No Spend Tuesday

Had a great day today and it didn't cost a penny contrary to what they keep telling us about how much the kids  school holidays cost everyone.  The key board has made its way out  onto the landing (more room)and was played briefly by one child, lego building and film making by both of them. We visited my mother in law earlier and when I got back I had a go at making some apple crisps that I had seen. I had apples that needed using up.

Now I like them but one son said he wouldn't try them and the other tried three but said ooh no.  I ate most of them.  I like them but I'm not sure they were worth the energy of the oven unless you are cooking at the time, a pie or crumble would probably have been eaten by us all.

On the way form visiting my mother in law we posted a parcel as my son sold a puzzle on ebay.  He made £2.50 which he didn't think was great but as he finished it ages ago he thought it was better than nothing.  We were going to donate it to charity shop last week and he said he would give it a try on ebay.

I  had some time on the garden this afternoon with my book.

I'm reading Dublinesque which I'm taking a while to get into, but I'm of the mind at the moment that it may improve and I don't want to give up on it just yet. It's from the library  and I really need to get on the site and order some more as I find I get what I want that way. If I just go in and browse I never know what to pick up.

We had curry for tea, Dopiaza sauce from Aldi chickpea and veg for the vegetarians and chicken for the meat eaters. I worked it out and it cost 70p for my plate with everything on, the chicken curry was more like £2 per plate due to the chicken breasts.  Much cheaper to be a vegetarian.  The vegetables were frozen on 

this occasion.  (All items bought while shopping on Saturday so no spending today) 

We have been for a walk this evening down to the park as it was a bit cooler, no one is bored and we don't intend to be but that doesn't we will be spending money on loads of activities either.   We are going to the pool on Thursday, Dip for a quid for the kids and I use my membership  ( which will expire in September) also meeting some friends tomorrow so lets hope for another sunny day. 

I  don't intend on being part of the statistics that show parents spending hundreds on holiday activities. They can amuse themselves sometimes you know, and if they can't  now then the worry is they might never be able to. 

Free Exercise

I've just been out in the heat for a run, well I say run  it's more run walk at the moment, but that's how frugal queen began and that is also how I began a couple of years ago and then stopped.  I stopped because I was getting a lot of pain in my ankle and it was causing me to limp the following morning after I had been running so I just stopped. I continued with swimming as this puts no pressure on your joints but I was a bit put out as I am only slim and could see no reason why I should have a dodgy ankle.
  Well I have been a few times a week for the last couple of weeks, I'm not sure how far and as I say part of it is walking but so far no ankle pain so maybe it was just an injury isolation, time will tell.
What made me want to do it was it is just so accessible  and free if you can motivate yourself to get out there. I feel a bit silly I have to say and I take the two dogs which may have caused ankle strain before (they do drag me about!) so as I go down the main road I tend to walk fast when I first set off, then run as I get to the park and can let the dogs off the lead ( so I can move arms properly) through the wood then three laps of the park field then run back up the hill.  It was very hot just now but I was pleased I only needed to slow to a walk for a few seconds on the way back up.
I hope I can continue as I have my music on and there are no time restrictions like there are when I want to swim.  When swimming lessons are on  I can't go or swim team sessions, plus early bird doesn't start until 7.00 am  which is too late for me as I leave for work at 7.30.  Our pool has a very tight schedule so if something happens to mess up my timings in the evening when I want to go I've had it.  So if I can keep at it and improve I can do it when I want.
My son has been with a few times last week but he gets fed up, my main concern is that dark nights will come along and then I wont want to go alone for personal safety reasons. I know loads of people do it, but if I get fit enough I may be able to out run shady characters.

Now it looks very scenic where this guy is running.

The above image is from running world and there are tips for people who are new to it here 50 Best Beginner Tips It does say get a buddy to run with but again that involves relying on someone else to go when you want to but it would solve the fear of running alone in the dark.  Maybe I can convince my husband at some point.

The main thing I think is so appealing is that it is some time alone, it is free, involves no gym timetables or restrictions and I come back feeling better.  Please share your thoughts if you are new or an old hand at this I would love to hear how you started and where you are now.

Shopping Zombies

A strange title for a post I know but we saw many of these this morning when we popped to Meadowhall. My son had won a voucher for 100% attendance at school for three years and he wanted to go and spend it in the Lego shop.  I said we could go but we would be in and out, it's a lovely day and there is absolutely no need to be wandering around that place for hours.
  Well! It seems many people think it is the perfect way to spend your Sunday. My son even pointed out to me the amount of bags that some people have (quietly in my ear, not shouting and pointing!) and everyone seemed to be shuffling along, we had to overtake in a few spots as it was getting ridiculous. The whole scene brought to mind a zombie film, vacant faces, shuffling along with no purpose other than to spend.
 If these shoppers were in there with a purpose I'm sure they would have been moving quickly in the direction of the shop they needed to get to, made their purchase and left. However I don't think that is generally the case any more, people just use shopping to kill time and buy what ever takes their fancy at the moment. They will often worry later when the credit card bill comes.
After a busy week at work I don't believe time should be killed, it should be used wisely, lots of people have concerns about when they will be able to retire and have time to enjoy themselves, yet when they get some free time they use it to spend money. This is why people feel they will have to work into their seventies in the future because they want to retain their shopping lifestyles.
I understand you may be thinking well you were their too, well my son had earned this reward from school, it was in the form of a Meadowhall voucher so it had to be spent there and it was his to do with as he wished.
He sat and enjoyed building the model.

One of my dogs getting his nose in the picture.

The trouble is many adults feel like this about all their income, ''well I earned it I can have whatever I  want'' yes you are right you can,  just don't complain about it later or when you are still working right into your old age.  The trouble with this kind of thinking is that many people who don't work also feel the same way.
I didn't buy anything while we were there as we went with a purpose and then left to come home and get on with other things.
Having no real interests or hobbies can create this need to go out and shop because it gives people somewhere to go, the other side of this is that some hobbies can be expensive in themselves.  With the school holidays ahead for me and the children I will be making lists of things we want to get done (free or low cost like dip for a quid at our pool) we will be busy but not shopping.
On a positive note a good conversation was had between my son and a young lady who worked in the Lego store, she said she was a new team member and that she would be building some of the display models soon.  She explained how long they took and how she was looking forward to that.  My son has said when he is older he would like to get weekend or evening work there.  It would be nice if his hobby helped him save a little for some independence in the future.

I do not intend to offend anyone with this post but I would hope it might make a few people look around at the zombie faces the next time you are in a shopping mall and run like hell!