Making changes…

There have been many changes for us…..

Bear has changed, he no longer has allergies…..he is now well over 2, so no longer my little baby, but instead my little toddler instead.

My life is changing too, as will soon have no job. As our income will drastically reduce, we have started to make some big changes to the way we live.

With this in mind, I have decided to change the nature of the blog from allergies (a journey that I can no longer share with you all) to frugal living…..something that I am learning to do and wish to document my new adventure.

So, a few of my favourite frugal tips….

1. don’t forget cashback sites. I prefer Quidco personally, but there are several out there. you can earn cashback on lots of online purchases, from generating insurance quotes, when you take out new online insurance policies, doing surveys and lots of other ways. Heres the link if you wanted to have a look, if you sign up through the link we both get a pound or so as a reward. http://www.quidco.com/user/4763630/2199207/
2. Receipt apps: there’s several that I use, firstly there is clicksnap…..it is linked to Quidco, it only rewards you with 1p every time you submit a receipt and will only accept certain supermarkets (although, if you buy certain products you get bonus money!) it soon builds up with all the other cashback you get. Secondly, is receipt hog….this one is ok, takes a while to get enough coins to cashout but its better than nothing, using the referral code frul6483 will give both of us free spins on their bonus machine. Thirdly, saving the best to last, is shopprize. Sadly is an android app only but is by far the best at paying out…..I get £5 amazon voucher every 3 weeks or so. Referral code is a0n4g (0 is a number is this not a letter!) you guys wont get anything if you use it, but if you do then add your referral codes to the comments as I can only use it 5 times so yours can be used by others!! Im saving all my amazon vouchers to use to buy bear some amazing Christmas presents.
3. My favourite ‘hobby’ if you will is a well timed trip to the supermarket. Hitting it just right means you get some great deals on reduced items…..coupled with a large freezer, you will be smiling for weeks. A few weeks ago I went to my local co-op at just gone 4 on a Saturday afternoon, managed to pick up 2 ‘salt&pepper pork joints’ for 99p each, will make 2 lovely dinners with enough meat for lunches the next day. Also got 3 packs of 4 breaded fish pieces, for £1.15 each, these have been separated into 4 portions for the 3 of us for dinner. Also got 2 different packs of sausages (one Richmond 8 pack in a ready to roast tin and one 6 pack of bbq pulled pork sausages, both for 69p each!) Thats 8 meals for less than £7 so I am very happy!!! Also remember that lots of reduced stuff can be frozen, not just meat….cakes, bread, etc. We have a little drawer freezer and a chest freezer which are getting nicely full of reduced sticker items now.
4. Another little tip is to freeze any veg that you are not likely to be able to use before they start to go off……I peel/chop/etc them and place in freezer bags so can quickly grab them to add to a stew mix or to boil up for a quick meal in the week. time saver and a money saver.
5. One trick I tried to see if my family noticed was to bulk out a chilli. I used one packet of mince and cooked it with a couple of onions, kidney beans, 2 peppers, 2 tins of tomatoes and lots of seasonings. Cooked enough for a decent portion for dinner that night, with some added rice, and the same meal again a week or so later from the freezer…..tinned tomatoes, kidney beans and onions are all really cheap but bulk out a basic meal to get 2 for the price of one.

 

So, here’s my little introduction to frugal living, will let you know how I get on over the next few weeks….future posts to include photos of my bargain buys too!!

 

Would love to hear some feedback from you guys about my new topic. thank you.

The aftermath!!

So, been off dairy again for a week now and Bear still isn’t 100% back to his normal self….but he is getting there!! He seems to be teething quite badly on top of it now too, which proves for some interesting nights!! He is still having trouble getting anything near consistent bowel movements, often being either far too loose, coming out with the wind or painfully solid, which follows a few hours of grunts and tiny tantrums. We think that this will sort itself out soon, especially when he is back to his normal eating routine, not having a functioning kitchen at home (total kitchen refit and a discovery of a rusted leaky pipe under the house!) and relying on nanny for all food has been difficult, especially as mummy came down with a sickness bug on Saturday, passing it on to nanny on Sunday who passed it on to Grandad on Monday, meaning that the sick person could not handle the smell of cooking food! We now have some functionality back in our kitchen so hopefully we can resume normality. Over the weekend we have discovered a few new things that Bear loves…..Lemon curd and Chocolate spread (not together) and he seems to demolish any sandwiches or toast with either of these 2 spreads on them, we have also purchased a variety of marmalades for him to try too. For all the dairy free followers, the Morrisons own hazelnut chocolate spread is dairy free (it also got the thumbs up from Bears daddy!)

Due to just how run down and pained Bear has been since his reaction we have decided to wait another 6 months before trying again with the milk challenge, rather than the suggested 3-4 months….he couldn’t even manage half a garibaldi biscuit so we don’t think there would be a great amount of change in 3 months, we would rather wait the extra amount of time, especially if it knocks him back for over a week at a time! In the meantime, I aim to continue searching the supermarkets for delicious things for my little boy to enjoy (or even creating some amazing baked goods in our soon-to-be finished, brand new kitchen!!) Hopefully, we will be able to share some pictures and recipes of some of our creations.

On another note, Bear will be 1 in little over 3 weeks!! EEEEK!!! where did the time go? We are planning on making him 2 amazing themed birthday cakes (the lucky boy is having 2 parties) and creating an amazing dairy free buffet for everyone (if we dont tell them I am sure they wont even know!) We just don’t know where the last year has gone 🙂 keep an eye out for a variety of themed posts from me (all Bear related of course) and possibly some new photos too! Thank you