Changing the way I food shop...

Hi everyone!

On Sunday we will head off to the supermarket to do a fortnightly shop. We haven't been for a month because of lovely hubby's back and had the last shop delivered. My last shop was considerably cheaper because I worked to a list (and yes, a cream cake treat was on there!) On Sunday I will take a proper list, not just the reminders that I normally take and stick to it.

I will need to get nappies and baby stuff for Daisy and her birthday card etc because our next shop falls on her actual birthday. We will do online that week for a different day. The 1st September will be all about our precious little grandaughter.

Tomorrow I will sit down and meal plan for the next two weeks, taking into account what I already have in the house. With all the braising steak left in the freezer, beef casserole and dumplings will definitely be on there. The slowcooker will be out again! It's raining here today and making me think ahead to the Autumn months and what needs to be done in preparation. More lists ahead!

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Sylvia - nice to hear from you!

Lean thinker - great to have you back! I have made a bbq sauce and poured it over the belly pork slices before going in the oven. You need to line the roasting tin with greaseproof first, or deal with a sticky mess to clean off. We had it with veggie rissotto...really yummy!

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Have a great weekend,

Mandy x

Planning ahead and making changes...

Hi everyone!

Sorry I've been away from blogging for a few days, but it's been pretty hectic here! My lovely husband has been suffering with his back (he had bruised the facet joints by lifting and twisting) and was having very painful muscle spasms that left him bedridden. My OH is and always has been a grafter, he hates sitting still and works very hard to provide for us, but his job is manual and his body isn't happy about it at the moment! He went back to work yesterday (against my judgement) because he already took a week off with no pay because he's self-employed.

This situation has got me thinking...

we seriously need to plan ahead for this happening again in the future. We have enough money because we are sensible, so we can afford for some time off, but a back-up plan would be more sensible...

He is thinking of a career change - looking into evening classes to train in something else. Our ultimate goal is to own a smallholding up north (hopefully in Yorkshire), but we need an income, even though somewhat smaller than what we are used to now. We want to live a very simple life, becoming more and more self-sufficient - we have already started this by growing loads of veg in the garden and keeping chickens. We have harvested strawberries and courgettes so far and they are lovely, full of flavour.

There is still a long way to go though...

yesterday I did an online shop that is coming this evening. I confess that I bought things that we don't need, they are things that we want. Today I feel ashamed because I don't need a chocolate eclair, but the last few days we have eaten boring food because everything has been used up in my challenge and I fancied a treat. I used a list, but still got tempted - this has to stop!

We are not in debt (apart from paying a mortgage on our house) to anyone and we are able to pay our bills on time. Food shouldn't be viewed as a luxury, but it is the only bill that we can reduce. I did meal plan, it's all the little extras that I can make myself but don't find the time to which have pushed the price of our shopping up.

I will change this now!!!

From now on...

 I will meal plan and write a shopping list and stick to it.

I will make the shopping I get stretch as far as possible and last longer.

I will continue to experiment, making up my own recipes to keep us interested in cheaper meals and not buy goodies.

I will make time to bake for the cake tin and use my approved food bap mix for lunches.

I will continue to use up leftovers and not waste a thing.

I will save money!

I need to go now and make more plans and write lists. I will be back with my progress and a mini challenge... I want to join in with austerity August and spend as little as possible...

I want to declutter, tidy, clean, sell things, make money for our home improvements to get on the market to sell, rearrange my house to be more logical with a home for everything and be more organised.

Our new life won't happen without hard work and effort, but we can do it and we will. Let the challenge begin...

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

My life as a hoarder...

Hi everyone!

It's true, I am a self-confessed hoarder and have been for some years. I believe it stems from my childhood where my things would be thrown away while I was at school if they were viewed as rubbish. I am a very sentimental person and those things were not rubbish to me! I would have liked to of been asked first so I could explain why I needed them.

I grew up in a house that was always spotless, but we were not allowed in a room that had just been cleaned, even our bedrooms after school. Any of our mess was put on our beds and we had to tidy it away or there was no tea! My upbringing was very strict and a lot of the time very unfair. Incidentally, I have no contact with any of them now or ever will (for reasons that I really cannot talk about here) and now I can see that a lot of my own emotional issues began from this controlled environment. Any good memories that I had were destroyed by the actions of a very evil individual. I'm not going to dwell on this because I have moved on now, but this highlights where my urge to hoard began.

My children have numerous memory boxes in the loft and originally I had kept everything! Between us, we narrowed it down and just keep the really sentimental stuff. I left home with my birth certificate and a few childhood toys that I did manage to keep. No photographs of my childhood to look back on - photographs are very important to me. I have taken so many photos for Daisy to have when she's older and we spend a small fortune getting them printed off when we do our shopping. They are neatly organised in baby albums with her age written next to them, so she will be able to enjoy her journey living with us in the future when she's old enough to understand. I also plan to make her a scrapbook soon for her first birthday. This will show her what her first year was like. I write things down like when she got her teeth through and all this will be documented for her when I've found a beautiful 'daisy' book.

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Alex - welcome to my blog! Thank you for your best wishes, it's a very slow process but there is progress. Hopefully a carboot sale in a few weeks will get rid of a load more.

Loo - we've been exchanging hoarding/decluttering achievements for some time now! Our front room is home to: a playpen, a pram, a swing, a walker, three baskets containing toys and books, a baby nest and two floor mats for Daisy to play on. You see what I mean!

Jane - for me it's a lifestyle change that's needed and that takes time. My spare food goes on top of the kitchen cupboards which looks really untidy.

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So how do I move on from this and make the lifestyle changes needed? With a lot of support and understanding from my family. Time? This is something that I don't have because Daisy requires my attention, although she is sleeping more during the day and will play alone in her playpen for 20 mins at a time now. It's all about being ready to snap into action when the opportunity arises. I have decided to tackle one area of a room at a time and keep going until it's sorted. If I had a week all on my own with no other chores to be done, I reckon I could have this house a lovely home. Nevermind! I'm not feeling sorry for myself or hard done by because I created this mess, but small steps are the way forward and I will let you know how I get on when I blog. I will feel awful if there's nothing to tell... having said that... yesterday there was decluttering paperwork planned that didn't happen :(    What I did do was some ironing while Daisy was asleep and that cleared a space on my utility room work top.

Is anyone else battling with this daily???

I find really good support on here, so thanks for that, you can be my motivation!

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x