The curtains in the van were quite okay but I didnt think that I could bear waking up each morning to bright red and blue so they had to go. did think blue and mauves but the choice was limited unless we wanted plain. Choose a leafy patern with two colours of green and a white back ground. I bought 5 metres thinging that any spare I could make cushions but not to be. Had to go and buy more material yesterday but only one two left to make.
I did se that Spotlight had the same material with a black background so i will try to buy some of that to recover the seats in the dining area. I will just make them like a fitted sheet so they can be washed.
Monday 13 January 2014
Saturday 11 January 2014
Organic fruit and vegetables
around Christmas, I had a caller at the door. It was a guy wanting to know if I would be interested in home delivery fruit and vege.
I ended up signing up for it. Theres no contracts, order a few days beforehand and pay by direct debit three days after receiving it. Whats to lose?
They deliver on Fridays and I received my first order yesterday about 3pm. as it was my first order, it was half price and I did order a few other things 2 litres of milk, chicken as wellas strawberries and blueberries. cost for the boxes will be $61.
The packaging was great with ice packs and everything looks really fresh and nice. Decided to poach some chicken for tonights dinner and the rest into bags and then into the freezer.
I ended up signing up for it. Theres no contracts, order a few days beforehand and pay by direct debit three days after receiving it. Whats to lose?
They deliver on Fridays and I received my first order yesterday about 3pm. as it was my first order, it was half price and I did order a few other things 2 litres of milk, chicken as wellas strawberries and blueberries. cost for the boxes will be $61.
The packaging was great with ice packs and everything looks really fresh and nice. Decided to poach some chicken for tonights dinner and the rest into bags and then into the freezer.
Friday 10 January 2014
Spending spending and more spending.
Yesreday we set out from home, (it was pay day). i guess I shouldnt use that term any more but pension day instead, nah still pay day. It was also our free day from everything else. First stop was the RTA to do the rego on the van, then onto the motor bike shop, to buy a pair of gloves for a birthday gift. Also considered a chest plate but at $99 we decided against that.
Good guys were on the way, we had decided to llok at a small A/C for our room as well, they didnt have any in stock until wed 15, think they have missed out on sale for now anyway. Ten minutes to study the freezers and we had parted with $579 for a vertical freezer, pick up tomorrow, hopefully with the use of Chris' vehicle.
Spotlight was next to get material to replace the bright curtains in caravan, $71, next was a look in the camping store just in case we might see something we may "need". Another run over the card, thankfuuly a debit card not CC, we walk out with a table for the van, it was on sale for $20 less, bargain!
Good guys were on the way, we had decided to llok at a small A/C for our room as well, they didnt have any in stock until wed 15, think they have missed out on sale for now anyway. Ten minutes to study the freezers and we had parted with $579 for a vertical freezer, pick up tomorrow, hopefully with the use of Chris' vehicle.
Spotlight was next to get material to replace the bright curtains in caravan, $71, next was a look in the camping store just in case we might see something we may "need". Another run over the card, thankfuuly a debit card not CC, we walk out with a table for the van, it was on sale for $20 less, bargain!
To buy or not to buy (a freezer!)
A few days ago i wanted to do some cooking but there was no room in the freezer to put the excess or I didnt bake. That got me thinking, should we buy a freezer?
Part of me thinks that we shouldnt spend the money as we have a small store with walking distance, a bigger supermarket about two kms away with the big mall within four kms, how could I justify buying a freezer?
I have the money in the bank to buy, I could take advantage of sales, bulk buys etc could prepare meals and store, do double cooking.
I went to my Simple savings forum and asked the question, to buy or not? Most came back and said yes, they have one,two or three freezers and wouldnt be without them. Some mentioned things to be aware of which was most helpful and a couple said that they were in the process of getting rid of theirs to cut down on power costs.
Trying to squeeze the rest of a loaf of bread into the freezer, my mind was made up, we ARE buying a freezer! But where to put it?
