Couponing, freebies & being savvy

I'm Back!!,

So its been what seems like ages since my last blog post! I'm not sure if I explained in my last post but we had to move house at very short notice as we found out that our landlord was trying to sell the house we were living in behind our back so we had to move quite sharpish and stay within the area because of munchkins school. We managed to find a lovely house however it is more expensive but we couldn't hang around any longer as we were running out of time so because of the extra rent, council tax, etc as well as saving for the wedding something had to be done!

I decided to take control of the finances and to start being more savvy. I started to look at coupons and also began watching the popular US extreme couponing program on sky.It amazed me at how people can buy hundreds of pounds of shopping and pay nearly nothing.

After alot of research Ive come to realise that in the UK its not possible to do it to the extreme that they do in the US due to the conditions of the coupons or the supermarkets policy. (e.g one per transaction, cannot be used in conjunction with any offer). However it is possible in some sorts!

I have been getting coupons from magazines, newspapers, companies facebook pages etc.... (before anyone says 'ahhh your using coupons to buy things that you never normally buy' this isn't the case!

Ive also began using cash back apps which I'm in love with! and have had some amazing deals and even some amazing freebies!

Ive also started looking more carefully about what comes in and goes out of our bank as we are often guilty of splashing out on payday and then being on our backside at the end of the month.

Another thing I'm doing is planning every meal so that we don't trip up and end up going out for food or having take away!

I wont go into too much detail at the moment but if this is something you would like to see on my blog please comment below and if i get enough people who are interested i will post more details on the apps i use etc.

Also if you are a couponer let me know!

xx

My 'woman on a mission' week

so....the last few days have seen me spending a lot of time in the kitchen! Hubs-to-be is off work for a little while and its safe to say he loves eating biscuits, cakes, muffins and is a fan of pastries! I'm no Jamie Oliver but i like to have a dabble!

Earlier in the week I did a post about some yummy biscuits that I made! you can find the blag post along with the recipe here Butter Biscuits

Yesterday I decided to make corned beef pasties, pies and bakes! Ive gotta be honest, I enjoyed making these as its something different from what I usually make and they tasted amazing (yep I'm on my diet and should have had any but hey ho)

I cheated and used the ready made puff pastry and just as in the name it puffed up a right treat!!

Here is a pic of how some turned out (some were still in the oven)

Basically I cooked some potatoes and Mashed them then added a tin of corned beef, mashed it in and let it cool.

I rolled out the puff pastry and placed a side plate on top and cut around it, then put some of the corned beef mix into the one half, pupped some whisked egg around the edges and folded it over creating a semi circle, press the edges down firmly with your finger tips to seal. 

Using a pastry brush, brush some egg onto the top of the pasty to create a golden brown colour once cooked. 

Pop in the oven until golden brown!

Yum Yum!

Oh you can also see some mini ones I made too!

We moved into our new home back in September and we cant wait to sort the garden!

So last week I decided to buy a jet washer as we have been going on about cleaning the Patio ever since we moved in!

We decided to buy the Black and Decker pressure washer on sale at the moment at £59.99

Its safe to say that I'm getting on with it a right treat! Here is just 2 BEFORE pictures (I will post some after pictures once I've finished it all)

So as i said this is the before pictures and it was that kind of task you look forward to getting stuck into but half way through you just want to give up and go for a nice cuppa!

I also underestimated the amount of mess it would create of ME.....I mean i knew there was a risk so i popped on a pair of my old jeans.

This was me half way through..........

So its going to be a wellington job next time!

I know people may say....'jet washing your patio in February??? Basically its never been done in 17 years so i wanted to get the hard work done now and then it may only need a quick wash nearing summer!

I also gave the shrubs and bushes a trim back and changed the bulbs in the water feature in the garden!

Woman on a mission!!

Oh, and I started to paint our en suite!

So if you haven't gathered by now....Andy will do things when its essential (that's not me saying hes lazy because he isn't....if i ask him to do something he will do it (within a few days or so))

But me.......I get an idea in my head and I've gotta go and do it! Andy knows not to stop me when I'm on a mission :-)

My next blog is going to be about how we keep out son entertained as he is on the go all the time! and every now and again really need that structured activity to calm him down a bit!

Catch up with you soon 

xx