Hooray for Freecyclers

One of the things that I love about living in London, and it is probably true of other places too, is when very kind people leave things they no longer want or need, outside their houses for other people to take.  I've often been tempted to take things home with me or go back with the car to get something, but mostly, I just resist the urge, unless it is something I really can make good use of.

The other afternoon, on returning from the school run, (well, short stroll actually) I saw this lovely large plastic jar outside a house on the main road and decided to snaffle it up immediately.  Not much of a find you might think, but I have a very specific use in mind.  (More later).  It is very clean, no gunk inside or messy remnants of sticky labels on it.  I was sorely tempted to also remove a lovely pine console table with two drawers but as I couldn't carry it and our house is already full to the rafters, I resisted and left it for someone else.  A quick clean and my jar will be ready for use.  Thank you to the householder.  Rest assured your jar will be put to good use.

Often, things are left outside because people don't have a car to take them to the tip or charity shop, or don't even know where the nearest tip is, as our borough doesn't have one and the council have to collect all large items.  I like the idea of freecycling without having to go through the official procedures of Freecycle itself, which don't get me wrong, is a fabulous idea.

Later this week, I am going to a Give or Take Day at a local school, organised by our local council.  It is a great idea whereby you go along at an allotted time and give things you no longer need.  Later at a second allotted time you can go and can take away things you see there that might be useful to you.  I have acquired a few books and other things at these events, and it is amazing to see the really nice things given, that people who get there early come out with.  I'll let you know how I get on in a future post.

Anyway, back to freecycling.  The other week I came across this lovely little wooden storage unit outside a house down our street and picked it up and brought it home.

It was very clean and looked like it had hardly been used.  It has now been customised with stickers and has pride of place on my daughter's desk in her new bedroom and is a great depository for her bits and pieces.  If it was yours, thank you very much, it has found a new home and is much appreciated.

From the other side of the equation, it is very useful to be able to put things you no longer want outside on the street and within a few minutes sometimes, they have been taken, relieving you of the necessity of finding a new home for them.  It can, however, on the other hand, work against you if you are not careful, as I found out to my cost when my milk bottle holder disappeared one night and I was forced to buy a new one.  I suspect it was taken by someone collecting metal but there wasn't really much metal to it.  Probably a genuine mistake as it was a little tatty.  I can't complain too much,  we have benefitted from this service by having our old washing machines and other appliances taken away for us, and this has saved us the hassle of disposing of them ourselves!

A Bit of A Splurge and Olympic Memories

Yesterday I needed to head up to our local behemoth shopping mall to get some puppy food from Waitrose.  (I know, I know, it sounds like a real pampered pooch already).  I had been giving her some puppy food I'd bought from Approved Foods, but their stocks ran out so I had to go back to the Waitrose variety that she had initially. Our nearest Waitrose is in the shopping mall built on the Olympic Park.

It's very strange going back past the park, it all seems so depressing after the thrilling summer we had last year going to Olympic and Paralympic events.  It is once again a building site.  Most of the temporary buildings have now been removed and the land is being dug over and redesigned to make into a new legacy park called the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. I think it is due to reopen in July this year.  I'm quite looking forward to going back into the park itself, as it will be great to take our bikes and the puppy.

Anyway, it's a bit sad to pass through now the games are over and we always think back to what a great time we had and what an exciting summer holidays it was for all of us.  Living so close we just had to make the most of it and got to quite a few events including the closing ceremony to the Paralympic games at which Coldplay and Rhianna featured.  It was a super end to a fabulous few weeks.  Needless to say I'm now paying for the tickets, which I had to put on my credit cards, but it was completely worth it and a chance in a lifetime for us, so I don't regret it at all.

Back to the shopping.  As I mentioned, I had to get the puppy food and it is pretty difficult in such a place to just go to one shop and leave, so I did end up looking in a few other shops and buying a few things.

I must admit I do find shopping malls quite overwhelming these days, so tend to stick to the shops I know, usually the inexpensive ones where I can do as little damage as possible to my bank balance.  I also try to make sure I don't shop for longer than the 2 hour free parking you get.  This does limit me from spending too much or looking around too much, so I do apply a strategy to such an outing.

On this visit I did actually go into a shop I've never been to before, called Beauty Base, as they had a whole range of lipsticks advertised in the window at 99p each.  Needless to say before I left I had bought these 3 - Matte Strawberry, Matte Berry Ice, and Matte Cranberry Red.  (The photo doesn't show them in this order, I mixed up the lids and now don't know which is which!)

You might have realised by now that I like a matte lipstick and as I was down to my last one with only a small amount left on the one in my handbag, I did really need to stock up.  I also wanted to introduce a few different colours into my pallette as I tend to go for a bright red, but fancied some deeper tones.   Since getting home and trying them out, I must admit that you do get what you pay for and they don't quite give the coverage of more expensive lipsticks, but they will be fine for everyday use.