Part of me thinks that we shouldnt spend the money as we have a small store with walking distance, a bigger supermarket about two kms away with the big mall within four kms, how could I justify buying a freezer?
I have the money in the bank to buy, I could take advantage of sales, bulk buys etc could prepare meals and store, do double cooking.
I went to my Simple savings forum and asked the question, to buy or not? Most came back and said yes, they have one,two or three freezers and wouldnt be without them. Some mentioned things to be aware of which was most helpful and a couple said that they were in the process of getting rid of theirs to cut down on power costs.
Trying to squeeze the rest of a loaf of bread into the freezer, my mind was made up, we ARE buying a freezer! But where to put it?
Thursday 9 January 2014
Solar
Three years ago we got solar panels installed. The first few bills were reasonable and then they started to go up. Warren says that maybe they need cleaning so he cleaned them in July.
Away on holidays in Oct and our neighbour contacts us to say that the solar box in garage has a strange reading on it. Ended up having to call the electricity crowd when we got home (they installed it).
Service man came out and said it was faulty and needed to be sent away. It was delivered back just before Christmas but couldnt be fitted until yesterday.
Finally after three months we have our solar panels and inventer up and running again. Today the electricity bill was due and it was $340 so not too bad seeing that we had no solar power at all thru that time but we were on holidays for some of that time too. Be interesting to see what the next bill brings as the company said that they would give us some "goodwill" because of the time frame.
Away on holidays in Oct and our neighbour contacts us to say that the solar box in garage has a strange reading on it. Ended up having to call the electricity crowd when we got home (they installed it).
Service man came out and said it was faulty and needed to be sent away. It was delivered back just before Christmas but couldnt be fitted until yesterday.
Finally after three months we have our solar panels and inventer up and running again. Today the electricity bill was due and it was $340 so not too bad seeing that we had no solar power at all thru that time but we were on holidays for some of that time too. Be interesting to see what the next bill brings as the company said that they would give us some "goodwill" because of the time frame.
Wednesday 8 January 2014
Caravan
We have bought one off Ebay would you believe. Warren saw it advertised on Ebay and it was exactly what we wanted and under our budget as well. Bid on it and won it! Had to make a redraw on our house loan but that had been paid off and left just in case! Well, in case came along.
Funny how we were discussing it only a few days earlier than we really didnt need to buy a van until next year and we could save for it. I had laughed and said that we were really good at paying things off but not good at savings so maybe we should just use our redraw. One of those throw away comments.
The guy got a roadworthy and gas thingy and its reg til May, then he offered to deliver it to us as it was on his vehicle, bonus! They had even put the TV back inside, it was not there when we viewed it. So far every thing works, I dont like the curtains so will replace them. They are okay but pretty glarey, reds and blues, cant imagine waking up to them in the mornings.
Funny how we were discussing it only a few days earlier than we really didnt need to buy a van until next year and we could save for it. I had laughed and said that we were really good at paying things off but not good at savings so maybe we should just use our redraw. One of those throw away comments.
The guy got a roadworthy and gas thingy and its reg til May, then he offered to deliver it to us as it was on his vehicle, bonus! They had even put the TV back inside, it was not there when we viewed it. So far every thing works, I dont like the curtains so will replace them. They are okay but pretty glarey, reds and blues, cant imagine waking up to them in the mornings.
Hypnotherapy
I went to two group sessions at the library and was interested in taking it further so when a free consultion (one on one) was offered I took the chance. My appointment was the day that we left for our cruise, in hind sight, not a good time as I put on two and a bit kilos, then working at the tennis when dinners were supplied. So out of 30 days, twenty days were catered.
My second appointment was Monday and I weighed before I went and i was up 1.3 kilos from my last appointment, an exact month before.
Its a strange feeling being hypnotized, I could hear myself speaking and I knew what i was saying but until i heard my voice, i didnt have any idea what i was going to say. I also remembered after what had taken past which had been a bit of a concern to me.
i usually weigh myself on wednesdays, I stopped weighing every day a few months ago, i try to only do it on Weds. To my great surprise, I had lost two kilos in two days and now i am the lightest that I have been in six months, since coming back from China! i have one final appointment at the end of the month.
