Substitution

We went to Toys r Us...

Actually we went to Ikea for lunch first - Daisyfay is a big fan of the meatballs, and I'm a big fan of the idea that I too could have a decluttered, organised home which fits in a shoe box - oh the power of marketing! As it is not yet November, we got to the till with: 2 pairs of silicone tongs, 3 washing up brushes in various colours, a food container, a dustpan and brush, a large bowl for salad etc, and a rather large, cuddly elephant! We did need the bowl as we managed to break two over the summer. And Paul did want more tongs and they were only 40p each. And our dustpan is broken...
And the cuddly elephant - birthday money - what more can I say?!
I did mean to buy a plastic box with little compartments to store various tiny bits of Lego in an organised and tidy manner, thus reducing our clutter ... but I forgot. I'm well prepared for washing up though...!

So, Toys r Us - we now (in addition to the elephant) have Teksta and a Barbie puppy race.
The Barbie puppy race is quite funny, you wind the puppies' ears up, put them in water, and they swim! :-) And then there is Teksta, a robotic puppy - this was what she went for - he walks to her voice, barks, sits, does back flips - just like a real puppy...

Only he's not ... he's a substitute ... and I'm feeling guilty again ...


 

Starting again...

And then I turned around and it was October ...
Feeble, I know, but true - and lots has happened ...but this was always supposed to be about looking forward.

So ... campervan ... no closer I think, but destitution is much farther away, which has to be good!
The plan, Prongs 1 and 2 ... undergoing a revival ... as we speak the plan is underway again ...just need to remember which prong is which...

Aha...
Prong 1: Frugality

* Daisyfay's extended birthday celebrations are now over (except for today's trip to Toys r Us to spend her (considerable) birthday stash - frugality is definitely not part of her plan!) - frugality had limited sway whilst we dealt with that. She had a fab time though - and, though every year it's a lot of work, she won't want this for ever so let's make the memories and enjoy it now. She wanted a horse party, not just as a theme but with real ones. I wasn't sure how we did this and early research showed it to be decidedly unfrugal! Eventually, however, I found somewhere that was, whilst still not cheap, at least affordable - so she picked 10 friends ( weaning her off the marauding hordes in the village hall concept!) and off we went. We thoroughly enjoyed it - they were riding for over an hour, did games on the horses, all sorts - then we came back here, they organised games and dance competitions - had a short discussion about play fighting never being an acceptable activity - did cowboy stylie food - cake and sing - home!! Wine and Calamity Jane followed quickly!!
I'd definitely recommend the pony party - it did feel like value for money, especially when you consider what you pay at a lot of party places. 
www.parboldequestriancentre.co.uk/ if you fancy a look.
Anyway the smiles were worth it.- and excitement doesn't really describe it...

So back to frugality - on top of the birthday, there was Paul's MOT, the expiring television, the overdue coal bill and the traumatic story of the laptop and the lemonade ... have decided to draw a line under it all ... starting again...

* I have a plan for November - it may be a tad ambitious - it  has 3 strands ( I like breaking things down, ok!)
          1. No spend November - frugal shopping - leftovers, using of - no buying of "stuff" (except
                  frugal, on offer, etc shopping for future, unnamed events looming on the horizon! ;-) )
          2. No wine November - hmmm - going to try...
          3. Contemplating a primal eating month - suppose it's not exactly to do with frugality, but it's
                kind of in the spirit ...

Prong 2: Making more money

* have a job - good start!

* have begun the selling stuff/ remove clutter approach again (it's half term - at least for us, not for
the Miracle Girl - don't get me started ...!) - having a mass Ebay session on Sunday.

Campervan for next summer? Unlikely, but you never know...




         

Pants!!

This week I have been mostly pants at:

* writing this blog

* cleaning my house

* not having any wine!

In my defence it was my birthday on Wednesday, so wine pushed itself to the fore! But in the spirit of frugality I decided not to go out - instead I had a lovely, delayed birthday meal on Friday. Paul cooked mussels, with homemade bread, and chocolate fondants. It was fab!

Further in my defence I worked a lot this week, which is always a good thing on the making more money front. The last three days of the week I spent at a lovely school in Wigan, one of the nicest I've been to in ages. It's the best thing about supply, the variety, and every so often you land on a school that is just great - and this was one. I had an enjoyable three days with an excellent, bouncy, personality-filled Year 4 class - and thought ( which I don't all that often) : now these I would like to teach.

On the plus side, the plan is going okay ... ish!

Prong 1: Frugality

* didn't go out for my birthday

* am using birthday money to pay to get my hair done

* made soup with stalks from broccoli and cauliflower, some leftover cabbage and leek tops - a bit of onion, a couple of ounces of lentils and some garlic and chilli - d'you know, it's really nice!

* didn't do a proper shop this week, used the freezer and storecupboard

Prong 2: Making more money

* worked for four days out of five - yay!

* sold some stuff - not a lot, but it's a start

* might be doing a bit of extra tutoring ...

* think I might be making some cakes ...

Feeling productive - feeling entrepreneur-ish! Need to investigate tax and stuff!

Daydream believing ...