My next stop was Primark.  I used to really like Primark when I first moved to London 15 years ago.  The quality of the clothes was pretty good and there weren't that many stores in this country then.  I remember buying some things and wearing them for ages until they completely wore out.    In more recent years I rarely find much that I like, but I still like to look as you can sometimes get some absolute gems. Having said that, I did buy a few things for my daughter, some jeans and a t-shirt. (Bit of a spotty theme going on there).  As she has no school uniform at her school, (until this September) I have to make sure she has plenty of things to wear each day because her everyday clothes get worn on a daily basis.

 

I picked up a floaty grey top for me too, but will probably wear it with a long sleeved T-shirt or a vest underneath as it has a hospital gown type opening at the back.  I also indulged in a couple of really pretty tea towels for £1.20 each which I thought were a real steal.  I had seen these posted on Streetcomber's blog so when I saw them in there, I couldn't resist indulging in a little Valentine's gift to myself.

Talking of gifts, I did need to buy a couple of gifts, one a small gift for a neighbour's husband who is quite unwell in hospital.  It is a small treat for when he's feeling a little better.

The other,  a few Easter gifts to send to my sister and her boys in Australia.  The Cadbury's chocolate over there doesn't taste the same, as it has anti-melting additives, so I always send them a box of  Cadbury's eggs and chocolate as a taste of home.

I had a bit of a splurge didn't I?   Not too much collateral damage and a few jobs done.  Sometimes you've just got to do it.

Introducing Betty

This is Betty, my dressmaking dummy.  She's a lovely old girl and very helpful.   She lends a hand (or torso) when I'm making new clothes or selling them on eBay, as she models them beautifully.

Here she is, modelling my daughter's scarf. (Please excuse the washing hanging in the background!)

I first saw Betty when on a bus whilst passing the charity shop where she was on sale.  On spotting her, I jumped off the bus, with my daughter in tow, and hot footed it across the road to take a closer look.  She was just lovely and in super condition.  I don't know her origins but I think she ight be a genuine vintage dressmaker's/tailor's dummy or she could be a shop display dummy.  Although she isn't adjustable, nor strictly my size, (she's a bit more petite and beautifully curvaceous), she is still very useful and one can always aspire to losing a bit of weight to enable her to fully pull her weight about the place.

Anyway, on asking how much she was I was told £85, which is a rather expensive purchase from a charity shop, but I didn't really want to haggle.  Initially the price put me off and I couldn't take her easily on the bus with me, as I was already weighed down with things I'd just bought from a local church jumble sale, so I got on the next bus and went home, mulling it over all the way.

I spoke to my partner when I got in and asked him what he thought, and to his credit he didn't try to put me off buying her, so I delved into some savings and back I went in the car and she joined our family.

In all honesty, I haven't regretted it for a second.  She earns her keep as an interesting piece of furniture, if nothing else.  She has  also been very useful for hanging jackets on, when I've been in the process of making them, during my occasional sojourns into novice tailoring. 

 

She's looking forward to my workroom being finished as it is going to be her domain.  Perhaps I should get a sign saying 'Betty's Room' and put it on the door.  She can't wait to escape the junk room that is currently our dining room an be useful again.

Another Winter Warmer

The other evening, I decided to cook us another warming winter casserole for dinner.  I love one pot cooking as it is so quick and easy and produces a lovely tasty meal at the end of it, with very little effort.  Especially good for those nights when you need to get on and do other things at the same time.

This evening's meal was a Bacon & Bean Casserole with mashed potato.  It is an inexpensive meal in that it only requires quite inexpensive ingredients and does not take as long in the oven as a beef stew for example.

For this dish I used the following ingredients:

A few slices of bacon cut into smallish squares (or you could use lardons/chorizo) - I fry them for a few minutes before adding them to the casserole, but this is optional.
1 onion
1 carrot
1 courgette
400g tin of baked beans
400g tin of butter beans
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
Splash of Worcestershire Sauce
Pinch of Ground Black Pepper (or chilli powder if you want it to have a bit of heat)

Put it all in the casserole dish and place in the oven at 180 degrees for 1-1 1/2 hours, stirring every half hour or so.

This serves 3-4 people depending on portion size.  I cook this for my partner and myself, my daughter doesn't like casseroles or stews unfortunately, and I usually put a portion in the freezer to have on a baked potato on another evening.

You can of course vary this recipe to make it even less expensive by omitting one of  the tins of beans or use dried beans or chick peas (rehydrated) or whatever else you have to hand.  You can of course also make this in a slow cooker and have it cooking while you are out but I haven't tried this myself.

For vegetarians or a meat free meal, you can omit the bacon and just have a bean casserole, possibly using various different types of beans including kidney, chilli for a bit of a kick, or any other beans you might have in your store cupboard.  With all the vegetables and beans this meal is also high in fibre.  I tend to make my mashed potato with the skin on so that this also increases it's fibre content.

It's a good meal for using up store cupboard items and whatever vegetables need using up in the fridge.  Here's a photo, which isn't great due to the quality of the light in my kitchen on an evening, but the dish itself tasted lovely and I was able to feed and walk the puppy while the meal was in the oven.  (Please note that this was my partner's portion which was slightly larger than mine!)

