Wee splurge today

I had a wee splurge today, I had to replace a pair of jeans as mine ripped terribly and are now unwearable. As I need them fairly quickly and I will need more than one pair, I bought a pair of $11 jeans from K-Mart. I did however resist the plain black tee shirts at $5 each, although I do need a couple and I also resisted the black cardigans at $12 each. However, I also spotted a plain teapot on clearance for $6 (last one left!) which was perfect as I had to throw my one out last week as it had a huge crack all through one side (I blame the EQ's). And then I wandered into the children's area and they had special on tee shirts so I got one for the Girl for next summer and a cute nightie for the grand total of $7. On the way out of the mall I popped into Pumpkin Patch who also had a sale on but once again I prevailed and did not buy the gorgeous size 6 party dress for the Girl as she does have heaps of party dresses. But I did get her a three pack of pretty socks for $5 and she did need them in time for winter. So I spent $29 but I do have some things stashed away for next summer which is helpful.

Another busy day

So far today I have been to Uni, completely cleaned my house (vacuum, dishes, washing, tidying, bathroom and loo), free ranged the chickens, harvested some tomatoes, beans and potatoes, made biscuits, cooked a nutritious dinner, had dedicated activity time with the Girl and now I am ready to fall asleep! I still need to fold and put away Mt Washmore and I would like to give my feet a bit of a pedicure as well. I can do those whilst I watch my beloved bogan TV fix of Sons of Anarchy though.

Back to the daily grind ...

Uni starts tomorrow, so back to the daily grind of parenting, studying, working occasionally and looking after us, the pets and the house/garden. Back to the gigantic petrol bill (so not looking forward to that) and doing some serious meal planning around lunches for both of us and then dinners with little or no time to cook. And to make it all worse I have been hugely busy this past week so I haven't got ready to start study, mentally or financially.

So thankfully I only have two classes tomorrow so I will get my A into G and get the house ready and have a major cook/clean/bake-athon. Mental note going out for cocktails and dinner with the girls is great fun but does not always lead to a productive Sunday! Lovely to have a fun night out with good friends though, especially as I cant afford to do that often money or time wise from now on!

Op-shop Haul!

I had some errands to do today and along the way I popped in at the local op-shop. I got the Girl a Jane and the Dragon DVD for $2, its a NZ DVD and it has a strong female as the lead which is always good. And I got a pair of Max skinny leg jeans for .50cents and a plain black tee for .50cents, the tee is a bit big but I might try and take it in. The girl also got a Pumpkin Patch dress for .50cents but its a bit too big so I might keep it for her or flick it on. Ditto a paisley corduroy skirt. So a jolly good haul for the grand total of $4.

Happy Waitangi Day!

Happy Waitangi Day everyone. I have spent the day at home for the most part although I did squeeze a gym class in. I have done some gardening, free ranged the chickens for a wee while for the first time, made tomato relish (pics to come) and harvested the garden of the days bounty. Some plums ready for plum gin, runner beans, cherry tomatoes, blackberries and two large scallopini's.

                                

The Girl and I made the fairy garden on Wednesday, well stage one anyway. After school (and when the tsunami threat has passed) we will go down to the beach and get the drift wood and make the chairs for stage two.                  

                                                                

So-so weekend

So a good weekend in that I got my house nice and clean. My Grandmama gave me a loaf bread she had no room for which was brilliant as I needed some for school lunches and a bag of perfect nectarines! I love nectarines they would defiantly be in my top five fruit to eat. I found some plums so I need to process them, not sure how they may just get eaten as they are also delicious. And another food related bonus is Rose (the new chook) laid an egg! So happy and the Girl had a great time collecting it, now to decide what to do with it. I really hope she might lay daily.

I was on a forum and I saw a thread about making a miniature fairy garden so the Girl and I went to the Warehouse and bought some wooden box picture frames for $8.97 down from $19.99 so the large one will be the base for the garden and I can use the others for gifts perhaps. We also got some blue stones for a path for $4. We found a feather to go in and we will go down to the beach and get some sand and shells and driftwood to make chairs (I found a easy looking tutorial). I also got hold of some succulents to add to it, so its all go after school tomorrow! I will certainly be taking some pics.

On a slight downside is I went out last night with my girlfriends and spent $6.50 on a glass of wine and $3.69 on a packet of chips and a bottle of coke. The chips were duly eaten but the coke wasn't needed so I have put it in the cupboard. I also had to put another $20 petrol in the car as I have done a lot of driving this week. And I agreed to go out for tea with my friends this week. On the plus the restaurant is halfway between both our houses and is once again cheap and cheerful so shouldn't be too bad.

I also had to buy the Girl a pair of culottes as I realised she only had one school dress and one pair of flimsy tracksuit material shorts which are far too hot for the frequent 30 degree plus days. So that was $29.99. But I also DID NOT buy the $10 pair of retro inspired high waisted togs! I am quite pleased about that. I thought about it but I already have two other pairs of togs in a similar style and quite a few others in various other styles.

So this week I will load more stuff on Trade Me and stick firmly to my budget. Groceries should be ok this week as I don't need any fruit or many veges so that should help. I picked up some super cheap cat food while at the Warehouse so the cats don't need any this week as they have the super flash Purina Cat Chow all 1.59 kgs for a grand total of $6.29.

Not the best week

Another week has passed and I haven't done so well. I had to shop on Tuesday this week to get items for the Girls school lunch but I did come in slightly under budget and that included big ticket items like cat food, a frozen chicken and eco store washing powder. However I have frittered away money this week.

• I took the Girl to McDonald's as a treat for being so good whilst we shopped for stationary (which totalled roughly $55). So that was $11 gone and after wards I felt slightly blah too much sugar and bad fat for my system I think, still the Girl enjoyed it and for her happy meal she got a microphone hairbrush which is very popular.

• Then I also bought some cheap potted colour at the Warehouse, I got 36 for $3 so a wise spend I think, now I really must get onto planting the last 12!

• I put a bid on Trade Me without thinking that I am not buying any new or unnecessary clothes. The item in question is a white Workshop singlet with a tiger on it. I adore Workshop, they are one of my favourite designers. Thankfully my bid is at $2 and I wont be entering a bidding war over it.

• Parking charges for a routine hospital appointment for the Girl. Initially it was $2.70 (aka all the change I had in the car and my wallet) then the appointment was running much later than expected so I had to buy a muffin at the cafe ($3.60 for a muffin!) and get some change so another $3 went in.

• School stationary. Many trips to many shops and I spent $55 all up. Mean mummy that I am I refused to buy a new lunchbox when the Girl has 5 already and she was given a beautiful green stainless steel drink bottle for Christmas.

• A new chicken. I had a moment of madness and decided I wanted one chicken that was virtually guaranteed to lay an egg a day. So I spent $14 on Trade Me and bought a Hyline Brown. It most likely wont lay for a week or two due to the stress of moving but after that I expect results! I work it out that after one months worth of eggs (roughly 28) I will have saved the $14 purchase price. I live in hope that my other two do turn out to be pullets and not cockerels. 

So not really the best week for not spending or frittering away money but oh well. The bills are paid and there's food in in the cupboard so I'm happy.