Mighty Money Savers

We started our two week break for the Easter Holidays on Friday and I am so looking forward to a couple of more relaxed weeks with the boys without the stress of getting up for school. It is important to me that we don't overspend during this time and it can sometimes be challenging, especially if the weather isn't great.  So here is our top tips for fab Frugal Activities for the Easter Holidays.  Frugal activities for Spring Crafts Decorate eggs Make an easter bonnet Have an Easter Egg hunt Make Easter bunting Make pompom easter bunnies  or these bunnies Make an easter nest Make a paper plate chick Maker an eggbox alligator puppet Make homemade puffy paint   Make a paper bag fish Make a felt board Kids activities Make Spring play dough Make bubble slime Make and sail boats   Make a frugal sensory bin Try some BIG weaving 15 Spring Activities Hide pirate treasure Get active indoors Make rain in a jar Cooking

When was the last time you had your boiler checked? We annually have a check in the summer before we start using it again, but now is a great time to get it looked over. British Gas have asked me what is the weirdest thing in our home or in anyone elses for that matter.  I have to say that we are not that weird a family and have nothing unusual in our home. However,  my inlaws are farmers, so the weirdest thing would have to be a calf!  When the husband was growing up they used to feed baby lambs that had been orphaned too, but now they are only dairy farmers. Can you imagine the things that engineers see when they go into peoples houses.  Why not take a look at what Sarah saw on one of her jobs.   When I was growing up I remember my Dad taking apart a motorbike in the dining room, safe to say my Mum was not amused!  I do wonder though what people might think when they come in to our home and there are six little boys all being noisy (as my friends boys are often here

We have cut the lawn this weekend and are planning to get the patio cleaned tomorrow as we are certainly feeling spring has finally sprung in the UK. I have spent the weekend cleaning the fabulously frugal way as we are having some photo's taken of the house for a blog piece on Monday. I will be popping to the charity shop to see if I can find any gorgeous teacups to make this teacup planter like Crafts on Sea I love having flowers and plants in our home and one of the things that I love is seeing bulbs spring up in the garden.  I adore these crocus in a cup and will be doing something similar. I certainly will be making one of these paper daffodil wreaths for the front door with the kids over the school holidays as our family project.  We are also going to collect some twigs and bring some blossom in to our home with these fab tissue paper blossoms . Do you have a post that is about thrifty parenting, decorating or lifestyle.  One tha

Oh it has been a busy week for us here.  A 10th birthday, Mother's Day and our 20th Wedding anniversary oh and a broken loo on top of that too!  So I am joining in with Cass at The Diary of a Frugal Family in sharing how we have made our savings. Even though it has been a busy week with some major expenditure we have still managed to find ways to get the best deals. 1) I made my wedding anniversary card.  We never buy cards (well I don't) and I love making them do I guess I saved around £2.  Also no gifts this year either. 2) I made Maxi's 10th birthday cake.  Have you seen the cost of birthday cakes?  Those candles will be put away and saved for Mini's 10th birthday next year! 3) We didn't have a traditional birthday party as such, he had a sleepover and a movie with 2 best mates at the weekend and a tea with friends on his actual birthday. 4) I rang round plumbers to make sure we got the best price for our repair (we tried and failed to fix it

Oh I adore Spring, but sometimes Spring brings with it lots of April showers and rain and although I do encourage my kids to get outside no matter what the weather , sometimes you need to just stay indoors. So this weekend I am sharing some great indoor activities that have been shared in previous weeks with the fabulously frugal link up. 5 indoor activities with just six lines of tape  from Hands on as we grow 7 indoor bean bag activities from Study at home mama Indoor teepee from Study at home mama 4 ways with a cardboard box indoor  from Bare Feet on the dashboard Hunt for Exercise cards by The Measured Mom Botsu exercises for kids by Kids Activities Blog Indoor gross motor activities for kids by Little bins for little hands Indoor running track by Next comes L Running up the stairs by Pragmatic Mom Indoor obstacle course by the golden gleam Do you have a post that is about thrifty parenting, decorating or lifestyle.  One that is about frugal food or cr

For those of you in the UK it is Mother's Day on Sunday 15 March and as a Mum to two wonderful, noisy boys, I know that all I really want is a lie in and a handmade mother's day card. However, why not take a look at this fab fun Mother’s day calculator from Newcastle Building Society to see how much your Mum is really worth or what Mother's Day traditions are around the world. Once you have then why not get prepared and make this fab easy Mother's Day card, which was inspired by this fab hanging Mother's Day flowerpot craft by In the Playroom Easy Mothers Day Card Materials A4 white card Pen scissors Paint We love this Scola Artmix ready mix coloured paint Baby wipes (perfect for wiping little hands and fingers before you get them to the sink) How to make an easy Mother's Day Card To make this super simple I have made you a template, so  that you can either print or cut the plan pot.  I cut mine on the Cricut Explore

Doesn't it actually feel Spring is on the way this weekend in the UK (sorry for my US readers that are going through a cold snap).  All this sun is actually making me realise the time has come to get out of the winter hibernation stage and start the Spring cleaning. Spring cleaning doesn't have to be expensive or challenging, in fact you can use things that you already have and also street clear of the chemicals. I totally love these r eusable orange cleaning wipes from Blossom and Posies and I am going to be repurposing the boys old muslins that I have (yes my youngest is nine and I haven't got rid of them)! I will also be c leaning the microwave using the natural method suggested by Daisies and Pie I have been cleaning my washing machine without chemicals monthly for years and it really makes sense as there is no point trying to clean clothes in a dirty machine. I have been cleaning without chemicals for around five years and one of my hero products is wh

It is the third episode of our series The a-z of ingredients cooking with kids today and we are up to C is for carrot.  We decided to make a vegetable curry with carrots as an ingredient.  Both of my boys love curries and have from being small as I weaned them with mild ones!  The reason I love curry is you can use anything in it once you have got the hang of making the gravy (curry sauce) Ingredients The basic curry sauce 2 Onions (sliced) 1 or 2 chillies ( deseeded) or dried chillies if it is all you have 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped 1 inch piece of root ginger, peeled and chopped (you can freeze any spare) half teaspoon of ground turmeric half teaspoon chilli powder 5 tomatoes or tin of tomato or pasata (I use what ever we have in) 1 teaspoon garam Marsala Variations This curry had cauliflower, carrots, frozen peas, quorn pieces and a tin of heinz five beans. However, you really can add anything you want including fish, meat, other

This weeks fabulously frugal is all about back to basics money management for me this week.   In order to save money you really need to be able to manage what you have and not be afraid of the numbers. I know that feeling of being scared to open the letters on the doormat and living in fear.  I also know what it feels like to go shopping with the pennies from the boys money boxes. In fact some months after my health scare the only ways we all got fed was my be going to the bank on MadDads payday and drawing out the cash for a months food. Since then I vowed to work on reducing our debt and I use the envelope method of paying for things. There were some ace posts about managing your money on last weeks #FabulouslyFrugal link up that I really wanted to share with you all. Money Management with free budgeting sheet by co host Diary of a Frugal Family 5 ways to start an emergency fund by my fellow co host Bare feet on the Dashboard  How to prepare before