Weekend Catchup

It's been a busy week this week and I don't feel like I've got an awful lot done.  Does anyone else ever feel like this?  Most of my to do list is being carried over into next week, but I'm hoping that I will be able to tick quite a few off by the end of the week.

As a consequence, this weekend, I was determined to do at least one more thing on the list and as the date for the arrival of some guests is looming just 2 weeks in the distance, I knew the one that I had to do.  I just had to finish clearing out the spare room of all my daughter's things (it used to be her bedroom until she moved into our other bedroom recently), so that we could get on and decorate it in time for our friends' arrival.

I'm glad to say that with my daughter's help, in deciding what stays and what goes, we got the job done.  We (well I) then cleaned and hoovered the room and we put all the remaining contents in the centre, covered them with a dust sheet and we can now work around them and decorate the room.

As with my daughter's bedroom, which we renovated a couple of weeks ago, it is just a case of refreshing the room.  It already has lots of built in shelving either side of the chimney breast, made by my partner, who fortunately is pretty good at most DIY projects, and which will be ideal for storing all my fabrics/books/etc.  These just need a repaint along with the walls, ceiling, door and window frames.  I'm looking forward to a trip to the DIY store to choose paint for a feature wall, something grown up this time.  Hopefully, this is all I will need to spend on the renovation, along with possibly a few pounds for some storage boxes to go on the shelves.

So here are a few before pictures of the room as promised.

 

You can see from this picture that I've tried a few colours on this wall in the past.  We've not decided on one yet though.

I will post some after pictures, once it is finished.  This room will then be our spare room/my workroom and I can't wait until it is done and I can get all my projects, fabrics and sewing paraphenalia in there, and get to work on things I just haven't had the space to do for the past  6 months or so.

The other things on my list, that I didn't get done this week, now seem a bit less significant (bar one) and I feel like progress is being made again.  Hooray for the weekend!

Keeping Control of Your Finances

I have to admit that I can be pretty organised when it comes to finances and I like to keep a close eye on what and where I am spending money.  I always keep a daily record of everything I spend.  At the end of each week I work out the total spent that week and divide spending  into different categories so that I can make comparisons week on week/year on year.  I know that sounds strange coming from someone who's New Year goal was to pay off credit cards but much of the spending on them came from not being pro-active one Christmas and from paying for Olympics tickets last year, so I'm trying to avoid ever having to do that again.

When you do keep a log of spending, it is interesting to see where your money goes and how much you spend on each category each week.  This in turn can help motivate you to spend less or cut out bad habits such as excessive treats for oneself.  In recent years, I have used the record to work out what I spend in any one year in the various categories, in order to compare and set myself goals for the coming year, such as to cut down spending on myself, gifts, food, non-food, etc.  It can be a little time consuming, but if you do it regularly it becomes a habit that is just part of your normal routine.  I tend to do it on a weekly basis when I empty my purse of receipts to lighten my load or when I make any online purchases.

In addition, I always keep an eye on my bank account and it's incomings and outgoings and tick off every receipt against every debit so that I know exactly what I have to spend at any time in the month and therefore don't overspend and incur bank charges.  This is also useful as it means that any fraudulent activity gets noticed sooner rather than later, and unfortunately I have been a victim of card fraud in the past and it is not a pleasant experience.

It is very annoying to know that someone has helped themselves to the contents of your bank account and that they have purchased something, using your money, that you can't even afford for yourself. Not to mention the inconvenience it causes you when you have no bank card for a week and have to wait for a new one to be issued.  Fortunately, my bank did reimburse the money to me, but only after some very intense questioning that was quite offensive to me and made me feel like I was under suspicion of being involved in the fraud and not a victim.

As a consequence of the above experience, I am careful to shred all financial waste such as receipts or bank statements no longer needed, and  I burn the shreddings on the fire to ensure that no one can obtain information from them.  However, sadly sometimes things are beyond your control and if people are intent on stealing from you they will often find a way to do it regardless of your cautionery measures.

Clearing Out

Well, today I ventured to the charity shop and instead of buying more stuff, I donated a huge pile of things that we, or should I say my daughter, mostly, no longer wants.  Here are a few photos of the piles of boxes and bags I took.

These boxes were mostly games, books, jigsaws, etc.  Most in very good condition, so will hopefully find their way to another family with young children.

These bags were clothes, soft toys and other miscellaneous items.

 

The red box was full of plastic and wooden play food and other similar items.  These hold such memories.  We spent many hours playing with them, but sadly, they rarely get an airing these days, so they probably need to go to a home where they'll be played with again.

Some things I really find hard to let go of, but time moves us on whether we like it or not and we all must change or get stuck in the past.  I hope they bring happiness and fun to some other children somewhere, especially if they are living on a tight budget and I hope the charity makes some money out of them, to help some other people in need.

There's now a bit more space in the workroom for us to start redecorating.  Just a bit more sorting and sifting to do. 

Talking of home renovations, I managed to acquire a couple of free tickets to the Ideal Home Show at Earl's Court in March through Money Saving Experts.  They had 10,000 tickets to give away yesterday.  Not sure if there's any left but check it out.  It should give me some inspiration hopefully for future projects.