The Kindness of Friends

I am very blessed with the friends I have. They have been very generous to me and B in so many ways.

I have been one of the last of my friends to have children so I was lucky enough to receive a lot of hand me downs and equipment which meant I didn't have to outlay a lot of money, particularly for the "big ticket" items. I have not had to purchase any car seats or a cot. These are normally expensive items and I was very lucky to get these for free. I also really liked the idea of getting a second hand cot that other children that I know and love had used and slept in.

I have a friend who has 3 boys and her youngest is 4 years older than B. I have been blessed to receive many of the boy's clothes which has saved me so much money on buying clothes. Especially at the rate toddlers grow and wear out clothes. We were out this morning and came home to this sitting on the front doorstep:

2 big bags of clothes!



There are a few that he isn't quite in yet but he will definitely be set up for winter (and probably next summer too). All I will need to buy is some tracksuit pants and a new pair of jeans and he will be set. What a money saver!

I have another friend who has an older son and she often gives me the clothes her son has grown out of. As they are way too big for him I pass them onto the friend who gave me the above clothes as I know I will get them back for B eventually. When B has grown out of the clothes I then pass them onto another friend who had a daughter first and son second so it helps her out of having to buy too many clothes. I love the idea of passing these along, saving people money and I love seeing the same clothes on different children.

We have also been given a lot of hand me down toys and books from numerous friends. I don't know why but they are usually the toys that he loves the most and plays with all the time. When he has finished with his toys we then pass them on to a friend who works in domestic violence to give to the children in their service who often have to leave their home without any of their toys.

As I said I have been very blessed to receive lots of wonderful things that help me save money and live simply. But I also love passing those things along to others too.

A Simple Day

Today was the Labour Day public holiday. We didn't have any plans for the day so I decided it would be a nice day to just potter around home. We also had a late night last night so I thought just nice and easy would be a way to (hopefully) avoid any toddler meltdowns.

I spent the morning doing a few odd jobs and cleaning. Then playing board games with B. It was a lovely way to just ease into the day.

The weather today was just perfect - sunny but not too warm so this afternoon we headed outside to take advantage. I mowed the lawn while B played with his play dough. I usually prefer this to be an outside activity to avoid mess inside.

I have been quite jealous lately of hearing of the resurgence of afternoon tea. Some friends have been going to some really nice places to enjoy afternoon tea. Unfortunately it's not one of the things that I can afford at the moment but I was inspired to have a "proper" afternoon tea.

So out came the PWMU cookbook, scones and tea were made and the table was set in the backyard. The scones were not a huge success as I halved the recipe but forgot to halve the milk!! They were okay but not the best I have made. We had our lovely little afternoon tea out in the sunshine. It was lovely, free (or close to) and I didn't have to dress up. Winner!!

So all in all a very simple day but a lovely one indeed. And I avoided overtired toddler meltdowns. How do you like to spend your simple days?

Planning

I have been a bit of a bad blogger lately. I have not blogged as I would like to as life has got a bit stressful and hectic.

One of the reasons for the stress is that I have been really short of money. It has been a really bad month for bills, new glasses for B, modem dying and other myriad life expenses. It has led to some reflection on the need for more planning.

I have been doing really well with my weekly planner for activities and menus which has helped streamline a few things. Less trips to the shops, a varied menu and feeling more in control. For more info see my previous post here.

As the summer veggies are coming to an end I have already started planting the next lot to try and have some ready to plant out as soon as I pull the rest out. I planted the seeds last Thursday and when I went out today the broccoli, broad beans and lettuce were already sprouting! Hopefully this means a good crop ahead. I would really like to try and be as self-sufficient as possible from my (small) garden and planning is needed to try and make sure I have different produce ready throughout the year.

 Broccoli

Broad Beans

But the big area I need to work on is my budgeting. I currently am living from pay to pay and juggling bills and I am really tired of it. I need to really knuckle down and get my finances sorted. It also needs to involve a bit of planning. I had B's optometrist appointment booked and was fairly certain that he would need glasses. However, I also thought that we both needed to go to the dentist. I was way overdue and he had never been. We could both go now and get these appointments done and out of the way? Well, when the check up cost over $100 for the 2 of us and then over $100 for me to get my teeth cleaned and I need a filling as well (that's not for another couple of weeks) it probably would have been better for me to plan the dentist for a different month to the optometrist. So, I have had to pay for the dental appointments and $345 for glasses in the same month. So better planning on my behalf is needed to try and spread these expenses over more than 1 month.

I did really well over January clearing up my clutter and sold some through eBay and also through a Facebook group. However, I still have lots more to sell but seem to have lost the momentum. I really need to get this going again to not only clear the stuff away but also to get a bit of extra cash. I am going to set aside some time each evening to make this happen.

I really need to get on top of planning stuff. I think it's not something that comes naturally to me and I have often resisted being a real planner type person. I have always been a more of a winging it type person but this needs to change.

Would love to hear any tips that you have for planning and getting life organised!! And I will blog more regularly - have lots more things to say.