Where Did the Week Go???

Goodness! I can't believe I haven't posted since Tuesday! :) Not that much has happened in the Green House in that time.

Yesterday we went to Legoland in Windsor with the 4 children - paid for with Tesco clubcard vouchers, of course! It took us just over 90 minutes to get there - we were potentially expecting some traffic issues with the main event occuring, but there were none. Legoland have been sneaky and introduced parking charges for all parking areas now (it used to be just priority parking). However, we were aware of that (thanks to BBC's Watchdog) so it didn't take us by surprise.

We had a fabulous time - doing such rides as the Laser Raiders, Fairy Tale Brook, Duplo Train, The Jolly Rocker and lots more. We took a picnic and ate it whilst watching one of the lunchtime shows.Thankfully the weather was kind to us. It was a little chilly when we first arrived, but by the afternoon we had all removed our fleeces and were eating icecreams (let's not think about the cost of those - eek!!) DS1 & DS2 took money to spend (both being Lego fiends) so we hit the shops - it's not cheaper, but you do find some things which I never seem to see in the shops. Anyway, they were both very pleased with their purchases and it was their own money, so all was good.

The park closed at 5pm (well, the rides did) and we were home for about 7.20 - we were all shattered (I even fell asleep in the car on the way back - Mr G was driving) and hit the chip shop for the children - we just picked at the excess chips and made a chip butty each before collapsing on the sofa with a cup of tea and watching the wedding highlights. The boys had to play with their new purchases before finally collapsing themselves. All in all it was a good day!

The boys had a 'street party' on Thursday afternoon at their school - the children had to wear smart party clothes and they had cakes and nibbles. They made crowns and flags - it was a nice end to a (very short) week for them. The teachers all dressed up too - there were some lovely outfits around.

It's another lovely day here and I'm just about to put more washing on to make the most of this gorgeous drying weather - then I need to check and earth up the potatoes - they are all growing so fast! Mr G is at a tyre dealership getting new front tyres for his car - over £300!! :(  Still, they are a necessity, albeit one that I wish was much cheaper. I would have asked him to bring the 2 old ones home and used them to plant yet more potatoes, but I know he wouldn't have approved of that step! :)

Finances and Paying off the Mortgage!

Had a mini finances session this afternoon after seeing the accountant this morning - paid credit card bills online, transferred some money between accounts and sent £110 overpayment to the mortgage.

We moved to this house in late 2005 and took a £130k mortgage (about 47%LTV) - a big jump from our previous £34k mortgage! Because it was such a large jump (and we had DS2 on the way) we did increase the term - we took the £130k out over 20 years. However, it was always my intention that we'd pay it off sooner if possible. Along the way we've had some building works done and a new (bespoke real wood with granite worktops) kitchen put in (cost approx £20k). We also took a further advance of £30k in Dec 2008 (when DS3 was on the way!) for a loft conversion (cost around £36k) That meant our borrowing against this house has been a total of £160k - eek! However, our total mortgage is now just over £86k, and we are looking at an end date of 07/2017, as opposed to 11/2025 - not bad! We regularly overpa each month by rounding up our mortgage payment and I also pay any 'extra' money we receive to there - the premise being that if we weren't expecting it as our usual money then we won't miss it if it goes on the mortgage. Today's £110 was made up of money saved in a tin (1ps, 2ps, 5ps and £2 coins), a refund from a magazine subscription (cancelled as they went out of print) and the sale of some clothes. Ebay sales money goes there, as does any money received from cashback sites, nct sales and the like.

We try to strike a good balance between paying the mortgage off early (we have no other debts) and still having a fun life and treats. We're off to Disneyland Paris in October this year (cashback obtained, naturally!) and use things like Tesco clubcard vouchers for days at Legoland. We could tighten our belts further and hit the mortgage harder, but we might resent it then - this way life is still fun, but treats are recognised as such as they are not an everyday occurence.

Mickey Mouse pizza :)

Back to Work and School... or Not, as is the Case for Some!

