18 years ago today, I was about to become a Mum for the very first time. At the young age of 18 myself, I thought I knew everything and could take on the world. How I was wrong! Still I don’t think I have done too badly raising my first born, and I have a lot to be thankful for. She has turned out to be a well grounded young lady (now I just need to urge her to get a full time job and work out what she wants to do with her life).
My labour began in the morning of the 20th back in 1995 with a “show” when I woke up. Despite all this, I remember going shopping for most of the day and back home to watch Brookside in the late afternoon. (Those were the days).
By the middle of Brookside the pains were really strong, but I wasn’t going anywhere until the show had finished (it was also a Saturday so the Omnibus!)
By the time we got to the hospital it was around 7pm from recollection. I went down to the delivery suite almost straight away and the next few hours were a blur or pain. I remember having pethadine and asking for an epidural, but being told it was too late, I was refused.
My gorgeous daughter was born at 11.29pm weighing 6lb 60z.
All day I have reminded her that she isn’t actually 18 until later tonight but she wont have it.
With 5yo’s birthday coming up in the next few weeks, I have started planning the party, and listening to twitter friends, the invites should be going out like yesterday. This has got me thinking about the cake. Last year we made these cupcakes, so would you :-
buy a cake from the supermarket / bakery?
make a cake from scratch?
bake cupcakes like above and then each guest can take one home?
My first born baby is turning 18 in a weeks time. We went shopping today to make a start on her gifts. Her main gift is separate, but as we were picking up bits and pieces from 5yo to her sister, I was trying to think of a way to make the gifts a little more special as it’s a special birthday.
I have decided (and 5yo agrees) that we will give her 18 presents which we will individually wrap up. So far we have
- key chain
- bracelet
- flip flops
- purse
- lush gift set
and I know that I’ll get
- make up
- chocolate / sweets
- photo frame with the obligatory 18
- chocolate fountain machine (as she has requested one for her girly afternoon she is having)
and I’ll have to have a think about the remainder, so if you have any ideas they will be greatfully received.
Money always seems to flow out of my purse, but rarely into it, and there’s always something that needs fixing, buying, arranging that costs. We don’t have a bottomless pit of money available, so we are always looking for ways we can save money. Here are my 30 ways to save £1 which is also my entry into MoneySupermarket.com’s competition to celebrate 30 years of the £1 coin, to win £2,000.
Now the spring weather has finally arrived, get planting those seeds in the garden. Tomato, radish and beetroot seeds are easy to turn into produce with little effort and you will easily save more than £1 by harvesting your own product instead of buying it at the supermarket through the summer months.
Before you visit the supermarket, write a list and plan what you want to buy. We are often sucked in by those “offers” on the shelves, but will we actually use them? Save a £1.
When your children are invited to parties, buy the birthday cards in packs and save lots of money by being prepared and not having to buy individually.
When you host your own child’s birthday parties, don’t spend money on tat that people don’t want in their party bags, instead buy a multi pack of books and divide up for the children. You can save loads this way.
Need something repairing? Trade services with friends / family and save money.
If you’re making one meal that is good for freezing, make two and freeze in portions. You can easily bulk out the meat with veg this way and make it go further, saving loads of money.
Turn your heating thermostat down by one degree.
When your children grow out of their clothes, look around for decent quality second hand items and save money on buying new.
Having a day out? Pack a flask of coffee / tea or squash and save on buying expensive kiosk drinks.
Eating out? Look for kids meal deals around that save money when you buy an adult meal. Often this saves more than £1 a time.
Turn all plugs off at the wall when you’re not using them.
Brew your own home made wine / beer as this saves a lot compared to buying from the shops all the time.
Save your petrol by walking for one journey a week. This saving will add up a lot over time.
Before you buy anything online, check if you can go through a cashback site first.
When visiting local attractions such as the beach, park in side roads and walk a little further instead of paying expensive car parking charges.
Take the bus, not the car and save on petrol.
When it comes to presents for the family, suggest a secret santa and save on buying for everyone.
Car share on your journeys to work
Recycle old clothes and make something new.
Take a packed lunch to work and resist buying from the canteen / shop.
Visit the library instead of buying new or second hand books.
Dry clothes on hangers in the windows instead of using the tumble dryer
Put extra blankets on the bed to avoid having the heating on at night when it’s cold.
When you do visit the supermarket and get wowed by those special offers, make sure you have a voucher to save you more money.
