00 to the previous £575.00 and you get a grand total of £805.00 per year just on takeaway and sit in coffees! That is a ridiculous amount to spend and now that I have worked that out, I can see where I can save money immediately.

the-scream-edvard-munch

2) Medication and Health needs.

This is where I can’t compromise. Luckily, I enjoy good health and do not need any regular medication. However, if I need it, I will pay for it. I can’t save money on supplements either because I don’t believe you need them as long as you follow a varied, reasonably healthy diet. Do health needs also encompass fitness and exercise? I guess it does really, so I can sort of compromise here. No gym or exercise classes for me (phew, that’s a relief, always feel guilty for not going to the gym). There are many ways of keeping fit for free and I have two dogs. There is no excuse to waste money here.

Talking of health needs, all this thinking gives me a headache…

I shall continue this rule setting dreckly…

Have a happy day

Anita x