DS1 & DS2 have gone back to school today, but DD has an inset day, meaning she will be at school for just 2 days this week - grr! Mr G has gone for an interview somewhere - he's not sure he wants the job, but all interview practice is good! (He's a self employed management consultant) That heaves me and DS3 - well, we've been to see the accountant this morning. DD entertained DS3 whilst the accountant and I went over the year end accounts - yeay :) Generally all good stuff - thankfully. Self employment pays Mr G relatively well (well, his limited company, anyway) but obviously only if he actually has any contracts - he spent from late Dec last year - mid March this year without a contract, so no money coming into the company during that period :(

I spent part of yesterday evening doing some easy mending - DD's blazer sleeve had started to come away from the back where she carries her rucksack over her shoulder, I had some buttons to sew on things and a loose hem on a pair of trousers. All little and easy jobs, but fiddly. Still, I watched an episode of 'Superscrimpers' on 4OD whilst doing them ;)

Cooler here today - about 11degrees all morning, as opposed to 23-ish that we've been experiencing recently! Brrrr! Still ok for drying the washing, though!

Easter Monday

Well, I awoke this morning to a stuffy nose and a very scratchy throat :( Mr G sent me back off to bed for a while, but I didn't manage much extra time in there because of all the noise from the children! Never mind - a hot drink, some paracetamol and a hot shower made me feel reasonably human at least.

Another sunny day here, so the washing was line dried again (I love the smell when ironing line dried clothes) and seedlings and potato plants watered - mainly from grey water harvested from washing up. We've not had rain for a few weeks now, so the 2 water butts are running low on supplies, so I will be using washing up water to water plants where possible for the time being.

My mum came for a quick visit this afternoon - she brought along 3 kiddy cups she'd found at her caravan from the eldest two - perfect for DS3 to use, and saves me buying some more. She also brought with her a pile of magazines which DD quickly ran away with. I sent her back with a rhubarb and apple crumble (the rhubarb and apples originally came from her) and a tub of turkey stock from yesterday's roast with 'crumbs' of turkey meat from the carcass in - her dog will love it.

I quickly popped into our local supermarket this afternoon - you'd think they'd been closed for several days instead of just the one with the number of people in there and the amounts being bought! I managed to hit the reduced section just as they were making further reductions and got some steak mince reduced to 18p!, colcannon to 34p, carrot & swede mash to 34p, a ready meal of spaghetti & meatballs for 45p, organic sausages for 35p and a bag of rocket, lambs lettuce & baby spinach for 18p. I wouldn't normally buy things like the ready meal, colcannon and mash but they were bargain prices and fitted in with meals for this week.

Mr G took the 3 boys for a walk along the canal this evening - I was flagging again by this time, so stayed behind with DD and sorted some laundry - such excitement! :)

Growing Our Own

I have varying success with this, depending on how much time and effort I put into it.

This year I am (will be in some cases) growing potatoes (maris peer, maris piper, pink fir, anya & Rooster potatoes), runner beans (teeny beenies - full height climbing plants but the pods only grow to about 6inches in length), peas, onions, tomatoes, peppers, butternut squash, chillis, carrots, an aubergine, spinach, mixed salad leaves. We have an eating apple tree, a plum tree and a pear tree, but all are quite young and don't yield much as yet. I may get a few other plants from car boot sales or similar - ie: cheaper than garden centre prices!! My courgettes and cucumbers haven't germinated, so I'll try and get a couple of plants of each of those, too. I'm also growing coriander, mint, thyme and chives.

I grow it mainly in tubs/ pots and bags. Courgettes, onions and beans will be planted in the garden, but the rest isn't, for varying reasons. It works generally well for me.

I'm not sure it makes much overall difference to our shopping bill, but nothing beats eating freshly picked tomatoes, freshly pulled carrots or freshly dug potatoes - plus it's good for the children to see and learn about veg growing.

Day One

Having recently found some blogs that I actually like following for more than a few days I now feel inspired to start one of my own :)

We're a family of 6 - Me (Mum), Dad, M (DD), J, (DS1), H (DS2) and S (DS3) and have 2 squeaky guinea pigs as pets.

This blog will be (I expect) a rambling collection of notes about our life in general, attempts at money saving, growing our own veggies and such like. Hopefully (once I get the hang of it) with some pictures to break up the monotony too!