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.

Let’s get cooking and be a little frugal!

Now bear doesn’t follow a dairy free diet shopping has become simple. We no longer have to read every label and we can try new things. We always encourage Bear to at least try things, he obviously has the things he likes and things he doesn’t like, but nothing makes us prouder when he just tries things because he wants to. the other day he helped himself to his daddy’s hummus, dipping some of his daddy’s cucumber (he didn’t like that much) and a raw carrot (he enjoyed chewing) although he has had these things before, he didn’t like them on a number of previous tries, but we were so pleased he gave them another go…..and all by himself. He also ate a slice of ham for the first time ever (he has very recently just cut 3 back teeth…..making it 11 teeth in total!! We think this helped him to chew, and enjoy, the ham)

We also like to encourage Bear to help with the cooking, and some fun baking too. We are trying to encourage a healthy relationship with food for him. We all love good, healthy, home cooked meals….cooked from scratch. We have discovered muscle foods as a source for amazing quality meat for a cheap price (they often do really awesome deals on big bundles, so we are definitely needing our big freezer!) I have included a link to muscle foods in case anyone is interested, if you use my referral code you will also get a free item (and i will receive some credit too). Our meat portion of our meals work out at around £2 a meal (with the latest order made, should come out somewhere near £1.50 a meal…..and that is for the 3 of us!) You can also get great groupon deals for muscle food bundles, that is where we sourced our last order…..and don’t forget you can get cashback on it if using quidco (I will also include a quidco referral code for anyone who wants it, once you start earning, we both get £5 cashback) Using quidco I have received almost £200 cashback in the last 15 months on things that I would have bought anyway…..we are really trying to live a little more frugally to save money for the finer things in life (life trips out and nice holidays!) I am thinking I may start to turn this blog into a frugal living and general life type of blog to share my experiences now we don’t have allergies to concern ourselves with. Will see how it goes and see what our followers reaction to it may be.

Muscle food link, and referral code: Receive a free gift (and i get a little bit of account credit!)

http://www.musclefood.com/LS201491

LS201491

 

Quidco referral code: we both get £5 cashback once you start earning!

http://www.quidco.com/user/4763630/2147432/

Long awaited Bear update!

Sorry for the delay…..had a busy few weeks with Birthday celebrations and a super busy time at work!

Now everything has calmed down we can have a little Bear update….

Bear is now 1!!!! He had an amazing birthday and was spoilt rotten by everyone. So many cards, gifts and messages and 2 birthday parties.

He has a TOOTH! (soon to be 2) and he loves to brush it with his big boy toothbrush and toothpaste

Bear has almost got to grips with this walking thing….he is balancing and taking steps in all directions, but it is still so much easier to crawl!

He is also getting very brave, he climbs over, round, under, onto….EVERYTHING!! He surprised me the other day, joining in some rough and tumble with his cousin, I was expecting him to cry!

He listens to instructions and is getting much better at answering direct questions. He loves to give kisses, cuddles and nose nibbles! He plays so nicely by himself now too, looks like he is having conversations with his toys!

He sat and watched the whole of Monsters University and has now decided he fancies being on the scare team….lots of ‘raa’-ing in our house.

Eating wise he now uses cutlery really well, you will be lucky if you can spoon feed him anything (although nanny did manage a few spoonfuls of mash and gravy the other day!) he likes to do it all himself. We are even brave enough to let him eat of plates and bowl without holding them/sticking them to him tray!

We have taken him swimming a few times, he is slowly getting braver, but doesn’t much like to let go of mummies bikini top.

Seems to me that Bear is really enjoying toddler-hood! We have booked a holiday to Devon and we cannot wait to see how he is when we are away, think he will love it so much more than when we went away last summer.

Just a quick update for those who are interested, so much has changed in the world of Bear in the last month or so!

Pictures!

As promised, some pictures of Bear. I couldn’t resist adding a few from Bear as a tiny baby too, but thought I could use it as an opportunity to let you know some of our best purchases for Bear (may help some expectant parents make some decisions about what to buy or to expect!)

A new bear (few days old) only feels like yesterday he was brand new!

Taunting our incorrectly diagnosed with Lactose intolerence baby with some creme eggs (around 5 weeks old)

Bear was all smiles once we finally got his diagnosis and correct milk….no more tummy ache for this cheeky boy

Bears pram toys, kept him entertained for hours, sophie the giraffe was by far his favourite (although not dog friendly as it squeaks and drives our dog nuts, so it lives in the pram or car now). Also, his mam dummy clip was a perfect addition for keeping his dummy safe and accessible when needed in a hurry!

Bear spent many an hour on his lamaze playmat, the choices for playmats is so vast, but I chose this one as I was impressed with the quality of lamaze toys and it was super cute. He would often lie staring at himself in the little mirror or knocking the toys around. He would also be found fast asleep on it at some point during the day too!

This was one of the best purchases to have at work. Its made by leapfrog and kept bear entertained for hours. It bounces slightly and can be held still on legs or have a slight rock when on its cone shaped bottom. It meant that he was also safe and secure…..although the ‘sing it baby’ and ‘waa baa doo waa’ noises from the microphone are now embedded in everyone’s head.

This is our choice in high chairs. It has a base-come-table to make it high when at the dinner table or can be used as a mini table and chair. This is how we use it most the time as it is sofa height so he is sat with us when we are eating off our laps. I remember having one of these at home when I was little and it was still being used way after we finished needing a high chair, so it should be a good investment!

Bear learning to crawl….good use of his head!

In prison! Probably the most practical purchase made…..although we haven’t any stairgates on the stairs yet! This gate keeps Bear always out the kitchen and the dog in the kitchen when needed (meal and nap times).

This is a great little chair Bear uses to have his lunch at work (it is supposed to be used on top of a chair but works just as good on the floor!) He is also showing off his drinking skills from his favourite cup, its a mam one, after trying several different cups this one proved to be the best for him.

He loves oreos (surprisingly dairy free!!) when weaning, be prepared for messy hands, faces, clothes and eyebrows? Doesn’t matter how messy he got, he had a great time doing it!!! This was a few months back, he doesn’t get in quite as much of a state now!

Sometimes the best toys are….oranges? Bear spent ages taking all the oranges out of the fruit bowl at nanny’s and then putting them back in….then he learnt to throw them across the room too! It was FUN!

Trying out a new hat style….think it makes him look very sophisticated

Learning how to brush his teeth with his mam toothbrush. We have it to him as a toy when he was about 6m old and loves the feel of it in his mouth. He likes it when we brush his gums so hoping that when he finally gets teeth he will be good at keeping them clean.

Being a big boy on the swing all by himself at the park. He loved it but this particular set of photos really made us remember just how grown up he is starting to look.

Even big boys need a nap. Here is bear asleep with his favourite dummy (again, its a mam one!) with a blanket made for him by his godmothers mum. We love this blanket as it is just the right size for going in the pram and is nice a thick for the cold weather.

Here bear is using his fork to eat his toast….doesn’t everyone do that? He is so independent now.

And finally, this was bear yesterday. We asked him to wave hello to you all but he was a bit busy on his hat phone, saying ‘hiya’ to who ever was on the other end!

Bear was weighed in at 19lb 7oz today, so he is growing big and strong. I am sure there will be more pictures to come as we make our way down memory lane on the count down to his 1st Birthday 🙂