Another list of ways of saving money

1. Don't buy things, obviously. There is no such thing as spending money to save money, when you are buying things you can do without. Just don't buy things. 

2. Be careful in the kitchen. Sort out the fridge and cupboards on the reg. Use or freeze vegetables that look tired. Make ends of bread into croutons and breadcrumbs. Cook and bake from scratch. 

3. Use natural cleaning products. There's not much you can't clean with vinegar, bicarb and essential oils. 

4. Fix stuff. Don't chuck stuff out unless you are absolutely certain it can't be repaired. Once something is beyond repair, repurpose it where you can. 

5. Be tidy. If you know where everything is you are less likely to buy duplicates of things, you will use what you have. 

6. Walk, don't drive. Every time you drive somewhere it uses petrol. Sounds obvious, I know, but cutting out just on one or two mile journeys, once or twice a week, makes a big difference. 

7. Pack snacks. Almost too obvious to mention, but a bit of forward planning, especially when it comes to long journeys and service station stops, can save tonnes of money. 

8. Keep it simple. Not always, but quite often, the basic version of things is as good or better than the flashy version, and what your money goes on is the flashy packaging, perfumes and false promises. Buy bog standard shampoo, soap, ketchup, soy milk, whatever. No one is judging you by the contents of your cupboards. 

9. Be creative with home improvements. Instead of buying more rubbish to fill your house up with and tart it up, move the furniture, use paint from the shed, make some new art for the walls and put it in old frames. Even just have a really good clean. 

10. 

Wardrobe

 I'm sure this isn't the first of this sort of post I've made, because once again I've had a clear out in my wardrobe. I'm well into my thirties now and it's clear that I am not some kind of wispy bohemian as I had anticipated I might be when I was in my teens and early twenties. So I figure it's about time I stopped dressing like Florence Welch & settled into my identity of suburban Mum. 

The difference between then and now

 It's probably not a great mindset, but I often think back to 2017-2020 as a really golden time in my life. After moving to Cwmgors, and before all of the lockdowns etc. I had Ivy, and then I had Hazel, and I had the garden and my beautiful little house and I was happy. Jobs to get done, things to work out, not much money but lots of hard graft. It's sometimes hard to pin point what has changed between then and now. A lot of big things obviously, things that have affected all of us. We moved of course. And since the move there's been a definite waning in my mojo. My house, I don't think, has ever been tidy since moving. I can put this down to one thing and another, but now, both girls are in school, and I am without a job, I have no excuse for this. I just seem to have lost my domestic drive. 

I don't know if I'm looking back through rose tinted glasses, but I remember it as a time where, although I wasn't fulfilled socially, I was full of creativity, optimism and drive. Where did it go?

January - 2 weeks in

 So far so good: 

- Apart from a couple of parking meters, and a couple of online orders (books about bird eggs, FYI), I have exclusively paid for things with cash

- Have gone to a PTA meeting and said I would like to get involved

- Have gone back to twice weekly sea swimming

- 

Room for improvement: 

- Only been for 1 run, losing motivation

- I believe, as a result of the above, have caught a bit of a cold

- Still grumpy and impatient with my family

- House still a mess

- Look like I've piled on a few pounds

flip-flop

 I find myself in a bit of a quandary about whether I really want to be making earrings, or in fact anything, to sell. I enjoy making things, I'm a bit of a hobbyist, and I am capable of quite quickly being able to produce things with a reasonable level of skill. And I have ideas. Making stuff has always been my 'thing' since I was a little girl, and it was assumed that I would go to art school, which I did. 

In the last few years my making has leaned more towards crafting and producing practical items. Not that I wouldn't like or prefer to be painting and drawing, but more I think I have struggled with the self-indulgence of producing something that has no function. So now I make jumpers, jewellery, I do DIY, I garden. But I can't avoid the fact that every time I finish a project, not only do I feel totally deflated, as really it's the busyness and the creativity that I enjoy, but I also feel nauseous and guilty at the fact that I have just contributed to the amount of tatt there is in the world. 

If I make earrings, I will be making them with polymer clay. Polymer clay is a good material for making jewellery. It is strong and waterproof and easily mouldable. Polymer clay is made of poisons that will not break down into the earth. Or, they will eventually, in a long long time, and as they do they will poison it. 

What I want is to make and share something beautiful. Can I do this in a way that isn't consumerist and tacky?

flotsam

 This blog is set to private again at the time of writing, so who knows who I am writing this to. I am taking a quiet moment while the girls tidy up the marble run (or don't perhaps as the case may be) so that we can play another came. I am trying to keep a gentle pace to our days and be a calm and loving presence. I have been stressed and unpleasant for a long time, so if there is anything I want to commit to in this New Year, it is being gentle. 

Probably swept up with the enthusiasm of a New Year I have begun working my way through the Artists Way again, a book almost too embarrassing to own up to using, if only it wasn't so helpful. I joke of course because I am not proud or pretentious anymore, and am more than happy to consider myself ridiculous. One of the most effective parts of the programme is the daily exercise of writing three pages every morning, of anything. Stream of conscious, sorting through the day, diary entry type writing. There is nothing that clears my thoughts or lifts the fog so much, and it is something I have avoided the last year or two, through fear that examining my situation might be painful. 

I have a loose plan to make jewellery to sell this year, and to begin making botanical illustrations again. The illustrations I have decided to just make, and see what I shall do with them after. After comitting to these things in my mind, yesterday someone in a group that I'm in suggested we do a craft swap, which I would have shied away from previously, but have instead signed up for. Later on in the day I was in a local independent shop, and the owner admired my earrings. I mentioned that I wanted to make them to sell in a vague sort of way, and she immediately said that if I could package and present them she would stock them. So that feels like a definite short term goal for me to commit to. I am excited to see what else presents itself if I am open and loving. 

First step I need to work on my product, so I am doing lots of fiddling about, trying different processes, and aim to come up with 5 or so designs that I can replicate. This is yesterday's effort, mermaids purses. On paper it worked, but in reality I think the market for these might be a bit too niche. I.e. only me. 

There is little else to say as we are still in the inbetweeny part of the year. My swimming group and knitting group both start up again next week. I have done so much knitting and crochet over the past couple of months leading up to Christmas that I am sick to death of it. I've had a mishap with my phone so I don't have photos of the Christmas jumpers and presents I've made for people, but here one that completed for myself last week. I'm not intending buy any more yarn for the considerable future, and am looking forward to working my way through my stash as and when we need new things. Otherwise I think I will give my hands a break for now. 

Money spent week 1

Tuesday - withdrew £240

£196 Gas & electric top up

£10-ish (didn't keep receipt) a few bits from co-op

£20 Gave to Will for pub etc.

Wednesday - 

0.40p library fine

£4 pastries

£30.95 Riverford veg box - online payment

Didn't buy: 

Nick Cave's book - borrowed from library

New Garth Marenghi book - ordered into library

Power seizing practical resolutions

Go cash only - or as close to as is possible

Make and mend rather than buying new

Walk wherever possible

Get fit