Hi everyone!
I know it's been a while, but like I said before, I'm not much fun at the moment. Each day brings more issues to deal with.
I am still preparing for the colder months ahead and have a photo to share with you. My lovely Charlotte went to a carboot sale on Sunday and bought Daisy a few bits for the colder weather. Auntie Harriet (my son's girlfriend) also went and bought Daisy a cosy fluffy dressing gown.
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| That's a shadow of me taking the photo at the bottom, not dirt!!! |
I don't think I should take photos on the carpet, it looks disgusting here, sorry!
Anyway, now I feel even worse :-(
Charlotte bought her two coats (I think £1 each), both 9-12 months which are a bit big at the moment, but she will grow into them soon. Ashley and Harriet bought her the dressing gown (£1 I think) as I said, for cosy evenings after her bath and charlotte bought the book (20p) and cat top (50p) because Daisy likes the cat top Charlotte wears!
We went to Mothercare a couple of weeks ago and bought her a beautiful red duffle coat for the winter (£22 though), some tights, two pairs of fluffy slippers and fleece sleepsuits. Every little bit adds up, but she has mainly summer clothes at the moment and we need to stock up before it really gets cold.
I did an order online for Tescos and that came yesterday. I will show you that another day. I need to write a list of what she still needs and go carbooting! You can normally pick up clothes really cheap for babies that are hardly worn. Most babies grow fast (not Daisy) so the clothes look like new.
Talking of carbooting...I have been busy sorting, decluttering and pricing up items to sell. I plan to go through each room in the house, deciding what isn't used or needed. I'm being ruthless because there is constantly new things coming into the house for Daisy and we need to make room. As she gets new stuff, some old stuff has to go. I want my house to be quick and easy to clean.
Meals have been homemade from scratch and thrifty but meal planning has 'gone out the window' while we deal with these constant stresses from our youngest.
Thank you to Jane and Frugal in Bucks for their care and concern, I have read your comments xxx
I'll be back with my Tesco haul and hopefully something thrifty to share.
By the way, we are trying to get up to Yorkshire for a holiday in a couple of weeks, but haven't booked anything yet. Any suggestions??? We love the Dales rather than the Moors. I know, I know, that's not thrifty, but we seriously need to get away from this stress and we have been saving since Christmas for Daisy's first holiday. If you can recommend anywhere to me, please leave a comment.
Mandy x
Hi Mandy,
ReplyDeletejust remember to keep on smiling, it WILL get better, I promise.
What a lovely auntie and uncle and other "auntie" they all are, some beautiful little bargains there.
I have to admit that when I had my daughter all her clothes, baby essentials, pram etc were ALL from carboot sales, the main one being one at Askern Hacienda club on a Sunday morning, that was a nightclub but had a brilliant carboot sale held there as well.
We also get stuff for both my grandsons from carboots as well, infact we went to Doncaster football stadium last Sunday and got a few bargains.
I also love jumble sales but sadly they are few and far between these days.
As to your holiday the only place we tend to go is Scarborough, with day trips out to Whitby, Filey etc.
We love the countryside but also we have the added benefit of the coastal regions. The scenery between Scarborough and Whitby is so beautiful.
There are a few nice campsites around the Filey area, we tend to stay at Blue Dolphin. Plenty of B&B's in all the areas around there and travel lodges in Scarborough are excellent.
What type of accommodation are you looking for?
Im going to do a sort out of my food cupboards in a little bit when ive finished my cuppa, I want to get away with as little shopping as possible this month, and for the next few months if possible.
I still have a large store of dry goods and have been using up quite a bit of my suet mix to make loads of pies, ive managed to fill a drawer in one of the upright freezers with assorted pies, so my new pie maker is earning its keep at the minute.
Ive even done very frugal fillings in some of them, using up tinned vegetable soup with a small amount of gravy added to make veggie pies for me, so getting four pies from one tin of soup, with added mash, extra veg and gravy making four meals instead of one meal of a tin of soup.
Im also going to do a freezer sort out and should hopefully find plenty of forgotten about goodies in them.
Well better get on with the jobs, take care, jane
Hi Jane, when Alice was pregnant with Daisy, I bought second hand clothes, blankets, snowsuits etc from ebay and the carboot sale. I got a beautiful mamas and papas changing table, cot mobile, curtains, lampshade and cot bedding for £55 from a local lady. The rest came from Asda- we bought things with our grocery shopping. Her pram is silver cross and was expensive, but my lovely hubby worked weekends to pay for it and the car seat and base. I spent a huge amount of my savings from when I was working too. Daisy is worth every penny, it's just a shame her mummy doesn't do the same. I have decided to try and sell most of the stuff she no longer needs to get money to buy more things she does need now.
DeleteMy OH wants to go to Barnard Castle now, which is higher up than we normally go and we have decided to look for a cottage, as the static van sites don't seem to exist much up there! The vans are either for sale, or the sites are just for tents and tourers. I have been looking for ages so as a cottage won't be that different in price, we are going for a cottage holiday. It will be more practical for Daisy and all the stuff we will have to take with us! we love the countryside and walking, so we will stay inland, but I would like to take her to the seaside one day, even though we will need to travel again.
Hope the food sort went well!
Thanks for your care and concern, but sadly until she gets her act together, I can't see life running smoothly for us. That's why we are taking a week out from it all. Charlotte will stay at home with the dogs and chickens, but she doesn't speak to Alice, so she won't be able to cause trouble (hopefully) while we're away. Alice treated herself to a few days in a Blackpool hotel so she doesn't need a holiday and she should let us enjoy ours in peace.
Mandy xxx
Hi Mandy,
ReplyDeleteJust to say you are doing a brilliant job with Daisy and it sounds like there is not allot you can do for Alice. Hopefully in time she will sort herself out there is only so much you can do and sometimes you have to pull back to preserve your own sanity. Remember to look after yourself it is not being selfish but you have to concentrate on yourself so that you can then look after Dasiy and run the house etc. I do hope you find a lovely wee cottage and have a well deserved break. best wishes to you. Love Lors x
Thank you Lors, it's these comments that give me a lift. You are right about me...I don't look after myself! I don't make time for myself. I really need to dye my hair and I used to paint my nails, wear make up, straighten my hair etc, but my 'me' routine consists of a quick shower once Daisy is in bed. If I was better organised I could probably fit more in. For Daisy's development I spend time playing and offering her play situations that will move her on (I have an Honours Degree in Early Years Education and used to be my job with 4/5 year olds) and wish I could do more of this. Daisy doesn't sleep much during the day which is when I would like to get my chores done really. She is into everything! She is still teething with the back teeth which is making her clingy at the moment, but we'll get through it! Grampy and Charlotte help me out when they can and Grampy takes her for long walks in the pram on a Saturday when he can so I can just get on with things without worrying what she's doing.
DeleteI found a cottage yesterday that's available in two weeks time. We are booking it today! It's lovely. We are very excited and now I need to plan for our trip, lots of packing for Daisy, food to sort out for Charlotte. She is taking a week off just for us to be at home and take care of things so we don't need to worry about the dogs or chickens etc.
We are looking forward to a change of scenery and removing the stress for one week to recharge and rethink how we go forward. We are spending more money than we wanted to, but we can do a holiday on a budget once we get there.
Mandy xxx