Its not cheap, $150 a session (group ones was $22) but if it continues to work for me then well worth it. Warren just asked if i wanted dessert and seemed surprised when i said no to that or a choccie bar but i just dont feel like eating.
My second appointment was Monday and I weighed before I went and i was up 1.3 kilos from my last appointment, an exact month before.
Its a strange feeling being hypnotized, I could hear myself speaking and I knew what i was saying but until i heard my voice, i didnt have any idea what i was going to say. I also remembered after what had taken past which had been a bit of a concern to me.
i usually weigh myself on wednesdays, I stopped weighing every day a few months ago, i try to only do it on Weds. To my great surprise, I had lost two kilos in two days and now i am the lightest that I have been in six months, since coming back from China! i have one final appointment at the end of the month.
Its not cheap, $150 a session (group ones was $22) but if it continues to work for me then well worth it. Warren just asked if i wanted dessert and seemed surprised when i said no to that or a choccie bar but i just dont feel like eating.
Sunday 5 January 2014
Party,party,party!
Last day of the tennis today and there was a party after, well, it was a speciasl dinner, we werent going to go but Warren came home last night and said that we had been asked to go. I felt a bit of a fraud as I didnt finish but knew that he wouldnt go without me so I agreed. Hadnt had shoes on for three days. Bit wary about walking too much, he worked while I sat in volunteers hut and watched, due to it being the finals, very few ushers were needed.
Dinner was excellent and it was a nice way to finish. Plus it saved us a meal each. I intend to sit down and plan a menu for the week tomorrow, never done a menu plan before, just cooked what was in the fridge/freezer.
Trying to keep my food bill lower and had to buy/replace a couple of things this morning so spent $25 on groceries for Jan so far, hoping to keep that under $100 for the month, see how i go.
Dinner was excellent and it was a nice way to finish. Plus it saved us a meal each. I intend to sit down and plan a menu for the week tomorrow, never done a menu plan before, just cooked what was in the fridge/freezer.
Trying to keep my food bill lower and had to buy/replace a couple of things this morning so spent $25 on groceries for Jan so far, hoping to keep that under $100 for the month, see how i go.
Saturday 4 January 2014
Committment
I have made a committment to blog every day in January. Due to other restrictions/techo hassles, I am catching up now. We have been house sitting and will go home tomorrow for a bit. I am amazed at how long or short things last for instant, I bought one soap and we have also used that. I bought sugar,milk,coffee and brekkie cereal, needed more sugar (I dont use it)and we have run out of cereal twice. Looking at ways to save money on food considering buying a freezer
Lleyton's through!
As I am resting my feet, I have been watching a lot of the tennis. So pleased that Lleyton has got thru. I have retitled this blog to reflect what we are doing in our lives. I have been hand sewing while watching. I have lots of left over material and am turning them into scrap dolls or clowns. This involves running a hem around small circles of fabric, about sixty are neededto make one clown. I dont like waste so trying to use what I have and turn it into something useful. In Oct, I donated siz boxes to "Operation shoebox" each one had one of these clowns as well as other stuff, I will be dooing both again this year.
Feet and ankles
Ushering was going well but I was a bit worried about my feet. A few years ago, I had a red rash on my ankles, turned out that because I had been wearing socks and it was hot, my ankles had swollen a little (I hadnt even noticed) and blood had gone to the skin to try to cool it. I am aware of this and rarely wear socks now. By Thursday after six days this happened again and I have had rest up, keep my legs up as much as possible. Dissapointed that I couldnt complete the week, just another indication of aging, buggar it.
Tennis Brisbane International
Last week we started our "job" as ushers at tennis. Everyone was so friendly, Warren and I are doing the same thing but in different groups. Our uniforms, hats,drink bottles are supplid, plus we get a meal. Long days to be standing but fun.
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