Don’t buy convenience packets of food, prepare yourself at home and put in small pots for work or school.
Keep the empty boxes from your food and lets the kids spend a free hour or so making something with their imagination. Who needs to buy expensive toys or craft kits.
Declutter your house every few months and sell at a car boot sale or online.
If you buy stamps a lot, buy before the price hike each year because the price isn’t printed on them and you’ll save money.
Buy xmas gifts through the year and save in the sales.
Holiday in the UK through the well known newspaper. Can save hundreds on the same break booked without the tokens.
Who doesn’t love a cute soft toy creature that comes to stay? 5yo loves her soft cuddly toys and adopts each new one like she can never live without it. Monty arrived this weekend, bringing with him some Hoops and Crosses crisps from Walkers.
Hmm, they look interesting, thought Mummy, perusing the back of the packet for the calorific intake, as seeing as my healthy eating would ordinarily restrict too much eating of crisps. I was pleasantly surprised to see however that Hoops and Crosses only contain 85 calories per bag. I’m sure I can help 5yo devour these in that case.
Our packet was Roast Beef flavour which upon first glance you wouldn’t think would be suitable for vegetarians, but upon further investigation we discovered that they are in fact OK to eat if you’re a non meat eater.
The crisps are made from whole grains and don’t contain any preservatives or artificial colours. They are also available in prawn cocktail and salt and vinegar flavours.
As we opened the packet, there was a distinct aroma of roast beef flavour that wafted out. The crisps are funky shapes in hoops and crosses and if you were so inclined then you really could play that popular game with them, but we thought that would be a tad unhygienic and just decided to eat them instead.
I’ll admit to not being able to eat very many of them, as 5yo got her hand in that packet a lot quicker than I did, but she was giving out the yummy signals through her mouthfuls.
I, on the other hand was eating a lot more delicately and lady like, much like us Mummies do!, but I can confirm that they were very tasty, not too artificial in taste for the flavour, and were in fact quite light in texture.
Not enough crisps in the packet for my liking, but still plenty for a one person snack.
Despite weighing in every week for the last seven months, my weight has only fluctuated up and down by a few pounds. I decided, along with hubby that we were going to make a concerted effort to feel a bit better, and target some of the weight loss. Don’t get me wrong, neither one of us are hugely overweight, but we both could do with losing a stone each.
We started the slim fast plan on Monday, and along with careful meal planning for our evening meals and snacks, we are both five days in and feeling good.
Monday – I felt quite wobbly in myself as my body adjusted to not having quite so much food intake.
Tuesday – A better day for me but I had a headache in the evening.
Wednesday – I really wanted a glass of wine this evening, but resisted. Hunger was manageable today though, I think I worked out the best snack regime for me.
Thursday – A friend came round in the morning and I missed my morning snack (but thankfully didn’t eat cake), so I was hungry by tea time and slightly irritable.
Friday – Ok day for food but really wanted a glass of wine at the end of the week as was quite tired (and it was Friday).
Hubby has been having two shakes a day with his snacks and evening meal, but I have been preferring to have a meal bar for breakfast and shake at lunch time.
My snacks have included rice cakes, carrot sticks and hummous, yoghurt, pear, grapes, strawberries, low fat crisps, slim fast choc bar. I have worked out that I feel better if I have breakfast when I get up, a snack at 11 which is usually fruit for me, lunch at 1 with a snack of carrot sticks or yoghurt. Snack at 3 ish which I prefer to have my crisps, rice cakes here and then I am ok until 6 ish when it’s time for the evening meal.
The only down side to this diet is the cost as the Slim Fast products cost quite a lot, especially when the two of us are doing it, but it’s worth it to be able to feel better. We’ll see how the weigh in goes on Monday and I’ll report back.
I haven’t been planning my meals lately, and it’s shown in my food bills, so this week hubby and I have decided that we both need to start doing something about our growing tummies, and also tighten the wallet a little, so the meal planning has come back into force.
This weeks recipes are all healthy 600 calorie dinners on average.
Monday – chicken curry (Slimfast recipe). We’ve just eaten this and it was yummy
5yo is One Direction mad, and has a BIG crush on Harry. She is also being a little madam with her behaviour at the moment, so we are trying something new instead of a reward chart as these have failed us in the past. We let her have the One direction sticker book starter set today and if she wants more sticker packs, then she has to earn them with good behaviour.
