Top Tips Tuesday...

Hi everyone,

Here are this weeks top tips...

Leisure Time

1). Walking...I love to go walking. Not only is it good exercise, but I think it helps to clear your mind and relax. It gives us chance to chat and Daisy can explore without having to be in her buggy. The dogs love to walk...Flo wants to run and Jake (who is nearly 13) is happy to wander along (sniffing everything!) We will walk locally. We have a reservoir close by and a public footpath literally just across the road. Sometimes we travel a short distance in the car to find a different walk, so that would be our only cost.

2). Reading...I've talked about this before, but we all love to read in my house. You've seen just how many books I've got to get through! Books don't have to be expensive. I have a huge amazon wish list, but I rarely buy new books, they are normally Christmas or birthday presents. Carboot sales are the places to go for cheap books. People just want rid of them and you can pick them up for as little as 10p. Charity shops always have a good selection too. Another idea is to pass books on to friends, family and work colleagues. You can share yours and borrow from others. We used to do this at my work with DVDs too. Finally, there is obviously the local library.

3). Watching...television is something I don't do that often now, but when I do, it's not sky tv! We have free view for the television, we watch old films and tv shows that we already have on DVD or video (yes we still have a video player, almost retro now!) and I watch YouTube. YouTube is fantastic to find tv shows from the past and to learn new skills. I sometimes buy DVDs at Carboot sales, but mostly I use my amazon rental service. When I buy a DVD I need it to be a film or tv show that I know I will want to watch over and over again like the 'Darling Buds of May' for example. With the DVD rental, it is a cheap subscription fee and I can have two DVDs at a time and watch many throughout the month if I want. If I need to be even more thrifty in the future, I can simply cancel this, but at the moment this is our treat. We never go to the cinema.

4). Eating out...picnics! Daisy loves a picnic and so do we. We went for a lovely walk and picnic on Sunday...

The swans were very friendly! We fed the ducks and ate a lovely picnic. We simply took what we would normally eat for lunch, so no extra cost.

5). Do something you enjoy...around the house there is always something that needs to be done, but it's also important to have hobbies and interests. It could be something like gardening or DIY and these can be done as cheaply as possible or really expensive. You may be interested in sewing, knitting or crafting, again this can be expensive if you want it to be or you can look out for cheaper alternatives. Sadly I don't always practice what I preach! I am trying to make more time for myself, I've got a lot of the resources I need, I just lack time! 

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x