Christmas Preparation Update 1

The photo above is of our tree last year, we don't have a theme just a lot of happy memories as each year I would take the children out to choose a tree decoration, (still do this with our daughter). Some of our tree decorations date back to my childhood! I think I will post photos of my favourites with each update. Don't worry all is still in the loft - I just took a lot of photos last year : )

As I mentioned before this year I intend to get organised and keep track of just how much Christmas is going to cost. We normally get through far too much money and like many others cannot afford to do that this year. Also this will give me something to focus on as the news regarding the global financial crisis is very depressing and this seems to be an excellent way of keeping control of part of my life. We are going to try for as traditional a Christmas as possible and just enjoy spending precious time with family and friends. I hope to be able to buy some fresh cranberries Christmas week to make our own sauce but have picked up a jar just in case as our daughter loves this in her sandwiches, so it won't be wasted.


Presents
So far I have finished knitting a scarf for my sister and as it is in lovely lavender and blue colours I have also tucked into it a lavender sachet (she loves lavender). I am finishing off a knitted dishcloth with a cat on (she also loves cats lol) and just need a couple of other little bits to add. So a lavender/cat theme going on there!




I have also started to knit a scarf for my brother in law in a lovely tweedy wool and will add some thermal socks and a wind up torch Mr C managed to pick up from Lidls today. Again a couple more little bits to add.

Present box:-

4 wind up torches from Lidl @ £3.99 - £ 15.96
Lavender sachet £ 1.50
Wool for scarf (lavender/blue) £ 3.00
wool for tweed scarf (charity shop buy) £ 1.00
1 eyemax solar/wind up torch/radio £20.00
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£41.46


Food
I have enough in the pantry now to make a start on the mincemeat, home made mincemeat is lovely and much nicer than the overly sweet stuff the shops sell. Hope to get this done over the weekend if I can find the energy. I will add pics and recipe then as well.

Christmas cupboard now has:-

5 bags of Lidls choc coins @ £1 - £5.00
1 tin chestnut puree (for stuffing recipe) £1.75
1 jar cranberry sauce (dd loves this in sandwiches) £0.57
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£7.32




I learnt a very important lesson at Christmas many years ago, a friend was struggling financially and had no money to pay for Christmas that year. I had gone round to give her a huge bag of reduced items I had found at the supermarket on Christmas Eve and found that she and her 4 children were very happy and content. She had got the tree and decorations out from the loft the same as always and the children after helping her to decorate were having a lovely time playing with some board games they had found in the loft. Family and friends had made sure there were some presents under the tree and there was a chicken dinner ready to roast and some pound shop crackers on the table. She told me that you can't "cancel" Christmas it happens whether you have the money or not! What matters is quality time with family and remembering the true meaning of the season. I left feeling very humbled but wiser.

2 steps backwards can be a good thing!

Oh dear! Just when I thought I was getting better I developed a sharp pain on coughing and breathing in - Pleurisy! this bug is really not to be messed with. I have anti-biotics, painkillers and have been told to rest up, which is frustrating when I think of all that needs doing in the garden.

In the meantime I am back in bed and thinking! a lot! It has been quite a week with the global financial crisis playing out on our tv screens daily. With all the financial worries we are all facing this winter it makes sense to take some time out and re-evaluate our expenditure, this illness is maybe for me a blessing in disguise.

I have felt for a long time that most of us have forgotten what it is to appreciate what we have, replacing that with a longing for "stuff" we think (so the advertisers tell us) we need. Just before the Pleurisy struck I had been sorting out a couple of kitchen cupboards and have found, cleaned and rearranged some treasures I had forgotten about. A lovely large roasting dish and rack (used only once), a vintage measuring jug, vintage pyrex, a colourful set of mixing bowls - all will be back in regular use as soon as I am back on my feet. I don't need to make an order from Lakeland, tempting though their catalogue is, I have had my "shopping fix" at home.

On sorting out the spare bedroom for our daughter moving back in, I found various balls of knitting yarn and some lovely and colourful remnants, including some Christmas prints so I now have to find some sewing and knitting projects, maybe to try to make some Christmas presents this year.

Christmas itself is not that far away and it wouldn't hurt to start to plan it now, not as a consumer panic buying bash but in an alternative way, home made and traditional, using thought rather than lots of cash. The family prefer home made cookies and cakes and there really is no need for the overfilled cupboards of ready made confectionery, apart of course from our traditional tin of quality street (hopefully bought at half price) which look lovely with cotton loops threaded on and hung on the tree instead of those very over-priced chocolate tree decorations the shops are full of. I will try to do a once a week review of my progress towards Christmas on a budget. One book I have at my bedside to read is "Trade Secrets Christmas" by Annie Ashworth and Meg Saunders ISBN 0 75284 4199 published by Orion in 2001 and full of tips for managing Christmas in a hassle free way. Of course Christmas is so much more than this as any Christian knows and remembering the true meaning and being together as a family will hopefully bring comfort and hope to many. Another great book is "Unplug the Christmas Machine" by Jo Robinson and Jean CoppockStaeheli ISBN 0 688 10961 6 - A complete guide to putting love and joy back into the season.

I make no apology for bringing up the subject of Christmas so early on, as the shops are already filling with all the goodies they want you to buy, the best way to cope and avoid more debt and despair is to plan ahead, read all you can and make all you can.

Right now to find that notepad and make a few more lists! lol!

A fridge too far?

I am going to be brave here and show you what I hope is beginning to look more like a pennypinchers fridge!

Top shelf is soya marge, pro active spread (my bp has been a tad high so I am being careful) butter in the pyrex dish and cheese in the arcopal dishes.

Middle shelf - yellow stickered reduced price wheat free bread, home made yogurt in the mason cash bowl (sorry about the cling film - have another roll to use up yet) the small jar of mint sauce and the leftover cucumber (plus more cucumber in the other fridge) mean I can make tzatziki salad, various part used jars of preserves,

Bottom shelf - blue and white container with hm choc crispy cakes (using up cheap cornflakes, cooking choc and nearly past it dry fruits), floral dish with lid has 2 huge Costco mince pies in defrosting, found when sorting out the larder freezer, I am quite mean with these and cut them into 4 so we aren't too greedy! They are yummy though! The tin foil is covering some corned beef left over from Mr C's sandwiches and will make a lunch for me, the stainless steel thermos has chilled water in and goes out with me every trip - I can only guess at how much money that has saved me on buying bottled water when out and about but I am sure it has paid for itself. A part used box of soya milk because at my age it is meant to be good for me :) Has anybody tried freezing soya milk? I have failed with freezing soya yogurt - it separates! :( behind are yet more part used sauces and preserves including last years blackberry preserve (really easy recipe).

Painful joints mean I find the bottom draws are hard to reach, I cannot bend too easily and if I get down on the floor I have problems getting up again! So only infrequently used preserves and sauces go in there.

Plenty of room for improvement, I could do with controlling the amount of preserves that are open at any one time, but I am getting there, I am lucky enough to have a 2nd fridge in the utility room which is handy when I have all the family down, this is used for storing meat (bottomshelf), fruit and vegetables (middle shelf), and any taller stuff on the roomier top shelf, I need to work on this one. Instead of 2 individual fridges I would have loved to have had one of those super american huge fridges but our kitchen is too tiny!

I dislike the rigidity of menu planning but can see that it would save us a lot of pennies so I am off to make another of my lists!

Tonight will be a spending night as we are eating out with friends - Mr C's treat (from his entertainment budget) so I only have to worry about lunch!